In continuance to my previous post on mother’s day, this is the recipe that my mother-in-law wanted. After having quite a brain storming session with herself, she finally came up with dish – ‘Chicken Raja’ after two days.
As the name suggests, chicken raja is considered to be the king of all the chicken recipes. She had this chicken while she was in Bangalore, roughly 20 years back. She described everything about the recipe and though she was not sure of the exact name, she told me the meaning behind the name too.
So, with her description, and my cooking skills (yeah, I included this line!:p), I made a recipe to match the one that she had a very very long time back. After I made this dish, I obviously cannot ask her for suggestions right away, so the taste-tester was my husband. (I mean, he is for most of the recipes) He recollected its taste and flavor and told me that the flavor is the same but, one thing I missed was the spiciness.
The dish is actually extra-spicy whereas I made it just ‘spicy’. Anyways, adjust according to your level of spiciness. Though it lacked the extra-spiciness, it was really tasty. It had a unique flavor, which I could smell when I was tossing the chicken finally. I didn’t know what that was but I enjoyed even the smell of it.
The process is quite similar to dragon chicken or Manchurian. The difference is that, chicken raja is like mostly with Indian spices and with some sauces, playing a part too. Anyways there are lot of differences between the two. Though, it might sound the same while seeing the recipe, please try it once and I bet you will never tell that it is the same!
I hope I have given justification to the actual recipe that she enjoyed having. My mother-in-law should only tell me after having the dish herself. Waiting for the comments. May be, I will write an update after hearing from her.
This is a dry recipe, had as a starter usually. May be you can also try having it with fried rice too. I really don’t know how it tastes because we had it only as a starter. You can try and let me also know in the comments.
Enjoy it with your family. Stay safe; stay healthy! Happy cooking and eating! While you are here, look through my other appetizer recipe. Also, don’t forget to check my chicken biryani recipes that are worth salivating over.
I dedicate this to my mother-in-law, whom I actually call as ‘amma’. Thank you ma for showering me with your love and support in everything I do! She is the best mother-in-law, one could ever have! A very happy Mother’s Day to my mom and to every woman out there!
Has meal planning been a little bit difficult during this lockdown? Look through my No Veggies, 21-Day Lockdown Series for ideas on what to cook during this lockdown.
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Chicken Raja
Ingredients
To marinate chicken
- 500 grams boneless, chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic-green chili paste
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper powder
- 3 tbsp corn flour
- salt, as per taste
- 1.5 tbsp rice flour
To make the chili-garlic paste
- 4 red chilies
- 4-5 cloves garlic
To prepare the base sauce
- 1 small onion, cubed and petals separated
- 1 small capsicum, cubed
- 10-15 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 green chilies, finely chopped
- 2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tsp soya sauce
- 1 tsp vinegar
- salt, as per taste
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp fresh cream
- 1 tsp crushed kasuri methi
- handful of chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp oil + extra for deep frying the chicken
Instructions
To prepare the chili-garlic paste
- In a bowl of warm water, soak the red chilies for 20 minutes.
- Grind the chilies and garlic with little water to a smooth paste and set aside.
Marinate the chicken
- Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients except for the rice flour listed under 'To marinate the chicken' and set aside for 30 minutes.
- Just before deep frying the chicken, add the rice flour to the marinated chicken and mix well.
- Heat oil in a kadai on medium flame for deep frying.
- When the oil is hot, add marinated chicken pieces to it and deep fry it until light-golden on all sides.
- Drain the fried pieces onto a plate. Repeat until all the chicken pieces are fried.
To make the base sauce
- Cut the onions, capsicum, garlic, ginger and green chili as shown in the picture.
- In a pan or a kadai add 1 tbsp oil and let it heat on a medium flame. When the oil is hot, lower the flame and add the chopped garlic, ginger and green chili and saute until the raw smell disappears.
- Add the capsicum and saute for a minute.
- Add the ground chili-garlic paste to the kadai and saute well until the raw smell of the chili disappears. (for a minute or two)
- Add the tomato ketchup, soya sauce and the vinegar and mix well.
- Add the garam masala and the fresh cream and mix well.
- Add the crushed kasuri methi along with the cut onions and mix until the onions are well coated with the sauce.
- Now add the fried chicken pieces and coat them evenly with the sauce and let it cook for a minute or two on a low flame.
- Turn off the stove and add the chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Cut the chicken pieces along the grain to make sure the tenderness is locked inside the chicken even after cooking.
- Add rice flour just before frying the chicken.
- Fry the chicken on a medium flame. This ensures that the outer layer is crispy while the inside is still tender.
- Deep fry the chicken until evenly golden on all sides.
- Prepare the red chili-garlic paste according to your level of spiciness.
- To prepare the sauce, you can use the oil leftover from frying the chicken while it is still hot.
- While frying the ginger, garlic and green chili, make sure the flame is on low. Do not burn the garlic.
- While preparing the sauce, if it turns dry, then add a splash of water.
- Add onions in the end to make sure it stays crispy.
