Country Chicken – Cleaning & Marination
- 08
- July
- 2008
Country Chicken:
This post is dedicated to my blogo friend Selvi. Dear Selvi, hope this post really helps you honey!
Country chicken is totally different from broiler chicken. One should not confuse with herb fed or corn fed chicken with country chicken again.
Desi ka Murg/ Naattu Kozhi/ Country Chicken weighs about 3/4 kilo on average. Its flesh tastes gamier and bit harder. The bones will be pretty harder too. It may not be meatier. Since this bird eats upon anything(cage free…you know) and gets lots of exercise….they are thin and stronger.
Well….Halal cutting,is nothing but chanting a manthra before slitting the bird’s /animal’s throat. Though one would think it has nothing to do with science! You see when we cut an animal…..the frightening state of the animal…..may induce lots of adrenal secretion in it. Which is considered harmful for humans. Or even if we think generally….killing an animal after scaring it for a long time, is not so good, right! So its a method they follow to put the misery quicker. Hope you got the point!
Well….people generally cook meat as soon as they bought from the butcher. I don’t think its a very good idea. See soon after cutting the meat(chicken or mutton) flesh goes to a rigor state. Soon after killing an animal…..all the remaining ATP molecules are used up by the body. So the flesh becomes too tight. This stage is called ‘Rigor Mortis’ in science. So one need to give some time after slaughtering. If we cook immediately after cutting the meat will be rough and harder.
Approximately chicken and Mutton needs about 6 hours after cutting. So I generally prefer marination during this time. Marination also helps in tenderising meat. To talk about marination…..it Worth’s one whole new post(wait for it….coming up soon)
I prefer papaya, milk and ghee marination for mutton/lamb. I prefer yogurts and tomatoes for broiler chicken. When it comes to country chick….I marinate it with sea salt and turmeric. Well….sea salt(rock salt) gives kind of earthiness to it. Though the iodised salt is not that bad…it gives kind of metallic taste to the chicken after cooking. Again turmeric is the best antibiotic….since its country chicken, I marinate it with turmeric for pretty long period and wash it down several times in running tap water.
Burning country chicken’s skin! Yeah….I do that. Chicken has finest feathers called filoplumes(hardly visible sometimes)which may upset ones tummy. So slightly burning its skin will destroy it. Though skinning is a handy choice….when it comes to country chicken, skin is considered as delicacy. So I always cook it with skin-on. If you are too calorie conscious like me…better cook this chicken with skin on, but avoid eating skin later. Avoid second helpings or more gravy. Sounds pretty nuts huh!
Cooking country chicken really takes time dear! When broiler needs 20 minutes country hen needs about 45 minutes over medium heat. At the same time over cooking may make the meat go very rubbery(like your husband complained).
Yeah bone-in chicken is good over bone less for cooking. Bone’s hold the latend heat inside the meat and makes it to get cooked faster. While deep frying and grilling….I always choose bone-in for this reason. It avoids undercooking!
Actually I stir-fry this chicken for a brief period in oil…before adding water. I give some time to denature the protein. (denaturing protein is nothing but chicken’s pink flesh turns to pale and opaque) You would have noticed egg whites turning to bright white soon after tossing over wok/tawa.
One more thing….never eat this chicken’s left overs on the other day. Eat it on the very same day. Trash them down when you are done. Refrigerating, microwaving…..nothing helps .
So hope all this tips helps you to procure the best one. Hope now cleaning is not a big a deal for you. Hope my Halal definition is right as well. Cheer up….you could cook tenderised meat and perfect curry now!
Hi Malar Gandhi ,
Just came across ur blog.u hv nice interesting recipes,soon will be trying them.
Just a request,can u order ur recipes by ingredients name like non veg,chicken,mutton,veggies,bread,deserts,snacks,etc.
cheers,
sita
like your scientific approach Malar!!
Dear Sita,
Welcome to kitchen tantra. Thank you for your kind words. Yeah….I am still working on it honey!(categorising)
Thank you Doc!!
Hey Doll!
Never thought pretty girls like you could also cook well…ha ha!
Fara & Fazila.
Ha ha…..thank you Fara and Fazila dhidhi!
I tried your kuzhambu recipe last week, when my brothers family was at home. I burnt the skin before cooking. Taste was very good. Everyone liked it very much. But the chicken was still not soft and it had some burnt taste. Even husband liked it, but still says broiler is better.
Moms method was completely opposite. She says old and big chicken are more tasty. we use chicken which stopped laying eggs. We cook it immediately after cutting and cleaning it with turmeric, because she says it will go bad and not taste good if we keep it for long.
Next time I will follow all your tips. Our visit to aunt is still pending. I will get to try it out there. I don’t think husband will say broiler is better after that.. ha ha. Thanks for a post just for me.
Fine Selvi. Will eventually post country chicken fry and biriyani recipe for you. Stay in touch!
Hi malar. finally got a chance to try your kuzhambu. it came out great. everyone liked it including my husband.
we cooked a young kozhi. Aunty was not happy to use an egg chicken. I followed all your tips. It came out soft with good taste. We felt it was less spicy. so in the evening we added more pepper, chilly powder and some green chilly.
Thanks for your help. Now I am more confident of cooking nattu kozhi
Wow…..sounds good to me! I like the idea of more pepper. Pepper infact takes away chicken’s odour and makes it more delectable! Good work there. Sorry to your Aunty!
hi malar..
i was checking your chicken recipes.. when my eyes caught up with your little note about halal cut. your note was partially correct ,but not completely!
halal is the meat that are cut in particular way. It is much unique in a way that the blood and the unwanted hormones due to fear the animal incurs at the time of slaughter is avoided.The meat from a halal cut is much better than the normal cut. Believe me I stayed in Dubai all my life ,all my neighbours were muslims. It is not a manthra,but a religious sacrifice as to how they partake the food given by god to them. it is with the holy chant of the verses of quran and the particular slit that sheds the bad blood and meat tastes good!
your blog has got so much life and beauty ..wonder where you pick such designs… it feels so nice and happy!
keep it up gandhi….
another kitchen mate who is an ardent fan of your site!
devi
Thanks for the info Devi, I truly appreciate it. Infact…I should have detailed the part of removing the bloOd and body fluids from the animal quickly. There is’nt anything called bad blood, maybe I guess…you are talking about the adrenal hormones mix with blood! Got ur point sweet heart. Will detail it soon.
Thanks for ur compliment honey, Yeah…been working on the layout and labels lately. I am glad that you liked them. I know…you read all my articles with care, I am overwhelmed with ur attention, thanks dear.