Hemant Bhanoo's Awesome Methi Chicken (Tandoori Style)
Hemant Bhanoo sent me his excellent recipe for Methi Chicken:
Ingredients:
- chicken breasts
- grated ginger
- dhanya (corriander) powder : about 1tsp per chicken breast
- jeera (cumin) powder : about 1/4 tsp per chicken breast
- plain yoghurt : about 1-2 tblsp per chicken breast
- dried methi (fenugreek) leaves : about 1/2 tblsp per chicken breast.
- salt and red chilli powder.
Garnish:
- onion cut into rings
- lime
wash and cut chicken into cubes, and place in a baking dish. using a fork, stab the chicken pieces repeatedly (from all sides).
As you add each of the following ingredients; rub them into the chicken using your fingertips.
- copious amounts of grated ginger
- spoon on the yoghurt and
- sprinkle on the dhanya+jeera powder, and the methi leaves.
- sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder to taste.
You want to make sure the yoghurt is mixed well with the spices. You also want to rub the yoghurt/spices into the chicken as well as possible with your fingertips (the fork-stabbing helps you rub spices into the chicken).
If you have time, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge to marinate for a few hours (it should be okay to leave it for upto 24+ hours)
If not, cover with aluminium foil and put in an oven preheated to about 350.
after about 20-25 minutes, remove the dish and turn the chicken pieces. The yoghurt might have separated slightly to leave some water in the dish. That's okay.
When the chicken feels like it's almost done (use the stabbing-fork to test), then put back into the oven for about 10 minutes without the alumnium foil. This will give it some color, and possibly dry up some of the water.
squeeze some lime on the onion/chicken when serving.
PS: To make a pretty tasty chicken curry (if you prefer that consistency), you can add some oil in a wok (there should be enough oil to coat the onions) and fry up some finely chopped onions and garlic (about one large onion for one of those 3-breast packets) on medium heat until the onions become translucent. Turn up the heat, and then spoon in some of the yoghurt from the marinade. Let the onions cook a little in the yoghurt. If you fried the onions enough before, you should now start getting towards a pasty consistency. Now throw in the rest of the chicken/marinade and give it a good stir. Once it's all mixed up, lower the heat again and cover + stir occaisionally until the chicken is cooked. As with the baked version, you may want to leave uncovered for a while if the gravy is too watery.