Chicken Mandi is a
delicious rice dish that is unique in its method of preparation, serving and
taste. Though Mandi is a food item associated with Saudi Arabia, it is loved by
people of Kerala irrespective of their age. This tasty rice and meat
combination, which is available in restaurants, can be prepared at home easily
with this recipe. Though mandi preparation takes its time, the flavor of the
dish is worth it. The oily texture of the rice when taken with the chicken
pieces is mouth-watering.
Ingredients
Sella Basmati Rice
- 4 cups
Chicken (preferably
with skin) - 1 kg
Whole peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons
Garam masala
powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cardamom - 1
tablespoon
Dry lemon -
Optional
Chopped capsicum -
1 No.
Chicken stock (salted)
- 4 cubes
Orange food colour
Sunflower oil -
3/4 cup
For
cooking rice
Salt - 2 teaspoons
Sunflower oil - 1
tablespoon
Preparation
Rice
preparation
Soak the Sella
Basmati rice for 20 minutes. We will not get the exact taste of Mandi with
ordinary Basmati rice.
Boil a large
amount of water. Add salt and sunflower oil to it. Do not add any other
ingredient to this water.
Add the soaked
rice to it.
Cook the rice
well. Sella basmati rice will take around 8 minutes to be cooked.
Mandi
preparation
Wash the chicken
well. Then wash it with vinegar so that the chicken will be cooked fast and the
insides become soft. Also, the dirt in the skin will be removed.
Add the chicken to
the biriyani pot. Try to take big pieces of chicken. Make holes on the chicken
with a fork so that it will absorb the masala well. Dry the chicken pieces with
a tissue.
Add whole
peppercorns, garam masala powder, cardamom, dry lemon, chopped capsicum and
chicken stock to it. Crush the chicken stock with your hand before adding it.
Add colour. Mix
well.
Pour sunflower
oil. Don't pour coconut oil. Then the taste will differ.
Cook the chicken
for 5 minutes over a high flame. Flip the chicken when the colour of one side
changes.
Transfer the
excess oil from the pot to a bowl. Remove the dry lemon.
Add a part of the
rice on top of it as the first layer over a low flame.
Spread some oil
from the bowl on top of the rice.
Add the remaining
rice over it as the second layer.
Spread the
remaining oil on top.
Sprinkle some red
colour on top. Mix some turmeric powder with milk and sprinkle it over the
rice.
Cover it with
aluminium foil and place a lid.
Cook it for an
hour over a low flame.
Move the chicken
to a side. Mix the rice with oil in the bottom of the pot.
Today I am sharing an easy and perfect recipe of chicken chukka. We will see how to prepare perfect chicken chukka easily at home.
PREPARATION
The main ingredient for chicken chukka is fried onions. I have taken 3 onions.We will need 3 - 4 onions for 1 kg of chicken. Thinly slice 3 medium sized onions.We have to fry it. Heat oil well and fry the onions.You can add little by little and fry it to finish this quickly. I am adding some salt with it.
If we fry it with salt, it is tasty and won't be spoilt fast upon storing.
It will take about 15 minutes for frying the onion. If you don't want to prepare the fried onion each time, you can fry the onion and store it. If we store the fried onion in a box after it cools down, we can quickly prepare this chicken recipe.
Fry it over a medium flame till it becomes brown. Move it to tissue. I had wiped it with a tissue afterwards. It will be very soft while it is hot. It will be crisp later. Set it aside for a while.We can mix the the ingredients now in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of crushed ginger, garlic and fennel seeds. I had crushed it without removing the garlic's peel. I washed it with the peel and crushed it.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder and 2 tablespoons of Kashmiri chilli powder. You can add more chilli powder for more spiciness. Add 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala powder and 2 teaspoons of pepper powder.
Though we are adding these according to the spiciness, there needs to be sufficient Kashmiri chilli powder and pepper powder to get the dish in the right colour. Add salt as required.
Thinly slice one medium-sized tomato and add to it. I am not adding coriander powder. It is not required for this recipe. Mix the masala and tomato well with hands. We are adding washed and drained 1 kg of chicken to this paste. Marinate the chicken well with the masala. Add the fried onion to it.
The fried onion, which was soft, is very crisp now. You can keep it outside for a while after mixing. But I am frying it now itself. If you are preparing fried onion and keeping it in a bottle, take more onion.
Add salt and mix well. When we are frying water will come out of the onion. Squeeze that water and fry in hot oil. Then the onion will be fried faster. Add 2 teaspoon of oil to the same pan. I removed the used oil. If you are using coconut oil for frying, remove a part of it.
No need to fry this in much oil. When oil is hot add curry leaves. Add the marinated chicken to this. Don't add much water to this. We can cook without water. I am adding less than 1/4 cup of water to cook this. Water will be there in chicken. If we add more water, then the marination will be gone.
