Chickens come home to roast

Pushpesh Pant

Tandoori murg has cast such a powerful spell on the South Asian mind that no other chicken comes close. The Colonel from Kentucky has been humbled in Hind so what remains to be said? But one wonders how have we forgotten our own other flavourful roasts? Bhatti ka murgh and chicken roasts like cherga. Interestingly, the cherga continues to be immensely popular in neighbouring Pakistan. Recently we had a delightful rendering of cherga roast at Hotel Eros in the Capital where friend Suprabhat presides over the kitchen We have great pleasure in sharing one variant of this roast recipe with our readers.

Tandoori murg

Ingredients:

Chicken 800g

Garlic ginger paste 1Tbsp

Cumin powder 1tsp

Red chilli powder 1tsp

Crushed chilli flakes 1tsp

Garam masala (preferably home made) 1tsp

Eggs (Beaten) 2

Salt 1tsp

Oil to deep fry

Chaat/tandoori masala to sprinkle on top

Method:

Clean, wash and trim the chicken. Score with sharp knife to make deep gashes. Prepare a marinade by blending all ingredients in a bowl excluding the chat/ tandoori masala. Coat the chicken well with this mixture and keep aside for an hour. Cook covered in a steamer for half an hour to ensure that it is cooked through. Bring oil to boil in a deep pan and carefully lower the steamed chicken in it. Deep fry just till a crispy layer is formed outside. Remember the chicken is already cooked! Don’t overcook, otherwise the succulence will be lost. Remove fried chicken pieces using a slotted spoon and place these on kitchen towels to get rid of excess fat.

We love this no frills easy to fix chatpata murgh and are sure that you will also enjoy it. Just don’t ask us why it is called roast or Cherga! Candid confession: We don’t know!