Hi guys!
Lately, my girlfriend and I have been trying to eat more balanced meals considering meals in India are generally considered protein deficient. Eating more protein meant having to add more fiber, which made cooking a bit of a hassle while managing chores and a full-time job. We finally made the decision to hire a cook 3 months ago and there’s been no turning back.
While she’s great at what she does and we appreciate the food she makes, sometimes we do crave foods that are more familiar to us. This morning, I woke up with a hankering for the wonderful Lemon Chicken that my girlfriend used to make on lazy cook days. It’s so good and so low effort, you’d never guess how easy it is to whip it up, whenever the mood strikes.
My girlfriend was generous enough to give me the recipe- to cook up and to share with the rest of you over here. So, let’s make some zesty Lemon Chicken!
Ingredients:
- 1kg Curry-cut Chicken pieces
- 1/2 Cup Almond- Cashew Paste (Blend 10 soaked almonds and 10 soaked cashews together)
- 1½ tbsp Ginger- Garlic paste (Homemade ones are so much more fragrant, but can be substituted with store-bought)
- 1tsp Freshly ground pepper (Add/reduce as per spice tolerance)
- 1½ tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- 1 tsp + 1tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 cup Whisked curd
- 1-2 tbsp Butter
- 1" Fresh Ginger
- 10-12 Fresh Garlic
- 7 Green Chilies (2 in the marinade, 5 to sauté)
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves)
- 1 tsp Garam Masala (Blended whole spice powder made from cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, bay leaves, etc.)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Oil
Procedure:
- Soak 10 almonds and 10 cashews in boiling water. After 10 minutes, blend it along with 2 green chillies.
|
|
|
|---|
- Wash the chicken and marinate it with:
1½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1½ tbsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Salt
1 cup of Whisked Curd
The Almond-Cashew-Chilli paste from the previous step.
- While it marinates, finely chop 10-12 cloves of garlic, pound 1” of ginger into a paste and slit 4-5 chillies.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, add 1tbsp of oil and 2-3 cubes of butter.
|
|
|
|---|
- Once the oil/butter have warmed up, add the ginger paste, garlic and slit chilies and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken to this, and let it simmer on a medium flame for 20-25 minutes.
- Check for salt and spice (I added some more salt and 1 tsp of Pepper Powder, as per my preference)
- Add 1 tbsp Lemon Juice, 1 tsp Lemon zest, 1 tsp Kasuri Methi and 1 tsp Garam Masala and let it simmer for a couple more minutes.
- Top it off with fresh Coriander Leaves and garnish with some fried Onion and Garlic Slices.
Serving suggestions:
You can serve this alongside Rice, Bread, Chapatis- anything you fancy!
This makes approximately 4 Huge servings or 6 Medium sized servings and can be doubled or halved as per the quantity of chicken.
|
|
|
|---|
This turned out delicious and I scored brownie points with my girlfriend who usually gets annoyed with my slow pace of cooking. It also felt like a treat-yourself kinda day with such an indulgent lunch. We then got some ice cream to finish off an already perfect meal. Do let me know how it turns out if you guys try this recipe!
