An impromptu snack that made our evening even more thrilling…
Waking up naturally to the sound of birds chirping and trees swaying, staying up late night and getting a sound sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, these are some of the moments I enjoy during a long weekend. We are having a quite relaxing long weekend, with everyday motorcycle ride to the beach and other neighboring fun places. It was a few days ago I thought that finally summer is in its peak, and yesterday morning I woke up to heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning. I was relived when the sky eventually turned blue and when the sun started to shine, which tempted us to hit the beach. We had a beautiful evening at the beach. On our way back home, all of a sudden dark clouds carpeted the sky, which in a split second poured down to heavy rain, the sky thundered and the lightning flashed. The rain didn’t seem to slow down and we continued our ride and enjoyed the ride in the rain. Hope everyone out there is having a fun weekend as well.
On Friday, while preparing a chicken dish for lunch, I saved some marinated chicken to fry later in the evening. When I took the chicken out of the refrigerator and was about to give it a fry, I had a second thought and my hands swiftly moved into the pantry and took the rice flour out of it. Coated the marinated chicken first with beaten egg whites, then with rice flour and I fried them in hot oil. Voila! an impromptu chicken nuggets were made. I was so thrilled to see the crispy chicken nuggets that came deep fried out of the oil. I then had a question raised in my mind: Where is the dipping sauce?
My eyes wandered into the pantry and refrigerator for some inspiration and I got hold of dates from the pantry. I was reminded of the dates chutney my mom always make to serve with biryani. I tweaked that recipe and made my own version of dates dipping sauce which I thought would be perfect for chicken nuggets. I added tamarind and chili paste to the sauce which gave a sweet, sour and spicy taste to the dates sauce.
I wanted to make this chicken nuggets gluten free so that my husband can enjoy this, so I had to coat the chicken with rice flour. Chicken nuggets were crispy and the slightly spicy marination along with the dates dipping sauce made it an incredibly delicious evening snack. Of course, we both snacked till the last piece.
Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
- Chicken breasts, boneless, cubed- 1/2 lb or 1/4 Kg
- Oil- enough for frying
For marination:
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- 1/8 tsp
- Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
For coating:
- Rice flour- 1 cup
- Egg whites, beaten- of 2 eggs
Instruction
- Marinade the chicken with the above mentioned ingredients for marination for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Spread the rice flour on a plate and beat the egg whites of 2 eggs in a bowl.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat, add enough oil for frying.
- Dip the chicken first in egg white and then coat it with rice flour.
- Deep fry the chicken till it gets golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer on a paper towel.
- Serve hot.
Dates Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
- Dates, pitted- 12
- Tamarind juice, freshly squeezed- 3 tbsp
- Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
- Chili paste- 1 tsp
- Water- 1/4 cup+1/4 cup
- Salt- to taste
Instruction
- Combine dates and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan.
- Cook the dates till mashed well.
- Soak 2 inch slice fresh tamarind in 3 tbsp warm water, squeeze the tamarind into the water and strain it.
- Add 3 tbsp of tamarind juice to the dates mixture and let the mixture come to a boil.
- If you are using concentrate tamarind paste, add less around 1 tsp.
- Remove from the heat and let cool down.
- Grind the mixture in a blender.
- Add soy sauce, chili paste, salt and 1/4 cup water, grind to a smooth paste.
- Taste and adjust the salt and heat level.
- Serve in a bowl along with the chicken nuggets.
- Chicken breasts, boneless, cubed- ½ lb or ¼ Kg
- Oil- enough for frying
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- ⅛ tsp
- Garam masala- ½ tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Ground pepper- ¼ tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
- Rice flour- 1 cup
- Egg whites, beaten- of 2 eggs
- Marinade the chicken with the above mentioned ingredients for marination for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Spread the rice flour on a plate and beat the egg whites of 2 eggs in a bowl.
- Place a frying pan over medium heat, add enough oil for frying.
- Dip the chicken first in egg white and then coat it with rice flour.
- Deep fry the chicken till it gets golden brown and crispy.
- Transfer on a paper towel.
- Serve hot.
- Dates, pitted- 12
- Tamarind juice- 3 tbsp
- Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
- Chili paste- 1 tsp
- Water- ¼ cup+1/4 cup
- Salt- to taste
- Combine dates and ¼ cup water in a saucepan.
- Cook the dates till well cooked.
- Soak 2 inch slice fresh tamarind in 3 tbsp warm water, squeeze the tamarind into the water and strain it.
- Add 3 tbsp of tamarind juice to the dates mixture and let the mixture come to a boil.
- If you are using concentrate tamarind paste, add less around 1 tsp.
- Remove the pan from the heat, let cool down.
- Grind the mixture in a blender.
- Add soy sauce, chili paste, salt and ¼ cup more water, grind to a smooth paste.
- Taste and adjust the salt and heat level.
- Serve in a bowl along with the chicken nuggets.
