in a saucepot on the stove, gently melt butter and add garlic; cook until fragrant, a minute or two
add heavy cream and parm
add salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes; simmer gently as sauce thickens
add greens and sundried tomatoes
when sauce thickens to desired consistency, turn off heat, add lemon juice and stir
If adding to pasta, set pasta to boil before starting the sauce and add it to the saucepot along with a little bit of pasta water once done. Stir to coat thoroughly and serve.
Notes
if the sauce is too thick, thin with milk or water (whatever you have on hand)
can also use milk or half and half if you don’t have cream, but may have to cook down longer to thicken
thin the chicken breasts either by pounding with a meat mallet or slicing; your butcher may also be able to do it for you when buying
mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl (or zip top bag) and add chicken, mix until the chicken is completely coated
if using a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap is actually touching the chicken so it doesn’t dry out; if using zip top bag, push excess air out and seal
let chicken marinate in fridge for ~1 hour and up to overnight
Cooking the chicken
Stovetop
set dry pan over medium heat; once hot, add a thin layer of oil
gently lay chicken into the oiled pan in a single layer; do not flip chicken until a nice crust forms on the first side down
do not overlap chicken
do not overcrowd pan; you will have to do multiple batches
flip when chicken releases easily from the pan and the first side is mostly cooked through, shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes, and may take less
cook the other side for a few minutes, until the thickest part of the chicken is no longer pink
remove from pan and place in serving plate; cover with aluminum foil to keep warm as you cook the rest of the chicken
bake in the oven
preheat oven: 450º F
line baking pans or sheet with aluminum foil and place chicken breasts on it in a single layer
do not overlap chicken
make sure to shake off excess marinade so chicken isn’t “wet” going into the oven
Bake chicken in oven for ~8-15 minutes; check at the earlier time so as not to overcook; assess done-ness by slicing into the thickest part to make sure it’s cooked through
Because this is a wet marinade, the chicken will kind of steam in the oven a bit. Still delicious, but you don’t get much of a maillard reaction. You could try broiling it instead, but I haven’t tried this and am not sure how well it would cook the chicken all the way through (probably be fine though).
The major benefit of baking vs other methods is its pretty hands off, despite the large amount of chicken, so you’re not tied to the stove. It’s also less messy, with easier clean up since there’s no oil splatters or smoke.
grill
fire up the grill and heat to medium
oil the grates and place chicken breasts over indirect heat, cook until one side is mostly cooked through and gets nice grill marks
flip and cook the other side just until cooked through
Sous vide
preheat sous vide bath to 150-155º F (or whatever your preference for chicken breast))
shake off excess marinade from chicken and place in a silicone or zip top bag in a single layer
submerge in bath for ~1 hour
Notes
orange chicken sauce: I just pulled whatever “Asian” sauce was in the fridge…if I was in my own kitchen, I would probably use oyster, fish, or hoisin sauce; maybe a combination
don’t think too hard about this one and use whatever you have on hand
sesame oil is best, but I only had olive oil on hand so that’s what I ended up using
chicken breast is easy to overcook, especially when thin-sliced, so keep a close eye on cook times (sous vide is the most forgiving)
err on the side of less cook time
you can remove chicken from the heat just when cooked and cover with foil so that the carry-over heat will gently finish it perfectly
Freezing tips
The marinade itself can be frozen in ice cubes, or you can freeze the chicken after covering it in the marinade. This is especially useful if you’ll be sous viding it afterwards, since you can take it from the freezer directly into the water bath.
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
Suggested uses
on salads (especially with an Asian sauce like a Thai peanut dressing and fried noodle croutons)
Also known as “chikad chole” or “chikar chole” which translates to “muddled chick peas”.
Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. If you cook desi food often, you likely already have them all on hand. I’ve broken the process down into its simple, individual components for the sake of clarity.
Because this is a recipe that uses interesting techniques, I highly recommend reading through the whole post before getting started.
Credits
Recipe adapted from Flavour of Desi Food. Watch the video linked to see the process and also if you’re confused on any particulars (like, “how much is 3 pieces of cinnamon?”). I’ve adapted the recipe from her, so there are some small changes, but the video is an excellent resource regardless.
