Harissa Rubbed Chicken Kababs

I'm sitting in Minneapolis as I write this post and the temperature outside is -13 degrees celsius. Probably not a good temperature to grill outside, but I just cannot stop thinking of the nice grill party I had at my place in New Delhi a few weeks back.

I first discovered Harissa a few years back at a friends place and over time have tried both making Harissa at home (it is really easy to make) and also try out other things with Harissa, the Harissa rubbed chicken kababs being my favorite ( Harissa mashed potatoes the other favorite). Of late, I have sourced out a vendor who stocks up harissa and I usually take the easy route of buying harissa tubes from him.

So what is Harissa? Harissa is a North African ( mostly Moroccan, Algerian & Tunisian cuisine) hot sauce made with chillies and paprika, flavored with caraway & cumin seeds. Different versions of making this sauce exist. Types of chillies can be played around with to arrive at the hotness of the Harissa sauce. I personally use red ancho chillies and paprika to make my Harissa.

Harissa

Ingredients:

Dried Red Chillies - 10-12

Paprika - 2 Tsp

Garlic, minced - 4

Corriander seeds,ground - 1 Tsp

Cumin seeds, ground - 1 Tsp

Caraway seeds, ground - 1 Tsp

Olive Oil - 2 Tblsp

Sea Salt - 1/2 Tsp

Tomato Paste - 1 Tsp

Method:

1. Soak the dried chillies in warm water for half an hour. Drain them and remove stem & seeds.

2. Blend all the ingredients in a blender to form a smooth paste.

3. Store in a air tight container. NOTE: Harissa stays well in the refrigerator. Drizzling a few drops of olive oil on top of it while storing will keep it fresh.

Harissa Rubbed Chicken Kababs

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes - 200 gm

Lemon Juice - 3 Tblsp

Ginger -garlic paste - 3 Tblsp

Onion paste - 2 Tblsp

Harissa - 3 Tblsp

Mixed Herbs - 3 Tsp

Olive Oil - 1 Tsp

Sea Salt - To Taste

Olive Oil - For Basting

Method:

1. Wash & clean the chicken cubes. Rub with ginger garlic paste and marinate in lemon juice for 30 minutes.

2. Prepare a second marinade by combining olive oil, harissa, onion paste, mix herbs and sea salt. Add the chicken cubes to this marinade. Rest for another 30 minutes.

3. Heat grill to moderately high temperature.

4. Thread the chicken cubes on skewers and grill till done. Turn around regularly and baste them with olive oil to prevent drying.

5. Serve hot.

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Sesame Honey Chili Potato

Sometime back when I was still with the hospitality industry a hugely popular Chinese Restaurant in the capital decided to change the decor, get in new chefs from China and get traditional Chinese cuisine into the menu. Thankfully for them, they still retained some Chinese dishes you find in India in their menu.The desi Chinese dishes remained the best sellers.

Chinese cuisine is a very popular cuisine in India. In my household, we cook Chinese atleast once every 2 weeks and eat out Chinese food every 2 weeks. But the fare we love to eat is so different from authentic Chinese cuisine that it is wrong to term it as one. It should be ideally termed Sino-Indian cuisine. Even this has so many sub varieties, ranging from Punju Chinese like the manchurian, to udipi versions of sweet & sour idli and sichuan dosa. There are even restaurants serving jain versions of Chinese food. A few years back one could even get themselves a pizza with a sichuan chicken or paneer topping. A lot of it has got to do with the Indian love for things fried, crispy and spicy. Nevertheless it sells, it's very popular with the masses and classes and I love it.
I love to eat American Chopsuey and drums of heaven and need to satiate my cravings every third day. My spouse has a similar thing for chili potatoes. Between us we can tell you the best places to have Sino-Indian food in various cities in India. Talking about them, I think I have had the best drums of heaven in Hyderabad in a place called Walden Court. It's a small clubhouse for residents of a society but serves the best drums of heaven. If you can, you must get your way in and sample those. Closer home, the newly opened Mandarin Trail (Noida) has decent fare and great chili potatoes. They are a drier, crispier version, with a great after taste of chili. If you want a more saucy chili potatoes then head 50 kms. out of Noida to Dana Choga in Gurgaon. My better half and I have been going there for the last 13 years to have their chili potatoes and chopsuey, though the chopsuey has gone down in terms of taste, the chili potatoes still rule. The China Club in Gurgaon is another favorite of ours though we haven't gone there for sometime now.For the time being I'll leave you all to try the chili potatoes recipe below. The chopsuey and drums of heaven can wait for another post.

Sesame Honey Chili Potatoes

Ingredients:

Potatoes, cut into thick finger shaped pieces (french fries shape) - 250 gm
Red Chili Flakes - 1 Tsp
Garlic, crushed - 2 Tsp
Salt - 2Tsp
Sesame Oil - 2 Tsp

For Marinade:
Red Chili Sauce - 2 Tsp
Honey - 3 Tsp
Soy Sauce - 1.5 Tblsp.
Vinegar - 1.5 Tblsp.
Tomato Sauce - 2 Tblsp.

For Garnish:
Spring Onions, scallions, chopped- 2 Tsp
Sesame seeds, dry roasted - 2Tsp

Method:
1. Deep fry the potatoes on a medium flame till they are golden brown.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and add the fried potato sticks to the marinade. Keep for10 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add in the crushed garlic and chili flakes. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add the potatoes along with the marinade and cook on a high flame.
5. Toss the potatoes and cook well on high flame for 5 minutes or till potatoes are almost dry.
6. Arrange on a serving platter and sprinkle chopped scallion and sesame seeds on top.

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