Dental Eggplants and Faux Chicken Tikka

My daughter wanted to know how to get an eggplant. I told her that all we needed to do was to get hold of an egg and plant it. I was immediately treated to one of those looks so I decided to tell her the truth this time: "Eggplant is a vegetable that farmers grow. They sell it to the grocery stores and we buy it from there." Uh-uh. That was not what she meant. She wanted to know about "the eggplant that Daddy got in his mouth." She meant implant.

Dentists, dental surgeons and dental surgery has consumed us lately. A few years ago, a not-so-scrupulous dentist who shares our last name drilled into my husband's jaw bone while doing a routine root canal procedure. Despite the last name bond, he didn't share this information even though my husband was in a lot of pain. He proceeded to fill it with a material that should not have been used. Two years later, the tooth is lost and we're lucky that there is no serious infection of the jaw bone or grave bone loss. The tooth had to be replaced by a titanium implant in a very expensive process spread over a good 6-9 months. First the titanium screw is fitted into the empty socket; then after about 3 months or so, a peg or abuttment is fitted on the implant; and finally, the crown is fitted on the peg. We're in the middle stage. The current dental surgeon is simply amazing. Thank God for that!

Because of the dental surgery, we were all eating soup and soft foods in complete sympathy with what my poor husband was enduring. Once he was back to solids, we couldn't wait to treat our taste buds to some extra spicy chicken tikka.

Faux Chicken Tikka
Spice Level: High!


  • 4 boneless chicken breasts
  • 1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated
  • 1 large flake of garlic, grated
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice
  • 3-4 teaspoons Shan Chicken Tikka masala powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 3-4 tablespoons oil
  1. Mix grated ginger, grated garlic, Shan Chicken Tikka masala powder, yogurt and lemon juice in a bowl.
  2. Put the boneless chicken breasts in this mixture and marinate for about half an hour. An hour or longer, in the refrigerator is better.
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and drop the cumin seeds into it when warm.
  4. Put the chicken breasts and all the yummy smelling sauce in the pan and cook over medium to low heat.
  5. Turn the chicken over from time to time and allow all the sauce to thicken.
  6. This really spicy dish is ready when all the sauce has dried up and the chicken cooked thoroughly.

If you don't have Shan Chicken Tikka masala, you can use some other garam masala. Shan's spice mixes can be found in most Indian and Pakistani grocery stores.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.indian-recipe.net

try the chicken stuff on that...they have so much!

Indian Food Rocks said...

Hello Anonymous! Thank you for the several link drops to your blog/site. I am sure you have a ton of great recipes. I hate to adopt this tone but you've left me with no choice, so here goes:
I would appreciate it if you didn't spam my blog. What you're doing on your own blog (e.g those spammy keywords at the bottom of each page) is your own business but please don't bring it to my blog.

Anonymous said...

hi
yesterday i tried out ur jeera chicken & it was really good.only thing is instead of shallow frying it, i just sauteed it in a little oil & added the marinade & some water & cooked it & it still was yummy !thanks for the recipe ,this one is a keeper
shreya

Anonymous said...

and forget to add this tonight for dinner i tried out ur kheema matter(not yet tasted it) but it smells really good and waiting until dinner time is proving to be a torture!btw r u from bangalore?if so pls can u give me the khara bhat recipe?
shreya

Indian Food Rocks said...

Hi Shreya!! Welcome!

Isn't it amazing how you can add your own special touch to a recipe and make it really delicious? I am so glad you liked my Spicy Jeera chicken.

Let me know how the Kheema turned out. If you have left -overs, you can drain the sauce, add a little bit more of red chilli powder and make Kheema rotis.

Or you can make Kheema Biryani by making layers of basmati rice (cooked) and kheema. Add some potato wedges from KFC. Cover the pot tightly and seal the edges with some dough (roti ka atta is best). And put it in the oven at 350F till it's heated through. The dough helps keep the steam in the pot and lets the flavors blend into the rice.

I am not from Bangalore but I will ask a couple of friends from Bangalore if they know how to make authentic khara bhath. I will have to try it out before I post it.

AF said...

Nice recipe. I like it.
Visit my site
http://afrecipes.blogspot.com/

Indian Food Rocks said...

Hi AF!

I just visited your blog and your recipe for rasmalai sounds delicious. I've been looking for a recipe with ricotta cheese for rasmalai. The recipes I have start from scratch with milk and it's just toooo much effort and clean-up. What is your success rate with your recipe? I'd also skip the half-and-half because these love handles I acquired over winter seem to show no signs of melting away. :-D

Anonymous said...

hi
the kheema mutter was yummy & even my hubby who is not used to eating spicy food loved it!this morning i was telling amma about ur recipes & she was interested in trying out ur jeera chicken,so passed on the recipe 2 her!for once it was the other way round- me shouting the recipe to her on the phone:) eagerly waiting for ur updates

Anonymous said...

forgot to add my name to the comment!!
shreya

Indian Food Rocks said...

Shreya, it is good isn't it? My daughter (who will be 7 on Saturday) calls it "Sloppy Joe with a lot more taste."

If your Amma is in India, then she will need to add the peas along with the meat or cook them seprately and add them as suggested in my recipe. The peas out here are very tender and sweet and cook very quickly. The green peas in India take much longer to cook.

AF said...

Hi,
The Rasmalai one come sout really well. All my guests love it.
Try it!

AF

Anonymous said...

Damn you all :(

Indian Food Rocks said...

LOL, Mairu, what are you complaining about? You can't get any more authentic Indian food than where you are - in India!!

Anonymous said...

Hats off to you kaku...
("Gajrachi Koshimbir" hya varun mi olakhle ki tumhi maharashtrian asnar.. ani out of respect.. "kaku")

Chicken Tikka Chi recipie khupach chaan aahe.. Mi Australiat Shikto, ani ithe gharchya sarkhe Indian Food jara kathinach.. pan tumchya kah dishes try karun pahayche tharavle aahe.. Chicken Tikka try kela magchya weekend la.. farach sundar jhala hota...

Ata jevha pan gharche jevan miss karto, tevha ha blog vachto.. thode bare vat te

Anonymous said...

Hey Tuhin! Welcome to my blog!

I have been called a lot of names in my lifetime but this is a first for "kaku"! ;-) Thank you for the respect! I appreciate it!!

You're right about the Maharashtrian part. My family has roots in Goa although I have never lived there. We still have some family there though.

I'm glad you liked my quick and easy version of chicken tikka. I was away for a couple of weeks recently and I knew that when I returned I would have a serious backlog at work; so before we set off, I bought a large tray of chicken breasts and marinated them with this same masala. I then froze them in freezer bags, uncooked. I pull a bag out one day before the day I wish to cook it and thaw it in the refrigerator. The next day I have the option of either doing a jeera phodni as described above or cooking it in the oven. Toss together salad (or not) and heat some naans and it's almost reminiscent of some of the meals on the streets of Bombay!

If you liked the chicken tikka, then try my Jeera Chicken. I think you will like that, too.

So, Tuhin, Australiat ahes currently. Your seasons are flipped with ours. We are into spring here while I believe it's autumn in Oz. I hope you're enjoying yourself there along with the studies!