Recipes from Chez Spices Kitchen

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhni)
Tandoori Chicken
Chicken Tikka

• To Marinate: Place chicken in a nonporous glass dish or bowl with lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder and salt. Toss to coat; cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 1 hour.
• Drain yogurt in a cloth for 15 to 20 minutes. Place in a medium bowl; mix in salt, garlic paste, garam masala, butter, chili powder, ginger paste, lemon juice and oil. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, replace cover and refrigerate to marinate for another 3 to 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• 4 Place chicken on skewers. Place skewers in a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through.
• 5 To Make Sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garam masala. When masala begins to crackle, mix in ginger, garlic paste and green chile peppers. Saute until tender, then stir in tomato puree, chili powder, salt, garam masala and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring in honey and fenugreek.
• 6 Place chicken in sauce mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Stir in fresh cream.

• Prick the chicken pieces with a fork all over.
• Apply the tenderiser to the chicken pieces and let it stand for an hour or so.
• The marinade: Take a wide and deep bowl about 12 2 inches wide and deep enough to hold all the chicken pieces.
• Add the yoghurt plus one-cup water or the buttermilk with no water into the bowl.
• Add all the spices from nos. 3 through 8 into the bowl and stir to form a homogeneous mixture.
• Now add the chicken pieces into the mixture, so that they are all covered with the paste/mixture.
• Cover the bowl with a lid and let it stand for 6 hours.
• If you plan to marinade for 12-15 hours, put it in the refrigerator.
• The more time it is marinated, the better it will absorb the spices and the tastier it will be.
• When you are ready to grill the chicken, apply melted butter to the the chicken pieces with a brush or spoon all over and you are ready to grill the chicken on the barbecue in the normal fashion.
• Turn over the chicken pieces when they look brownish red in colour or darker if you prefer it well done.
• Slice finely onion into rings, add some salt and lemon juice to it, to be served as a salad with the tandoori chicken.
• Lemon juice sprinkled on the cooked pieces also adds to the flavour, if you wish.
  

• Skin & bone the chicken. Cut into 4 parts. Prick it well with a fork or a sharp knife.
• Mix yoghurt, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
• Place chicken into marinade for 2 hours.
• Thread chicken pieces onto skewers.
• Brush with olive oil and place on BBQ for 6 minutes or more on each side.