Republic Day Special: Trio Sandwiches

This thursday was the Republic Day so it was a Holiday! Yay! It’s when JS returned from his trip to Hong-Kong. I really missed him. So thursday I was spending most of my time with him. Also, enjoying all my presents. 🙂

India celebrates its Republic Day on the 26th January every year. It is celebrated as India got its constitution on this day. There is an amazing parade at the India Gate in New Delhi to celebrate the event. If you haven’t seen one, you must watch it live in the grounds or on TV. India’s diversity and richness in the culture shows in the parade.

My mum prepared this sandwich for our tiffin. This always reminds of the Indian flag colors. So I decided to prepare it for this Republic Day breakfast. This is soft sandwich and inclusive of yummy chutney in it!

Vegetable Carvings which I learnt recently!!:)

Makes: 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

4 slices of bread

1/2 cup cream

1/2 turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup white sauce

1/2 cup mint chutney

some tomato ketchup

Preparation:

1. Heat the cream in a pan. Add the turmeric powder, chili powder, and salt. Keep aside. Let it cool.
2. Spread the mint chutney on  a slice.
3. Put another slice on top of it and then spread the prepared cream on top of it.
4. Put the third slice on top of the other slices.
5. Spread the tomato ketchup over it and again top up with the last slice of bread.
6. Coat the entire sandwich with the white sauce.
7. Decorate with some ketchup. Refrigerate it for 1/2 hour.
8. Enjoy!!

Tandoori Chicken

While I studied in UK, I actually realised how popular our tandoori chicken is all over the world. I was flabbergasted to learn that the second favourite cuisine of Britishers is actually Indian after English food. I have come across some delectable Indian restraurants while I was studying in UK. Trust me, some of those restaurants actually stand up to our standards of authentic Indian food. Most popular among foriegners is Tandoori Chicken. I remember some of my British friends enjoying this too.

As promised to you, I had to bring you my version of a tandoori chicken.  Also, you need to keep in mind that this would need some preparation ahead of time.

Cooking Time: 30-45 minutes     Preparation Time: 8 hours

You will need:

1 whole chicken, cut into serving pieces, skinned and trimmed all the visible fat

Marinade:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp crushed ginger root

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp salt, or to taste

Pinch of orange food colour

Vegetable oil for brushing the chicken

1 cup Mint Chutney

Preparation:

• Make cuts in the chicken all over with a knife.
• In a bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, ginger garlic, cumin, ground coriander. black pepper, cardamom, food colour, cloves and salt. Stir until well mixed, then pour over the chicken and rub into the flesh.
• Cover and referigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
• Remove the chicken atleast 30 minutes before cooking.
• The chicken may be grilled or roasted.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade, pressing lightly extract excess marinade, and brush with oil.
• Grilling: Place the chicken pieces on a grill rack, turning 3-4 times. Cook for about 45 minutes. (Note: charcoal is well burnt and grill covered with vent open)
• Roasting: Preheat to 230 degree celcius. Place the chicken on greased rack, brush with oil and cook for 25-30 minutes.
• Serve with mint chutney and lemon wedges.

My Tempting Tandoori Chicken!!!!

Mint Chutney

Mint Chutney’s make great accompaniments with our Indian food. Especially in Indian houses this is very  popular and consumed in a routine with tandoori chicken and other appetizers. So here is a very simple version for making a mint chutney.

Ingredients I used were:

• 3/4 cup fresh cilantro (dhania, separated from the stem)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves (pudina)
• 1 green chilli pepper chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp tamarind juice
• 1/4 cup water, or as required

Directions

1. In a food processor, combine the cilantro, mint leaves, chile pepper, salt, onion and tamarind juice.
2. Process to a fine paste, adding enough water to achieve a thick sauce.