Recipe: Village-Style Bamboo Chicken

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.