Chicken Mandi

Mandi is a meat chicken or lamb that is cooked underground. The rice is place under the meat so that the rice absorbs the flavour of the meat while its cooking. The high temperature underground creates a fluffy and soft rice and a melt in your mouth chicken, its a taste that you cant forget easily because its so unique. You can make this at home i promise you can produce a very very close effect right on your stove in your very kitchen just by using a 'smoking trick' that i learnt from  http://www.yasalamcooking.com/2008/04/chicken-mandy.html. (I love her blog and use it as inspiriation) So When I tried this technique i was absolutley amazed at how accurate the smoky flavour tasted to the one i ate underground. From now on this a regular in my home and I am sure it will be a regular in yours too. Just try it. trust me.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into halfs
1 small onion grated
2 small tomatoes grated
Spices for chicken: 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper 1 teaspoon of seven spices, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice, 1/2 teaspoon Kholenjal (Dried Galangal here in Australia)
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 teaspoon of vingegar
Spices for rice: 1 bay leaf, 4 cardamon Pods                          
 2 cups of basmati rice soaked 1/2 hour in water.3 cups of water to cook the rice



 how you do it:

1. Make marinade for chicken by placing grated onion, grated tomato, spices, vingegar, 1/2 the amount of tomato paste and oil in a bowl. Mix well and rub all over chicken. Leave to marinade for atleast one hour.
2.  Place chicken on baking dish and rub the reminder of tomato paste. Sprinke abit more all spice and oil on top of the chicken and rub. Place around 1/2 cup of water in the baking dish so the chicken stays moist. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
3. Make rice by boiling the basmati with bay leave, cardamom, and salt with enough water to the rim. When the rice has absorbed the water and almost cooked, Remove chicken from oven and you will find drippings and fat that has released from the chicken. Pour that on the rice and mix. Put the lid back on and lower the heat. Now put the chicken back in the oven without the foil and keep in there under the chicken developed a golden colour.
4. Once the chicken is cooked and golden remove and place on top of the rice. Now take an onion shell and place a dollop of butter in it. With some Bukhoor already heating up on the stove, once hot put inside the onion shell and cover your pot immediatley. Now watch the smoke in awe. Now Keep covered until you serve.

Now give yourself a pat on the back for learning how to make Authentic Mandi at home.