Brian Kennett
Amateur Chef and Foodie Extraordinaire
Indian Chai Chicken
Not quite my usual South East Asia style, but depending who you speak to India is still a part of APAC.
As you travel around and through India you always spot tea stalls, or as more commonly known – Chai Stalls. They are everywhere, village, town or city – there they are on every street and every corner. Then my great mate Jerry opens Singapore’s first authentic chai café, Chaitime. A first I think for the island. Of course what he’s now created are loads of Singaporean Chaiholics who can’t get enough of his ‘Chais’. Now please don’t be fooled in to thinking that Chai is your usual PG Tips, far from it. A shot glass of this gear packs ten times more caffeine than coffee. Seriously this stuff would wake Snow White from her sleep, with no need for as kiss. Lorry and train drivers in India literally use it to stay awake for long hauls – so yes there are Chais called ‘railway platform, dhaba and tapri’.
Me, well I have nicked some of his tea packets and started to get creative. Here is one of those new dishes using Jerry’s chais. Adapting some Chai classic teas in to food recipes. Chai Recipes.
The chai I used comes from up North in Gujarat. It’s an Assam tea, yes, but with added cardamom, ginger, black pepper and cinnamon. Phew! This chai is about 200 years old. Spicy Masala.
This will make enough for 2-3 people for a snack;
- In a teapot add a good couple of tablespoons of Spicy Masala and pour on boiling water;
- 2 roughly chopped garlic cloves;
- 1 chopped chili padi; and
- 2 chopped shallots.
Pop the chopped ingredients in the teapot with the tea and let that sucker brew away nice and slowly. You are making your stock.
Once you’ve really brewed this one through, simply strain and set aside.
- Take a chicken breast and slice in to fillets;
- 500ml of coconut cream; and
- A couple of good couple of tablespoons of condensed milk.
Put all these in a pan and pour in the strained stock. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper , and a large pinch of sugar and then poach the chicken pieces until cooked all the way through.
Simply serve with some plain white rice.
Maybe sprinkle on top of the chicken some Spring onion green tops for show, and some flaked salt to add to the flavour.
As you’ll see from the photo I added a little shot glass of the liquor for dipping the chicken or simply pouring over the rice.
