MY ‘DISHOOM’ CHICKEN

Remember those comic books where a fight scene would break out and you would see splashes of onomatopoeia statements like ‘POW’ or ‘BANG’ show up? Well ‘DISHOOM’ is just one of the Bollywood equivalents – used to describe over-the-top punches and unrealistic fighting scenes from classic Bollywood movies, but I love them! So where am I going with this? I like to call this dish my ‘DISHOOM’ chicken, or chicken with a ‘POW’, because its filled with punchy flavours and a fiery heat which just might knock your socks off!

You’ll need a pestle and mortar or good spice grinder for this one! I also like to use chicken thigh fillets for this recipe rather than chicken breast fillets, as they’re more juicier and tastier when grilling – and who wants chewy chicken?!.

Ingredients:

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1-2 dried red chillies

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 half-thumb sized piece of ginger, crushed

2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves

2 tsp ground Kashmiri red chilli

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground garam masala

Juice of 1 lime & extra to serve

Salt to taste

5 tbsp natural or greek yoghurt

4 chicken thigh fillets, cleaned and diced into large chunks

Method:

1- Dry roast all the whole spices, including the dried red chillies, in a pan over a medium heat; when they start to turn colour and release their aromas, take off the heat and allow to cool.

2- Once cooled, grind these whole spices, with the fenugreek leaves, in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder, and then set aside; in the same blender, if using, add the garlic and ginger, a splash of water, then blend and set aside.

3- In a bowl, mix the garlic-ginger paste with the roasted, ground spices and all the other ground spices, together with the lime juice; mix well to form a spicy paste – here you can add salt to taste.

4- Blend in the yoghurt, a tablespoon at a time so it incorporates well with the spice paste.

5- Add the chicken, rub in the marinade – getting down and dirty with your hands, is the best way to massage it into the meat, and then leave to marinate overnight if you can, otherwise for at least 30 minutes.

6- Heat up a lightly oiled griddle pan, or the BBQ so its nice and hot, then add the meat and allow to cook through, turning the meat at least once. It takes up to 20-25 minutes for chicken thigh fillets – always make sure the marinated chicken is at room temperature before throwing it on a hot griddle so the marinade doesn’t burn!