Monday, August 6, 2012

Chicken Patties


My sister spent a weekend at her friend's house recently. She came home and asked me to recreate the chicken patties she had there. She didn't have a recipe, couldn't describe the flavors, and wasn't able to tell me whether it was made from chicken breast or ground chicken. Needless to say, I had no idea what kind of patty she had. I bought some ground chicken and made these patties using the spices in my pantry. I found these to be pretty mild but my sister thought they were spicy (she has a low spice tolerance). I didn't have enough fresh cilantro so I added a bit of dried cilantro. Sonia likes to eat them with ranch in a pita but I prefer a yogurt mint sauce or coriander chutney.  These patties are easy to put together and only took a total of about 20 minutes. 


Chicken Patties
1 pound ground chicken
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp dried cilantro or 1 tsp fresh cilantro
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp oil

Chop the onion and cilantro. Cut the garlic and ginger into small pieces and drag the edge of the knife against it to form a paste. Mix all the ingredients into the ground chicken. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan or griddle. Scoop out a ball of the mixture using a tablespoon and place it on the hot griddle. Press down using the back of a spoon to help flatten the ball into a patty. Cook on each side for 5 minutes. Serve them with chutney or on pita bread with lettuce and yogurt sauce or ranch dressing.