As much as I like to cook , I hate to eat the same thing for more than one meal. I also hate to throw excess food out , so I tend to create new dishes with the same base but slightly different taste. Last friday I made Chicken Kathi Roll which is a specialty of Kolkata.I first ate Kathi Roll when our rasuhouse gang had gone on a trip to Kolkata and Darjeeling.This was one fun filled trip and we were destined to miss our train one way or the other. The day we were traveling to Kolkata from Bangalore, we had to catch the train from chennai and we had booked the train from bangalore to chennai , but as sheer luck would have it, there was a strike in chennai and they were not allowing any form of transport too come in from karnataka because of the water dispute. We took the bus to chittoor and then a bus from there to vellore and then a taxi to chennai, we reached 15 mins before the train was going to depart to kolkata. Anyways, we managed to catch it only to miss it when we were travelling from Darjeeling to Kolkata. I guess I went back in time was reliving all the good times we had in Bangalore.Let me come back to the recipes, today i am going to post three recipes which has the same base of chicken and use it in three different cuisines.
The first being Kathi Roll , which I learned from my mom-in-law and hubby.My hubby first made it when we were in DSQ asking precise instructions from his mom.My MIL used to even make the rotis and then make the roll but i am using a shortcut here.The Second being the all American favorite Pizza, the inspiration is the tandoori chicken pizza of Pizza Hut in India and the last but not the least the Tandoori Chicken Biryani which I had learned from my mom who according to me makes the best Biryani in Hyderabad.
Egg Chicken Kathi Roll:
(Makes 4 Rolls)
Malaysian /Malabar Paratha- 1 pack (you can find it in the frozen section)
Red Onions -1 medium sized cut into round thin slices
Green Chillies - 2 cut into small pieces.
Eggs - 3
Red chili powder - 2 pinches
Jeera Powder - 2 pinches
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Salt - to taste
Tomato Sauce - As needed.
Chicken - 2 boneless breast pieces.
olive oil - as needed
For Marinate:
Tandoori Masala - 1 packet ( Kitchens Of India)
Thick Curd - 2 tbsp
1.Cut Chicken in bite sized pieces and mix tandoori masala and curd in it .I generally keep it marinated overnight but 3 to 4 hours should be ok.
2.You can grill this on the grill or shallow fry it in a wok in a Tbsp of oil.If you are doing it in a wok , Fry on high till you get the desired color on both sides then reduce the heat and cover and cook for a few min till the chicken in cooked.
3.Remove the chicken and keep it aside and in the remaining oil put the onions cut into rings , chillies and fry it till they become translucent.
4.Heat the Tawa and fry the parathas according to the instructions given on the packet.
5.Beat the eggs, red chilli powder , jeera powder , salt.
6.Put 2 tbsp of egg on the tawa and then spread it and put the paratha on top of it , reduce the flame and let the egg cook .
7. Now place the prepared paratha on a plate and put some chicken in the middle and add onions and chilli mixture and put some sauce in the middle and roll it .
The Chicken used in this is the base for my other two dishes.
Tandoori Chicken and Pineapple Pizza:
(serves 2)
Pizza Base : 1 (meduim size)
Tandoori Chicken : As needed.
Pineapple : 4 slices
Red Onions : As you like it.
Capsicum: 1/2
Pizza Cheese : As you like it.
For the Pizza Sauce:
Hunts Tomato sauce : 1 small can
Dried oregano: 2 pinches
Red Chilli flakes : 1/4 tsp
Brown Sugar : 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder : 2 pinches
Salt : to Taste
For the Sauce, put all the ingredients in a suacepan and boil it , Taste it and adjust the spices accoording to your taste.
For the Pizza:
1. Heat the oven for 400* F .
2. Put the Sauce the on the pizza base , add the chicken pieces (make it bite sized pieces) , pineapple (make it bite sized pieces), onions , capsicum, cheese.
3.Bake it for 15 to 20 min or atleast till all the cheese melts.
4.Cut it into slices and enjoy it.
The Last and the final dish with the leftover chicken is biryani. I made this with leftover cooked chicken and left over raita that I had.This Biryani is a little different from the traditional one , nonetheless very tasty.
Tandoori Chicken Biryani:
(serves 1)
Basmati Rice : 3/4 cup
Onion : 1/4 sliced thinly
Curd - 2 tbsp ( I used my leftover coriander raita)
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon stick(patta) - a small piece
Cardamom(elaichi) - 1
clove(lavang) - 2
Shahi Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Mint - 10 leaves sliced finely
coriander - 1 tsp sliced finely
1. Wash the rice properly and let it soak for 10 min , meanwhile put a saucepan with atleast 3 times the amount of rice you have taken.
2. Put the bay leaf,cinnamon , cardamom , clove and 1/4 tsp shahi jeera in the water. Add a little salt and then add the rice in the saucepan.
3. Switch off the heat when the rice is atleast 3/4 cooked . Drain in the colander and remove the unwanted bayleaf , cardamom , cinnamon , clove .
4. Heat a thick bottom pan with 2 tbsp oil . Fry the onions till brown and keep it aside.
5. In the oil , add the remaining shahi jeera and then the chicken, let it fry for 2 minutes then switch off the heat.
6. If you are not using leftover raita , then add chilli powder, jeera powder, Garam masala and salt and mix.
7. Add the curd to the chicken in the saucepan.Add the layer of rice. Add the browned onions, mint, coriander and if you want a little saffron mixed in warm milk .
8. Seal it with aluminium foil and put a heavy weight on the saucepan ,I actually used my tawa on top of the saucepan and let it cook on sim for 10 to 15 min.
9. Mix it before serving.
This was actually very tasty and a good use of leftover chicken if you do not want to make a curry out of it.
