I recently listened to a podcast between David Chang and Madhur Jaffrey on the art of Indian cooking and couldn't help but walking away from it feeling a tiny bit emotional and also so blown away by the journey Indian food has taken across the world, especially here in the US. I then watched Padma Lakshmi's new show, Taste the Nation, and of course Madhur Jaffrey, the Queen of Indian Cooking, was very much a part of it, telling the world her journey - including her struggle - in mainstreaming Indian food.
As she cooked up this Lemony Coriander Chicken, I was practically salivating just looking at the screen. This is a dish where you can see and smell the acidity of the lemon, taste the earthiness of the ginger and coriander, and feel the spice of the garlic. It's so easy, yet it comes together so well in this delicate, extremely tender chicken. Not to mention, it can all be done in one pot! So let's just get straight to the recipe!
I used drumsticks because dark meat just tends to absorb more flavor, become more tender, and cook very well on stovetop. The most important step is to brown the drumsticks over medium heat in a non-stick pan. This gives the chicken a nice sear and a charred flavor. The sauce is so simple and healthy, so this step is quite critical!
To make the sauce, mix garlic and ginger in a pan and add your spices in. I chose to roughly chop the garlic because I LOVE the taste of the little pieces when they've cooked off. The ginger is best if it's finely ground into a nice paste.
Then, add a TON of coriander in and let everything wilt down together. At this point, go ahead and add some lemon juice and water and cook the sauce together further. Once everything comes together and looks like a uniform, cohesive sauce. Add the chicken back in, which isn't going to be fully cooked yet, cover and cook for another 35-45 minutes until everything comes together. And that's it - you can eat it with rice, roti, or even just a bowl of creamy yogurt! It is so healthy, and so heavenly.