Fusion Meal with Achari Chicken

Achari Chicken is not an invention in itself, though I have added my own personal touch to the list of ingredients and method. My take on Achari Chicken calls for chips and a salad as accompaniment and thats where the fusion comes in. The recipe for the main course is long and elaborate compared to most of the main course recipes here; however, it is most certainly worth the effort.
The dessert is something that I thought up on my own, the best part of the recipe is the low fat and somewhat low sugar in it. The 'toffeed' walnuts are an essential part of it and the dessert will taste quite quite bland without it,  In any case, this dessert is like a shrikhand with a heavy English accent :)

7a) Achari Chicken

 

Stage I:  

Ingredients:

500 Gms chicken (you can go with leg pieces or drum sticks for best results)

Ingredients

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

Salt to taste (I would go with a conservative flat teaspoon of salt or even slightly less, best to adjust the salt towards the end)

1 ½ tsp vinegar

1 ½ tsp mustard oil

 Method:

Trim as much of the fat as is possible from the pieces of chicken, wash and either pat dry or leave for a short while for the excess moisture to drain or dry off.

Place the chicken in a wide bottomed  bowl (for even marinating)

Mix all of the ingredients of the marinade and rub into the chicken.

Cover and leave for a minimum of 3 – 4 hours in the refrigerator.

I would prepare the chips for frying during the period that the chicken is marinating.

Stage II

(step a): 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Mustard oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp onion seeds

1 ½ tsp fennel

2 large onions (or three small to medium sized ones) finely sliced

¼  teaspoon fenugreek seeds(methi)

1 tsp Kasturi Methi

Method:

Take all the ingredients

Heat the mustard oil in a wide pan till smoking, switch off the fire and wait for the oil to cool enough to not burn the seeds that you are about to put into it.

Switch on the fire and add the mustard seeds first, as soon as they show signs of spluttering, add the onion and fennel seeds.

Reduce the heat to low and add the onion slices and the fenugreek seeds (I do this because the fenugreek seeds tend to burn very quickly and so adding it with the onions allows for better control over them)

Crumble the Kasturi methi leaves and add them.

Cook on low fire till the onions turn a bit glassy, but not limp.

Remove the pan from the fire and take the onions and spice mixture out from the pan and keep aside.

(stepb)

Inredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 – 3 dried red chillies

1 flat tbsp ginger paste

1 flat tbsp garlic paste

½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 ½ cups of water

2 small tomatoes, skinned and grated

Juice of half a lime

1 tsp mustard oil

Chopped coriander for garnish (optional)

 

Method:

There ought to be adequate oil left in the pan, if not add a few teaspoons.

Heat oil to just short of smoking, lift from the fire and put in the cumin seeds. (Lifting the pan off the fire reduces the chances of the cumin burning)

Add the dried red chillies and place back on the fire

Add the ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder and the Kashmiri chilli powder.

Stir (adding a touch of water if you like, to prevent the spice from sticking to the pan or burning) on low heat till the raw smell has gone.

Add the chicken pieces and cook, flipping sides, till they are sealed.

Pour in the water, bring to boil, cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or till chicken is cooked through. Flip the chicken pieces over at least once in between this process to ensure even cooking.

Add the grated tomato and the onion and whole spice mix (which you had kept aside), cook on low heat for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Take the pan off the fire, add the mustard oil and the lime juice, give it a good stir.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, if using.

7b) Garlic Flavoured Finger Chips

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large potatoes per head

8 – 10 pods of garlic

Salt

Water

Oil for deep frying

Chat masala

(A fair bit of patience)

Method:

Take a large pan add a generous amount of salt, say 1 ½ to 2 tsp, whole pods of garlic (with skin intact)

Set to boil.

Peel the potatoes and cut into fingers, try your best to keep all the pieces to the same size.

Place the fingers of potato in a bowl of water to prevent discoloration.

