Mango Grilled Chicken with Butter-Lemon Cous Cous

So the Navratras are over and again we are free to divulge in all the meaty things we want to. Not that I am saying that I follow the rules, but most of the Hindus in India and world try not to eat any non vegetarian food during these holy 9 days.

In our lives we follow a lot of beliefs and try to abide by them. Some life makes us believe and some we follow as we were told to as a kid. This is one of the debatable subjects- whether to believe what we were told to or to believe what life taught us. Eating Non Veg or not, comes under the same bracket for me. For me giving up non vegetarian food for some days to show devotion and showing love for god means nothing.  


In my life I have learned that  sitting in front of an Idol and praying for hours wont make any difference to my or anyone world. For me love for god mean being kind to each other, being considerate towards others needs, helping the ones in need without any expectation. I do pray to god but while going through my daily work. Even our Holy Scripture 'Bhagwat Geeta' says "A man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is" . 


The whole point of the story is to say, do not let anyone tell you how to live your life and what to believe. Eating Non Veg or not, wont make gods angry as long as you love him/her and are true to yourself. As long as you are doing god's work by being compassionate and kind with each other.

Coming back to the recipe...as I just remembered this is a food blog dud.....I saw this food pic some where on the internet and was dying to try it.

 It was hard for me to get cous cous in my local shops, but thanks to the internet and recently evolving online grocery delivering websites in India, I was finally able to make this superb lunch. A word of caution- you might find the quantity less but it just looks less but really filling. 

Cous Cous is just a lunch idea and an accompaniment but you can make the amazing chicken dish and serve it up with pulav or have it like that with some beer or fruit drink.

Things you will need:

 For the Mango Grilled Chicken

4 chicken Breast piece boneless
 3 Tbsp sweet and sour mango chutney (homemade or store brought)
 1 Tsp cumin powder
1/2 Tsp coriander Powdèr
1/2 Tsp Aniseed Powder
1/2 Tsp Fenugreek seeds Powder
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 Tsp Red Chili powder

1 Tbsp Olive Oil  Salt to taste

 For the Cous Cous

1 Cup Cous Cous
3-4 Spring Onions (whites and greens seperated)
1 Tsp Pepper powder

1 Tsp Chilli Flakes

2 Bay leaves

1 and 1/2 inch long Cinnamon stick

1 Tsp chopped Garlic

2 Tbsp Finely Chopped Onions

2 Tbsp Olive oil

Juice of 1 LemonSalt to taste

Method

Clean the Chicken and make diagonal slits on one side on each piece.

Mix all the ingredients from section one in a bowl and marinate the chicken.  Keep aside for 20 minutes. 

For the Cous Cous- boil 2 cups of water in a pan. 

In the meantime, in a separate pan, pour the olive. Once it heats up add the bay leaves and cinnamon.

Add the garlic and onions and saute till onoins are translucent, then add the salt , pepper powder and chilli flakes.

Once the water comes to a rolling boil, take it off flames and add the Cous Cous and the contents from the pan.

Mix well and cover. Keep it covered for 15 minutes.

Now that our Cous Cous is almost ready, lets work on the chicken.

Heat up a non stick pan, preferably a griddle pan, cook the chicken on high heat for 1 minute on each side. Then lower down the heat and cook for 3 mintes on one side and 2 minutes on other side. The Chicken should be done by now.

The Cous Cous should be ready by now. Add the butter,  lemon juice and spring onion greens in it and fluf with a fork.

Your Mango Grilled Chicken with Butter-Lemon Cous Cous is ready for serving. 

Let me know if you liked it.