Tandoori Chicken

'Tandoori Chicken' is an Indian style BBQ chicken.Traditionally prepared in 'Tandoor',an underground jar shaped clay oven,in which food is cooked over a hot charcoal fire,believed to have originated from Persia.Oven can be heated to high temperatures ,delicious dishes like 'Tandoori chicken' ,Naan or tandoori Roti can be made.Tandoori chicken is a dish that originated in India. The chicken is marinated in a yogurt seasoned with either prepared tandoori masala, traditionally cooked at high temperatures in an tandoor oven but can also be prepared on a conventional oven or BBQ.Check out the Interesting story about Tandoori chicken here .Here goes an easy recipe....
Ingredients..
6 pieces Chicken Drumsticks
1Tsp Ginger- garlic and green chilli paste
1/2 Cup Yogurt
Salt, to taste
1 Tsp Red chilli powder
1 Tsp Paprika
1/2 Tsp Garam masala Or MDH Tandoori masala powder
(I use a blend of 1 nutmeg, 1 1/2 tsp green cardamom pods, 4 " cinnamon sticks, 1 Tbsp whole cloves, 1 tsp peppercorns & 1 tsp cumin seeds all ground together )
1/2 Tsp Coriander powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin powder
1 Dash Lemon juice
Method..
Remove the skin from chicken and wash them thoroughly.Prepare a marinate by mixing all the ingredients except chicken pieces in a bowl.Marinate chicken pieces in this mixture ,cover it with plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator for minimum 2 hours.If possible keep it over night.Take out from refrigerator ,one hour before cooking it, bring it to room temperature.Preheat the oven for 375 F ,place the chicken pieces in low rack for about 20 min,then turn over and cook for another 10 min,so that they cook well on both sides.If chicken pieces are getting dry,baste it with little ghee.Serve hot with Naan .

Baigan Ka BHURR-taah

Although from south,i prefer having northindian dishes in restaurants mostly panner or chole dishes .Frankly speaking ,haven't heard about this bringal dish till my marriage.This is the second dish i got from my 's' cooking class,first one was palak dal.He used to cook all these while he was a bachelor...now interested in criticising my cooking...Now coming Baigan Ka Bharta...or BHURR-taah (pronounced like) ..here ingredients are roughly mashed while doing dish, roasted bringal with smokey spicy flavour,basically a Bhihari dish.Even bringal haters like me would like this.First time after making this,i couldn't identify whether it has bringal in it...I actually made this for sending to Rci bihar event,i couldn't make it within time.Now this is my entry to Suganya of Tasty Palettes for her wonderful Vegan Ventures this month.

Ingredients

Bringal/Egg plant 1 big
Onion 1 finely chopped
Cooked Green peas 1/3cup
Green chilli 2 slit
Garlic 2 clove chopped
Ginger 1 inch size minced
Tomato 1 finely chopped
Garam masala powder 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2tsp
Red chilli powder 1tsp
Cumin powder 1/2tsp
Coriender powder 1/2tsp
Lemon juice 1/2tsp
Oil 2tsp
Salt
Cilantro
Method

• Firstly prick the egg plant nicely with fork all over.Roast it in open flame ,its gives the nice smokey flavour or broil/bake it in bake oven for about 20 mins,till the skin starts charring.Turn it to another side after 10 mins so that its evenly cooked.i usually bake coz roasting in direct flame is bit complicated.Once its roasted,let it cool down for a while.Peel off the skin and mashed it roughly with fork.If u need a nice paste,blend it.
• Heat up oil ,add chopped ginger-garlic ,saute for a min.Throw down chopped onions and green chillies,fry for another few more mins till they are golden brown.
• Add red chili powder,cumin powder,coriander powder,masala powder,turmeric powder saute for a min.Add chopped tomatoes,cook it they are soft.
• Now add mashed egg plants and cooked green peas with 2 tbsp water ,cook in low flame for about 10 mins covered,so that all blend together.


• Stir occasionally.Remove from flame ,add lemon juice and garnish with chopped cilantro.Goes well with chappati or naan.