Flavours from underground

Pushpesh Pant

Zameendoz literally means ‘underground’. Some rare recipes are suffixed with the word to indicate that they have been cooked underground. Bawarchis in Awadh show off their Mahi Zameendoz done to perfection in a clay pot and the royals in Rajasthan claim precedence in invention by recalling Khar Khargosh. Those who have travelled farther and wider than us tell us that  this method continues to be in use in Iran and elsewhere too. We are grateful to our young friend Chef Nishant Choube for this mouth-watering improvisation of that classic theme. Though it requires some patience and much exertion to pull this one off, it is worth the trouble.

Chooza Zameendoz

Ingredients

Chicken whole (skin removed) 600 gm

Cashew paste 100 gm 

Melon seeds 50 gm

Poppy seeds 25 gm 

Hung yoghurt 1 cup

Ghee 1 tablespoon

Almond paste 2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp

Cream 2 tsp

Coriander powder 2 tsp

Lemon juice 2 tsp

Black peppercorn powder ¼ tsp

Brown cardamom powder 1 tsp

Cumin powder 1 tsp

Nutmeg powder 1 tsp

Mace powder 1 tsp

Method

First marination

Take the whole chicken and marinate it with lemon juice and salt. Keep it in the fridge for four hours.

Second marination 

Marinate with black pepper, black cardamom, cinnamon powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, bay leaf, nutmeg powder and let it remain in the marinade for 3 hours.

Third marination 

This time, marinate in hung yoghurt, almond paste, cashew paste, melon seed paste, poppy seed paste and mace powder. Keep it in the fridge for four hours.

Dig a hole in the ground and create a pit. Cover the chicken in foil and place it in the pit, cover with some firewood and light a fire. The chicken will slowly simmer inside the foil and will be done by the time the fire dies down.

Extricate the chicken carefully. Take off the foil and add a little ‘colour’ to the chooza by grilling it on the pan or in a tandoor. Serve hot with lime wedges.