Jeera Chicken

Jeera chicken is a classic Indian dish that you can easily make for lunch or dinner. The best part is that you are in control of the spice mix and the amount that you use. Serve with typical sides such as plain basmati rice or a peshwari naan. There’s no reason for you to order expensive Indian takeaways or go to a restaurant. You can enjoy a delicious Indian fakeaway straight out of your kitchen.

jeera chicken with Haandibites

Cooking Indian recipes can sometimes be challenging, especially when it comes to buying all those spices and ingredients you need. Therefore, a lot of people are already put off when it comes to cooking Indian because they don’t want to buy a thousand different bottles of spices. Admittedly, for this jeera chicken, you’ll need a few. Thank goodness for HaandiBites though!

With one of their sachets, it has never been easier to cook with Indian spices and make a delicious meal in a couple of a few simple steps. Plus, there is absolutely no wastage in the kitchen and you reduce the risk of those spices expiring at the back of the cupboard.

about HaandiBites

HaandiBites is a part of Haandi Restaurants Ltd. which was established in 1991 in Nairobi, Kenya and in 2000 another branch opened in London’s Knightsbridge. Their new dry masala spice mixes are inspired by their most popular restaurant dishes. Therefore, you can enjoy a restaurant meal right at home!

The Spice Mixes are based on the recipes from the dishes that they serve in the restaurant.  Those recipes and the balance of spices required, have been tried and tested by their customers over the last 25 years.

All of the raw spices are naturally sourced from suppliers in Kenya and are prepared with no artificial additives. Each mix allows customers to quickly create homemade curries with all the delicate flavours you would expect from Indian cuisine. Currently, there are five mixes available. These include:

• Timeless Tikka
• Beautiful Biryani
• Volcanic Vindaloo
• Classic Korma
• Gorgeous Jeera

You can find all their products here. Would you believe me I told you that each of these take a maximum of 30 minutes to prepare? Beat your local curry house with this healthier version!

jeera spice mix

Jeera translates to cumin seeds, which is exactly what you need for this jeera chicken recipe. Simply put, this is a cumin chicken recipe with a blend of other Indian spices, which lends plenty of depth in terms of flavour. Actually, I cooked chicken with cumin before – my pomegranate and cumin chicken skewers. If you happen to make a large batch of the jeera chicken, don’t hesitate to make a Indian starter. Thread the chicken on the skewers and toss them on the grill or frying pan.

Chicken

You can use any part of the chicken for this jeera chicken recipe. My recommendation would be to make chicken ‘tikkas’ or chicken kebabs, using the breasts. Just take a look at how I made my amazing chicken tikka dish for inspiration.  Also, if you feel like using the chicken breasts for a different recipe, then go for the drumsticks, thighs, even chicken wings. Luckily, these types of recipes allow us to be sustainable as we can use the entire chicken.

Haven’t got chicken at home? No problem. The best substitute for chicken is turkey. Although, take care! Turkey is a much leaner, therefore a dryer meat. Make sure you use more of the jeera sauce or sprinkle some lime or lemon juice over.

Other alternatives

If you are a fish lover, there is nothing stopping you from buying a great quality piece of fish and combing it with the jeera spice mix. This will only work with white fish as the other types are a bit fatty for this recipe. So, if you feel like substituting the chicken, you can use sea bass, haddock or cod.

To make it vegan, you can also use tofu and pan-fry it with the jeera spice mix. Otherwise, for more of a bite, why don’t you toss my lentil falafel into the pan and add as much jeera spice as you want.  The lentils will absorb the spice mix right up.

Do you like a bit of heat?

I really enjoy a bit of heat in my weekly cuisine. In essence, chilli is an excellent metabolism booster, so if you would like your jeera chicken to have a bit of a kick, cut up some fresh red chilli peppers. For less heat, you can use fresh or pickled jalapenos.

Top with fresh herbs

There are plenty of herbs you can use to top of your jeera chicken. A lot of people use freshly cut parsley as it offers some tanginess to the palate. However, you can also try topping the jeera chicken off with fresh coriander, which is my herb of preference for Indian dishes.

Sometimes, I like to also add more herbs than required, as if making a salad on top of the chicken. Of course you can also add a salad as well, the best being a garden salad. It’s a great way to cut down on carbs and get that bikini body ready for the summer.

Serving

As mentioned above, for a filling dish just boil some plain basmati rice. Just make sure that you don’t overcook it. Getting the rice right is very important, especially if you serve it as is. You can also serve it with a cashew rice pilaf for more flavour.

I have to say, I’ll be serving freshly made rotis and puris with this jeera chicken and Haandibites’ other spice mixes. I used to be really afraid of making these from scratch, but not anymore because I’ve got a new machine at home that my kids love! Make sure to check it out how I made the rotis in my prawn puri recipe.

If you are up for a challenge, you can also try making your own kerala paratha or m’smen. However, m’smen is a Moroccan flat bread, but I think it works very well with Indian style dishes as well.

What is your favourite type of chicken curry?

Jeera Chicken

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★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

• Author: Michelle Minnaar
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

Jeera chicken curry is a recipe that cooks chicken with onions and lots of cumin. If you like spices, you would love this zeera curry!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb) chicken breasts, cubed
• 30ml (2 tbsp) oil
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 15g (½ oz) Haandibites Jeera Spice Mix
• 15ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Seal the chicken with oil on a high heat and remove.
2. Dice the onions and cook in oil until golden brown.
3. Add Haandibites sachet and chicken. Cook for 2 minutes on a low heat.
4. Add chicken stock and mix well.
5. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste.
6. Serve with basmati rice and cilantro.

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Notes

• If you can’t get hold of Haandibites’ products, you can make Jeera Chicken from scratch. Seal 500g (1lb) chicken with 30ml (2 tbsp) oil on a high heat and remove. Add 30ml (2 tbsp) whole cumin seeds and 5ml (1 tsp) fennel seed to the hot oil and let them sizzle until their aromas are released. Add 2 sliced onions, 1 chopped green chilli, 3 crushed garlic cloves and 2.5cm (1in) grated ginger to the spices and cook until onions are golden brown. Add the chicken, 5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander, 5ml (1 tsp) garam masala, 5ml (1 tsp) ground coriander, 5ml (1 tsp) turmeric and 125ml (½ cup) chicken stock to the onions. Cook gently for 5 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Add 15ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice and season to taste.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Braise
• Cuisine: Indian

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 serving
• Calories: 328
• Sugar: 2.4 g
• Sodium: 110 mg
• Fat: 16.6 g
• Saturated Fat: 3.5 g
• Carbohydrates: 5.4 g
• Fiber: 1.3 g
• Protein: 37.3 g
• Cholesterol: 111 mg

Keywords: jeera chicken, jeera chicken recipe, jeera chicken curry, jeera curry, zeera chicken, jeera chicken wings, how to make jeera chicken, jeera chicken marinade

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