Apple Rasam

I crafted this delicious rasam while searching a way to utilize some sour apple.



Ingredients:
Small apple - 2 (sour)
garlic - 4 pearls
whole black pepper - 1 tbsp
cumin seed - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
ghee / oil - 2 tsp
Mustard seed - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly - 2
curry leaf - 1 sprig
cilantro - a handful
Lemon - 1/2 (extract juice)
salt - to taste

Method:
Chop one apple after coring.
Grind the pepper, cumin and garlic along with one apple.

Heat oil / ghee in a wok.
Let the mustard crackle. Then add a pinch of hing along with red chillies , curry leaf and cilantro.

Core and peel the other apple. Chop it into very small pieces. Put it along with the seasoning and stir well.

Next add the ground mixture , turmeric and saute well till the raw smell vanishes.

Pour 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil.

Put off fire.
Add lime juice and salt to taste.

Apple rasam is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve over hot rice along with appalam and dhal as a simple lunch or dinner.

Tandoori chicken

Tandoori chicken is a dish prepared in a specially designed clay oven called Tandoori oven. It can be done in a grill also.Because of its mild spice content and smoky flavor , it is loved by people all over the world.

Wikipedia tells us about the history of tandoori chicken.
Interested can click here to read the story behind tandoori chicken.

Here I am describing the procedure to make the Tandoori chicken in our household oven.

Method:

Chicken - 2 lb

Select a chicken of medium size, with tender meat. Cut it into 4 pieces. This is called butterfly cut / quarters. Wash it by applying turmeric powder.
Make uniform slits all over the chicken pieces and keep aside.

We need to marinate it twice to get a juicy Tandoori chicken.

First marination:
salt - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 2 tsp.
Lime juice / vinegar - 3 tbsp

Mix everything above and apply this on the chicken and marinate for one hour.




Second marination:


Ingredients:
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste (ginger - 2 inch + garlic - 6 cloves )
salt - to taste
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
(Instead we can grind 3 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon, 2 cardamom, 1/2 tsp cumin , 1/2 tsp fennel)
Lime juice / vinegar - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red food color - 4 drops
cooking oil - 3 tbsp

Mix all the items above in a broad vessel.
Keep the chicken marinated for 4 hours in room temperature or a whole night in refrigerator.

Tandoori chicken:




Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
Place the well marinated chicken on the grill and place a tray to collect the residue at the bottom.
We can place it directly on a baking tray lined with Aluminum foil too.

Cook for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken and bake again for 10 minutes.

Now change the mode to broil and roast the chicken both sides till we get the lovely color. (Say 6 minutes each side).

Tandoori chicken is ready.

Serving suggestions:
Drizzle chaat masala and serve hot with lemon wedges, onion.
Serve as a starter or side dish.