Tandoori Chicken 2 Ways with Homemade Tandoori Masala

Ask any Indian what's your favorite grilled chicken dish they will promptly say "Tandoori Chicken" that's how much this is loved by all, now it's not only in India but abroad too, it's become a loved one of all. This leaves amazing taste in your mouth, from the very first bite to the last, "Dil Mange More".

Marinate the chicken, you can bake/broil or even pan fry and they are fantastic. That’s how simple it gets. The ready-made masala is expensive and even for that you have to add  ginger-garlic paste,  yogurt etc., So then why spend money on the package? Just make your own, with all ingredients that use in your daily cooking, it's preservative and gluten free! It’s tasty, simple and you choose the amount of spices as to what goes into the marinade!

Ingredients 
For the Homemade Tandoori Masala 
4 Teaspoons Kashmiri Red Chilly powder
2 Teaspoons Coriander powder
1 Teaspoon Turmeric powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin powder
½  Teaspoon Citric Crystals
1 Teaspoon Salt
½  Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1 Teaspoon Garam masala powder
1 Tablespoon Kasuri Methi
1 Teaspoon Salt  
½ Teaspoon Tandoori color 
For the Pan Fried  Chicken Tandoori Bites
550 grams Boneless Chicken
3 Tablespoons level Tandoori Masala
3 Tablespoons hung curd
2 Tablespoons Heaped Ginger Garlic paste
1 Tablespoon each Vinegar and Lemon juice
1 Teaspoon Salt
A pinch of Tandoori color 
2 Tablespoons Butter or Olive Oil 
For the Baked Tandoori  Chicken Legs 
400 Grams Chicken Legs - I go two
1 Tablespoon HP Sauce - optional
2 Tablespoons Level Tandoori Masala
2 Tablespoons Hung Curd
1½  Tablespoons Heaped Ginger Garlic paste 
1 Tablespoon each Vinegar & Lemon juice
½  Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Butter or Olive Oil 
Method

For the Homemade Tandoori Masala

 Mix all the ingredients well and your homemade tandoori masala is ready. 

Quick and simple isn't it! All ingredients that you have at home. 
For the Pan Fried  Chicken Tandoori Bites

Mix all the ingredients and rub it into the chicken cubes, marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.

Heat a grill pan with oil and fry the chicken cubes are done on one side

then flip and fry till done on the other side.  

Serve with toothpicks on lettuce leaves.

  Enjoy!! 

For the Baked Tandoori  Chicken Legs

Give cuts to the chicken leg, wash and pat dry.

Mix all the ingredients and rub it into the chicken legs, marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 200°C for 10 minutes.   

Place the chicken legs along with the marinade in a lined tray, bake it for 35 - 40 minutes.  

After 20 minutes change the side, just brush it with oil and bake again till done.  If you want this tandoori effect on it then broil it for 5 minutes or more accordingly.  

Enjoy!!  

My Notes

Add HP Sauce to the marinade give a smoky flavor to the tandoori chicken, do add it if you have.

This will last for year or so without loosing it's taste or color if refrigerated, in a zip lock bag.
Labels: Homemade, Masalas, Chicken, Baked, Pan Fried, Gluten free, Healthy, Starters, Kebabs

Spanish Crema Catalana#Foodieextravaganza

Spanish Crema Catalana is a very easy recipe and uses rice flour  instead of corn flour, which, in my opinion, gives the creama catalana a substantially lighter feeling in the mouth. It's a perfect dessert, you will love it.  

Since I do not have a blow torch, broiled the top in oven for just 4 -5 minutes.

Ingredients
500 Ml Whole milk
5 Tablespoons Sugar
5 Egg yolks
1 Whole Orange peel
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla essence
2 Tablespoons Rice Flour
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
Method 
Use a little of milk to dissolve the rice flour and make sure there’s no lumps left.

