Anamika Bharti’s Zafrani Tangri Kebab

When I saw the recipe Anamika posted on one of the food groups we both are part of on Facebook, I knew it was for keeps. Just for its sheer simplicity, if nothing else. And the nothing else part I was soon to discover last evening, when we had these saffron-flavoured leg kebabs for dinner.

Anamika lives in Belarus, and has a natural affinity towards creating flavours and tastes close to her home and heart. Just to warm up the long, cold months of the country she lives in.

The star ingredient of Anamika’s Tangri Kebabs is Saffron. Saffron or Zafran or Kesar is divine. Few food ingredients can taste so distinct based on what we use it to make. But misuse of saffron is a crime. I have used saffron in both desserts and biryanis. And I must admit, its mellow, fragrant flavour bowls me out every time. There is also this strange feeling of romanticism attached to it.

Now coming back to Anamika’s Zafrani Tangri Kebabs, if you can, make it with dark meat – the legs and thigh portions of the chicken. That’s what she recommends too. Especially because those portions are more tender and succulent than white meat.

Ingredients for Anamika Bharti’s Zafrani Tangri Kebabs are:

12 chicken drumsticks, skinless and scored
1 cup juice of red onion (I pureed one large onion and dunked it on a sieve to let the juice drip on its own in a bowl)
Juice of one and half lemons
Quarter teaspoon loose saffron/zafran/kesar strands, crushed lightly
Canola or olive oil for basting
Salt

Marinate the chicken drumsticks with the juice of red onion, lemons, saffron, and salt. Let it stay in the fridge (on a hot day) for up to 8-12 hours. Bring the marinated drumsticks to room temperature before you barbecue or grill them.

The plan for me was to barbecue the Zafrani drumsticks, but things don’t always don’t go the way you want them to. So I ended up throwing these saffron-infused drumsticks on my grill pan.

Start by firing up your grill (or barbecue or gas tandoor), brush some oil on it and start by neatly lining up the marinated drumsticks. Shake off extra marinade from the legs.

Start turning the drumsticks as soon as they begin to get that beautiful char. Make sure you get that nice char on all sides. You may adjust the temperature of your grill once you have locked in all the juices. Baste with the liquid marinade and more oil if needed. It takes about 10-12 minutes of grilling to get the drumsticks ready.

Remove from the pan and let it stand for five minutes before you bit into a rock and roll of flavours. My husband called it “beautiful”. And he is a man of few words.

Thank you, Anamika Bharti. You are the muse and the mojo for this keepsake. To Zafran, Tangri Kebabs and more new recipes.

Soma Chaudhuri’s Methi-Murg Kebab, Not Just Another Chicken Kebab!

So Soma sent me her famous Methi-Murg Kebab one day. Nothing would be simpler to knock out than this chicken kebab recipe of hers.
Apparently, she stumbled onto this recipe in a tandoori cookbook many years ago in Calcutta. Since then she has played with the ingredients, and given it a Soma-touch! 

And this is something I made up of her Methi-Murg Kebab.


I have to admit, I did tweak Soma’s recipe a bit. I thought of playing around the idea of adding some yogurt in the marinade would make the kebabs more moist. Soma’s Methi-Murg Kebabs taste delicious and look really beautiful on a massive platter in the middle of a table. And the leftovers, if any can sneak into your pita/tortilla/paratha with some greens the next day for a take-to-work lunch!

Ingredients for Methi-Murg Kebabs are:

3 chicken breasts, cut in two-inch pieces
Half cup plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons plain cream cheese
1 heaped tablespoon ginger paste
1 heaped tablespoon garlic paste
1 heaped teaspoon green chilli paste
Juice of one large lemon
Half teaspoon red chilli powder
2 tablespoons kasturi methi leaves, crushed
2 tablespoons besan
Bell pepper squares for skewering with the kebabs later
1 egg beaten, for basting
Salt
Oil

Make a marinade with the yogurt, cream cheese, lemon juice, ginger-garlic-green chilli, red chilli, kasturi methi and salt. Make sure you break down the cream cheese to mix well with the rest of the ingredients.

Now add the chicken pieces, and coat the marinade well. Keep covered in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours.

There are two steps to making this kebab. Heat a pan until really hot. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil and add the besan, quickly stirring and reducing the heat to low-medium so that we don’t burn the besan. After about 2-3 minutes of stirring the besan in the oil, dunk the marinated chicken into it (with the marinade). Cook the chicken on high for 10-12 minutes or until half-cooked, moving continuously and coating the chicken well with the besan and its marinade. Remove and let it cool for you to handle it.

Add the green (or red/yellow/orange) bell peppers to the half-cooked chicken and let it sit for 10 minutes. When you are ready to cook, heat a grill pan or you can even do this in a gas tandoor or broil.

Skewer the chicken and bell peppers alternately to go on the grill. If you are using bamboo skewers, make sure you soak them in water for sometime to prevent them from cracking under the heat. I use metal skewers, because I want mine to see me through the rest of my life!

Baste the skewered chicken and bell peppers lavishly with the beaten egg. Your grill pan should be really hot before you drizzle some oil on it.

Place each skewer gently on your grill pan and let it cook on each side for 3-4 minutes.

Turn and baste with the egg and some more oil, till you get a beautiful char on all sides.

Remove the kebabs from the pan and serve with salad, onion rings, and green chutney on the side. Preferably on that lovely platter you have been keeping away to serve a star dish.