Spicy Roasted Chicken Drumsticks

Spicy roasted chicken drumsticks is another chicken recipe which i prepared on a lazy afternoon. It is simple, yet delicious and can be prepared easily without much preparation. The chicken is pan roasted with minimum oil, and hence it is low in fat. Juice of lemon and spices in tandoori masala makes this absolutely finger-licking !!

Ingredients:

Chicken drumsticks - 4 pcs
Lemon - 1
Salt to taste
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Hung curd - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tbsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tbsp
Tandoori masala powder - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - Handful

Procedure:

1. Remove the skin from chicken drumsticks. Wash and clean it thoroughly and make deep slits on it.

2. First marinade the chicken with lemon juice, salt, red chilly powder and ginger-garlic paste for 10 minutes.

3. Now add pepper powder, curd, turmeric powder,kasoori methi, cumin powder, coriander powder and 1 tbsp tandoori masala to the chicken and marinate for 20 more minutes.

4. Now put the chicken pieces in a pressure cooker, and cook them up to 3 whistles without adding any water.The stock of chicken is enough to cook it.

5. Heat oil in a pan and add 1 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds. When mustard splutters add handful of curry leaves and roast it well.

6. Now add cooked chicken pieces along with the stock and cook it by constantly flipping it. The spices in stock coats the chicken and it slowly evaporates. Continue to roast the chicken further until it is fried well on all sides.

7. When the chicken is roasted well, add a tbsp of tandoori masala and saute well. Let the masala coat the roasted chicken. Continue to cook for few more minutes.

Serve the spicy chicken drumsticks as an appetizer with lemon wedges and onion slices !!!

Chicken Curry

Chicken curry can be prepared in numerous ways. This is traditional chicken curry prepared by my Mom, and it is one of my all time favorite. We usually relish this with dosa, idli or rice.

Ingredients:

Chicken - Around 600 gms
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped
1/2 portion of small tomato finely chopped
Cashew nuts - 12
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil / Ghee - 1 tbsp

For Green Masala:

Coriander leaves - 12  ( along with stem)
Green chillies - 3
Garlic cloves - 2
Ginger - A small piece
Cinnamon - small piece
Clove - 2
Cardamom  - 1
Cumin seeds - 0.5 tsp
Saunf - 0.25 tsp
Poppy seeds - 0.5 tsp
White sesame seeds - 0.5 tsp

For Coconut Masala:

Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Red Chillies - 2
Tamarind - A small piece
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Clean and wash the chicken thoroughly and marinate it with little turmeric and salt for 15 minutes.

2. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water for 1 hr. Then grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside.

3. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under green masala to a smooth paste.

4. For preparing coconut masala paste heat oil in a pan and add coriander seeds. Fry it for few seconds and then add dry red chillies. Now add chopped onion and fry till it become slightly brown. Then add grated coconut and fry it well till it turns slightly brown ( I have used desiccated coconut as i didn't have stock of grated coconut ). Make sure not to burn the spices. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.

Now grind all these fried ingredients and tamarind to a smooth paste by adding little water.

5. Now heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the finely chopped onion till it turns golden brown. Now add the tomato and saute for few more minutes. Add little salt to fasten the process of cooking onions.

6. Add the green masala to fried onion-tomato mixture. Saute for few minutes till the raw smell of green masala goes off. Now add the marinated chicken and required amount of salt to this and mix well.Cook the chicken up to 2 whistles in the pressure cooker or till the chicken is completely cooked. If required add little water before pressure cooking the chicken.

7. Now add the ground coconut paste to the cooked chicken and bring the mixture to boil. Let the curry boil for few minutes till the raw smell of the coconut paste goes off.

8. Finally add the cashew paste to the curry and simmer for few minutes. Adjust the salt and consistency of the gravy as required.

Chicken curry is now ready to serve. Happy eating :)