Quick Roasted Chicken

People are beginning to wonder if I am a veggie. Not even a single post on my staple food! Chicken!

Here’s a quick chicken recipe, a tweaked version of Easter Chicken Roast from Mrs. K. M. Mathew’s Flavours of the Spice Coast. The original recipe is for one whole chicken minus the liver and other non essential parts. But I prefer using drumsticks or diced chicken.

For 250 gms of Chicken, prepare the marinade with

• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp (Optional)

Alternatively (as per the original recipe) you can prepare the marinade by grinding together turmeric, chilli powder, 4-5 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon stick.

Mix all the ingredients with 1 tbsp vinegar and salt as required into a thick paste and rub into the chicken pieces. You can almost roast it instantly. If you have the luxury of time, keep it marinated for an hour. It yields better result.

In a shallow pan, fry the chicken on low heat in a tbsp of oil. When it is evenly browned, add 1/2 cup hot water and cook till done. Remove the chicken from the pan and let the gravy thicken. Return the chicken to the pan and cook on low heat to coat with gravy. Top it with some sautéed onion rings. Goes best as a starter with a glass of red wine. It is equally good with some hot rice and tuvar dal fry.

Avial (Vegetables in ground coconut)

Avial or Aviyal is a semi dry - super healthy dish from the God's own (or rather my own) country, made with an assortment of veggies in equal proportions. It's a delight for any vegetable lover. For the same reason it was an instant hit with my husband.

Some Avial trivia! The story has it that somebody came up with a magical way to use up a whole lot of left over veggies and created Avial. Wikipedia suggested another story which dates back to the Mahabharata age, when Bheema, who probably didn't even know how to make an omelette, assumed a chef's role. He chopped whatever was available, boiled them all and in anxiety dropped a whole lot of ground coconut over it. Okay! That's a li'l bit of exaggeration of mythology. ;)

There is a popular rock band from Kerala by the same name catching up fast with the international audience. In Mallu land 'avial' is synonymical with any form of medley. The name is a perfect fit for the band which has a mix of members belonging to different genres of music. Check them out @ Subash's World

Ingredients 1 (to chop lengthwise into thin strips in the same fashion as julienning)

• Carrot - 150 gms
• Raw banana - 1
• Yam - 150 gms
• Ash gourd - 150 gms
• Drumstick - 3 (optional)
• Long beans - 100 gms (optional)

Ingredients 2 (to coarse grind)

• Coconut - one half scraped
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 3-4

Ingredients 3:

• Sour curd - 1 cup
• Curry leaves - 1 small sprig
• Coconut oil - 1 tsp

Method

• Boil the cut vegetables in ingredients 1 with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt, till cooked. Strain the water and keep aside.
  
• Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked vegetables.
• When the mixture begins to boil, add one cup of sour curd and remove from heat.
• Take care not to boil the mixture once you add the curd.
• Season with curry leaves in coconut oil.

Avial is best when accompanied with hot rice, sambar and pappadam. Will update with a pic soon :)