Shoutout to user farzadalirdofficerscci4689 who dropped the written recipe in the comments. You a real one.
ingredients
amount
ingredient
500g
chickpeas, dry
1 tsp
baking soda
1 tsp
salt*
110g
oil
1 T
ginger garlic paste
1 small
onion
1 tsp
salt*
1 tsp
cayenne
1 tsp
chili flakes
1 tsp
turmeric
1 tsp
black pepper
1 small
potato
~½ cup
water
3 pieces
cinnamon
3
black cardamom
1 tsp
cumin powder
1 tsp
coriander powder
1 tsp
chole powder**
1
chicken bouillon cube
1 tsp
amchur powder
115g
yogurt, whole milk (dahi)
3 cups
chickpea cooking liquid (aqafaba)**
1 tsp
dried fenugreek (kasuri methi)
1
jalapeño, thin sliced
to taste
cilantro, fresh
*salt is listed twice, as it’s used in 2 places **see notes
Onion paste
Making the onion paste is easy: just blend 1 small onion into a smooth paste. I used a mini food processor that came with my stick blender, but you could use a stick blender, regular blender, or even a spice grinder.
I used a mix of red and yellow onions, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.
Thickening paste
Boil the small potato until fork tender. Since this will be blended up, I did not bother to peel the potato (and I like potato peels, anyhow, so why do more work?). I just cut out any suspicious areas or eyes in it and set it to boil. Once done, let cool. You can cut it into a few pieces to help speed up the process.
To the potato, add a ½ cup of cooked chickpeas, and the ~½ cup of water. Blend until a smooth paste forms. I used the same mini food processor from the onion paste.
Naturally, because it uses some of the cooked chickpeas, this thickening paste must be made after the chickpeas are cooked, so it can’t be prepared ahead of time.
Spices
Everything was made easier by portioning out my spices ahead of time since the flavors are layered in different stages. I prepped as many things ahead as I could, particularly the dry ingredients so that I wasn’t worried about measuring or missing something during the cook.
I combine anything that’s going in together in the same bowl, no need for individual ramekins for each spice.
bowl 1
bowl 2
bowl 3
salt
cumin powder
chicken cube
cayenne
coriander powder
amchur powder
chili flakes
chole powder
turmeric
black pepper
I also took out and set aside the cinnamon and black cardamom.
Process
This recipe requires a bit of planning ahead, but does offer some downtime in which to multitask and prep ingredients (see previous section). I’ve listed the processes below with this in mind to help streamline everything.
Overnight soak
Add dry chickpeas and baking soda to a large mixing bowl and fill it with water. Yes, fill it—the chickpeas will expand considerably and drink up most of it. Cover the bowl with a dinner plate / tea towel / aluminum foil (whatever you have on hand) and let soak for 12 hours.
Cooking the chickpeas
After 12 hours, drain the chickpeas and rinse them under cold water. Add them to the Instant Pot along with 1 tsp of salt, then cover with water. There should be enough water in the pot to cover the chickpeas with and an additional 2″ of water on top of that.
pressure: high time: 14-16 minutes release: 20 minutes natural release
When done, DO NOT DRAIN!
This is a good place to make the thickening paste using ½ cup of the cooked chickpeas.
If you’re using your IP for the rest of the cook, then transfer the chickpeas with their cooking liquid back to the mixing bowl (you washed it, right?), cover, and set aside. Wash the IP insert and move onto making the base gravy.
Base Gravy
add oil + ginger garlic paste to Instant Pot
sauté: medium
spread paste around evenly and cook gently until fragrant, ~30 seconds
add onion paste and cook, stirring periodically, until it changes color to an even, toasty brown and most of the water has evaporated
sauté: low
add the first round of spices (bowl 1) and sauté for 1 minute; the heat is reduced so that the spices don’t burn
sauté: medium
add the thickening paste and sauté well until everything is nicely incorporated; this may take several minutes
if the potato mixture is quite thick, it may stick to the pan; if this happens, add water as needed (a few tablespoons at a time) and scrape the bottom frequently so nothing burns
add cinnamon and black cardamom, cook for 2-3 minutes
add the next round of spices (bowl 2) and mix thoroughly
crumble up the chicken cube and add it to the gravy along with the amchur powder (bowl 3); mix
Bring It All Together
add cooked chickpeas and yogurt; mix mix mix
add the aquafaba and stir to combine everything; it will be pretty soupy at this point
cook uncovered for ~20 minutes until the salan reduces to your desired consistency
stir regularly and scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is sticking
as you stir, crush the chickpeas against the sides of the pot to muddle everything together, make it thicker and give it the signature look
Finishing
Add all the fenugreek and half the cilantro + jalapeño slices (reserve the other half for garnish); mix thoroughly and cook for ~3 minutes.
