Haven't we had enough of saturated fatty acids, and luscious red meat already? Isn't it time we gave a break to nehari, tehari, or biryani? Also, why ignore the equally delectable options available, and if cooked properly, something that will make you feel passionate about your palate?

SPICY GUR CHICKEN

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (6-8 pieces)

2 tbsp oil

10 tbsp jaggery

2 tbsp black pepper, grounded

1 tsp ginger, crushed

1 tsp garlic, crushed

1 tbsp chilli flakes

1 stick cinnamon

2 star anise

½ cup tamarind paste

Salt to taste

Method

Melt some jaggery in a pan. Add oil and mix. Then add grounded black pepper, salt, ginger, crushed garlic, chilli flakes, and then mix. Now add cinnamon sticks, star anise, and tamarind paste. Stir and cook well. After cooking, cool it down and marinate the chicken pieces for 2 hours. Preheat oven at 190° C. Then bake the chicken for about 30 minutes. Serve hot with coriander leaves.

FRIED CHICKEN TACO

Ingredients

For the sauce —

3 tbsp mozzarella cheese

2 tbsp chilli sauce

4 tbsp hot sauce

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Olive oil, as required

For tortillas —

2 cups flour

¼ tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp oil

½ tsp salt

½ tsp sugar

Luke warm water

For fried chicken —

500g chicken meat

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp hot sauce

4 tbsp corn flour

For each taco —

1 lettuce leaf

1-2 jalapeno peppers, whole or sliced

Mayonnaise, vinegar and water (as required)

Method

In a bowl, take salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, hot sauce, corn flour, a little water and mix together. Marinate the chicken in it. Heat some olive oil. Dip the marinated chicken in flour and fry. In a separate pan, mix olive oil and all other ingredients for sauce and cook for some time. Mix all the ingredients of taco dough. Leave it in the open for some time. Make 5-8 balls from the dough and roll them into thin discs. Now, grill them.

Heat the sauce again in a pan without oil and add the fried chicken; shred them beforehand. Then in a bowl add a little vinegar and water and mix in the mayonnaise. Take the tortilla and spread some mayonnaise and vinegar over it. Then make a complete wrap with lettuce, chicken, sauce and jalapenos. Serve with adequate chilli sauce.

RED CHILLI CHICKEN

Ingredients

3 chicken breast pieces

1 cup yoghurt, ½ cup ghee

1 tbsp garam masala

1 red chilli, whole

1-2 tsp sugar

Salt, to taste

Method

Marinate the chicken in yoghurt for 1 hour. Now heat ghee in a pan, and add garam masala and the whole red chilli to it. After frying, take out the red chilli, and add sugar to the ghee. When it turns red, add the marinated chicken to it, and sauté. If the gravy becomes too thick, add salt. Don't add water in the whole process. When the chicken becomes soft, take the chicken and gravy out. Garnish with mint and coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

CHICKEN WITH POTATO CAKES

Ingredients

For potato cakes —

5 boiled potatoes

2 cups flour

100g salted butter

Salt, to taste

For chicken —

1kg minced chicken

6 tbsp olive oil

3 tsp, pepper

3 red chilli (whole)

2 tbsp crushed garlic

1 onion sliced

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp soya sauce

Salt, to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan, and add in crushed garlic, and sliced onions. Fry until light golden. Then add in the chicken mince and all the other ingredients; cook well and make thick gravy. Mash the boiled potatoes in a bowl. Then add all the ingredients of the potato cake to make patties and shallow fry. Finally, take the cakes and pour chicken gravy over them. Serve hot and sprinkle some lemon juice over the dish.

SWEET, TANGY AND SPICY GRILL CHICKEN

Ingredients

1 kg chicken (only thigh pieces)

2 tbsp garlic paste

2 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp mango pickle

1 tbsp orange jelly

2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp sugar

Mustard oil, as required

Salt, to taste

Method

Mix all the ingredients and prepare a marinade. Prick the chicken with a fork to help the marinade get uniformly within. Marinate it for at least 2 hours. Then bake it in the oven for 3 min (180° C, 10 min preheated before putting in the chicken).  After taking the baked chicken out of the oven, heat oil in a pan and fry the baked chickens to get that crunchy feel.

Serve hot with lemon.

Photo: Collected