This summer had me realizing all my salad dreams. I don’t know how it came to be but I found myself wanting to eat salad almost everyday for lunch and thusly creating all my favourite preparations into salad forms. Maybe it’s the crunch that I wanted or perhaps the effects of the extreme heatwave and unforgiving humidity had me needing all that was abundant and high in water content. Whatever the case maybe, I am delighted to have actually munched my way through hundreds of lettuce heads this year.
This chicken tikka salad is no different. Abundant with fantastical spices of a traditional tikka and light in its delivery, laid on a bed of raw vegetables, this salad has it all, that is the oomph of traditional flavours with a zingy dressing that won’t make you miss the naan.
Of course there are days when these succulent pieces of chicken wrapped in naan or stuffed between a couple slices of bread do the needful, but on days when you’re looking for something light and yet special this tikka salad is an uncompromising substitute.
Slice the chicken into bite sized pieces. In a bowl marinade the chicken with lemon, fenugreek leaves, ginger garlic paste, cumin, pepper, red chilli powder and yogurt. Add some oil and mix.
Once mixed, cover and let rest for at least ten minutes before cooking.
In the meantime we can make some dressing for the salad with some yogurt, black pepper, cumin powder, salt, garam masala and lemon.
Prep the vegetables for the salad by cleaning and chopping them into bite sized pieces. You can use whatever vegetables you like to eat raw.
I like to grill the chicken for tikka only because I love the stripes but it’s not needed. A regular skillet works just as fine if not better. Cook the chicken on both sides until well cooked and slightly charred for the smoky resonance.
The vegetables I’ve used here are lettuce, onions, carrots and cucumber. It’s really up to individual preference here. I have tried substituting shredded cabbage for lettuce and it works just as well.
Drizzle the yogurt dressing on top and enjoy.
This is a simple recipe with such complex flavours that you’d never realize it took you barely thirty minutes to put together this fabulous meal.
Ingredients Chicken - 200-350g Yogurt- 50g Fenugreek leaves- 2 tbsp Red chilli powder- 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp Salt to taste Lemon- 2 tsp Cumin powder- 1 tsp Black pepper- 1 tsp Oil-2 tsp ----- For the dressing Yogurt- 1 tbsp Garam masala- 1/2 tsp Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp black pepper- 1/4 tsp salt to taste Lemon- 1/2 tsp -- for the salad lettuce- 1 head carrots- 1 medium Cucumber- 1 medium Onion- 1 small Coriander leaves
Recipe instructions
Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and mix into a bowl with lemon, fenugreek leaves, dried spices, yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt and oil. Mix well and let rest at room temperature for ten minutes.
In a small bowl mix together the yogurt, garam masala, cumin powder, black pepper, salt and lemon to prepare dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Wash, clean and prepare the vegetables by choppin into bite sized pieces.
Heat a grill or skillet and lay the marinated chicken pieces. Cook on both sides for at least 5 minutes or until completely cooked and slightly charred and smoky. Let cool for a few minutes before adding to the vegetables.
Lay the cooked chicken over vegetables and drizzle with the yogurt dressing.
Serve.
A bit many ingredients, but they’re not a whole lot.paprika, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, salt, lemon zest and lemon juice, chopped onions, ginger and garlic as the flavour base. Salmon, peas and spinach, hard boiled eggs and that’s really it. (psst. use any fish you have available)
dry roast the cumin and peppercorns, until they’re just fragrant
These need to be crushed along with other spices
In with the salt and paprika
and you crush it within an inch of their existence, or until they’re nicely crushed
like so..
now for a gentle massage or rub..however you prefer
an now for a bit of tasteful dismemberment..or you can just cut in to chunks
In a pot of choice, heat some oil and add in the chopped onions
casually throw in the chopped ginger
followed closely by lemon zest
and in with the fish chunks. Cook for a few minutes, until the fish is more or less cooked.
Add in the chopped garlic and stir for a minute more.
Plonk in all the vegetables (peas and spinach) and stir for just another minute until the spinach wilts. (I’m using frozen peas, so it takes just a minute for them to cook. If you’re using fresh peas, you might want to add them a bit earlier or pre cook them)
now for the rice. I used a rice cooker and steamed the rice with a clove and black cardamom pod (totally optional)
In they go
Embellish with eggs if you please. This recipe has real oomph and wow factor. It looks simple, and it is simple, but the flavours manage to hit all the right spots without jarring your senses.
Driedredchillies 