Chicken wings or hot wings or fried wings are one of the most sought after food for chicken lovers. They are not only easy to make but also have varied accompaniments and sauces that go along. This variant comprises chicken winglet or drumette, batter fried and served with celery sticks and BBQ sauce. There is also a popular variant which is deep fried and coated with cayenne pepper based hot sauce and served with blue cheese dip and celery sticks.
Buffalo wings originated in Buffalo, New York, where they are called “wings” or “chicken wings”. They were first prepared at Anchor Bar by Teressa Bellissimo, who owned the place along with her husband Frank. Upon the unannounced, late-night arrival of their son, Dominic, with several of his friends from college, Teressa needed a fast and easy snack to present to her hungry guests. It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying chicken wings (normally thrown away or reserved for stock) and tossing them in cayenne hot sauce.
Wings have since become a popular appetiser across the globe. Large franchises specialising in Buffalo wings have emerged. As the market got larger, restaurants began to use a variety of sauces in addition to buffalo sauce. These sauces are generally influenced from Chinese, Japanese, Caribbean and Indian cuisines.
Because of the mess caused by eating Buffalo wings, it is now common for restaurants to offer boneless wings that can be eaten with a fork. These are generally chicken nuggets coated in sauce.
Chicken wings
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
Chicken wings 20 pcs
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Powdered garlic 1 tsp
Flour 1 cup
Oil to deep fry
Flour to coat (2 cup)
Celery 2-3 stems
Method
Wash and pat dry chicken wings.
Make a batter with flour, salt, crushed black pepper and water.
Dip the wings in the batter and refrigerate for 30 minutes
Heat oil for frying in a heavy bottom pan.
Take wings one by one and removing excess batter coat with flour and deep fry over medium heat.
Fry till golden brown, check whether the chicken is cooked by pricking one wing with knife.
Once the juices run clear the chicken is cooked.
Serve hot with celery sticks and choice of sauce on the side.
Chutney
Chutney is a combination of spices, vegetables, fruits and herbs combined in a proportion and served along a food item. Chutney is an integral part of Indian cuisine and food is usually considered incomplete without an accompanying chutney. Chutneys vary in texture from coarse to fine, wet to dry. Natural preservatives are always preferred like lemon, oil, salt, sugar. Traditionally chutneys are ground with mortar and pestle, made of stone. The spices and herbs are grounded and sautéed with oil to cook them and extract more flavours of the ingredients used.
Any number of chutneys can be made from various combination of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices. Chutneys are usually grouped into sweet or hot variety, both forms usually contain spices, including chilli, but differ by their main flavours.
Numerous restaurants have made their menus based on chutneys. They offer an array of chutneys ahead of the meal with crispies to increase the appetite and engage the guests while the food is being prepared in the kitchen.
Pineapple pomegranate chutney
Ingredients
Pineapple 1 no
Ginger (chop) 1 tbsp
Sugar 2 tbsp
Vinegar 3 tbsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Red chili powder 1 tsp
Melon seeds 2 tbsp
Pomegranate ½ no
Black salt to taste
Method
Peel and core pineapple and cut into small dices.
Heat oil in a sauce pan and add ginger to it and add diced pineapple.
Add sugar, vinegar, red chilli powder and pomegranate and sauté.
Add water and allow to simmer over low heat stirring continuously.
Once the pineapple dices are mashed, remove from flame and adjust the seasoning and add melon seeds.
Store in refrigerator and serve cold with choice of snacks.
Note: Pineapple chutney is a good accompaniment for monsoon specific dishes like pakoras, nuggets, spring rolls, samosa as it helps your stomach to digest these oily foods. Pineapple is rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, calcium, fibre and potassium. Also the addition of ingredients like magaz, anardana and black salt also enhances the benefits of pineapple. One of the other benefits of having pineapple is that it helps you in maintaining a good skin.
* Tarun Kapoor is executive chef at Doha’s Horizon Manor Hotel. Send your feedback to:
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