July 2004 - Chicken Tikka with Hot Red Onion Relish

Sorry to be absent for so long. I was a bit clumsy last weekend and injured myself. I managed to fall down my back steps and scrape my leg and knees, getting some colourful bruises in the process. Then still a bit shaken up I managed to burn my hand while taking a pan of muffins out of the oven. I think that I am starting to turn into my accident-prone father. I have also come down with a case of shingles, so I am feeling pretty sorry for myself at the moment. Hopefully all will be healed up and cured soon. At least I am back typing without too many problems now.

While going through issue #29 for something to make I came across Jill Dupleix's Greek Rice Pudding that was also in the June 2009. I guess that it is hard not to repeat. Plus it was a very tasty rice pudding so I would recommend it. Not that I was going to make it again for a blog post. I considered Jill's Ma Po Beancurd. I had almost everything for it, including a package of tofu in the fridge. The only thing I didn't have was dried cloud-ear mushrooms. I know that I used to have some but I am not sure how long ago or where they went, perhaps I used them all. I will definitely get some more and give this recipe a go as I just love ma po tofu.

Bill Granger's focaccia looked really nice, and I think that this recipe had also featured before. Although it may not have been a Bill Granger one previously. I really like focaccia and I have tried to make it before and not been successful. Although, I had always hand kneaded before but after reading about Phe.MOM.enon's 1 bowl 1 hour perfect dinner rolls I started using my KitchenAid. It makes me wonder why I never used it for yeast doughs before. I highly recommend those dinner rolls, they are so easy and very tasty.

In the end I decided to make Nigella's Chicken Tikka with Hot Red Onion Relish. Since I was having one Indian dish I decided to make a bit of a theme of it and made Aloo Palak (Spinach with Potatoes) and Indian Spiced Eggplant and steamed rice to go along with it. It was all very nice even though I burnt some of the aloo palak and slightly overcooked the chicken tikka so it was a little bit dry. I think that it would actually have been better if I had used chicken thigh fillets. The flavour of it all was just terrific and it would make a lovely banquet for entertaining with some type of kulfi for dessert.

Chicken Tikka with Hot Red Onion Relish

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 chicken fillets
• 2 tabs of unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
  

Marinade

• 2 garlic cloves
• 5cm piece ginger
• 2 small red chillies
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp of ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp of tumeric
• 1/2 tsp of garam masala
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup of plain yoghurt

Hot onion relish

• 2 small red onions
• 1 or 2 tomatoes diced
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander (I used parsley)
• 1/2 tsp of dried chilli
• Juice of a lemon

Method

• Make the marinade by whizzing the garlic, ginger and chillies until finally chopped.
• Then add the rest of the marinade in the processor until it looks like a smooth mushy paste.
• Place chicken fillets in a bowl and cover with the marinade.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for at least 4 hour, over night is best.
  

• For Relish - slice up the onions into moons and then add the coriander, tomatoes, lemon juice and chilli. Give it a good stir, cover and refrigerate. Remove from fridge 30 minute before serving.
  

• Remove chicken from fridge for 30 minutes before cooking.
• Melt the butter is a fry pan and cook the chicken over a medium-low heat
• The marinade will disappear as you cook it ( but not all the taste). You should end up with fillets that are nicely browned and crispy on the outside.
• Serve with rice and relish together with the aloo palak and indian spiced eggplant.