Chetna Makan was a semi-finalist on the Great British Bake-Off in 2014 and has since gone on to publish four cookbooks. Her recipes I enjoy most are the ones where she simplifies traditional Indian recipes. This one did require a bit of planning on my part because even though she offered substitutions for lesser used herbs such as fenugreek, I did want to get as close to her recipe as possible. Amazon, to the rescue!
Here's the cast--the ingredients I had to order were the Kashmiri chili powder, chickpea flour, and the fenugreek leaves. I had already purchased garam masala from Penzey's spices.
The first step is to toast the chickpea flour in a nonstick pan. It took a few minutes and the change is subtle. From a sort of yellowish color...
To a slightly more tan color.
The yogurt, salt, and seasonings were mixed in a bowl. Then I added the chickpea flour and combined well.
The deboned, skinless chicken thighs were cut into approximately 2" pieces and then well-coated with the mixture.
I wiped out the nonstick pan that the chickpea flour had toasted in, added some oil, got it hot and then added some of the chicken pieces. Even though the pan is nonstick, the oil is going to give it a great browning and a bit of a crust. I cooked for about 6 minutes on each side.
Very nice!
I thought a saffron rice would go well with the chicken and the cauliflower that was roasting in the oven. Here's the rice's cast.
I rinsed the basmati rice and drained it well. You really don't want to use a short-grain rice for recipes like this. I feel they get soggy.
Soaked some saffron in water.
I lightly browned some onions in oil.
Then stirred in the rice.
About a teaspoon of salt.
The saffron and its liquid...
And some chicken stock. I brought the whole thing to a boil, covered it, then covered and simmered it for a bit.
I would have liked a bit more yellow color, but it was nice and fluffy--flavorful, too.
The rice and cauliflower were good but the chicken was a huge hit with my guys. I have already made it one more time since then--next time I plan on trying it baked to see if I can still get that nice crust without frying. It's definitely a keeper!
Here are the promised links:
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