Indian style Baked Chicken

“Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.” How true is this. At least to me it makes lots of sense. Not to boast there were days when my friends said I physically resembled Actress Simran, not pretty wise thou But today, when I look at myself in the mirror I have grown 6 dress size which is terrible. Thanks to Hypothyrodism and Lack of exercise. Though TH says I still have some of those charm left, I know I will lose them all if I don’t take any preventive actions immediately.

I enrolled into a neighborhood gym to burn those extra pounds and even registered for a Personal training with an instructor who was no good (which I found later). To add to my frustration I didn’t see any difference in me. This is when I read about the South Beach Diet in Sig’s ‘Live to Eat‘ Blog. I was little hesitant to join this programme until I read about the success stories of Sig and fellow South Beach dieters. It was intriguing, then I asked myself. Can I keep up this commitment? Can I follow all the rules? Can I adapt Indian food to my diet? Then I remembered the quote above (first line of this post). So I decided to go on a South beach diet. After registering on SBD website and reading all their articles I fairly had an idea what I should do.
To me, the most important aspect of the diet is to eat what we enjoy. So I am trying to create meals that will suite my Indian taste buds at the same time I ensure that they are healthy and meet the SBD norms. Indian style Baked Chicken is one such improvisation to the Chicken fry. Hope you enjoy this as we did.

How it tasted?

The aroma of Indian spices filled my home and I couldn’t wait to take them out of the oven. Remember I am on diet so ate a small chunk to suppress my cravings. For TH, I sauteed the onions and tomatoes with little indian spices and added the diced chicken to make a simple and quick curry for the roti. I added the small chunks to my salad and savored it as a Indian style Chicken Salad for my lunch. YUMM. You can also serve it with soup and make it a wholesome meal.

Ingredients

Chicken Breast – 1.4 lb (approx 600 grams) or 3 large breast

Lemon – 1 1/2 tbsp

Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp

Pepper Powder – 1/2 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp

Garam masala – 1/2 tsp

Paprika – 1/2 tsp

Chili Powder – 1/2 tsp (If you do not have paprika then make it 1tsp)

Salt to taste

Yogurt – 3 tsp

Canola/Olive Oil – 1-2 tsp (Optional)

Method
1. Cleaning
Clean the chicken breast thoroughly with vinegar or turmeric powder. Pat dry to remove the excess water.

I had 3 huge chicken breasts, so I cut them in to halves. Also It was little thick so I created a small slit in the center(along the breadth). So the chicken breast looked like a (pita) pocket. This will ensure that the marinade gets in to the center of the chicken. If your chicken breast are thin, then I wouldn’t suggest you to make a slit along the breadth. Instead you can create couple of .5 cm slit along the length.

2. Marinade

Add the above ingredients except chicken and mix it to a thick paste.

Take a baking tray/cookie tray and line it with a Aluminium foil. If you want you can drizzle some oil/cooking spray on the foil.

Using a brush or your hand spread the marinade to coat the chicken well. If you are creating a slit do spread the marinade inside the pocket.

Place the chicken breast in the freezer and let it marinate for atleast 2 hours or longer.

3. Baking

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Bake the chicken for 10 minutes. Remove it from oven, using a spatula flip it. Baste it with the excess liquid if any. Bake it for another 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

Using a spatula carefully remove them and place it on a plate. Garnish it with cilantro and serve it lemon wedges and onion (sliced into full moon). Serve it immediately as an appetizer with Green chutney or Yogurt dip.

If you are refrigerating the chicken for later use, then ensure that you reheat them on a Tawa drizzling some oil. Microwaving makes the chicken little hard and chewy.