Once the water comes to a rolling boil, put in the potato fingers all at once and par boil (this should take a maximum of 5 minutes or so, depends a great deal on the sort of potatoes being used)
Remove the garlic pods, taking care that not traces of it remain stuck to the fingers.

Drain and keep aside for all the water to drain or else the chips will splutter alarmingly when you fry them.

Pour enough oil in a wok or deep enough frying pan for the potato fingers to almost swim in the oil.

Heat the oil and reduce flame to medium, fry the chips (in batches).

Fry till the potatoes look cooked and have turned to a pale golden colour.

Drain extra oil from the fried fingers by placing them on a tissue (kitchen roll, napkin)

Once all the fingers are fried, fry them once again till they develop blisters and turn a rich golden colour (not brown)

Drain the fried chips on tissue once again, sprinkle chat masala (if using) or salt (if required) and serve.

7c)Cucumber and Lettuce Salad

Ingredients:

2 – 3 cucumbers

1/3 cup whole mint leaves

1 ripe but firm tomato

A generous splash of olive oil

½ lime

A tbsp Honey/sprinkling of sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Slice the cucumbers into thin discs (I use a cheese slicer to get really thin slices)

Quarter the tomato and remove the seeds and soft pulpy flesh, leaving only the flesh that is attached to the skin)

Cut the tomato into small (maximum of 1 cm) cubes

Crush the mint leaves - just squeezing them with your hands is adequate 

Mix all three ingredients and keep in the refrigerator.

Mix the olive oil, lime juice and honey and salt and keep aside.

Pour the dressing onto the cucumber, mint and tomato bits and give it a good stir; do this, just before serving as salads with cucumber, lime and salt turn limp and watery before you can say Jack Robinson 

7d)Caramel Yoghurt with Walnuts

For the Yoghurt

Ingredients:

400 Gms Thick Curds (using store bought curds is actually better as the water content is less in these)

2 tbsp Demerara  Sugar

2 tbsp Honey

1 flat tsp Butter

2 – 3 tbsp Warm Water

Method: 

Hang the curds in a clean cheese cloth and let all the whey drain from it, this should take a minimum of 3 – 4 hours. The curds ought to be thick enough to slice with a knife once all the whey has drained.

Add the honey and whip with a balloon (or fork) till it acquires a smooth and glossy texture.

Get your warm water ready at this point.

Heat a pan to medium temperature and pour the sugar in, try and ensure that the sugar is spread more or less evenly and just watch the sugar caramelize. Do not attempt to either stir the sugar or leave the pan for even a second.

As soon as all the sugar has melted, switch the fire off,  add the butter and whisk.

Continue whisking as you pour the warm water in a slow and steady stream.

In case any toffee-ish lumps form, don’t worry at all – just pour in a wee bit more of warm water and whisk away the lump.

The liquid mixture ought to be like a caramel syrup when it cools down to room temperature. Add a little bit more of warm water if the syrup is too sticky or give a brisk boil (be very very very careful when you do this) to reduce it if you have ended up making it too watery.

Once the syrup has cooled down to room temperature, whisk it into the hung curd and honey.

It is a good  idea to check the curds at this stage to see if it is too tart or too sweet – if it is still tart, add some more honey; if it is too sweet, add a tiny bit of yoghurt.

Keep in the refrigerator to cool and set for at least an hour.

For the Walnuts:

Ingredients:

10 – 12 Walnuts

1 tbsp Demerara  sugar

½ tsp butter

Method:

 Break the walnuts into tiny pieces.

Caramelize the demerara sugar in the same way as you did for the syrup.

Add the ½ spoon of butter and the broken bits of walnuts into the pan and stir till all the pieces are coated with caramel and turn toffee like.

Allow to cool and break any pieces that may be stuck together (doesn’t matter much if all the pieces are stuck together, they come apart quite easily)

To serve, place a portion of the caramel yoghurt and sprinkle the walnut toffee bits on top.