Simple Chicken Roast

Days are really hectic. Cannot but say! It's a mad rush at office and even more mad rush back home... A small nap, prayers, time for recitation, Iftar, kids, Taraweeh prayers and all of a sudden it's 11 pm and it's time to sleep! Frankly speaking, 24 hours seems to be not much enough for all the activities happening, but Alhamdulillah, the spirits of everybody at home is high and it is indeed a blessed feeling. In fact, my umma who was pretty sceptic if she could take the summer Ramadan on, as for the past three years, she's been fasting amidst the heavy rains in Kerala, is quite pleased that things are not bad as she was expecting it to be! :) And on top of that, my little Rasha took five fasts for the first time! Amn't I a beaming mother? Yes, it did not come without any heartaches. On her first fast, when umma was feeding Azza her lunch, she threw a tantrum to be fed. We somehow convinced her that once she sleeps, she would be fine. I put her to bed, and went off to sleep with Azza. After an hour, I woke up to see two eyes peeping from inside the blanket.

Me: "Rasha, didn't you sleep???" *Surprised*
Rasha: "No ummi, I couldn't sleep because my tummy is growling!"

I just couldn't stop laughing... But she somehow managed to hold onto her will power and completed her fast. The second day was fine, she didn't make much of a fuss. The third day she fasted, she waited for all of us to sleep, slowly sneaked into the kitchen, dumped in one peice of chocolate that she found in the fridge and ate up a couple of tablespoons of cold rice! She was interrupted by my B who opened the main door and there she ran back to the room leaving the rice back in the fridge but leaving trails on the floor!!! Kids are kids, isn't it? So as of now, she has 5.67 fasts in her account!!! ;) You may be thinking that why am I making her fast, we start this orientation from whenever they can so that they get the gyst and feel of fasting as they grow older and it starts to become obligatory for them.

Off to today's recipe, I treasure this recipe to the core. During my initial cooking days when I used to constantly rack my head and there were no smart phones to support you with Google 24-7, I used to ask my ex-colleague, Shankarji for some ideas. Since he used to watch a lot of TV, he had seen this roast on a channel and tried it himself before sharing it with me. Since then, whenever I am not in a mood to cook anything elaborate, I just make this no-fail recipe that always amazes me with its taste. It also reminds me of Shankarji as well, who is enjoying his retirement life back home. He may not read this, but definitely I'd love to tell him that we all over here do miss him to the core!

Simple Chicken Roast
Serves 4
Recipe courtesy: Shankarji


Ingredients:

900 gm chicken drumsticks or 1 kg chicken
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp chilli powder
3/4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
3 chillies, slit
4 large onions, sliced thinly
2 large tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste
Curry leaves or coriander leaves, for garnishing

Method:

Remove the skin and wash the chicken drumsticks well. Make stashes here and there and set aside to drain. If using chicken, then de-skin and cut into meduim sized peices. Wash well and set aside. 

Heat the oil in the saucepan. Add all the powdered masalas and saute for a minute till a lovely aroma comes. Add the chicken, and mix well for the fried masalas to get coated. Leave it on low flame for five minutes. Then add all the remaining ingredients and leave it on low flame on tight lid. Keep stirring it in between to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook till the masala and the chicken is well cooked. Garnish with curry leaves once done. 

Serve with chapathis or rotis, while warm.

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