Tandoori Chicken with Rice and Cilantro Sorta-Chutney (less work than it sounds!)
Tandoori Chicken with Rice and Cilantro Sorta-Chutney (less work than it sounds!)
by Sisakivrin
3 Comments
Sisakivrin
So I’ve been rage-cooking this week for… reasons. My freezer is completely full and I’m out of containers. Thought I’d share one of my favorites! It does require spice cabinet outlay. However, once you’ve got the stuff it will last forever–and you can make up baggies of the spice mix for friends and family as presents. Who doesn’t like Tandoori chicken?! Just add oil, yogurt, onion, and lemon juice when ready to marinate.
The chicken freezes incredibly well. Rice and sauce are fine if defrosted prior to being microwaved on medium. For best microwaving, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces like in the picture.
**CHICKEN**
* 2 t garlic powder * 1 t ginger powder * 1 T Kashmiri chili powder (~$7 on Amazon, using 1 T makes the chicken maybe 3 out of 10 on a heat scale) * 1 t salt * 1 t turmeric (cheap at Trader Joe’s) * 1 t paprika (skippable, it’s mainly for color) * 1.5 t garam masala * 1 T vegetable oil * 1 C plain full-fat Greek yogurt * 2 T lemon juice * 1/2 a medium red onion, roughly chopped * 8-10 pieces dark meat skin-on chicken OR 1.5-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
Mix all marinade ingredients. Add chicken and combine. Marinate 6-24 hours for dark meat OR 2-6 hours for breast meat. Ideally, cook slowly over coals until done. Or (like me) you can use a broiler: place chicken on a roasting pan or other pan that provides drainage. Broil in closest position to heating element, approx. 6 mins per side. A few burned bits are super tasty.
Sisakivrin
For whatever reason it won’t let me put all three recipes in one comment, so here are the rice and sauce recipes:
**RICE**
* 1/2 t vegetable oil * 1 t turmeric * 1/2 t onion powder * 1 C jasmine rice * 5-8 oz dark leafy greens such as spinach or kale (optional)
Wash rice, drain, set aside. Heat oil, turmeric and onion powder over medium heat until fragrant. Add rice and water, cook per package directions. (My method = 1 C washed (wet) rice to 1.5 C water, bring to boil over med-high, stir once, cover, reduce to lowest heat, cook 15 mins, let stand 10 mins, fluff with fork).
If using greens: bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Turn off heat. Either (a) dunk the greens into the water until they’re just tender/wilted, then rapidly drain, or (b) place the greens in a colander and pour boiling water over them until tender/wilted. Run wilted/blanched greens under cold water. Pick up the incredibly shrunken greens with your hands (it’s literally a handful at this point) and squeeze out water.
Place log of drained greens on cutting board and slice thinly. Toss with cooked rice.
**SAUCE/TOPPINGS**
Want to chop up some red onion, cilantro, and lemon wedges and call it a day? Totally fine, will taste great. Or you can make this (approximate and extremely flexible) sauce.
Combine in blender:
* 2 bunches cilantro, leaves and tender stems only (just pick out the big ones–no need to get fussy) * 1-3 deseeded green chilis, e.g. jalapenos, roughly chopped * 1 C loosely packed mint leaves, roughly chopped (expensive, I usually skip) * 1 small clove garlic, minced * 1 t ginger, minced (or get the pre-portioned frozen ginger cubes from Trader Joe’s or some groceries) * 1/2 ROASTED cumin SEEDS (check the “Hispanic” section for cheap cumin seeds and then roast them or they’ll be super bitter and ruin the entire sauce. Leaving cumin out is far preferable to using unroasted cumin. * 1 t sugar * 2 T lemon juice (I use more, but I’m sort of a citrus freak) * Water or plain yogurt, adding a bit at a time until desired consistency is reached (I made it too runny this batch, should be thicker than pictured)
Stir in finely chopped red onion as desired, spoon over portions.