Put the rest of the milk, the sugar and the egg yolks in the cooking pot you are going to use and  whisk  the ingredients together. Add the rice flour milk and whisk  again to form a smooth liquid. Add the orange peel and the vanilla essence and put the pot on the stove to simmer. Stir continuously (to avoid lumps never stop stirring) with a  spoon until  it comes to a boiling point.  Keep stirring till it thickens a little.  Switch off the flame and continue stirring for a minute more. Remove the orange peel

pour into individual  pots. Let it cool and once tempered cover the pots with cling film  and keep in the fridge for, at least 6-8 hours.

Burn the sugar before serving the “crema” , I spread a tablespoon of brown sugar on top of each and broil it in a preheated oven at 200°C for 4 -5 minutes and it's done.

Serve and enjoy this beautiful dessert!! You will love it's gluten free too. 

Labels : Foodie Extravaganza Party, Spanish, Spain, Milk, Rice flour, Eggs, Sweets & Desserts,  Gluten free

Foodie Extravaganza is a monthly food fest, where a group of bloggers all create and share a recipe around one of the monthly food 'holidays' as detailed in The Nibble. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook pageFoodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.


Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

Check out the other #FoodieExtravaganza recipes this month!

Making Miracles: Classic Creme Brulee
Sneha's Recipe: Spanish Crema Catalana

Sabudana Vada - Vrat

Sabudana Vada is a vrat ka khana.  In major towns like Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Bhopal and Nagpur, it is available as street food and is widely eaten throughout the year. 

It is the dish of choice when an individual observes a "fast" during Shivratri, Navratri, or a similar Hindu religious occasion.  These crunchy vadas simply melt in the mouth… leaving the stomach full while the tongue craves for more.
Makes: 6  Vadas
Ingredients 
1 Cup Sabudana
2 Large Potatoes
3 Tablespoon Roasted Peanut - coarsely powdered
2 Tablespoon Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Cumin seeds
1 Tablespoon Roasted Cumin powder
2 Tablespoon Coriander leaves - finely chopped
2 Green Chilies - finely chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Sugar powder
1 Teaspoon Salt /Sendhav Namak or as per taste
Ghee or Oil for frying
For the Green Coconut Chutney
A handful Each Coriander and Mint leaves
2-3 Green chillies (or as required)
1 ½ Teaspoon Lemon juice

Salt to taste/Sendhav Namak
1/2 Cup Packed Fresh Coconut - grated
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
Salt to taste
Method 
For The Green Coconut Chutney

Grind the coconut, coriander leaves, the mint leaves, green chilies, lemon juice and a little salt, sugar to a fine paste.  Remove in a bowl and refrigerate till needed.
For the VadasWash sabudana 3-4 times and soaked overnight in the water or for 4 -5 hours . Keep water level same as level of sabudana.

Boil and mash the potatoes. Add sabudana and rest of the ingredients. 

Combine everything with your hand.

Divide the mixture into equal portions. Shape each portion into a round and flatten slightly.

Deep-fry the vadas in hot oil until they are golden brown in colour and drain on absorbent paper.

Serve hot with green chutney or any sauce. Have these hot, when cold they are chewy.  

My Notes

Quantity of potatoes should be just sufficient to hold sabudana. 
Do not soak sabudana in too much of water. If its there, drain out excess water from sabudana before mixing with potatoes.

You can even add 2 teaspoons of rice flour while mixing for more crispiness.

Labels : Sabudana, Millets, Vrat, Snacks, Peanuts, Deep Fried, Mashed Potatoes, Vegan, Gluten free,  Street food

Olya Naralachi Karanji / Fresh Coconut Nevries

We East Indians make this for San Jao Cha Sann/St  John feast, which is celebrated on 24th June the proper day or the coming Sunday. 

This is must in my family, my mother and grandmother used to make this every year,  I too make this since my husband love them. This year I decided to take step by step pics, here is my family recipe. You can add more sugar if you want, but for us the sweetness was just right.

This Karanji is  also a traditional Maharashtrian sweet,  usually made  for festive occasions like Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi.  

Olya means fresh, naralachya means coconut,  karanjya is turnovers or nevries,  which means fresh coconut karanji. The shelf live of these are just 3 - 4 days,  for a longer shelf-life you may use dry or desiccated coconut and sugar. 
I, prefer making karanji using fresh coconut for a superior taste. Making these, is quite a time consuming task, but,  if you love these, all the effort is worthwhile. This is one of the most easy recipes, do try preparing karanji this way and let me know how it turned out.

