Where there’s smoke, there’s flavour

Pushpesh Pant

Many of us live under the illusion that ‘smoked’ stuff is part of foreign culinary culture and we have always been happy with fried, roasted or boiled food. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We have a strong tradition of dhungar that is essentially aromatising the food with smoke. The subtle flavour imparted to a galouti or kakori kebab is contributed to a large extent by the burning charcoal on onion skin placed in the mince or the wood-based coal used in sigri chulha. But let’s not get bogged down by detail. What has delighted us today is a delectable smoked chicken Thai salad that we had at Cyber Hub in Gurgaon recently. The smoked chicken was succulent and the water chestnuts provided a delightfully contrasting crunch. Micro-greens lent it a nice healthy touch. Try rustling this up at home and you can’t go wrong, even if you try to!

Dhungar Wala Murgh

 Ingredients

Smoked chicken 400g

(culled from breasts)

Water chestnuts (fresh or canned) 1 cup

Assorted micro-greens ½ cup 

(freshly cut and washed)

Lettuce (iceberg preferred) 1 small head (washed, well-shredded)

Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Honey 1 tbsp

Roasted cashewnuts ¼ cup  (optional)

Salt to taste

Butter or oil 1-2 tsp

 Method

You can buy smoked chicken from a food mart or smoke it under a dome placed over a pan at home before you grill it on a non-stick pan. To smoke the chicken at home, heat 1 tbsp butter or oil to smoking point in a thick-bottomed pan. Add some freshly ground black peppercorns or shredded dry red chilli to it. Now, place the chicken and cover it with a heavy lid immediately. Turn off the flame and keep the chicken covered for five to seven minutes. Uncover and cut the chicken into bite -sized pieces. Pan grill for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a platter. Place the chicken pieces and water chestnuts on it. Pour the dressing prepared by blending honey with lemon juice. Garnish with micro-greens and roasted cashewnuts. Adjust the seasoning and enjoy. You can pep it up with a few drops of red and green chilli sauce. We have enjoyed it with bits of fresh, sweet tasting coconut dices.