Chicken Burrito

In India cricket is a religion and everything and I mean everything takes a backseat to this game. So what happens when this game casts a spell on hubby dear and renders him incapable of doing any kind of work? Not only that hubby wants to have a couple of his buddies over for the big game. There is only one option.. wifey dearest has to step up to bat and simply hit the first ball she faces for a six. That is exactly what I did in the form of this delicious chicken burrito. Needless to say hubby and his buddies were clean bowled.

This has been an astonishingly busy week for Rahul at work. It seemed to me that everyday he followed the same routine, come back from work exhausted then have dinner and fall asleep the moment he laid down on the bed. We had already planned on having a couple of friends over to watch the big India- Pakistan game at our apartment. But by the end of the week Rahul was so exhausted that I just could not bring myself to ask for his help.

Compared to him I am an amateur in the kitchen since I learned to cook only after getting married. On top of that the game was scheduled to begin around 8 in the morning. So it was going to be quiet a challenge feeding 3 guys that early in the morning which meant I had to think of something quick and easy. At the same time the meal had to be big enough to keep the guys satisfied for the duration of the game; at least the next 3 hours. After a little thought the solution that occurred to me was surprisingly simple, a “BURRITO”. Being in Texas how could you go wrong with a burrito??

The first step was deciding on a protein and this was an absolute no-brainer for me. It had to be chicken. Also I was going to keep things simple so my marinade was just going to be the classic combination of yogurt, garam masala, lemon juice along with a few other spices.

Whisk together yogurt, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder and lemon juice in a bowl. Cut the chicken thighs into small pieces and add to the above mixture. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge overnight.

A burrito is never complete without a salsa which turned out to be a spicy corn salsa. All this was made the night before so basically a majority of my work was already done. All that was left was making rice and cooking the chicken.

Just like rahul I could not resist adding a little Indian twist. So instead of regular rice I made “JEERA RICE” or Cumin-Spiced Rice which is a very popular Indian dish. It packs a lot of flavor with very little effort.

Wash rice and drain the water and keep aside. Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. When it melts add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, mace, star anise and sauté for few minutes till you get nice aroma from the spices. If you do not have things like mace, star anise, no problem. Just skip these ingredients. Add cumin seeds. When the seeds crackle, add rice. Stir till rice is well coated with ghee. Add water and salt. Cover and let it cook till water evaporates and rice is soft.

Now is the time to cook the star of the dish, the chicken. You can go a number of different ways here, pan-fry it, bake it etc and get the same flavor. As for me, I choose to play with the shiny new toy that we got last week; a cast iron skillet. Previously my first and foremost thought would have been to avoid burning the house down in a situation like this. (LAUGHS!!!) But with my new-found confidence in cooking I decided to go for it.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, drizzle oil. Before cooking drain the excess marinade from the chicken pieces. Then cook the chicken in batches till each side golden brown and cooked through.

Last but not the least I finally roasted some bell pepper and onions in a little ghee.

It was at this moment that our friends started coming in excited for the game but really hungry. The only thing that was left was assembling the burrito. The guys wanted their food to be ready before the game began. So they descended on the kitchen counter like a pack of hungry wolves, assembled the burrito and were gone in a flash. That was totally fine by me so I just made one for myself and joined the others in front of the TV.

Microwave the tortilla for 30 sec, else it may crack while rolling the burrito. Lay the tortilla on a flat surface. Layer cumin rice, chicken, bell pepper, onion, salsa and cheese. Roll the burrito tightly by folding the sides over the filling. 

Initially I was apprehensive about serving such a heavy meal in the morning. But it turned out to be an inspired choice. The reason I say that is because it gave the guys extra energy to yell and scream for the next 3 hours. Since India won the game you can imagine how much yelling and screaming I had to sit through.. (LAUGHS!!!!).

By the way the guys loved the food. I hope this gives me the confidence to be more confident in the kitchen going forward.

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Chicken Burrito

Madhavi

A freshly made tortilla filled with roasted chicken, veggies, jeera rice, salsa and cheese

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

  

Marination

• 1 lbs Chicken boneless skinless thighs
• 1 cup Yogurt
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
• ½ tsp Coriander Powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric
• ½ tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1.5 tbsp Lemon Juice

Salsa

• ½ Small Onion diced
• 1 Tomato diced
• 1 Small Serrano Chili
• 2 tbsp Corn
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tbsp Coriander leaves

Jeera Rice/ Cumin Rice

• 1 cup Rice
• 1 tbsp Clarified Butter/Ghee
• 1.5 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 Mace
• Salt to taste
• 2 cup Water

Tortilla

• 1 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• ¼ cup Butter
• ⅓ cup Water
• Salt

Topping

• 1 Green Pepper cut into strips
• ½ Onion cut into strips
• Shredded Cheese

Instructions

 

Marination

• Whisk together yogurt, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder and lemon juice in a bowl. Cut the chicken thighs into small pieces and add to the above mixture. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge overnight.

Salsa

• Mix all the ingredients for salsa and refrigerate overnight.

Cumin Rice

• Wash rice and drain the water and keep aside.
• Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, mace, star anise and sauté for few minutes till you get nice aroma from the spices.
• Add cumin seeds and saute for a minute.
• Mix in the rice and stir till rice is well coated with ghee.
• Add water and salt. Mix well. Cover and cook till the rice is soft.

Roasted Chicken with green bell pepper and onion

• Heat a skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, drizzle oil.
• Before cooking drain the excess marinade from the chicken pieces. Then cook the chicken in batches till each side golden brown and cooked through
• Wipe out the pan with paper towel. Add bell pepper and onion and cook till tender.

Tortilla

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder uniformly. Incorporate butter into the flour till the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
• Add water & knead slowly to form a soft dough.
• The dough should feel supple and smooth. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions.
• Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat.
• On a floured surface, roll out each portion into thin circle using rolling pin. Cook till pale golden brown spots appears on both the sides.
• Remove from pan and keep in a covered container.

Assemble

• Microwave the tortilla for 30 sec, else it may crack while rolling the burrito.
• Lay the tortilla on a flat surface. Layer cumin rice, chicken, capsicum, onion, salsa and cheese.
• Roll the burrito tightly by folding the sides over the filling. Fold over the ends of tortilla and roll the burrito tightly

Notes

You can also bake the chicken in the oven instead of pan-frying it on a skillet.

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