Bamboo Chicken is best when cooked over charcoal using the traditional method of wood-fire cooking.

That may seem impossible for someone who lives in an apartment in a metro. Do not fret. Chef Alok Kumar Sahoo has a recipe that allows you to achieve that.

The marinated chicken is steamed and cooked inside a bamboo for a richer flavour. Can’t find a bamboo steamer? Try making the dish in a puttu kutti 🙂

A graduate of Bhubaneshwar’s Institute of Hotel Management, Chef Sahoo began his career at the Hyatt Regency, Chennai.

Bamboo Chicken

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

  • 350 gm boneless chicken, chopped into medium-sized pieces 
  • 1 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp dhania or coriander powder
  • 2 tsp red chilly powder
  • 1 lemon or neebu, juiced
  • 5 gm ginger-garlic paste
  • 5 ml oil
  • 5 gm green dhania or coriander or cilantro, chopped
  • 5 gm green chillies, finely chopped
  • Bamboo stem steamer (please see the pic above)
  • Salt to taste, about 1 tsp

Method

  • In a bowl, combine the chicken with the turmeric powder, salt, red chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala, ginger-garlic paste, coriander leaves, green chillies, lemon juice, oil.
    Mix well.
    Keep aside to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Shut one end of the bamboo stem steamer.
    Rinse the inside of the bamboo steamer thoroughly before use.
    Fill ¾ of the bamboo steamer with the marinated chicken and seal the top with balled-up banana leaves.
  • If you have access to an outdoor space, place the chicken filled in the bamboo over wood charcoal, rotating all the time, till evenly roasted, about 30 minutes or less.
  • Once done, take off heat.
    Remove the banana leaves.
    Turn the bamboo upside down onto a plate.
    Serve the chicken hot with steamed rice.
  • Alternatively, roast over the stove over boiling water.
    Fill a large saucepan ¼ full with water and bring to a boil over high heat.
    Place a stand inside the saucepan and place the chicken-filled bamboo steamer on it and keep rotating and steam cooking for 45 minutes.
    Once done, follow the same serving steps given above
  • If you don’t have a bamboo stem steamer, use a puttu kutti (the Kerala puttu steamer) and place it over a cooker in a similar manner as the bamboo steamer.
    Once done, follow the same serving steps given above.

Chef Alok Kumar Sahoo is the chef de cuisine at Novotel Vijayawada Varun.

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