Grilled/Baked Chicken Legs..

It's Fall outside my window, yellowed leaves falling constantly, spreading a golden carpet in the woods behind, denuding the trees one leaf at a time. A burst of color everywhere, but this time the hues tempered  down by the unseasonable onset of snow. So the brilliance is low and slowly the grey is pervading everywhere. The malls are fighting back with their slew of bright colored winter sweaters and jackets, as if that will ward off the quietness and stillness already around.  There is a playground outside my house, which lights up when it sees kids but that's only when the sun is shining bright on it.. the rest of the time, it looks so forlorn and empty... as if the kids vaporized instantly. Maybe I should do a chicken sacrifice to appease the Fall gods into extending the glorious Fall season.

Chicken Legs were a favorite growing up, with a fight ensuing for them over the dinner table with my siblings, since the chicken in those days had only two legs.:) Nowadays the chicken (at least here) can have as many legs as they want, since its just a matter of ordering more of them at the Halal shop. You can buy just the thighs, just leg quarters, just the white meat, just wings.. if u pause to think of it, (which the kids don't,) they would wonder why the chicken has so many legs!  It used to be that meat was a luxury, with every part of the whole chicken being used fully to ensure that it was worthwhile. The good meaty parts went into frying and the bony parts went into a curry or stock. And indeed, a curry tastes way better if its made with a mix of dark and light meat, bony part et all than just white meat or dark meat. So for curries, I still get the whole chiken cut up, but for grilling and baking , this is better with even sized pieces which evens out the cooking time. Now it's a convenience, with chicken being cheaper than vegetables, with us buying whatever suits our needs more. 

You Will Need:
Chicken Drumsticks-5
Garlic Powder-1tbsp
Onion Powder-1tsp
Salt-1 tsp
Thyme- 1tbsp
Paprika-2 tbsp
Black pepper-1/2 tsp
All Spice Powder-1tsp
Optionally, Biryani Masala-1tsp

Mix all the dry rub ingredients together and keep aside. Wash and dry the chicken pieces, with or without the skin on. I grilled it with the skin on and the skin just crisps to a  crisp crunchy layer, which you can discard later if you want. The chicken should be dry and then score it twice and rub the dry rub generously all over the chicken. Let it marinate in the dry rub for an hour or so and then grill.
Place a thin layer of oil on the foil lined tray before placing the chicken on it and place it in a preheated 400 F oven for 20 minutes. Then cover the chicken with the foil and let it bake for  another 10 minutes to let the inside get cooked. Increase the heat to broil setting and open the foil and let the chicken crisp up to the broiler for about 5 minutes and you are done.
Some chicken may take less time if they are smaller.. check for doneness after 20-25 minutes.

Serve with flat breads and humus.

A Bowl of Noodles...

Left to myself, I would never have learnt cooking beyond variations of Ramen noodles or as it is called in India..Maggi.  A scrambled egg,  some spinach, some kimchi,  a lot of veggies...customize it any way you like and its is a quick meal.  Like it or hate it, it is a comfort food for many and noodles in any form is an easy meal to get to the table.. of course.. ramen is the easiest and if I thought selecting from the flavors of maggi was getting complicated, you just have to walk down the instant noodle aisle in the Asian food stores.. it ranges from the cheapest 4 for a dollar packets to the "pricier" gourmet packets of even two dollars. Plus recently I got introduced to the Nongshim  varieties of ramen...more junk food for me. Since the rest of the family did not (and still does not)  share this passion for over spiced, salty noodles, I had to learn cooking and could not take the easy way out.
So on other days, there is the stir fried noodles made with the endless varieties of noodles that you get here.. dried or fresh cooked ones too..a quick meal with veggies and chicken and egg all thrown as desired!! Spice up the noodles as you like but we like to have the spice on the side.

Boil noodles as per instructions on the package and drain. Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a wok and saute the 1 tsp each of minced ginger garlic lightly. For 4 cup noodles, add about 1/4 cup each of mushrooms, Snow peas, sliced peppers, cabbage, julienne carrots, white parts of the scallions, thinly sliced beans, etc and saute for 3-4 minutes. Then add 2-4 tsp of soy sauce , 2-3 tbsp chicken stock if you have it,  2 tsp sesame oil and  1/2 tsp pepper. Add the noodles, toss well on high heat, add 1 tsp white vinegar and taste for salt. Finally add the green parts of the scallions. Toss with some sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, chili oil, optionally add sriracha sauce, green chili sauce, black pepper sauce etc for an added spice level. I really don't have a recipe.. I start with this and taste and modify as I go along depending on the taste.sometimes heavy on spices and sometimes its light with a side of the ubiquitous chili chicken. You are welcome to leave you modifications in the comments.

