Sunday, March 21, 2010

Cajun chicken recipes - Simple and Indian-ish


Cajun ( pronounced K-jun) is one of the popular styles of cooking in USA. I have seen a lot of Indians living in United States,especially people from south, shun from any non-desi recipes . Maybe the whole act of shunning has got to do with our conservative culture, but the sad part is they miss out on good tasting food from other cultures.
I am no historian to summarize origins of Cajun recipes but this style of cooking originated from Acadian settlers in Louisiana,US. This recipe is a result of one dull moronic work day that pushed my limits to try something different at least in cooking. I cooked this up after improvising on Cajun recipes from other websites and I would definitely add this to the list of my signature dishes.

Disclaimer : The results have been tested on a party of 20 or more people. The party lasted for more than an 2 hours after consuming the chicken .No post traumatic incidents were reported.

Ingredients :

Chicken breasts (cleaned and sliced medium) - approx. 1 lbs
Cajun seasoning
Italian seasoning (Optional)
olive oil
salt
pepper
lemon - half

bell peppers - 1
garlic - 4 to 5 pods
Onion -1


Pour some olive oil in a mixing bowl.
Put in the breasts and mix to get a uniform coat of oil.
Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning . You can be bit liberal with this. Make sure you have a uniform coat of the seasoning
Sprinkle little bit of Italian seasoning . This is optional
Salt as needed and black pepper per the hotness you prefer. ( For beginners, who still struggle with salt and pepper, sprinkle a layer of salt and peppers and then mix the ingredients . Taste the marinade and add salt and pepper in small increments).
Squeeze half lemon and give the ingredients a good final toss.
Set aside for 15 min - to 30 min in refrigerator .

Take one big onion and cut it into small pieces. Cut the bell pepper into medium sized pieces. Cut the garlic pods into small pieces.

Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onions. Fry for 2 - 4 min until the onions turn light brown. Now add the garlic and pepper . Take the marinated breasts from the fridge and mix with the onions and peppers in the pan. Cover and let cook for 20 - 25 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid the chicken getting burnt at the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with pinch of cilantro and serve hot.







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