Chicken Anonymous

Whenever we bring home Chicken, I neatly classify the pieces under different heads. Chicken legs are separately placed for kids as they will turn into lollipops. Chicken breasts or the boneless pieces are kept aside for them to be later used for making appetizers. Liver and wings for making stew for children, and the rest of the pieces will be dunked into a spicy curry…

Boneless chicken pieces lying in the freezer come very handy during times when I have to rustle up good food in less time. I frequently go for Chicken Masala balls which require grinding few spices along with chicken, making balls out of the ground paste and deep frying them. Recently when I wanted something easy, tasty as well as something new. That was when my mind went through a flashback where Sindhu (sis) and I had made a starter out of prawns after watching it in a Kannada cookery show. I went ahead to prepare it by substituting prawns with boneless chicken strips (No idea what else I substituted). Abbas was bowled over by the taste. But when he asked me what was the name of the dish, (which he rarely asks) I was taken unawares. I am unable to recollect the name of the dish! Hence I christen it ‘Chicken Anonymous’??? Bless the lady who invented this, I only remember her face vaguely, but she had curly hair!!!

Ingredients

Boneless chicken - 1 cup (cut into bitesize pieces)

For marination:

Egg - 1

Cornflour - 1/4 tbsp

Dark soya sauce - 1 tsp

Pepper powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic - 4-5 cloves, finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped (as per spice tolerance, increase or decrease)

Curd - 1 cup

Curry leaves - 15 sprigs

Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp

Green chilli sauce - 1/2 tbsp or as per spice tolerance

Soya sauce - 1 tsp

Maggi Cube - 1 nos

Green chillies - 2-3, finely chopped (as per spice tolerance, increase or decrease)

Salt

Green food colour - a pinch (optional)

Oil - for deep frying + 1tbsp for sauce

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with egg, pepper powder, salt, soya sauce and keep aside for 15 mins.

2. Deep fry in oil till golden brown and keep aside.

3. Beat together curd, green chilli sauce, soya sauce, maggi cube, kasuri methi, salt (soya sauce and maggi cubes have salt, so add salt after checking), colour(if using) and keep aside.

4. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and saute for a while.

5. Remove from flame, add curd mixture and fried chicken pieces. Combine. Place back on flame and cook until u get a desired consistency.