Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Indian style

I have these sudden bursts of enthusiasm in cooking and this was the outcome of one of those moments. I wouldn't say its easy, but a damn tasty and fulfilling one.

I even baked a cake before my blissful moment ended :)

Well, it was a Betty Crocker Cake Mix that i used, but what the hell..it came out beautiful. My husband prefers this to the one i painstakingly make from scratch (yeah weird!) and i too prefer this. So why bother to whip up one.

I'm a big fan of the BC cake and brownie mixes..its easy and always comes out well for me. I'm sure its available in some of the Indian dept stores, but don't know how much its costs.

Anyways, coming back to the stuffed chicken, here goes:

Medium size boneless chicken breasts- 2

Toothpick- 4

For marinating:

Chilli pwd- 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1/4 tsp

Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice- 1tsp

Oil- enough for frying

Salt- to taste

Butterfly and pound the clean chicken breasts, marinate it with the above ingredients and keep aside.

For stuffing:

Carrots- 1/2 cup (sliced in small cubes)

Peas- 1/4 cup

Onions- one small

Chilli- 2 cut into small pieces

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1 tsp

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Biriyani masala- 1/4

Sugar- 1/2 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 2 tsp

Heat oil in a wok and sautee the onions and green chillies. Once it becomes golden brown, add GGp. Mix well till the raw smell dies. In goes all the powders and when it gives out a nice fragrance, put in the peas, carrot, salt and sugar and cook till its done.

Stuffing and pan frying the chicken:

Divide the stuffing into two equal halves. Place the butterflied chicken (pounded side up) on a chopping board and fill one side with the stuffing. Cover it with the other side and secure with the tooth pick. I used two each. Make sure the stuffing stays inside.

Heat some oil in a frying pan (enough to fry the chicken breasts) and place the chicken breasts slowly into it. Lightly brown both sides. It shouldn't start cooking, because we are anyway going to oven roast it. This process is just to hold the chicken intact. Once done, remove and place it in a baking tray.

Masala for the roast:

Onions- 2 cups thinly sliced (less if you don't like too much masala)

Tomato- 2 cut into small pieces or puree 3/4 cup

Green chilli- 2 slit length-wise

Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1 1/2 Tbs

Turmeric pwd- 1/2 tsp

Fennel seeds- 1 1/2 tsp

Biriyani masala- 1 tsp (optional)

Sugar- 1/2 tsp

Lime juice- 1 tsp

Water- 1/2 cup (optional)

Oil- 2 tbs

Salt- to taste

To the same pan the chicken breasts were fried in, add some more oil if necessary and throw in the onions and green chillies and sautee till it becomes light brown. Add Ggp to this mixture and sautee for about a minute. Once the raw smell goes, add the tomato, sautee and then add all the powders except the biriyani masala and mix well with the onion paste (to a nice brown colour). Now add the fennel seeds, biriyani masala, sugar, lime juice and salt required and mix well. Cook till the oil appears on top. If the mixture is way too thick, loosen it up with some water (only if required...you can also have a thick gravy if you prefer it that way). Take it off the flame and pour over the chicken breasts. Try and cover the chicken pieces as much as possible.

Roasting:

Pre-heat the oven to 170C. When it is heated, place the baking tray on the top shelf and bake for about 30 minutes. Half way through the process, turn the chicken breasts to the other side and mix in the gravy as well. Once done, remove from the oven and allow it to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with roti or rice or have it on its own with some boiled potatoes and garlic bread.

I had some left over herb and garlic potatoes and so treated ourselves to a fab dinner and a movie.

Notes: The amounts for each ingredient are approx. and you can change it according to your taste.

Instead of tooth picks, you can tie it up with kitchen twine. I found that a bit difficult and so opted for the tooth pick.

For the stuffing, you can throw in anything you want.

Roasting time varies depending on the oven. If you are doubtful, slice a small piece to see if it is cooked well.

This recipe was inspired by the one on mishmash and is a much much better version of what i have come up with. I must try out that one as well, sometime...on my next outburst maybe!