Vanilla Chicken - My Signature Recipe

Juicy & Succulent

 Vanilla Chicken Recipe

So finally, here's my brand new blog on food and on being a foodie. If you believed that vanilla should only be used in desserts, I'm about to prove you wrong. Since my signature recipe for Vanilla Chicken is something that my friends and family have been giving me raving reviews for, this had to be the first recipe on my blog! This is a recipe invented by me as a result of my boredom from cooking the same quick meals while being on a student budget. I was expecting my dearest friends over, who are very good at cooking and deserved to be served nothing but exceptionally exotic flavours on their plate. I made this for them and they absolutely loved it. In their opinion, this was the best dish I ever cooked for them. So I dedicate this recipe to none other than, the charming couple and my dearest friends in Bristol, Alex & Alexis.

This blog post is also dedicated to Rasika Tembulkar, Harsha Shetty, Mary Dias, Cheryl Akshikar (my mom) and all my lovely friends who requested this perfectly juicy and flavourful recipe. So without any further delay, here it goes! (Read till the end for an extra recipe to go with the chicken!)

Ingredients

(serves 2-3)

• 500 gms chicken (Preferably drumsticks/thighs with skin)
• 3 medium red onions, finely chopped
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 3 tbsps tomato ketchup/ puree
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, halved lengthwise
• 1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 3-4 tbsps chilli powder/paprika
• 2 tbsps vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (optional)
• a generous splash of tequila or rum (optional)
• dried mixed italian herbs or fresh herbs, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup spring onion greens, finely chopped
• olive oil

Method

To prepare your chicken, take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it is cooked. Wash and prick with a fork or make gashes with a knife. Marinate with salt, pepper, chilli powder and tomato ketchup/ puree for about half an hour to one hour. If you're in India and it's summer time, you may want to keep it in the refrigerator to marinate.

Drizzle some olive oil in a sauce pan or a deep frying pan and fry the garlic and ginger until they begin to turn brown. Add the onions and fry until the mixture becomes dry and turns golden brown. Drizzle a little more oil and gently add the chicken pieces to the saucepan. As you hear the sizzle, drizzle the vanilla essence, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar (optional) and tequila  rum (optional) over the chicken and cover with a lid for about 5 minutes. Then stir the chicken and add water in the saucepan till 3/4th of the chicken is submerged under water. Cover again and cook for 15 more minutes or until chicken is completely cooked. Check by piercing the chicken with a knife or fork. Once cooked, add the herbs and toss the chicken in its own sauces. 

Serve hot, with a slice of lemon and garnish with spring onion greens. 

As promised, here's an extra tip! Fry your already cooked rice with the vanilla flavoured sauce of the chicken until it's all coated or absorbed by the rice. Alternatively, fry par boiled potato wedges in the sauce until it is absorbed or well coated and voila! You've just made a lovely meal by combining vanilla and chicken!

Do try this wonderful recipe and let me know how it turns out, in the comments section below. Feel free to substitute ingredients with those of your choice and share your ideas with me. Also, share this recipe with your loved ones and it will surely steal their hearts! Kindly let me know what recipe you would like me to cover for you, soon. Looking forward to your valuable feedback.

Much love and good wishes!

SaloFalo!

xoxo