Varutharacha Kozhi Curry/ Chicken with Roasted Spices..

Some curries are traditional... plenty of coriander, plenty of coconut milk, a whiff of spices, an amalgamation of masalas...They taste the best with the salty coastal air, the rush and the sound of rain...
But if its raining outside, making them at home and a taste of it with pathiri or puttu.... can transport you in a second to somewhere else, melding with the pumpkins, the September rush and the fall weather and the nip in the air....

Back home, where spices are plenty...... for some curries, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, (all the stuff our spice coast is famous for),  are roasted tossing and turning in a cast iron skillet over a wood burning flame till the spices get  fragrant and turn into varying shades of brown. Most of the time, (since it's a Kerala curry), some coconut  is also roasted, the shade acquired varying from light brown in Northern parts of Kerala to a dark brown in the Southern recipes.... then the spices and the coconut are hand ground to a fine paste (or blend in a blender now) to create what is called a "varutha"(roasted)" aracha"(ground) curry. 

Anyone nostalgic? As one friend sitting in Calicut said, it's the taste you can't beat...  freshly ground chilli powder, fragrant coconut oil fresh from the mills...etc makes a substantial difference, not to 

mention little cooking secrets that our mums and aunts are reluctant to part with..

or are you heading to get some pre-roasted imported coriander powder, some coconut milk , some chicken to try and simulate the curry here in a fraction of the time?

Anyway, this curry can be made as dry as you like or as "neetiyathu"( stretched )as you like.. meaning with lots of gravy. By doubling the quantity of the spices and onions etc, but keeping the same chicken, you can make it a curry with lots of gravy for appam or puttu.  Or keep it on the flame to make it a dry curry.  

My mom used to relate incidents of the old days in the "tharavadu" where the curry starts out with lots of chicken pieces but if there are unexpected guests, it keeps getting stretched till its more of a chicken flavored curry with barely any pieces. Contrast that with our plentiful eating habits now!!

Anyway, thought I would just update the blog just to keep it alive and kicking for anyone who is interested in following my recipes.:) This is not a full version or an authentic varutha aracha curry, but this is one of the ways how I make it.

You will need:
Chicken-1 ½ lb, (700gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions-2 medium sized ones sliced finely
Tomatoes-2 plum tomatoes
Hot Green chilies - 4-6 as per taste
Ginger- 1 inch ginger, grind or grate.
Garlic  6-7 cloves.. grind or crush to a paste.
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red hot chili powder- 2 tsp (more or less as per taste)

Coriander, curry leaves- each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp

Whole spices- 1 small piece of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves

To Roast:
Grated Coconut-3 tbsp
Coriander seeds-2 tsp
Black Pepper-1/2 tsp

To Garnish:
Shallots-2
Curry leaves-7-8

Preparation:
Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Marinate with the turmeric, the red chili powder, ginger -garlic paste, salt and keep aside for about 1 hour or so. Roast the ingredients for roasting in 1 tsp oil in a skillet till nicely browned and then grind to a paste. If you are using powders, remember not to roast for too long as it will get burnt fast and you could even use coconut milk instead of grated coconut.

Heat the 2tbsp oil in a large  pan and add the chicken and shallow fry them on all sides. Remove and keep aside. Add a bit more oil to the pan..add the whole spices. Then add the onions and green chilies. When the onions start turning brown, add the tomatoes. Let them cook till they break down and then add the previously sauted chicken, the ground paste and saute well till the spices are mixed well and the chicken is coated with the spices. Add 1 cup water. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Smaller pieces cook faster so depending on the size of the pieces, cooking time will vary. Open, adjust the taste and add more water or coconut milk if it looks too dry.

To garnish.. Slice the shallots finely and fry in coconut oil till brown and then throw in some curry leaves and pour over the curry.
Let it rest covered for five minutes to let the flavors blend.

Iftar Recipes..

Ramazan has already started ... It's a time to focus, to exercise self-discipline, fast, along with being religious and praying and contemplate. Ramazan is not about the food.. lets not make it about the food but as a food blogger,  the mind wanders to the traditional Malabar fare more often than the usual. There is a community feeling in the fasting back home with the routines all turned upside down, the usual weddings, occasions and activities suspended and time is measured as fasting days.

 So while I haven't had time to cook and blog new iftar recipes, here is a collection of iftar recipes in blogs that I refer to when I run out of ideas.
Life Today
Sugar n Spice
You tube videos
Lebanese Recipes
Zaiqa's Ramadan Round up
Shabs Cuisine
Salkaram

If there are other good sites, do leave a comment with a link and I will add it here.