Anjum Anand's Ultimate Baked Hyderabad Chicken
This is a typical Hyderabad dish where it is not too spicy and the meat is cooked in yoghurt and flavourings with no added water, traditionally baked on charcoal. Here, I bake it in the oven and add a little cream to the end pan juices to give it a really Mughlai touch. You can use boneless chicken pieces but you wont get the lovely rich flavours of the chicken in the end sauce and the chicken wont be as moist. This is not a curry, but there are enough pan juices to dip your chicken pieces into. Serve as a main with some sliced fried potatoes, vegetables or pilaf rice.
Ingredients
| Chicken | 1200 Gram , skinned (small | |
| Greek yogurt | 275 Gram | |
| Red onions | 2 Medium , slice | |
| Oil/Ghee | 1 Cup (16 tbs) (for frying) | |
| Peeled ginger | 15 Gram , peeled (quartered) | |
| Garlic | 6 Clove (30 gm) , peeled | |
| Garam masala | 1 1/2 Teaspoon | |
| Red chilli powder | 1/2 Teaspoon (or to taste) | |
| Cashew nuts | 20 | |
| Green chillies | 4 (pierced with a knife) | |
| Salt | To Taste | |
| Double cream | 4 Tablespoon | |
| Freshly chopped coriander | 1/4 Cup (4 tbs) |
Directions
GETTING READY:
1. Preheat your oven to 200C.
MAKING:
2. Heat 1 1/2” of oil in a smallish saucepan.
3. Add the onions and fry over a good flame until golden and crisp on the edges.
4. Drain off the ghee/oil.
5. Reserve a quarter of the onions and place the rest in the container of a blender along with 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil (use the rest for cooking another dish, it will taste of delicious fried onions).
6. Add the yoghurt, ginger, garlic and cashew nuts.
7. Blend until smooth. Stir in the garam masala, tablespoon of chopped coriander and season well.
8. It will need to taste a bit salty to taste at this stage.
9. Mix well in the chicken and marinate for as long as possible, overnight, covered in the fridge is best.
10. Bring back to room temperature and preheat the oven to 200C.
11. Soak the saffron in a little hot water or milk for 20 minutes.
12. Place the chicken in a single layer in an oven proof dish with all the marinade, pour over the saffron liquor, tuck in the green chillies and bake in the oven until done, around 30-40 minutes depending on the sizes of the joints. Baste half way through.
13. The chicken should be brown in places on the top and the pan juices should be a bit thick.
14. Take the chicken out of the dish, stir in the cream, most of the coriander and a tiny splash of boiling water if necessary.
15. Season to taste.
SERVING:
16. Serve garnished with the reserved onions and last bit of coriander.
Recipe Summary
