Smoked Coriander Chicken

Over the weekend I was feeling a bit adventurous in the kitchen, which could be due to the holiday season. After going back and forth between various dishes, I settled on smoked coriander chicken. 

The uniqueness of this dish is coriander cooked with the dhungar (smoked) method. I have not had many protein Indian dish in which the primary spice was coriander. I must say that it tastes pretty good. Dhungar on the hand, is used in many of the Indian dishes from rice, veggies, to meats. My mom often makes dhungar rice dish called dar chawal. It gives a wonderful smoky flavor, as well as a fantastic aroma to the dish.

Prep time: < 20 min
Cook time: ~30 min

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs chicken (I used thighs and drumsticks)
1 whole onion
3 tomatoes
1 serrano chili
2 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
4 tbsp whole coriander
2 tbsp cashews
2 tbsp tomato paste 
2 tbsp jeera
2 tbsp grated coconut
~3 black peppercorn
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
Cilantro for garnish

For Dhungar
1 charcoal
small piece of foil
1 tsp ghee

Method:

In a pan add chicken, salt, 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, chopped onion, 2 chopped tomatoes, chili slit halfway. Bring this to boil (chicken should be almost done).

Grind tomato, coriander, cashews, tomato paste, jeera, grated coconut, and 1/2 tbs ginger-garlic paste into a fine paste. 

Heat oil in a pan on high, add black peppercorn, cloves, and cinnamon stick. Transfer the paste and saute for few minutes. Then transfer the chicken mixture slowly, combining it with the paste. Let this cook for minutes.

Once the chicken is done, turn off the stove, the next step is dhungar. Heat the charcoal on stove until it is red. In the meantime take a piece of foil make it into a small bowl shape and place it in the middle of the cooked chicken dish. Once the coal is ready place on top of the foil, pour ghee, and close the lid tight. Let this sit for 15-30 minutes until the smoke clears.  It is important that you do not open the lid until the smoke has cleared otherwise you will loose the dhungar taste.

Open the lid right before serving, and garnish with cilantro. The dish can be serve with rice, parathas, phulkas, or roti.

Homemade Burgers

The last few months have flown by, with a  new job (yay!) and with other things going on personally it has been hectic to say the least. And I have missed blogging! Now that I finally feel settled in, hopefully I will be more active in my cooking-journey as well-posting more new recipes in the coming year.

Last weekend, after a few months of hiatus in the kitchen, I decided to make homemade burgers with an Indian twist.  The burgers are fairly easy to make, and the only time consuming part is making the patties.

Prep time: ~15min
Makes 7 burger patties

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1tsp garam masala
4 slices of dried Bread
1 bunch Cilantro
1/2 tsp Tandoori Masala
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the bread by running it under water, and squeeze the excess water out.  Add the bread to the food processor with some ground beef and mix it together. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add rest of the meat, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, tandoori masala, salt, finely chopped cilantro, drizzle olive oil (2 tbsp). Mix all the ingredients together.  Once everything is blended well, section off the meat and start forming patties.

In a nonstick pan add a drizzle of olive oil, and cook patties for about 2-3 minutes on each side. 

That's it!  Now you can assemble the burger with your favorite condiments and fixings.