Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
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If you have ever bitten into a classic roadside chicken tikka, you would know that nothing beats the taste of the char grilled meat which is slow roasted over a coal fire. A lot of these roadside vendors also use make-shift tandoors fashioned out of barrels. The taste is the same in both.
However, at home, I have access to neither a coal fire nor a tandoor. What I do have is a damn good girdle pan (for grilling) which has always served me well. I use it to cook my tikkas on the stove and trust me; they turn out perfect and taste heavenly.
This is my recipe for
CLASSIC MURG TIKKA (chicken tikka)
INGREDIENTS
½ kg boneless chicken cut into strips/ 1 inch chunks
Bell peppers – red, green and yellow; 1 each (also cut into 1 inch chunks)
2 large red onions – cut into 1 inch chunks and peeled apart.
2 large tomatoes (de-seeded) – cut into 1 inch cubes
Wooden tikka skewers (soaked in cold water for 20-30 minutes, else they may burn on the grill)
Ingredients for the marinade
Salt to taste
½ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp amchoor (dry mango powder)
1 tsp chaat masala
2 tsp kasuri methi
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp tandoori chicken tikka masala (if you do not have this then just increase the garam masala quantity to ¾ tsp.)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp pepper powder
½ tsp ajwain seeds
2 tsp besan (roasted is better)
1 tsp dried mint
Red food colour (few drops, if you need the tandoori colour)
A handful of chopped coriander
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp oil/ butter for marinating and more for grilling
400 gms to half kg of thick curd
METHOD
- In a large mixing bowl add the curd and put in all the marinade ingredients.
- Add 2 tsp of refined or olive oil to the mix.
- Mix all together till you get a smooth paste.
- To the above mix add the chicken, bell peppers, onion and tomatoes.
- Leave the mix to marinate for minimum 2-3 hours in the fridge. This will help the chicken to absorb all the juices of the marinade. Before grilling make sure to take the chicken out of the fridge and keep for a minimum ½ hour outside. Allow the meat to come to room temperature before grilling so that the cooking is even.
- Post marinating, skewer the chicken into barbecue skewers by alternating with the bell peppers, onion and tomatoes.
- Drizzle some butter on top of the tikkas
- Heat your girdle pan and make it really hot. Brush it with oil to ensure that the meat does not stick to it. Note – the pan needs to be sizzling hot so that when you place the tikkas on it, a sizzling sound can be heard.
- After placing your tikkas on the pan lower the heat to minimum and grill for about 10 minutes on each side. Remember to brush on some butter or oil on the tikka when you turn them over. If the sides look undone, then with the help of tongs pick up the tikka and grill on the sides for a minute each.
- Once done, remove and serve hot with mint chutney (get your mint chutney recipe here – https://onsonalstable.com/mint-chutney-condiment/).
