Chicken Zareen Tikka Kabab

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 kg boneless chicken
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 50 g cashew nuts
• 50 g processed cheese (grated)
• 2 lemons, lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 3 chilies, green chillies
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 tablespoons greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 3 tablespoons oil or 3 tablespoons clarified butter
• salt

Recipe

• 1 cut the boneless chicken into 2 inch sized cubes and was thoroughly with water. then drain all the water. marinate the chicken chunks with ginger garlic paste, salt, lemon juice, haldi powder, dhaniya powder and zeera powder. set aside in refrigerator for about 1 hour, the more the merrier.
• 2 now make a paste of broken kaju, processed cheese, hung curd and green chilies using a mixer grinder. do not add water, if required add more curd. make a fine paste.
• 3 now take the chicken and add the kaju paste to it and add elaichi powder, chopped coriander leaves and oil. mix the marinade well with your hands. i believe each hand has a different taste, so go ahead and see what lies in yours.
• 4 now i aware of the fact that not many houses in india are equipped with a tandoor (unless you are in punjab). so using a baking oven or convection oven or otg oven would work just fine.
• 5 first we shift our marinated kabab to a flat baking tray or thick bottomed flat dish . use your finger to give little gaps between pieces in order to ensure uniform cooking and beautiful color. if you feel the marinate liquid is too much and very liquidy then hold some back and you could add that later if required.
• 6 to cook in oven you have to pre-heat it 30 mins before to 200 degrees celsius and after putting the chicken in it , turn down the temperature to 180 degrees celsius and cook for about 30 – 35 mins or until nice and tender. it is perfectly okay to open the oven door in between to check on your chicken. just make sure you don’t do that a lot, as it would result in temperature loss.
• 7 once cooked take it out and drizzle with pure ghee and serve hot with sliced onions and lemon wedges.
• 8 tips :.
• 9 whenever marinating chicken or any meat, make sure you drain all the water from the meat after washing. as this ensures good absorption of the spices into the meat.
• 10 some ovens have a heating element both in the bottom and on the top. if you have an oven with the heating element in the top, be sure to place an aluminum foil on top of the baking dish and remove it in the last 5 – 10 minutes.
• 11 instead of processed cheese you can also use kraft cream cheese or cheddar cheese. ( i love the way cheddar tastes in indian cooking ).
• 12 follow me on my blog : http://www.chefafzal.blogspot.com.