Bangkok’s street food deeply inspired this recipe. You can see it in the satay and the quintessentially Southeast Asian ingredients like lemongrass. When I made it at Indigo, my restaurant in Colaba, Mumbai, I gave it a touch of South Asia by cooking the chicken in the tandoor, which I love doing.
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Serves
4
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Cook Time
01 h 00 m
Plus three hours to marinate chicken
Ingredients
For Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4 chicken legs, boneless
- 50 gm ginger
- 40 gm basil
- 40 gm garlic
- 40 ml lemon juice
- 2 stalks of lemongrass
- Salt and pepper
For Zucchini Satay
- 200 gm zucchini
- 40 gm peanut butter
- 40 gm butter
- 40 gm honey
- 20 gm garlic
- 20 gm coriander, chopped
- 5 gm red chilli flakes
- 40 ml white wine
- 15 ml sesame oil
For Tomato Pilaf
- 200 gm basmati rice, boiled
- 80 gm onion, chopped
- 80 gm Madras onions or shallots
- 50 gm butter
- 40 gm coriander, chopped
- 40 gm basil
- 20 gm garlic, chopped
- 20 gm Pommery (grainy) mustard
- 80 ml white wine
- 80 ml white wine vinegar
- 20 ml honey
- 6 tomatoes, blanched and cut into cubes
- 20 Kalamata olives, deseeded
For Lemon Coriander Dressing
- 80 gm fresh coriander
- 40 gm coriander seeds
- 200 ml olive oil
- 200 ml red wine
- 200 ml port wine
- 80 ml lemon juice
- 4 green chillis
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- Zest of four lemons used to make juice
Preparation
For Chicken
- Blend lemongrass and ginger in a mixer and make a coarse paste. Add a little water if required.
- Spoon the paste into several layers of muslin cloth and wrap tightly. Squeeze out and reserve the ginger and lemongrass juice.
- Make a thick paste of basil, salt, pepper, garlic and lemon juice along with the reserved lemongrass and ginger juice.
- Marinate the chicken breasts and legs in this paste for at least three hours in the refrigerator.
For Basmati Pilaf
- Cook basmati rice in boiling water. Strain and reserve.
- Melt butter in a saucepan (large enough to hold the rice), add onion and garlic, and sauté till onion turns translucent.
- Toss in mustard, shallots, black olives and blanched tomatoes. Cook for three to four minutes.
- Pour in the white wine, vinegar and honey and reduce till the contents of the pan become thick and paste-like.
- To this sauce, add the cooked rice, some fresh coriander and basil leaves. Mix well.
For Zucchini Satay
- Using a mandolin, cut the zucchini into thin ribbons and set aside.
- Melt butter in a pan, add chopped garlic and sauté till it just starts to brown.
- Drop in the peanut butter and chilli flakes and mix well.
- Pour in the white wine and some water to make a thick sauce.
- Finish with a little honey and sesame oil. Check the sweet-sour balance and seasoning.
- Add in the zucchini straws and combine well. Reserve till ready to plate.
For Lemon Coriander Dressing
- Mix the red wine and port and reduce them in a non-reactive saucepan until half the volume remains.
- Toast the coriander seeds in another pan, crush them and reserve.
- Heat oil in yet another pan, add crushed garlic, green chillies and fresh coriander, and cook for a bit. Remove from the flame when the coriander leaves start turning dark green.
- Toss in the toasted coriander seeds, port and red wine reduction and lemon zest.
- Blend everything and finish with lemon juice, checking for balance.
- Reserve the lemon coriander dressing.
To Serve
- Grill the marinated chicken for approximately four to five minutes on either side.
- Drop a serving-spoonful of the basmati pilaf in the centre of a plate and place the chicken on it.
- Add the zucchini satay to the plate, and drizzle the lemon coriander dressing around. Garnish with fresh coriander sprigs and oven-roasted, lemon slices.
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