Topic: How do they cook the chicken?

[Mark J]

All chicken I use is pre cooked so I presume I would soak in vinegar first and then just pre cook as normal?

[kimgary]

Hi All
I spent many an hour in my local take away after i repaired their Tandoor and made good friends.
I was surprised that they used frozen whole chickens that they then skinned and took the meat of the carcass they then as you would expect use the bones to make a SIMPLE STOCK.
I am no expert but i suggest the following.
When the chicken is frozen the moisture in the cells expands as ice and ruptures the cells walls making the cells bigger. When its defrosted thses take on marinades and flavourings far better than fresh chicken, there is also the cost factor when in business.
The chicken was then cut up and put in a very large pan of water with plenty of tumeric added brought just to below boiling point and then simmered for 10 mins.
All of the impurities will be drawn out of the chicken and this will be seen in the froth that develops on the water.
strain and rinse with plenty of cold water to cool asap.
You could then use this chiken in most dishes and it is very moist.
This chicken would then be used in for example kormas etc.
If dishes were required with tandoori chicken then this was not the method used they rely totally on the marinade of spices etc to cleanse and tenderise the meat.
I must admit that i use fresh chicken breasts and that this pre cooking ensures very moist and clean tasting chicken
Regards Gary

[JerryM]

Gary,

quite a timely post. i made UB pathia this week which was very good. i followed the link in the recipe to cook the chicken

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2525.0.html

i normally only make tikka which is great if u plan ahead like i normally do but not if u need pre cooked chicken at short notice.

having followed UB's base chicken recipe i like very much the taste but found the chicken very tough.

i think i'm going to try the vinegar next and then simmer for the 10 mins u suggest.

in terms of the chicken stock did u mean that they used this to broil the chicken in and not water?

[JerryM]

i tried the vinegar (8hr marinade) but found it overpowered and probably over cooked it. i think the simmer for 10 mins will be my next go.

i'm using pataks tikka paste with 1 tbsp of tandoori masala and 4 tbsp of yogurt as a quick mid week fix to CA's real mccoy. it works well.

[JerryM]

going to have to take back the comment on the pataks - made tikka for the 2nd time and got 2 no's from the family compared to the pre cooked chicken as follows:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,602.msg5563.html#msg5563

this got 3 yes's out of 3.

it's not as good by any means as CA's tikka but for a mid week meal or when times short it fits the bill well.

[JerryM]

i like to add chicken when the base goes in during mains cooking so i need to pre cook it.

after a few goes i've settled on using the ashoka chicken marinade http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3215.0;topicseen

for the cooking i put the chicken in a pan, add water (1/2 to 3/4 covered), bring to simmer quickly (high heat), simmer 5 mins max, allow to cool in the water.

ps don't confuse - this is not for tikka

[Mikka1]

I'm starting to use my oven a heck load more of late. I salt/Pepper/Spice on all sides. Make a yogurt marinade from the rest and let it sit for a few hours.

Bang it in the oven on about 320 for as long as it needs to precook. It's basically the same  process as cooking raw chicken with onions and oil. It coats it allowing the juices to remain within, making it tender.

I'll try the Pan/onion/oil/Spice thing a little more however. Maybe I didn't get it right first time?