Thanksgiving with Tandoori Bhutta

In this short life of mine, I do have a lot to be thankful about. Like the vast expanse of corn fields from where comes the produce of my favourite thing in this whole wide world.

Its no secret that I adore corn. I used that same love for corn and mixed with some tandoori masala to make some Tandoori Bhutta/ Sweet Corn for Thanksgiving last week.

I am running late on this post. I can explain. But that can wait.

Before that, take down the recipe for Tandoori Bhutta.

Ingredients for Tandoori Bhutta are:

4 corn on the cob
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 tablespoons ready to use Tandoori mix spice
Juice of 1 lime/lemon
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt

Mix together all the ingredients, massaging the spice blend, yogurt, mustard oil and salt into the corn.

Marinate for 3-4 hours.

Use a stove top rack/ roti mesh to roast the corns on direct fire. I have an electric cooking range, and the roti mesh works fine for me.

Make sure you switch the vents in the kitchen on when you are making the tandoori corn. It gets really smoky in there.

Baste the corn with the leftover marinade from time to time. Use butter to brush on the corn.

Keep moving the corn around to get equal cooking time on all sides. Once you see adequate char on the corns, take them off the heat.

Wrap aluminum foil at the stems for easy holding/eating. Squirt some lemon juice on them and serve immediately.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have so much to be thankful for everyday of our lives.

Thanksgiving with Tandoori Quails

In the middle of all the Durga Puja preparations, its not my fault entirely that I live in Canada, and that Thanksgiving is today.

Neither P nor I are high on turkey, so we got on our dinner table a close second cousin of it. Though I have a fleeting feeling it’d only be one-forty-fifth part of a traditional Thanksgiving bird. We had Quails today. Bater as we know her in India. Last Thanksgiving, I had made Biryani for 20 people, for P’s office potluck. This time, I had no such ambitions. I chose to lie low and go Indian. Predictable.

These are farm-raised organic quails, I got six for $14 (that’s about INR 630). No taxes.

Growing up, we would eat quails and other kinds of game when we visited my Grandparents’ home, where some bird catcher would get hordes of them from the woods and sell them in the small town my Dida-Dadu lived. Back in the big city, a murgi wala (chicken seller) would get these on special request from my parents only once in a while. They were delicious when my Mum made them the Kosha way! The only restaurant in Delhi that I have eaten quails is Punjabi By Nature.

It had been a while since I had had quails. I don’t know many ways to cook them, so I thought doing an oft-done recipe of tandoori would save me any embarrassment and heartache if they chose to go awfully wrong. Clever.

Ingredients for Tandoori Quails/Bater are:

6 quails
Half cup plain yogurt
Juice of one lemon + half a lemon
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon green chili paste
Half tablespoon red chili paste
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
2 tablespoon Canola/ vegetable oil
Few drops of red food color
Half teaspoon chaat masala
Salt

Truss the quails. Marinate them with all the ingredients, juice of one lemon. Do not add oil now. I left them overnight in the fridge.

Pre-heat broiler on high. Line the marinated quails on a baking tray. Drizzle oil on each quail. Broil each side (starting from breast down), for 5-6 minutes.

I like to get some char on my tandoori. You can do this on a barbecue or a gas tandoor.

Sprinkle some chaat masala and lemon juice on the Tandoori Quails and serve with some fresh salad.

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada, from an Indian home!

This long weekend is a bonus for us, I am sending this post to Patty’s Weekend Wrap Up. Enjoy your time off.