Grilled Chicken in Yoghurt

I had a joke with hayati the other day that all his dishes seem the same, cooked the same way..in tomato sauce & masala. That conversation ended with a promise that the next dish he’s going to prepare will be somewhat different from what he previously cooked.

Well, let’s see if this recipe is really unalike from hayati’s previous dishes.

He marinated 6 pieces chicken legs (skin discarded) into a mixture of:

• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1/2 teaspoon masala
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• juice of 1 medium size lemon

Just combine all the above ingredients, pour into the chicken pieces in a foil, seal and marinate for an hour or preferably longer.

Cook in a 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes just to tenderize the chicken. Then grill for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook 2 cups basmati rice as per the package direction. Sauté onion in a 2 tablespoons canola oil, drop 1/2 cup chickpeas, season with salt & pepper, plus he added a yellow coloring for the rice. Combine with the fluffy basmati rice.

Serve with the grilled chicken.

حياتي in kitchen

"Cooking is an art and patience a virtue... Careful shopping, fresh ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing - love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist - not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh, the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love."
-- Keith Floyd, A Feast of Floyd --

Hayati invaded the kitchen today and prepared the dinner. Like me, he is also a novice in this field, yet he tried to make a good food. For him, cook on your own way and just enjoy the experience.

For our snack while watching a TV show, a ready to cooked cheese and chicken flavored samosas, which we bought in Spinney's. This popular Indian stuffed pastry I guess is the counterpart of the famous lumpiang shanghai.

And for dinner, we enjoyed his rendition of fried rice with chicken. 

For this dish you'll need:

• 1/2 kg chicken legs (Hayati removed the skin, rubbed with salt and washed thoroughly)
• 3 cups basmati rice (washed and soaked in water for 30 minutes before cooking)
• Carrot, cut into small cubes
• Green beans, sliced to almost same size of the cubed carrot
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• salt to taste
• 1 fresh yoghurt

Direction:

• Cook the basmati rice as per direction specified in the package.
• Heat oil in a pan. Sprinkle salt into the chicken and fry in low medium heat.
• Once cooked, remove the chicken and set aside.
• In a casserole, add little oil and sauté the onion.
• Add the carrots and green beans. Cook for about 2 minutes.
• Then add the beaten eggs and mix slightly.
• Add the cooked rice and chicken. Season with salt and stir.
• Cover the casserole and cook in a low fire for about 5 minutes.
• Serve with yoghurt.