Thursday, July 7, 2011

Pulled Chicken Sandwich ....Perfect for the Summer Picnics

Arrrrgghhhh .... These names are driving me crazy ... Apple Citrus, Guava Grapefruit Blast, Warm Vanilla Sugar, Citrus Blueberry Swirl. No I am not reading any menu ..... these are some of the shampoos and of course conditioners available at 'Bath n Body Works' !! I wandered around the shop with an equally clueless husband whom I forced to sniff each of these bottles and give his opinion before I dropped them into my shopping bag. Never thought buying shampoo could be so tedious. Also never in my craziest imagination had I thought that there would be exclusive shops selling toiletries !

I still remember Aai (maternal grandma) rubbing the red horrible looking and equally bad smelling Shikakai soap on my head. Later she decided to go herbal and graduated to Shikakai and Reetha (soap nut), which she would soak overnight in warm water. She would part my hair and rub it with the solution before washing it off. This continued till one day when the Reetha Solution ran into my eyes and caused havoc.


Then came the era of my mom ..... who neither had the time nor the inclination of going through a regime of making herbal soap solutions and rubbing into our hair. She would hand over a shiny one rupee coin and ask me or my sister to run to the Kirana (Grocery) shop to fetch a sachet of shampoo. With fewer names like Sunsilk, Halo and Clinic Plus there was little to get confused about. Radha Shyam the shop owner would snap a sachet from the string while we would stand there staring at the bottles of hard boiled sugar candies.

Maa would not let us use the entire sachet .... she would pour half the packet into my palm and save the remaining for my sister or for the next use. Soon we graduated from shampoo sachets to bottles. But the bottle would still remain in the custody of Maa .... On the days when she decided that I needed a head bath, she would squeeze a little amount from the bottle on my palm. Occasionally I would get into a squabble with her demanding more shampoo .... I would grumble and tell her ' When I grow big and start earning, I will buy my own shampoo and will wash my hair as much as I want'.

Well yes ... I am living that dream but it doesn't give the same kick as that the small amount of shampoo for which I often fought. But sure it brings a smile to my face ...... The small amount of shampoo that Maa poured into my tiny hands taught me a bigger lesson of life ..... to understand the value of even the insignificant things !

Well Maa and Aai have changed much over the years. Aai has moved on to using branded body washes n soaps and Maa no longer takes custody of the shampoo !!


Preparation Time - 2 hours to Overnight
Serves - 3

Ingredients
Chicken Thigh/ Leg Piece - Skinless and bone in - 3 or 4
For the Marinade
Diced red onion - 1/3 Cup
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
Red
Chilli Powder (Preferably Kashmiri Laal Mirch) - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 1 Tbsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/3 tsp
Oil - 2 Tbsp (Canola/ Vegetable/ Olive)
Thick yogurt - 1/3 cup
Salt to taste
For the Sandwich
Baguette - 1 (cut horizontally)
Cucumber Slices
Tomato Slices
Butter at room temperature
Red Onion Slices
Green Chutney (Store Bought)



Method of Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients required for the marinade. Add the chicken pieces to it and coat the pieces uniformly. Transfer it to a zip lock bag or into a bowl and refrigerate it overnight or for 2- 3 hours
2. Remove the marinated chicken and thaw it to room temperature. Preheat oven at 400 Degrees F. Transfer the chicken to a oven proof dish and bake it for about 40 -45 minutes or till the chicken is cooked. Add the remaining marinade along with onions and bake it separately till the onions get cooked and there is no raw smell.
3. Once the Chicken cools , shred the flesh off the bones.
4. Spread some butter and green chutney on the baguette and layer it into a sandwich by adding shredded chicken, tomatoes, cucumber and red onions.



17 comments:

divya said...

Omg, simply irresistible and drool worthy..

SavithaRaj's Spice Land said...

A Very tempting and healthy treat, nice clicks too...

Indian Khana said...

Looks so perfect with tempting clicks

Unknown said...

Looks so yumm and tempting

My Kitchen Antics said...

great idea..ive tried a pulled pork recipe n loved it..shud try this next time

Taste Melanger said...

You have a knack of storytelling, makes a nice read!! Recipe is good too!

Suja Manoj said...

Drool worthy,nice recipe,will surely give this a try..

Tina said...

Perfect and tempting...

Oriyarasoi said...

Yummy recipe....and the write-up is getting me all nostalgic!!!!

Lisa H. said...

I wish I could taste one right now... looks so inviting... yum..
Sometimes I do prefer 'simpler' life... easier to make decision...;)

Rookie Qookie said...

This looks gud and definitely a gud pick for picnics.

aipi said...

Absolutely wonderful pics ~ I bet they tasted awesome too!
US Masala

Mugdha said...

Yummy recipe..superb space..awesome presentation..and gr8 write-up...u hav all the things to motivate some one like me to follow u alwayz....Thanx for being my friend and gimme a chance to show this superb space of urs...enjoy and tc...:)

hemalata said...

Yummy chicken sandwich,looks so tempting and nice version you have.Simply superb.

Satrupa said...

Thanks everyone for your comments !!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

I actually never heard of pulled chicken -- only pork. This looks yummy, my bf would love it!

Sagarika's Kitchen said...

Yummy sandwich...mouthwatering:))
nice presentation..

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