Foods cooked in cast iron skillets have a deep flavor color and more healthy too. I bought my Ozark trail cast iron skillet from walmart some years back. I got it on a clearance sale for just $7 for that set of 3 skillets. Cast iron skillets comes very handy to prepare baked foods, omelet, crispy sandwiches and the list goes on.
In this recipe, I have made a curry infused Indian version of baked chicken along with some vegetables. This dish seems like a full meal for us for dinner as well as for the next day's lunch. So try this if you are looking for a healthy chicken recipe with an Indian touch and let me know how much you like it !
Marinated chicken getting fried a little. |
Baking the chicken |
Chopped vegetables. |
After baking. |
Place the chicken in a serveware. |
After removing the chicken, saute the vegetables. |
Add sauces. |
Cook it to tender crispy. |
Pour over the baked chicken. |
Baked chicken with vegetables and beetroot raitha |
Leftovers can be used in making sandwich. |
Special appliances needed:
Heavy cast iron pan (preferably 10 - 12 inch dia).
Oven.
Tongs to flip the chicken
Ingredients:
Chicken thighs (skinless) - 3 lb
Extra virgin olive oil - 1/4 cup
To marinate:
Sea salt - 2 tsp (to taste)
turmeric powder - 1 tsp
fat free Indian yogurt - 1/2 cup
ginger garlic paste - (ginger 2 inch , garlic - 1 whole)
red chili powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 3 tsp
curry masala powder - 1 tsp
pepper , cumin powder - 1/2 tsp each
Method:
Remove the skin off the chicken pieces. Rinse in water for 2 to 3 times to remove any residue.
Do small slits over chicken pieces. Keep aside.
Grind peeled ginger and garlic together to a fine paste.
Mix everything said for marination together.
Apply over chicken and toss well. Let it sit for an hour or overnight inside fridge.
Preheat oven to 350 deg C.
Heat a heavy cast iron pan (12 inch size).
Spread the oil on the pan.
Place the marinated chicken and cook 5 mins each side.
Then keep the pan inside the oven and bake for 30 mins. Flip and cook again for 20-30 mins or until crispy and reddish brown in color.
Take the pan out. Check for perfection in salt and cooking.
Place all the chicken pieces on a serveware. Close tightly to keep the chicken moist.
Now we start to prepare vegetable topping.
Vegetable topping: (vegetable salad).
Zucchini - 1
green bell pepper - 1 (small)
red onion - 1
Sweet mini pepper - 4 (optional)
cilantro - handful
lemon juice - 2 tbsp
hot mustard sauce - 2 tbsp
hot sauce - 1 tsp
EV olive oil - 1 tbsp
salt - very little
chili powder - 1/4 tsp
turmeric powder, pepper , cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Method:
Heat the same cast iron pan with oil (without washing) over stove.
Add all the vegetables together and toss for few minutes.
Add the masala powders, salt, lemon juice, hot sauce, mustard sauce, toss well and switch off.
Pour this over baked chicken. Serve hot.
Serving suggestion:
Serve as main course meal with beetroot raitha or any raitha or salad and bread / roti.
Leftovers can be used to prepare sandwich.