JilJilJigaJiga
Given you use yogurt for marination, I’m wondering about when the chicken would dry out. Do you freeze the cooked chicken?
3 Comments
So I’ve been rage-cooking this week for… reasons. My freezer is completely full and I’m out of containers. Thought I’d share one of my favorites! It does require spice cabinet outlay. However, once you’ve got the stuff it will last forever–and you can make up baggies of the spice mix for friends and family as presents. Who doesn’t like Tandoori chicken?! Just add oil, yogurt, onion, and lemon juice when ready to marinate.
The chicken freezes incredibly well. Rice and sauce are fine if defrosted prior to being microwaved on medium. For best microwaving, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces like in the picture.
**CHICKEN**
* 2 t garlic powder
* 1 t ginger powder
* 1 T Kashmiri chili powder (~$7 on Amazon, using 1 T makes the chicken maybe 3 out of 10 on a heat scale)
* 1 t salt
* 1 t turmeric (cheap at Trader Joe’s)
* 1 t paprika (skippable, it’s mainly for color)
* 1.5 t garam masala
* 1 T vegetable oil
* 1 C plain full-fat Greek yogurt
* 2 T lemon juice
* 1/2 a medium red onion, roughly chopped
* 8-10 pieces dark meat skin-on chicken OR 1.5-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
Mix all marinade ingredients. Add chicken and combine. Marinate 6-24 hours for dark meat OR 2-6 hours for breast meat. Ideally, cook slowly over coals until done. Or (like me) you can use a broiler: place chicken on a roasting pan or other pan that provides drainage. Broil in closest position to heating element, approx. 6 mins per side. A few burned bits are super tasty.
For whatever reason it won’t let me put all three recipes in one comment, so here are the rice and sauce recipes:
**RICE**
* 1/2 t vegetable oil
* 1 t turmeric
* 1/2 t onion powder
* 1 C jasmine rice
* 5-8 oz dark leafy greens such as spinach or kale (optional)
Wash rice, drain, set aside. Heat oil, turmeric and onion powder over medium heat until fragrant. Add rice and water, cook per package directions. (My method = 1 C washed (wet) rice to 1.5 C water, bring to boil over med-high, stir once, cover, reduce to lowest heat, cook 15 mins, let stand 10 mins, fluff with fork).
If using greens: bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Turn off heat. Either (a) dunk the greens into the water until they’re just tender/wilted, then rapidly drain, or (b) place the greens in a colander and pour boiling water over them until tender/wilted. Run wilted/blanched greens under cold water. Pick up the incredibly shrunken greens with your hands (it’s literally a handful at this point) and squeeze out water.
Place log of drained greens on cutting board and slice thinly. Toss with cooked rice.
**SAUCE/TOPPINGS**
Want to chop up some red onion, cilantro, and lemon wedges and call it a day? Totally fine, will taste great. Or you can make this (approximate and extremely flexible) sauce.
Combine in blender:
* 2 bunches cilantro, leaves and tender stems only (just pick out the big ones–no need to get fussy)
* 1-3 deseeded green chilis, e.g. jalapenos, roughly chopped
* 1 C loosely packed mint leaves, roughly chopped (expensive, I usually skip)
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* 1 t ginger, minced (or get the pre-portioned frozen ginger cubes from Trader Joe’s or some groceries)
* 1/2 ROASTED cumin SEEDS (check the “Hispanic” section for cheap cumin seeds and then roast them or they’ll be super bitter and ruin the entire sauce. Leaving cumin out is far preferable to using unroasted cumin.
* 1 t sugar
* 2 T lemon juice (I use more, but I’m sort of a citrus freak)
* Water or plain yogurt, adding a bit at a time until desired consistency is reached (I made it too runny this batch, should be thicker than pictured)
Stir in finely chopped red onion as desired, spoon over portions.
Given you use yogurt for marination, I’m wondering about when the chicken would dry out. Do you freeze the cooked chicken?