July 9, 2008

Chicken Tikka & a Winner's Ribbon!!

We are not experts on the grill! That was once again proved on the 4th Of July weekend, when I decided that we would try our hands at grilling again! But this time I chose Tandoori delicacies as our food. So a lot of work went into it for marination and prepping the meat. We planned ahead as to how we would light the charcoal and how long we will wait etc. We lit the coal successfully and waited for the time specified on the instructions. I set out to do the cooking whereas JM and the lil one were walking around taking pictures. This time I thought I was super patient and allowed a long time for the food to get cooked. After the long wait, these tikkas looked perfect and so I served them and saw that it wasnt cooked on the inside! JM was disappointed. He was saying if we cant eat grilled food then and there, what was the point of grilling!! Anyways, since the recipe actually had instructions on baking in the oven, I came back home and popped them in the oven. Within 15 minutes, I had beautifully cooked chicken tikkas and tandoori chicken, all hot and delicious from the oven. I will post the pictures and recipes of the Tandoori Chicken and Paneer tikkas shortly. So if you are an expert on grilling, try these on your grill, otherwise trust me, the oven baked ones taste just as good, if not better!! It sure was deeelicious!! You can use these tikkas to make tikka masala too! And the pictures JM took, I loved them!! :-) Enjoy!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Skinless chicken breasts - 1 lb 2 oz (500g)
Wedges of lemon - for garnish

Marinade:

Paprika - 1/2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 2 tbsp
Tandoori food coloring - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Garlic cloves - 4, roughly chopped
Ginger - 2" piece, roughly chopped
Cilantro leaves - 1/2 cup, chopped
Thick plain yoghurt - 1/2 cup


Method:

For the marinade, blend all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth or chop the garlic, ginger and coriander leaves more finely and mix with the rest of the marinade ingredients.

Season with salt, to taste.

Put the chicken cubes in a bowl with the marinade and mix thoroughly.

Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.

Heat the oven to 400 F.

Thread the chicken pieces onto four metal skewers and put them on a metal rack above a baking tray.

Roast, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and bowned around the edges.

Serve with wedges of lemon.

Source: The Food Of India by Priya Wickramasinghe.


Tips:

  1. I only chopped the ginger, garlic and cilantro finely before adding to the marinade.
  2. I didnt use paprika, but only chilly powder and red food coloring.


As many of you know, I participated in the Great Cooks Community: Kid Friendly Cooking event and had won the third place. I would like to thank everybody who showed their support by voting for my entry : Black Forest Cake. I received the third place winner's ribbon yesterday, and would be more than happy to show it to everyone. Some friends were interested enough to ask me about the competition even after the voting was over. Once again a big thanks to friends and family who supported me whole-heartedly.



I am sending the tikkas to the "Eat Healthy Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food.

Swiss National Day - Red, white or Swiss

I am also sending this to the "Swiss National Day" event at 1x umrühren bitte. See you tomorrow with a new recipe! Have a nice day!!

28 comments:

FH said...

Congratulations Sweetie pie, you deserved the first place if you ask me!:))

Chicken Tikka looks yum, good one for kids and adults too. I will be on break tomorrow, see you in Sept. Hugs!:)

Trisha needs to go to University today for ID photo, leaving in few hrs!

ranji said...

looks supers da...loved it....mouth watering:)..and presentation is mind blowing...congrats on ur 3rd place....hope u get 1st place next time:)...

Cham said...

Love tandoori for grilling looks perfect :) Congrats on ur ribbon, sure u gonna reach 1 rst place Dear!

Laavanya said...

Congratulations JZ! :)

I often make paneer tikkas in the oven.. yummy! Can't wait to see your version.

Anonymous said...

The Chicken Tikka looks good! And congratulations on getting the third place!

www.zaiqa.net

Medhaa said...

Congratulations, Tikka looks great

Sailaja said...

Congratulations. Lovely tikka.

I made the Paneer Tikka last week .Will post soon.

Srikitchen said...

chicken tikka... thatz my favourite. i love it. whenever i visit restaurants, i order for this tikka. can u have my order for chicken tikka
? can u send it to my table for lunch dear?

Congrats on ur award

Sujatha said...

Congrats, JZ dear! You very well deserve it! And I'm so hungry after seeing your chikken tikkas! Very appetizing :)

Trupti said...

Hey JZ Chicken Tikka looks very mouth watering. I love chicken tikka but never tried at home. But this time I will try it & will let you know.

Congratulaitons on the Award.

Uma said...

Wow, Congrats on winning! Beautiful ribbon!

bee said...

congratulations.

Dori said...

Congratulations on your award! The Chicken looks so good, I love grilled food!!!

bha said...

Congrats for that winner ribbon....:)

The tikkas look simply awesome....the color is perfect

sunita said...

Congrats...btw, I make my tikkas in the oven too :-)

Unknown said...

Hi JZ !! Oh my God..Chicken Tikka is so tempting.. I will try this out once I move to my new apartment.. And Congrats!! U r getting so many awards these days.. hah.. hats off to JM.. His photography is awesome.. My love to lil LJ.

Keep it up sweetie.. !! U rock !

Sum Raj said...

congrates jz....chicken tikka looks tempting and coulourful...all would luv to have it...amazing recipe.... plz think of me while having a bit..

Unknown said...

The tikkas looks lipsmacking and the pictures are great.
Congrat on getting the award JZ.

Unknown said...

Congrats JZ:) You rock:) That chicken tikka kabab looks so juicy and yum:) Blackforest cake looks perfect:)

Illatharasi said...

Congrats JZ!!!

Your tikkas are pulling me;) perfect picture:)

Srivalli said...

that tikka looks awesome..really yummy..& pictures too...congrats on the award...

notyet100 said...

looks delicious,..congrats..for the ribbon...

Rachel said...

Congrats on the ribbon!! You deserve it..as for the chicken tikkas..they look awesome as always!!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on winning the ribbon. These chicken tikkas look so yummy!

Gaurav said...

Congrats on the ribbon ...the tikkas look perfect and yummy...nice color.

zorra said...

But now your experts on the grill! Looks delicious. Thank you for your participation in Swiss National Day.

Tarveen said...

Hey Jeena..This recipe looks great...I am surely going to try it :-)

Tarveen said...

Hey congratulations for the award....I somehow missed reading it yesterday....chicken tikka looks so easy and all the ingredients are readily available in my kitchen :-)