EASY STEAMED CHICKEN

CHICKEN IS A HEALTHY MEAT!

Its neat, this comes from a person who loves her kitchen, shopping for raw ingredients & cooking! All my loving readers have known by now for a period of 4-5 years, I totally detested chicken! I also felt I did not cook it well enough;  but my family had been fine with it! Gradually, I started trying, testing, also tasting different recipes with it which need not be Indian or South Asian! I discovered I like to cook & eat light, soupy Chicken Curries that use minimal spices! I have zeroed in on few recipes and cook them in turns! I am fond of Oriental Chicken and Western Fried Chicken! Not because the son immensely loves chicken, going without chicken in a foreign land for us non-veg eaters is difficult! A chicken soup with ruti or bread or a bowl of rice works for us! The man wants chicken soup & bread every night! This irritates me, I retaliate; "I can cook, I enjoy it because Cristine is there 24/7; food cannot be monotonous and repetitive in this family"!

I PLAN FOOD WITH THE START OF THE DAY!

Yesterday night, I did not plan for the lunch box! This morning, while I was on the bed, an idea strike my mind! I got up, brushed my teeth, felt better using the mouth freshener and took out the mutton curry bowl! Cristine too woke up, I asked her to roast some moong dal, wash it with some rice added, slit green chillies, chop onions, take out a bay leaf & a dry red chilli, cumin seeds! I prepared a non-vegetarian hotchpotch in the pressure cooker; filled in the lunch box and also had it for our lunch!The moment you use Basmati rice for a khichuri, it ceases to be a Bengali style, we must use the small grain, fragrant rice for it!

I do not support cooking food in a pressure cooker, I do not think the final step of a dish should be cooked in it! I actually had to go to my doctor today! I do not know why I wanted to cook a cake in a jiffy!

My cakes do not taste good if I am using eggs; they get rubbery! I was in a hurry to use the newly bought mould! I think in my case, egg infused cakes are to be bought from the store; fruits, yogurt, vinegar, evaporated milk & creamer work good for my egg free cakes; after all the grandma got sores on her waist cradling me! Anyway, my blood sugar level is under control even after having rice regular and the pressure too, but it fluctuates! I walked too about 6km wearing a hawaii chappal and a bag on my shoulder! Daily cardio I would do! For dinner, I can go without carb but I cannot fast until 2 pm the next day if I do that! I give utmost love & care to my stomach! Steamed Fish & Chicken, Vegetables cannot be my religion; they can be had some days! I must have "shutkir bhorta diye bhaat" regular! That is the reason why I am giving away at least 10-15 dresses to Cristine's family! I bought them over a period of time at discount; some I did not even wear once! Now, I cannot wear heavy dresses, I feel sick, puke! I am over weight, prefer light wears, cotton wear to be precise!

Charity begins at home, I might be giving away our daily use Corelle Crockery too, I told bossy eleven years on; I got bored of them, they won't break!

WHAT IS THIS EASY STEAMED CHICKEN?

Cristine has become a part of the family, at times I cook Filipino dishes listening from her! The South East Asian palette suits her but she loves our food except our sweets! She is extremely fond of porota, luchi! She & her Sir refuse gluten-free flours! Some days I would cook a minimally marinated fish or chicken this way to give her the taste of home! She eats Filipino food every Sunday; I am happy that she does not make a noise when I serve her panchmeshali torkari which my man, son & brother consider as inedible! This EASY STEAMED CHICKEN is a simplistic, non-vegetarian lean meat recipe! It has been marinated with the basic spices & fresh herb coriander, cooked in manual steamer. I can guarantee there would be no smell of raw chicken! I do not know what else the Orientals use in the marination, they eat a lot of herbs & sauces I am clueless about! To make this chicken dish gluten-free use wheat-free soy sauce, I cannot prescribe a vegan version of it! The islanders prepare tofu this way, I like but my men won't touch! Yesterday night, I cooked tofu in a way the islander would term as a murderous attempt at their tofu! We all loved it is what matters!

INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN : ONE WHOLE, DE-SKINNED & CLEANED

MINCE GARLIC : 2 TBSP

MINCE GINGER : 2 TSP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TSP

CHOPPED FRESH CORIANDER : 2-3 TBSP

LEMON JUICE : 1/4 SMALL TEA CUP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

SOY SAUCE : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

ALL PURPOSE SEASONING : 1 TSP

DRIED HERB : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

It goes without saying all the raw spices, herbs used have to be washed. The chicken has to be washed thoroughly inside out under running water!

We will marinate the chicken with everything mentioned in the ingredients list except the chopped, washed coriander!

Be careful, the soy sauce, the all purpose seasoning are salty, use minimal amount of salt!

We will keep the chicken marinated for 2 to 3 hours covered! Thereafter, we will add the chopped coriander!

We will fill half of the steamer base with water and boil it! We will place the holed plate atop it and the chicken plate on it!

We will close the pot with it's cover and steam cook for about half an hour to 35-40 minutes at low heat!

We will switch off the gas stove!

We had it with salad, sweet potato-purple cabbage kebab on the side!