Topic: Tenderising Chicken

[markt01]

Hi there, I am quite new to the home Indian Restaurant style cooking, I have been practising a little and trying to pick tips up along the way, I am a very competent cook but when it comes to BIR I have alot to learn!!

My question is regarding the tenderising of chicken, how do they get it silky soft to the mouth as well as marinate it.

If anyone can help would be great to hear, many thanks,

From Newbie Mark wannabe Indian chef

[Stephen Lindsay]

Mark

I tend to cook my chicken as I go, i.e. not pre-cook it, but I think the technique you are looking for is along the lines of slowly cooking it in a spiced water with no pre-frying. On the rare occasions that I do this I just gently simmer in some base and stir or turn the chicken to ensure even cooking.

The secret I guess is just to cook it enough that it's not raw, but not overly so and you end up with stringy chicken. I'm sure others will maybe give you more specific suggestions that will be worth following.

Hope this helps.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Wasn't it Abdul Mohed who told us that, in his experience, most BIR's use one or two special imported brands of South American chicken ?  That may play a part in it.

(Updated) -- No, it was Ifindforu.  I don't think we ever got to the bottom of whether "Murg[h]ee" was a brand or simply a female bird, but Sadia was the Brazilian brand of which he wrote.  These were my last comments on the names he used :

the type of chicken used in BIR dishes is Murgee brand chicken as this stays soft for longer, and sardia or noble chicken for chicken tikka

I didn't know this.  So what is the chicken that we get in the supermarket then?  I always thought that "Murgi or Murgee" was Indian for chicken?

Did this ever get resolved ?  Sadia (no "r") is indeed a Brazilian supplier of chicken that exports widely [1] but Ifindforu's "Murg[h]ee"  is, as far as I can tell, simply the generic Hindhi word for a hen (female chicken) as opposed to murghaa, a cock (male chicken) [2].  This would make perfect sense : one would expect a hen bird not to toughen as quickly as a cock bird when cooked.  As regards "Noble", there seem to be two possibilities.  The first is that this refers to chickens supplied by the UK company Noble Foods [3], who are the UKs largest producer of eggs (and must, therefore, almost certainly be involved in the sale of chickens).  Alternatively, the term "Noble" is used in Brazilian ("carnes nobres") to refer to the best parts of an animal.  This again would make perfect sense in the context of chicken tikka, as this is (in my experience, anyway) invariably made from the breast or "most noble" part of the bird.

** Phil.
--------
[1] http://www.gmwa.org.uk/foodguide2/index.php?page=viewquestion&id=88
[2] http://bir-recipes.org.uk/Culinary-terms/Murgh.html
[3] http://tinyurl.com/Noble-foods

** Phil.

[loveitspicy]

markt01

We marinate all our chicken - cut up your chicken into the required size bits you want chuck it in a bowl chuck in some ground turmeric and give it a stir - then chuck in plain yoghurt and stir it all up. Either leave covered on the kitchen side for 4 hours or you can bag and tag and shove in the fridge. HOWEVER if in the fridge take out long before cooking it to warm to room temperature - meat does not like to be cooked form cooled.
We pre-cook our chicken by boiling in water. NOT long chicken pieces don't take long to cook.

We cook 50 to 80 kilos of chicken a day this way - it is tender in our curry

best, Rich

[vinders]

Hi Mark

I've also found that it's important not to over boil the chicken. After boiling point has been reached I lower the heat to a gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes and then allow the chicken to cool in the cooking fluid.

[chewytikka]

Mark
In a Bengali BIR, theres an old school way of boiling the Chicken,
plus a more modern "Handi Cook" method, involving a Bhagar and whole Garam spices.

You rarely get that boiled background taste with the Handi method. Plus it's moist and tender.

cheers Chewy


Murghee and Mr Murghee are Brands of Frozen Chicken fillets from Brazil 70% or !00%.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Murghee and Mr Murghee are Brands of Frozen Chicken fillets from Brazil 70% or !00%.

So they are :

01MM Murghee Master   Chicken fillet 85% 10kg
01MRMB   Mr. Murghee  Chicken fillet 85% 10kg

One lives and learns.  Thank you, CT.
** Phil.

[joshallen2k]

In a Bengali BIR, theres an old school way of boiling the Chicken,
plus a more modern "Handi Cook" method, involving a Bhagar and whole Garam spices.

You rarely get that boiled background taste with the Handi method. Plus it's moist and tender.

Chewy - can you elaborate on this method? Getting fork tender chicken is an area I could definitely improve on...

I've found ifindforu's to be the most "BIR authentic" in taste and aroma, using whole bengali spices, but I feel his method overcooks the chicken, as I can't get it very tender his way.

Thanks,
Josh

[vinders]

Although slightly off topic but nonetheless related, I'd be interested to know if anyone has tried soaking chicken in brine before marinating for tandoori chicken?

[Malc.]

Hi Mark,


Like Stephen I cook as I go, the best way I found to do my chicken is in a very hot oven. I mix a marinade of mustard oil and spice mix, coat the chicken, then pop on a tray and cover it in lightly in foil. This goes in the oven at its hottest setting and sits for about 15mins. It always comes out very moist.