Notes
be generous with the ginger garlic paste; I use a heaping tablespoonful
the original recipe listed “garam masala” but I dislike it a lot, so I substituted with a boxed mix (Shan or other brand) of generic “chole masala”…you could probably get away with using any sort of box mix spice blend here. Or use garam masala if that’s your thing. If you have none of those, skip it.
aquafaba is the sometimes foamy, cloudy liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas, which we’ll hold onto and won’t discard in this recipe; this is NOT the soaking water that the chickpeas sat in overnight (which had baking soda added to it)
I made this entire recipe in my Instant Pot (first cooking the chickpeas, and then the whole dish in it), but you could make it on the stove top just as easily. I do recommend using the IP or another pressure cooker to cook the actual chickpeas themselves because that will take a lot longer any other way. But apart from that, you can proceed with the rest using any pot you prefer.
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
because of the science involved, the cocoa powder can’t be replaced with dutch-processed cocoa powder; read the original recipe post for more details (see Credits section above)
if you do not have applesauce, you can just use oil; you can replace some of the oil in most baked goods with applesauce
espresso powder deepens the chocolate flavor, without giving any coffee flavor in this amount; use it if you have it, skip it if you don’t
if you don’t have molasses, use 100g of regular sugar and 150g of brown sugar
other
all ingredients should be at room temp; if you’re like me, just heat a cup of water in the microwave to generate heat and steam, then put the sour cream and eggs in the TURNED OFF microwave to warm up before you start
oil the tray really well as they will stick to dry spots easily
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
add all ingredients under “in the pressure cooker” to pressure cooker
Pressure: High Time: 5 minutes Release: 5 minutes natural, then quick release
add milk, heavy cream, and both mustards, mix thoroughly
add handfuls of cheese, stirring in between until melted, until all cheese is done
notes
any medium size pasta shape will work fine; my favorite is cavatappi
any combination of cheeses can be used, but classic mac and cheese flavor relies on a cheddar-forward profile, the sharper the better (or per preference)
can replace the milk and heavy cream with 1 cup of milk instead (tested)
cheese 2
The original recipe used mozzarella for all 120g of cheese 2, but that was a bit “meh.” This slot is a good place to experiment. The picture below used half Jarlsberg and half shredded Mexican blend. The Jarlsberg adds a really nutty flavor and amazing cheese pull. Also makes a great grilled cheese.
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
pour batter into waffle iron in batches until all the batter is used up
Nutrition
1 waffle = 580 calories
Notes
I use this vertical waffle maker, which I bought from Costco for $35 about 5 years ago. Works fabulously and makes big waffles with deep wells. The pour spout on the top makes it easy for kids to help as well, since the risk of burns is reduced.
Although great plain, see below for serving suggestions.
Mix-ins
chocolate chips
blueberries
Toppings
nutella
maple / pancake syrup
fresh fruit
fresh whipped cream
berry compotes, jams, or jellies
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
set Instant Pot to sauté mode, melt butter and sauté onions, celery, and bell pepper until tender
add garlic, cook 1 minute until fragrant
add the rest of the ingredients (except Parmesan and heavy cream)
Pressure: high Time: 5 minutes Release: quick
purée contents with immersion blender until smooth
stir in Parmesan and heavy cream, let warm through; serve hot
Stovetop
Use a heavy-bottomed pot and instead of pressure cooking in step 3, simmer until everything is tender and starts to break down.
Nutrition
Calories = 1,215 total recipe (152 per serving)
Notes
blend less for chunky soup
use (1) 28oz can or (2) 14 oz. cans for the tomatoes. 2 oz less than the full 30 called for in the recipe isn’t a big deal but the difference can be made up with fresh tomatoes so a third can isn’t opened unnecessarily
a 30oz box of stock can be used instead of the BTB base + water
a large carrot can be substituted for the red bell pepper, though the latter is tastier
See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.
