LIfe with 3 kids has been a fast-paced, heart-thumping adventure. Trying to get everyone everywhere – relatively on time! – has me out on the road from afternoon pickup often past dinner time. Years ago, before our commitment to eat more whole foods, we would resort to take out and often to my chagrin – it would be fast food.

Now-a-days, even though one child is off in college and we are down to 2 at home, life is still equally challenging. But there are several things that help ensure a home cooked meal:

• As much as I enjoy cooking, I try to find or create recipes that are quick to cook, require fewer ingredients, and are easy to clean-up, thus allowing more time with my family
• A willingness to have some misses – meaning trying new recipes, but knowing that the family will not approve of every one 🙂
• A commitment to using more whole foods in our meals
• A little advance planning

As a result, I often search out cook books that fit this criteria. My favorite one is Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick and Easy Indian Cooking. This cookbook is filled with the most delicious and quick recipes and I have found so much inspiration from these pages!

Take for example this next recipe for Reshmi Murgh, or Silken Chicken. This recipe can be made in 35 minutes – 5 minutes to prepare the chicken, 15 minutes for the marination and 15 minutes to roast. The result – a most tender and fragrant piece of chicken that is deliciously moist and juicy.

The key, which I learned from Ms. Jaffrey’s cookbook, is a double marinade – the first in salt and lemon juice – which starts to tenderize the meat, and a second in a cream/spice mix to add flavor. My variations on the original recipe include adding fresh mint instead of dried, and using yogurt instead of cream to help cut down the fat.

Reshmi Murgh is delicious served with rice, potatoes or other vegetables. You could also serve it sliced in warm pita bread with lettuce and raita (cucumber and yogurt sauce) or on top of a green salad.

On a side note – this dish calls for ground roasted cumin seeds – this is one of the few spices that I pound fresh in my mortar and pestle instead of buying it pre-ground from the Indian grocery. I find that it tastes better and allows for the option to use roasted or un-roasted cumin, whichever my recipe calls for.

Reshmi Murgh – serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground roasted cumin
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely minced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh mint, cut into thin strips (chiffonade)
• To sprinkle over chicken:
  • sea salt – to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper – to taste
  • a bit of garam masala
  • a bit of ground roasted cumin
  • a bit of chili powder
  • several squeezes of fresh lemon juice
• lemon wedges and mint leaves for garnish (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to and set the temperature at your oven’s highest setting – in my kitchen that would be 550. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Place chicken breasts in a shallow container – such as a casserole dish or a jelly roll pan. Cut 3-4 slits into the breasts, on a diagonal – making sure not to cut all the way thru the meat or go to the edge. Additionally prick the chicken with fork tines.
3. Sprinkle lemon juice and salt onto the chicken – massage the mixture into the meat – ensuring that both sides have been covered. Set aside.
4.  In the meantime add garam masala, red chili powder, ground cumin, garlic, salt, black pepper and mint to 1/2 cup yogurt. Mix well.
5. After 5 minutes, add the yogurt mix to chicken – make sure that both sides are covered. Allow to marinate for 10 minutes.
6. Place marinated chicken, in a single layer, onto a foil covered baking sheet – keep as much of the yogurt marinade on the chicken as possible.
7. Sprinkle a bit of the following onto each breast – garam masala, red chili powder and ground cumin, salt and black pepper. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
8. Place onto a rack in the top third of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove when chicken is just white all the way through.
9. Add a an extra bit of squeezed lemon juice if you like. Serve immediately, spiced side up,  with sides of your choice.

Notes:

** Although this is a quick dish and only calls for marinating the chicken for a total of 15 minutes, you could also marinate for a longer time period – as long as overnight if you wish. Simply follow steps 2, 3, 4, and 5. Instead of marinating for 10 minutes, place yogurt covered chicken in a sealed container into the fridge. Remove 10-15 minutes before cook time to allow meat to loose some of the chill. Then proceed with steps 1, and 6-10.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Thanks for stopping by,

Shruti