So add some water and close this. Cook this in medium low flame. That is it. I am preparing Ghee rice in between. When the pan is hot add coconut oil instead of ghee. Add whole spices, garam masala, is added without grinding.
This is a chicken dish with less gravy. But that gravy is enough for any food with this chicken dish. Masala will be well coated in each chicken piece and have a good taste and flavour. If we want to prepare a chicken dish when we are busy, keep more quantity of fried onion in a bottle.
As I said earlier, slice the onion and add some salt. If we keep it for some time, water will come out of it. Squeeze it and fry is hot oil. Keep the fried onion in an airtight container after it is cooled. We can use it when we need it. The water for ghee rice is boiling. Add salt. Add washed rice to this. Drain the rice well before adding it. Else the water will be more. Close it and keep in medium flame for 5 to 8 minutes Then the ghee rice will be ready. Our curry is ready. It is having good color and oil has separated.
A zoo is the best place for kids to learn about the environment. As the mother of three young girls, I can assure you that the lush landscape, the gorgeous animals and the reaction of the kids to that is priceless. After we returned to the UAE from Kerala, we had to stay home for a few days due to the chilling climate of the UAE compared to Kerala. We came across a few Facebook and Instagram videos of a zoo and was intrigued. Though there are a lot of zoos in the UAE, this zoo is s
pecial. A zoo where you can pet a tiger cub! A zoo where you can hold tortoise hatchling or let a snake slither over your shoulder! My second daughter, Rosu, insisted on visiting the zoo. My husband and she love petting and holding animals contrary to me and my eldest daughter, Reenu. So we decided to visit “The Zoo – Wildlife Park” in Umm Al Quwain.
We visited the zoo on a weekday. The entry fee is 25 dirhams per person. It cost 100 dirhams for the four of us. The work is not yet complete but it is open to visitors from 10 am to 6 pm. The best time to visit the zoo is at the weekends. The exhibit of snakes is open during weekends only. Then we can hold the snake and let it slither on our body. But the zoo will be crowded on weekends. Due to the pandemic, it might be safer to visit during weekdays. What I loved the most about this place is that it doesn’t feel like a zoo at all. Normally in the zoo, we can watch the animals from behind a glass only. But here all the animals are so close to us and this made all of us, especially Rosu, very happy. The main attraction of the zoo is the tigers, lions and leopards. There are snakes too. But we couldn’t see those as it was a weekday. We watched the animals for a while and enjoyed the ambience of the place. It was heart-warming to watch the smile that lit up on the kids’ face. Then we reached the main highlight of the zoo. We came across a sleeping tiger cub. The most amazing fact is that we can pet the tiger cub and hold it in our lap too. I am seeing a tiger cub very close for the first time. I haven’t touched a tiger cub before too. Even though the tiger cub was sleeping and looked very calm, we were scared by the reminder that it is still a tiger. But the staff assured us that it is safe. Reenu was scared and didn’t come close. Rosu petted the tiger cub for a while. All of us were afraid at first but we got used to it soon. Since the cub was sleeping, we left to see other animals not wanting to upset the tiger. We saw a lot of tigers here. I think there are more tigers than other animals here. The tigers are very active and fun to watch.
There were a lot of funny and interesting moments during the visit. One of them was when we went near a majestic lion. The lion kept following Rosu. When she walks, the lion will walk with her and when she stops walking, the lion will also stop walking. It was a fascinating moment. Then we went near some tortoises. Unlike other zoos, it was an open area and we are very close to the animals. By the time we finish our visit, we will be attached to this place. We had seen some tortoise hatchlings’ photos in social media. When we asked about it to the staff, they let us hold one of the hatchlings in our hand. Mainly my husband and Rosu held it. Reenu and the baby stood far away. She is scared of all these. But Rosu was so excited that it was evident from her face. When she was holding the hatchling, there was a certain glow on her face that it warmed me very much. After watching the animals including the bear, black panther etc., we went back to the tiger cub. When we reached there, the tiger cub was awake and in a playful mood. We petted it and it started playing with my husband and Rosu. While playing, it was biting my husband’s pants. Since it was jeans, there was no harm. It is mindblowing to pet a tiger cub. Though we were assured that it was safe, we know that it is a tiger cub and it is a fact that it is a carnivore. But a few minutes into petting the cub and the cub will charm us. After some time, the cub’s mood changed. Then the staff came and took it away. I think they took it for a walk. We were told not to try to touch it or click photos with it during such times.
We walked through the zoo watching animals and birds. There were a huge tortoise shell and a stuffed deer head too. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They answered all our questions and guided us. The one thing to note is we have to take care that the kids do not put their arms inside the cages. Since the work is not complete, they haven’t arranged all the protections. It is our responsibility to take care of the kids. Rosu tried to put her arms inside some cages and the staff told us not to do that. By the end of the visit, we were very happy. The zoo has an amazing ambience. “The Zoo – Wildlife Park” is a great outing spot with family. If you are in the UAE, you should definitely visit this place.