Here is an easy recipe for Homestyle Chicken Mandi you can now make at home. Follow all the steps in the post and you will get the authentic mandi taste just like that of a restaurant.
A traditional mandi is either made of meat or sometimes chicken. It is hard to replicate this dish at home due to its technique of preparation.
An authentic mandi dish is always cooked in an underground oven called Taboon. Coal is used to cook the meat, hence the meat has a smokey flavor.
This recipe is helpful for those who do not have an oven at home. I first marinate the chicken pieces with the mandi spice mix and reserve some of it to cook the rice.
The marinated chicken is cooked in a saucepan on a low flame. Meanwhile, I cook the rice and finally fumigated the chicken and rice with a lump of burning coal.
Alternatively, this marinated chicken can also be grilled in an oven. Simply preheat the oven to 250 degrees C for at least 15 minutes.
Place the chicken pieces on a baking tray and place them close to the top flame. Grill the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes by turning the chicken halfway through.
How to prepare Chicken Mandi at home without an oven?
I have divided this recipe into a few steps
Step 1: Soak the rice. The rice is soaked for almost 1 hour along with some turmeric powder to give the rice a golden hue. The turmeric water is then discarded before cooking.
Step 2: Prepare the mandi spice mix. This spice mix is the real secret of the dish, even though it is made with regular ingredients.
Step 3: Marinate and cook the chicken. I marinate the chicken with the mandi spice mix along with some lemon juice, salt, and a dash of olive oil.
I simply sear the chicken pieces in a saucepan on all the sides at high flame for 5 minutes and then slow cook it until it is done.
Step4: Cook the rice. I add a few chicken pieces with bones while the water is boiling. You can use chicken stock instead of adding chicken.
Step 5: Fumigation. Place the cooked chicken pieces on top of the rice and fumigate with a burning piece of coal.
Step 6: Garnish. You need to prepare some deep-fried onion which gives a nice texture and taste to the mandi. Apart from that, you need to fry some pine nuts and raisins too.
How to make Mandi Chutney (Dakkous)?
Dakkous is a spicy chutney served with mandi. As well know that mandi is a dish with subtle and mild flavors, the chutney served with it is spicy.
Just blend together some garlic, lots of ripe tomatoes, green chilies, and onion. Here the addition of onion is optional, you can opt-out if you wish. After roughly grinding all the ingredients finish off by adding chopped parsley and salt.
Homestyle Chicken Mandi Recipe Video
Homestyle Chicken Mandi
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 500 grams of chicken pieces
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder for rice
For the mandi spice mix:
- 2 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 6 cardamom pieces
- 3 pieces cinnamon sticks of 1 inch each
- 8 cloves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
For marinating chicken:
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon mandi spice mix
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon cooking oil to cook chicken
For the mandi rice:
- 1- inch piece of cinnamon stick
- 4 green cardamom
- 5 cloves
- 4 small bay leaves
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 2 dry lemon substitute - lemon juice
- 2 big size non-spicy green chilies substitute - green capsicum
- 2 or 3 pieces of chicken with bones
- 2 tablespoon mandi spice mix
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 ½ cups of freshwater to cook rice
- 4 slices of tomato optional
- 1 charcoal
- 1 teaspoon ghee or butter
For the Dakkous -Tomato chutney for mandi
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 green chilies
- 1 small onion sliced optional
- 2 large ripe tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
For garnish:
- Fried onion green chilies, raisins, pine seeds
Instructions
- 2 cups of basmati rice thoroughly. Add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder to the washed rice and soak in water for 1 hour. Turmeric is added to give a golden color to the rice grain.
For the mandi spice mix
- In a pan dry roast 2 tablespoon cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, cool and transfer it to a dry grinder. Then add 6 cardamom pieces, 3 pieces cinnamon sticks of 1 inch each, 8 cloves, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, and 3 bay leaves. Grind to a smooth powder. Remove in a bowl and add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder. Mix well and set aside.
For the mandi chicken
- Marinate chicken pieces with salt, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of mandi spice mix, and olive oil for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a non-stick saucepan and fry the chicken pieces on high heat for 5 minutes until all juices are sealed. Reduce the flame, add 1 cup hot water, place the lid and cook until chicken is fully done.
To cook mandi rice
- Discard the turmeric water gently from the rice. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add 1 small piece of cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaves. Then add 1 medium onion sliced and fry till soft. Add dry lemon, 2 large non-spicy green chilies, 2 pieces of chicken with bones (to give chicken flavor to the rice), 2 tablespoon mandi spice mix, and 1 teaspoon salt, Stir well for 3 minutes on high heat and then add 4 ¼ cups of water and any water remaining from mandi chicken. Place the lid and cook until chicken is fully done. Remove chicken pieces and add soaked rice to the saucepan. Stir gently, cover, and cook until the rice is well cooked and all water has dried. You can place slices of tomato on top while cooking rice and later remove and use it for garnish.
- Once the rice is cooked, place mandi chicken on the rice in the same saucepan. Place a small bowl with hot burning charcoal. Pour 1 teaspoon ghee over the coal and place the lid tightly. Fumigate the mandi rice and chicken for 15 to 20 minutes.
For dakkous
- Roughly grind together chopped garlic, chopped green chilies, onion, and tomato. It should not be a smooth paste but leave it slightly chunky. Grind in the ‘pulse’ mode. Remove in a bowl and add salt, olive oil, and chopped parsley.
To serve
- Place the mandi rice on a large serving dish, garnish with fried onion, fried green chilies, fried raisins, and fried pine seeds. Place chicken pieces on the rice and serve hot with dakkous.
Video
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