Lemon Garlic Chicken

This is a delicious and quick recipe, which is perfect for a busy weekday or weeknight meal. It requires a few ingredients and takes just about 20 minutes to make including the cooking time. The lemon and garlic are the main flavoring ingredients and they enhance the dish. A light meal which can be paired with a side salad or steamed vegetables, to make a complete meal. Our family (the meat eater wing) love this recipe and it has become a favorite.

This is one meal where I don't have to ask the kids to finish their food. It gets eaten really quickly. So without further ado, here is how you make it.

Also here is the link to the youtube video with detailed instructions. These will help those cooks who  who may be new to cooking chicken and have questions about handling chicken and determining when is it cooked completely (without making it rubbery), like I did several years ago.

Ingredients
For the chicken
1 pound of chicken (2 chicken breasts)
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil

For the sauce
1 heaped tsp all purpose flour
2 large garlic cloves (about 1 tsp grated garlic)
1.5 cups broth (chicken or vegetable) - can also use water if you don't have broth
1.5 tsp butter
2 tsp lemon juice/ half of a large lemon
lemon zest

Method
If frozen, thaw the chicken breasts. Then slice the chicken into two pieces, horizontally along the surface of the chicken. You will have 4 thinner slices of chicken after this. Pound the thicker part of the chicken if needed, so that the chicken breast is uniform in thickness and cooks uniformly.

In a plate, mix the all purpose flour, black pepper powder and salt so that the flour is evenly seasoned. Heat the oil in a skillet and once it is hot, dredge each piece of the chicken in the seasoned flour and place in the hot skillet. Discard the remaining all purpose flour mixture.

Cook the chicken on each side for 2-4 mins till the chicken is browned. To check if the chicken is cooked, use an instant meat thermometer and insert it into the thickest part of the chicken breast. If the temperature is greater than 165F (74 C), the chicken is cooked. Remove it onto a plate and prepare the sauce.

Add 1 tsp of all purpose flour to the hot skillet, and half of the butter and roast it for a minute. Scrape any of the browned chicken bits. Next, add the garlic and cook it for a min. Then add the broth to mix, and mix well. Then add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Let the sauce cook and thicken and then finish the sauce with the rest of the butter which will give it a nice sheen. Add the cooked chicken breasts back to the pan and let them heat through. Garnish with lemon slices and serve hot.

Tips
Thaw the chicken in the fridge. Do not keep it out on the counter to thaw. Best way is to thaw it overnight. You can skip the butter if you want this to be a lighter meal. I have used very little oil and butter and you can also choose to increase the quantities to make it a richer sauce.  Using a thermometer ensures that the chicken is well cooked and also prevents over cooking of the chicken breast. This is an easy way to ensure that the chicken breast does not become chewy or rubbery.
If you line the cutting surface with parchment paper, it makes cleanup quick and easy. Make sure to wash your hands and clean any surface which has been in contact with raw chicken to prevent cross contamination.

Hariyali Chicken

I ate this after almost 30 years. I have been craving these flavors for almost 3 decades and finally found the recipe which my taste buds remembered. A recipe was shared on a food group that I am part of and I thought I would give it a try.  I made some modifications to suit my needs and it turned out to be delicious. This recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients

1 chicken breast

4 green chilies

10 mint leaves

fist full of cilantro

2 tsp oil

salt to taste

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/2 tsp dhania powde

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup of greek fat free yogurt 

lemon juice (optional. if the yogurt is tart, the juice is not necessary) 

Method

Cooked the cilantro and mint leaves in 2 tsp of oil and puréed them. Then added 1/2 tsp each of jeera, dhania, garlic and 1/4 cup of Greek fat free yogurt. This is the marinade. Taste this and then add salt. I didn't add turmeric. Made cuts into the breast so that the marinade goes through and marinated the breast for 24 hours in the fridge.
(There was enough marinade to also marinate paneer and vegetables in separate containers)

In a pan, added a tsp of oil and heated the pan. Meanwhile cut the breast into bite sized pieces. And then added the chicken pieces to the pan along with the marinade. Turned the pieces to cook them externally and then covered the pan for a few minutes. Cook till the chicken pieces look cooked (also check temperature with a thermometer for 165F) and turned off the heat immediately. Since it is chicken breast, turn off the heat as soon as the chicken is cooked. If you crisp it up or brown it like it would in a grill, it will become tough. Turned out tender and juicy.

Tips

You can also grill this. If so, then use chicken thighs as they will not dry out as quickly as the chicken breast.