When you first move out of your parent’s house and start to live alone, you are confronted with the first necessary life skill – learning how to cook. It is funny how easily, in the normal Indian household, we take our mothers, grandmothers and housemaids for granted. It’s only after I had to toil in the kitchen every other day for 2 hours after 5 hours of classes that I found a completely new level of respect for the so-called regular household chores. It is indeed amazing how these people churn out 3-4 dishes in the matter of an hour maintaining that humble smile on their faces, as if it’s no tall feat. So, even though this post is meant for the lazy bums, for all the homecooks reading this (or not) – YOU HAVE MY UTMOST RESPECT. If you are one, then this recipe is to ease your labour a teeny tiny bit while still keeping your chef badge on.
Now it’s only fit that this recipe was handed down to me by my mother, who besides using her hands to deliver babies is now using them to churn out easy dishes in the kitchen. Since we both struggle with time and patience, we are both on the constant lookout to find recipes that will fulfil my nutritional requirements without much effort and leave me enough time to bake desserts. Without further play of words, I will get to the recipe.
Note: The instructions may seem to consists of unusually long sentences if you’re one of those who just skim articles to find the actual recipe (I am one of those too). But have a little patience, and I promise to humour you! In case you’re still not convinced, the words in bold should be an easy way out.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2.2 lb (~ 1 Kg) chicken thighs (or breasts) cut into pieces
- 1 1/2 tablespoon methi powder*
- 2 tablespoon coriander powder*
- 2 tablespoon black pepper*
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup curd/plain yogurt
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2-3 green chillies
- Ginger-garlic paste
- Kasuri methi (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1
I feel cooking is more of a science than art, and naturally, I love how every step in the way affects a dish rather than following instructions blindly. To master Indian dishes, it’s so very important to understand each inidividual spice and the flavour it imparts to the dish. Or else you’ll find yourself adding all the common spices till you end up making the same kind of curry no matter what you’re cooking with. If you’re a newbie and you want to prevent that, take some time to learn the nuances of each spice – their aroma and their taste. If you’re a pro at this, leave some tips in the comments!
Moving on, the first step to make Methi chicken comprises of making a paste. I go the easier route and combine methi powder, coriander powder and pepper in roughly a 1:2:2 ratio. If you have a mortar and pestle and love freshly ground spices, you can use methi seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns to make the spice paste instead. You can add more methi (as I often do), but it will impart a sweeter taste to your dish. Once you have the spices in place, mix them with curd and coat the chicken pieces with the marinade.
Step 2
Q: How does marination increase flavour?
Remember how we meats are good sources of proteins? The raw toughness of meat is related to the collagen and elastin fiber content in its connective tissues. The way to tenderize meat is to attack these two. But how?
- You can apply slow heat. Heat gradually breaks down the collagen proteins to soluble gelatin that gives it the tender mouthfeel. But hey, it’s time-consuming, and we cannot pay so much for gas!
- Use marination. Marination can be of two kinds – acidic and enzymatic. While acids like lemon juice, vinegar or wine fall in the first category, common enzymatic marinades include papaya and ginger. I wouldn’t bore you by going into details of how these work, but the key takeaway would be – none of these might tenderize meat the way you want!
What?! What was that long read for, then? Well..they work, they work, but only under certain conditions. Acidic marinades operate by denaturing proteins to allow more moisture, but if left long enough after the proteins are denatured, they start to toughen up the meat. Enzymatic marinades, on the other hand, may work all too well and make the meat mushy. That’s why they tend to work better with tough cuts of red meat than slender cuts of chicken.
So, what did recipe developers come up with as a solution?
YOGURT!
Yogurt is mildly acidic, which gives it the benefits of the acidic marinades. But due to its mild nature, the reactions occur much more slowly not causing meat to harden up even if left for longer periods of time. Yogurt also adds moisture and can hold together seasonings, thanks to its thickness. So when drop those chicken pieces in the oven, you will not get the usual golden brown crispy exterior, but a much juicy, tender meat.
TL; DR: Marinating your chicken in yogurt works wonders! (Indian curd may be even better, since it’s slightly more acidic.)
Leave the marinated chicken for 3-4 hours, or leave it overnight if you’re starting on the recipe at 1 a.m like me.
Step 3
Once you’re ready to cook, thinly slice up an onion trying to avoid those tears as much as you can. Or you can secretly avail this opportunity to let those hidden emotions flow. After the emotional purge(?), fry those onions in the oil you just heated up. Once they become a little softer and turn translucent, add in chopped green chillies. In case you don’t get those around you, you can poorly compensate by adding chilli powder. A dollop of ginger-garlic paste is up next. Beware, that thing spatters! Keep fiddling with the mixture in the pan till the raw aroma of ginger and garlic disappears.
Step 4
Add your marinated chicken. The lovely coat of yogurt will ensure that the dairy comes in contact with the hot surface before the sugar, preventing caramelization. Toss the chicken around till the pink colour indicating the raw meat starts to get replaced with a fried look. Then cover and cook for 10-15 mins, stirring the pan once in a while.
Step 5
The spices you had added in the marinade should be enough to flavour your chicken, but if you feel something is missing, now is the best time to add. The chicken should have released enough water, so you needn’t add extra. I prefer this to be a thicker curry to be had with chappatis (rotis) or tortillas, but if you want a more liquidy curry for rice, suit yourself with the water.
Note: My roommate tried the recipe and since her methi powder was different from mine, the chicken turned out to be somewhat bitter. If that’s the case with you, add a little milk to dilute out the tatse. A pinch of sugar won’t do harm either.
Step 6
Indian cooking is all about taking a spoonful of your dish and tasting it repeatedly till you get the spices right. Granted, my grandmom never ate chicken but still made amazing chicken dishes, but not all of us are that gifted. Once you have your desires taste and consistency, turn the gas off. Sprinkle some (semi)fresh coriander or dried-up kasuri methi leaves and wait for people to kiss your hands.
Bon apetite!