Sunday, October 18, 2009

Lemon Pepper Chicken Burger

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
  • Whole grain bread rolls - 4 servings
  • Romaine lettuce - 4 servings
  • Red onion - sliced
  • Tomato - sliced
  • Sauce:
  • Mayo - 3 tbsp
  • Sweet sour sauce - 2 tbsp
  • Sweet pickle relish - 1 tbsp
  • Hot sauce - 1 tsp
  • Ranch dressing - 1 tbsp
  • Black pepper - 1/2 tsp

  • Chicken Patty:
  • Chicken mince - 500gm (1 lb)
  • Cilantro - 1/2 cup, chopped
  • Spring onions - 1/2 cup, chopped
  • Lemon pepper - 2 tbsp
  • Salt - to taste
  • Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
  • Black pepper - to taste
Methods:
  • 1. Mix in all the ingredients for the chicken patties with your hands thoroughly. Form into patties ( recipe yields 4) and place it on a plate. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it marinade for 2 hours in the fridge.
  • 2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick frying pan. Crank the heat to med-high. Cook the patties one at a time, for 2-3 min on each side. Remove and set aside.
  • 3. Meanwhile, whisk in all the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside for the flavours to develop.
  • 4. Once the patties are cooked, toast the buns on both sides.
  • 5. On the heal (bottom half) of the bun place a dollop of the sauce, top it with a leaf of romaine lettuce, couple of slices of onions and tomatoes finishing with a chicken patty. If you like add a bit more sauce to the inner part of the crown ( top half) of the bun before placing it on top of the patty.
  • 6. Serve. Bon Appétit!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Grilled Chicken Kebab

I love to grill and BBQ. AND I like to do it straight on the fire or charcoal which does create a bit of mess and smoke when it wants to ( which is most of the time!!). Due to these hazards my mom decided to buy an electric grill which desperately needed my magic touch. Thus here are the results......the kebabs turned out so delicious that when I asked my loyal subject ( my little brother) what should I name it, he promptly suggested "pet-bhora kebab" which in English means "Stomach filling kebab". I guess you just have to try it to find out whether his naming for this kebab is perfect or not.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

  • Chicken breast fillet - 1 kg(2 lb), cut into 1 inch thick long strips
  • Naan bread - for 4 servings
  • Tomato - sliced into 1 cm thick rings
  • Onion - sliced into 1 cm thick rings
  • Green capsicums - sliced into 1 cm thick strips

  • Marinade:*
  • Natural Yogurt - 1 cup
  • Garlic cloves - 4-5, mashed/paste
  • Green chilies - 4-5, mashed( depending on heat preference)
  • Lemon juice - juice of half a lrg lemon
  • Ginger - 1.5 cm pc, mashed/paste
  • Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp, powdered/crushed
  • Caraway seeds - 1 tbsp, powdered/crushed
  • Coarse salt - 1 tbsp, crushed
  • Chili flakes - 1 tbsp, crushed
  • Cinnamon stick - 1 inch long pc, crushed
  • Cardamon pods - 2-3, crushed
  • Whole cloves - 2-3, crushed

  • Dipping Sauce:
  • Natural Yogurt - 1 cup
  • Hot sauce - 1 tbsp
  • Ketchup - 1 tbsp
  • Lemon juice - 1 tbsp (freshly squeezed)
  • Salt & pepper - to taste
  • Garlic clove - 1, grated finely
Methods:
  • 1. Blend all the ingredients together for the marinade and marinate the chicken strips for 4 hours refrigerated.
  • 2. Mix in all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, set aside for the flavours to develop. Heat your electric grill or your stove top grill** to maximum.
  • 3. Take the chicken strips out of the fridge half hour before cooking. Mix in 1/2 cup of oil in the chicken strips. Make sure to coat all the pieces evenly.
  • 4. Place the chicken strips side by side on the grill and cook for 3-5min on both side, or till cooked through in few batches. Depending on the type of grill you have the cooking time will vary. If you have an electric grill, it might take shorter time to cook since you can close the clam shell lid and cook on both sides simultaneously.
  • 5. Once all the chicken strips are cooked, place the vegetables or some other vegetables of your choice on the grill and spray some oil and season with salt and pepper, grill for 3-4 min till they get a nice dark grill mark.
  • 6. Once the veggies are done, place the naan breads on the grill and cook for 1 min on each side, this is just to warm up the breads as well as giving them a char grill taste.
  • 7. Serve the chicken kebabs with side of the dipping sauce, grilled veggies and naan. Bon Appétit!
Hints:
  • * I like putting all the ingredients except the lemon juice and yogurt in mortar and pestle and crush it all up together to a paste. It does not need to be a fine paste, I like it pretty coarse. But make sure that you carefully grind all the mustard seeds and anise seeds finely before adding the rest of the ingredients to the mortar.
  • ** If you do not have a grill, you can also bake this in the oven or cook it in out door BBQ .