Makes around 9 - 10  Nevries /Karanjies - depending on the amount of filling inside.

Ingredients
For the filling

1 Cup Packed Fresh Grated Coconut
1/4 Teaspoon Heaped Cardamom pods
3 Tablespoons Heaped Sugar

A Pinch of Nutmeg powder

15 Cashewnuts - chopped

1 Tablespoon Golden Raisins/Kismis

1 Teaspoon Ghee/Vegetable Shortening

For the Covering

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1½ Tablespoon Heaped Melted Ghee

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

For frying 

Vegetable Oil as required
 Method

For the filling

In a pan / kadai take ghee, coconut and sugar. Cook on low heat till  melts and the mixture comes together, add the raisins, cashew nuts, cardamom  and nutmeg powder and continue to cook the mixture on low medium heat for a 2 minutes stir continuously, since tends to burn quickly, so do not stop stirring at any given point of time. Once the mixture is dry  take  off the heat and set aside to cool completely.

For the covering

In a thaal/bowl mix  flour, melted ghee and salt, mix well.  Add water as required and knead to a soft, pliable,  smooth dough.  Keep it covered in a moist cloth  for 25 to 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, knead the dough again slightly and make small round balls.

Take one small dough ball. With the help of a rolling pin, roll it flat (same as the size of a poori)

Place a spoonful of the coconut jaggery mixture in the center

Dip your finger into the water and apply on the edge of half the poori. Flod the other edge of the poori, press the edges well to seal the filling inside
Be sure that no air bubbles remain inside. The edges should be tightly sealed or the filling may ooze our during deep frying.

Press the edges using the back of a fork  or a cutter to give it that  design.  Place the filled karanjis on  a plate and cover with  a damp  towel to avoid drying. 

Heat oil for deep frying in a kadhai or deep pan.
Slowly fry the karanjis on low flame till golden brown. Remove on paper towel and let them rest for 20 mins. When cooled down, store in airtight container upto 3 - 4 days. If refrigerated, it can be stored for a few more days.

Enjoy.. these are delicious, I am sure you can't stop at one or two!!
Labels:   Coconut, Fried, Nevries, Karanji, Turnover, Festival , Maharastrian Cuisine, East Indian, Vegan

Mushroom & Green Peas Curry - East Indian Style

This is  a quick and yummy curry, vegan and gluten free.
Ingredients 

200 Grams Button Mushrooms - sliced
½ Cup Fresh Green Peas
1 Large Onion
2 Green Chillies - finely chopped
1 Big Clove Garlic - minced
¼ Cup Tomato Puree
1½ Teaspoon Bottle Masala
1 Veg Stock Cube
½ Teaspoon Sugar
1½ Teaspoon Lemon Juice
2 -3 Tablespoon Oil

Grind  To A Fine Paste

1 Tablespoon Grated Dry Coconut - dry roasted 

2 Cloves Garlic

½” Piece Ginger 

1 Bay leaf

6 Mint Leaves

Method

For the Paste

Dry roast the coconut on a non stick frying pan till light golden ( can use desiccated coconut). Cool and grind this to a fine paste with rest of the ingredients adding just a tablespoon or two of water.

In a kadai heat oil, add minced garlic and fry till it just starts to change color, add chopped onions, green chillies and fry till  onions turn light golden.  Add in the ground paste, bottle masala, tomato puree and 2 tablespoon water,stock cube   saute' till oil separates. Now add the   mushrooms, peas mix well, add a cup of water and cook on low flame till mushrooms and peas are cooked, stirring after every 2 minutes.   Taste for salt, add the sugar and adjust the gravy consistency by adding water accordingly . Bring this to a boil. Switch off the flame, add lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves. 

 Enjoy with chapattis or rice.

Labels : Mushroom, Green Peas, Bottle Masala, Main course, East Indian, Vegan, Gluten free, Vegetarian