Saturday, April 2, 2016

No Mess Tandoori Chicken with Asahi Kasei Foil



This summer we're facing quite a severe water shortage here in Kharghar with water in the taps for less than an hour in a day. One of the biggest fall outs of this situation is that I can hardly cook or bake and that can become really difficult for me to deal with. In the mad dash to fill up water to last through the day, deal with laundry, dishes, and drinking water, not every chore gets done in time. I'm often left with unwashed dishes and half done laundry that takes a couple of days to deal with. There have been times when all I've managed to wash is one coffee mug and the water has gone...

In this situation it's natural that one looks for solutions because eating takeaways and one pot meals for nearly three months is sure to drive us nuts. Yes, I'm using biodegradable disposable plates already and I'm seriously considering paper glasses for coffee/water. But I need to figure out ways to be able to cook interesting things but keep the washing up easy and minimal.

Then I remembered the Asahi Kasei products that I had used at the APB Cook Studio a few months ago at a pot luck event Rushina had hosted. I'd made this Roast Chicken using the cooking foil to fry the potatoes on. I had some of that foil at home and I realised this could be the answer to my prayers!

I decided to make a simple no fuss Tandoori Chicken using the foil in the oven. If you think about it Tandoori Chicken is one of the simplest things one can make at home and that too, with great results. All you really need to do is marinate the chicken for a few hours and then cook it either in a tandoor if you have one, or an oven like I did.

In normal circumstances I would have placed the marinated chicken directly into my baking dish or tray. This time I lined my baking tray with the Asahi Kasei foil and then placed the chicken pieces on it. Not only did I end up with perfectly cooked tandoori chicken thanks to a good recipe, I also had a spotless baking tray with no scorched bits of marinade or cooking juices stuck on it. I could have actually just put that tray back in the cupboard, it was that clean.


For the Tandoori Chicken -

6 full chicken legs - thigh and drumstick
1 cup thick curd
Salt
1/2 tsp Amchur powder
2 -3 drops orange food colour (optional)

Grind together in a little vinegar -

8 - 10 Kashmiri chillies
1 tsp Peppercorns
1/2 tsp Cloves
2" piece Cassia bark
2 Black cardamoms
8 - 10 cloves Garlic

Cut deep slashes into the chicken legs. Mix the ground paste into the curd with the remaining ingredients and marinate the chicken pieces for at least 6 hours in the fridge. You can put the marinated pieces into a sealed plastic bag and freeze till you need them. Just make sure you thaw the pieces properly before you cook them.

Preheat your oven to 180C.

Line a baking dish or metal cookie sheet with Asahi Kasei cooking foil. Turn up the edges along the sides of the dish/cookie sheet.  Place the chicken pieces on the foil leaving room around the pieces so they cook properly. Bake in the hot oven for around 40 minutes. Turn the pieces over and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.

You can also cook this in your frying pan lined with the Asahi Kasei cooking foil. Line the pan with foil covering the cooking surface and the sides of the pan. Place chicken pieces on the foil and then cook covered on a slow flame. Turn the pieces to cook evenly on all sides. The advantage of cooking this dish in the oven is the light charring that gives the tandoori that nice smoked flavour but the pan cooked version is not far behind on the yumminess scale.

Serve hot with rotis, naan, or bread, and sliced onions and fresh lime wedges.

The thing about tandoori chicken is that it's quite a low fat preparation as there's no cream in the marinade and no oil is used in the cooking process. With variations in the marinade one can make quite a range of delicious yet low fat versions of this simple recipe. And of course, the Asahi Kasei foil is quite a boon that makes the washing up woes simply go away.