Lemon and Garlic Chicken...Thanks Mo!!

Lemon and Garlic Chicken…this is my friend Mo’s recipe, a fabulous cook and an even better photographer, writer, mom etc etc...but above all, my photography guru J...she has very patiently handled my bad photographs, my reluctance to read the camera manual or to even click using a proper camera, initially even helped pick out the most tolerable picture of the lot mailed to her…there are tons of her recipes which I make on a regular basis (her Nepalese Aloo is world famous amongst my family and friends) but never click photos of because the pictures won’t ever be even close to hers...so when I made this one and the picture came out to be half decent...I sent to her...her reaction "it looks like you took my glass of toddy and converted it into a glass of Prosecco"...I danced for about five minutes after reading it…the next step of showing off to the world was obvious and here it is for 'my world' J  (did anyone notice how it started off with being about Mo but ended up being about me?? ahhh, the joy of being totally in love with yourself!!!! J) 

Lemon and Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast, boneless and skinless, cut into thin flat large cubes, 300 gms (or can use chicken thigh)
• Vegetables of your choice, chopped into large cubes, quantity around double that of chicken (I used onions, green and red bell pepper, mushrooms…Mo used carrots , peas, onions, mushrooms )
• Garlic, finely chopped, 2-3 cloves
• Dried red chilies, chopped into 2-3 pieces each, 2 (you can use red chili flakes to taste instead)
• Lemon zest, 1 tsp
• Crushed Black pepper, ½ tsp or to taste
• Soy sauce, 1 tsp or to taste
• Lemon juice, 1 tbsp or to taste
• Oil, 1 tbsp
• Scallions/ Spring Onions, for garnishing, only the green portion

For the marinade:

• Salt, to taste
• Fresh Garlic, grated/paste, 1 tsp
• Lemon juice, 1 tsp
• Crushed Black Pepper, ½ tsp

Instructions:

Marinate the chicken for at least half an hour with salt, lemon juice, garlic and pepper.

Heat a large wok on high heat for about a minute.

Swirl in ½ tbsp oil and heat it till it starts to shimmer.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir fry the marinated chicken with half of the lemon zest for 2-3 minutes, till just about half done. 

Remove the chicken (along with any juice released by the chicken) and keep aside

Add the remaining ½ tbsp oil to the wok. Add in the red chilies, garlic and the remaining lemon zest and stir fry for about 30 seconds.

Add in the onions and stir fry for another 30 seconds or so.

Start adding your veggies from the hardest to the softest on 30 seconds to a minute interval. All vegetables should soften but still retain some crunch.

Add back the chicken, salt and pepper and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes tossing everything well together so that chicken gets cooked completely.

Increase the heat to high and add in the lemon juice and soy sauce. Give a final toss and switch off the flame.

Garnish and serve with steam rice.

Notes:

• The chicken has a distinct lemony taste - I wasn’t sure whether hubz would like it or not, so made three portions of the dish:

1. Kept one portion as is
2. Drizzled a little honey on top and mixed well.
3. Added a little chili sauce (I used Siricha) and tossed everything well

He enjoyed all equally!! J (I asked him which one would he prefer next time and he said “ALL” )

• Here is Mo’s recipe...“This was lunch - a simple lemon chicken with peas, carrots and mushrooms. Marinated the chicken with a bit of salt and garlic and pepper. Chopped carrots, onions (we didn't have spring onions at home), garlic, mushrooms. Heated sesame oil. Added garlic and chopped dry red chillies and some lemon zest. Added chicken and sautéed and when half done, added the carrots first and later the mushrooms and peas and onions so that they all stayed crunchy. When almost done, added lemon juice and soy sauce and stir fried on high flame and served with brown rice”