Chicken Tikka with Zucchini and Fenugreek Seeds

I am SO sorry for the lack of posts, but I have a good excuse. I am very happy to announce that we have a new addition to the Zalera family (no, it's not what you think): Joanne and I picked up a new puppy in January. Her name is Katara. She was born at the beginning of December, making her 12 weeks as of this posting.

She is part Shepard, black Lab and Retriever, which means she's going to be one big and energetic dog. As you can imagine, she's been a handful so far and has been taking up a lot of our time. Now that she's been housetrained and used to the house (and Tobie), I can relax and start posting new recipes.

Every Sunday is a ritual at our house; Joanne and I invite her parents over for dinner. Even though we all live under the same roof, we rarely see each other. This gives us a chance to catch up on what's going on with everyone.
This particular Sunday I wanted to make a nice, three course meal. We started out with a really simple and light appetizer of bacon-wrapped bean sprouts with a honey mustard sauce. I never knew just how great everything could taste wrapped in bacon. I'm wrapping everything in bacon now! The trick to this dish is to have a HOT frying pan to cook the bacon quickly, without making the sprouts soggy.
The preparation for the main dish, Chicken Tikka, was done the night before. Even though you can get away with marinating the chicken for three hours, it's better if you leave it overnight. This is a GREAT summer recipe too, just use bone-in chicken pieces and grill on the BBQ. On sunday night, though, I used boneless breasts, cut into medium sized pieces. I added a simple zucchini side dish with Fenugreek seeds and served it with an extra side of rice.

Lastly, I served a simple but fun berry crumble dessert. I used blackberries and raspberries, but you can use whatever is in season at your local grocer/food market. Using berries is just a nice way of shaking things up from the typical apple crumble.

Appetizer:
Bacon Wrapped Bean Sprouts

• 6 strips bacon
• 100g bean sprouts, wash thoroughly, drain well
• salt and pepper
• fresh herbs for garnish (optional)

In a frying pan, lay the bacon strips side by side. Turn the stove to medium heat, cook bacon until they are haft-cooked and brown - but not crispy. Remove bacon from the pan.

Place the sprouts in small bunches on the bacon strip and sprinkle them with a little bit of salt and pepper. Roll and wrap with each bacon strip. Secure with toothpicks.

Put them back to the hot frying pan. Turn and cook until the bacon is crispy and the bean sprouts are cooked through. Remove toothpicks before serving. Garnish with your favorite fresh herbs (I used cilantro).

Main Dish:
Chicken Tikka
Spice Paste

• 1 Tbsp coarsely crushed black peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tspn cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp garam masala
• 2 tspn ground cumin
• 2 tspn dried oregano
• 1 tspn salt
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp plain yogurt

• 1kg chicken pieces
• 1 large onion sliced
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Combine all the ingredients for the spice paste in a bowl and mix well. Rub the paste over the chicken as evenly as possible. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Arrange onion slices in the bottom of a heatproof dish. Drizzle oil over the onions.

Arrange the marinated chicken pieces on top of the onion and cook under a preheated broiler, turning over once, half-way, during the 25-30 minutes cooking time.

Side Dish:
Zucchini & Fenugreek Seeds

• 6 Tbsp oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tspn finely chopped ginger root
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 tspn chilli powder
• 2 medium zucchinis, sliced
• 2 smal tomatoes, sliced
• fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 tspn fenugreek seeds
• fresh cilantro, to garnish

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli powder, stirring well to combine.

Add the zucchini and tomatoes and stir-fry for 5-7 minutes.

Add the cilantro and fenugreek seeds to the mixture and stir-fry for another 5 minutes.

Remove and transfer to serving dish. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve hot.


Dessert:
Berry Crumble
Filling

• 3 cups of your favorite berries or mix of berries (I used blackberries and raspberries)
  
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/8 c flour
• Tbsp orange juice
  

Topping

• 1/2 c flour
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/8 c sugar
• 1/8 tsp Kosher salt
• 4 Tbsp cold butter
• 1/4 cup dry oats
• almond slices (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start with the filling: toss all ingredients into a saucepan on low heat until combined. Pour berry mixture into 4 little ramekin dishes.

Next, work on the topping: Add flour, brown sugar, sugar, salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Cut up the butter and add to mixture, pulse until size of peas. Pour topping mixture into a bowl and stir in dry oats.

Place a few Tablespoons of topping over the berries in the ramekins.
You can even sprinkle some sliced almonds over the top for extra crunch and taste.

Bake these on a lined baking sheet until warm and bubbly, roughly 30 minutes.

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!