Chicken and Mash - That one thing my sister made right!

So if you remember my introduction, I spoke about my ‘food skill’ genes and how my sister didn’t get any 😊 But there was one dish that I remember eating at my sister’s place that makes me miss her a lot. It’s something that I learnt from her. I’d be lying if I said it’s any close to what it tasted like when she made it. But I try..

I particularly remember this dish. This was a dish that was like my bribe, so that I’d travel all the way to Dadar to my brother-in-law’s place, so that she could get a ticket to stay over at his. They were already engaged at this point, thanks to my mum for congratulating them and giving my bro-in-law’s parents the big news on their 25^th Wedding Anniversary… After they cut the celebratory cake… At the party... The best part, they were clueless about the whole situation till then! My brother-in-law still thinks it was a conspiracy 😉

Trips to Dadar also meant rides on the Yamaha RX 100, a few smokes nicked from my bro-in-law’s stash, a cheeky beer and that amazeballs chicken my sister made. I was winning!

For this easy recipe you’ll need:

Chicken thighs, drumsticks, wings – bone in.

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp Tabasco sauce

200 gm pack of tomato puree or a tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tsp Barbecue sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp chilli powder

Marinade the chicken with the ginger-garlic paste, Worcestershire and tabasco sauce and set aside for an hour or so. Now heat a pan and cook until the chicken gets a nice golden brown on both sides. We’re not cooking the chicken here, this process will simply seal the juices in.  Now mix the tomatoes, barbeque sauce, brown sugar and chilli powder and simply pour over the chicken in a roasting pan. Take a roasting pan that helps you collect the juices. Preheat the oven at full whack and place the chicken in it for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180 C fan assisted and let this cook for about 30 mins. Place a bulb of garlic with the chicken for about 20 mins.

This dish goes amazingly well with mashed potatoes. For the mash you’ll need:

4-5 potatoes

1 cup of milk (depending on consistency preference)

2 tbsp butter

Grated parmesan or any hard-Italian cheese

Salt and pepper per taste.

Boil the potatoes or simply place in a pressure cooker on high heat for about 15 minutes and let that cool naturally once. I usually get this prepped while the chicken rest in the base marinade. While the chicken is in the oven, peel the potatoes and chop them into small cubes. This makes the mashing process much easier. Remember that garlic we kept in with the chicken. Peel the garlic cloves and chop them finely. Take the butter and add the garlic to the same. Let this brown over a slow flame.

We are 20 minutes into the cook time for the chicken so turn it around and coat it well with the tomato sauce that would have thickened up by now. Give it all a good mix and put it back in the oven. Start the grill at full whack as well at this stage.

Back to the potatoes, that garlic and butter would be perfectly browned now. Add the potato cubes and make sure it’s coated well in that brown butter and garlic. Now go all Hulk Smash on it, gradually adding the milk to it. I prefer doing this at a slow flame to get a creamy consistency. Also, I prefer having a few chunks to bite into as well, so I don’t mash the potatoes completely. Add some more milk if need be. Reduce the flame and let the potato simmer for a bit while it thickens up.

Take the chicken out of the over and put it under the grill. This is where you need to speed up, add the parmesan cheese to the mash along with salt and pepper and mix it on a medium flame. Once you achieve the consistency you want, turn the flame off and empty the mash into bowl. You basically want it to stop cooking. Your chicken is ready hurry before it burns! Serve the chicken with the mash on the side.

Every time I see this on my plate I simply remember my bhesu!