Hariyali Murghi- Grilled Chicken in a Green Masala Marinade

Apologies for being absent so long. In the last one month life has become a total roller coaster leaving me no time to breathe, leave alone blog! I went back to work after a loooooong hiatus. Four years to be precise. To teaching. In the same play school as my son. It has taken all of us a month to settle down to some order and routine even though cooking has been happening on a regular basis ofcourse. I mean the 'good food' kinds. I managed to tkae pictures and download them too. But thats just about it! My head keeps buzzing with so many posts and pictures and recipes to be shared with you all which never see the light of the day! I do post somewhat more frequently on my facebook page so if you want to remain connected to the fabulous me, please go and check it out and while you are there, click on the 'like' button too. Yes, I do 'like' collecting 'likes'. Thank you.

Now on to my recipe for this post. Easy and quick but requiring a decent (read as long as possible) marination time. I had some frozen chicken in the freezer, about half a kilo and knew it would not be enough to be made in to a curry or even pulao/biryani for three adults in the house currently. Hubster's childhood friend is shifiting base from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and untill he can move in to his new flat, he will stay with us. So there, we are three of us. Anyhow, I decided to make an easy vegetable curry with rice and this chicken as a side. Plus ofcourse, no meal in my house is ever complete without a big 'desi' salad. :) The marinade is super easy to make and any extras can be used as a chutney/dip/spread or frozen for use later.

Here's how.

1/2 kilo of chicken, medium sized pieces, washed and drained.

For the marinade:

1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
1 cup of fresh corriander/cilantro leaves
1tbsp of roasted and coarsely ground coriander seeds
1tsp of roasted and crushed ground cumin seeds
1 tsp of heaped chaat masala (avlbl in all Indian/asian stores)
1tsp of turmeric powder (optional)
1tsp of freshly cacked black pepper (optional)
1 tbsp of sour cream or fresh thick plain yoghurt (optional)
Juice of one large lemon or 2 tbsp white vinegar
1'knob of fresh ginger
5-6 cloves of fat garlic pods
4-5 fresh green chillis (adjust according to pref)
3-4 tbsp of mustard oil (or butter or Desi Ghee)

Take all the ingedients meant for the marinade and make a paste in your blender. Marinate your chicken in this paste and forget about it for at least 4 hours if not more. I marinated mine for about 6 hours. Just 30 minutes or even 15 minutes before you start to grill/pan fry/barbeque the chicken, take out of the fridge and drizzle some mustard oil over the pieces. Using mustard oil gives it a nice kick. One can use butter or even pure Desi Ghee (clarified butter). Say about 4 tbsp, if using mustard oil. Use a little less, if using oil/fat other than mustard oil.

This is how my marinade looked. Nice huh? Love the colours. Do shake off the extra marinade before girlling.

 

Once the chicken has been well marinated, line them up in a greased and foiled tray.

 

 

I also spread some finely sliced onions over the chicken before putting it in for the grilling. Grilling times depend upon your stove. I grilled mine for about 30 minutes, medium flame, 15 min one both sides. Adjust your cooking time accordingly. My contraption isnt the best!

 

 

 

And here it is!

 

 

 

And some of my lovely salad....

 

 

Do try this recipe today!

 

Note: vegetarians, you may substitute chicken with big chunks of Paneer squares, but do remember to not skip on the sour cream then, it will keep the paneer moist and prevent it from becoming rubbery after grilling. Also, paneer wont require a very long marination time, 2 hours should be enough.