Finger Lickin Fowl
Quail...ever associated it with Indian cuisine? Maybe not.
Think again, these baby sized birds have been part of Indian cuisine for hundreds of years...often regarded as a delicacy perhaps because of their diminuitive nature (a bit like the North African appetite for songbirds). Its petite proportions have been enjoyed in polite society for eons but there's no polite way of eating them, your fingers and teeth need to work in harmony to strip the bones clean. Often they're eaten whole allowing the diner to gently remove the soft bones once the tender meat has been removed. So when eating quail...lead the way, discard the knife and fork, resigning your neighbout to follow suit and use your digits to grasp a leg and dive in.
With friends of Persian descent popping over for dinner I knew the sure fire way of igniting the hunger in their eyes, was to dish up a quail recipe Rajah stylee and remove all eating implements. However one needs to show a little tenderness when preparing these diddy birds...so a spiced poaching liquor is required to keep the quail as supple as a yoga yogi, before flash frying them to cripsen their little jackets.
The result for this Indian quail recipe?
Well...a copse of bleached bones and his stubbled chin bristling with quail glee tells me everything I needed to know.
How To Make Indian Spiced Quail
Serves 4
For the batter
- 4 quails
- 100g sieved gram flour (chickpea flour)
- Dash of salt
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp beetroot powder (optional, but helps with colour and a naturally sweetened flavour)
- ½ tsp fennel powder (crushed fennel seeds)
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- ½ tsp garam masala
For the poaching sauce
- 1 pint of whole milk
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 6 cracked green cardamom pods
- 6 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Vegetable oil, enough to fry the quail
Grab a large mixing bowl and pour in 120ml milk, sprinkle in the ground fennel, chilli powder, beetroot powder, garam masala, salt, lemon juice and flour, work into a sticky batter. If you're using the beetroot powder you'll end up with a scarlet mix and make sure it's not lumpy. Cover and leave for 30 mins.
Boil the rest of the milk in a large pan until it becomes a frothy simmer. Add the rest of the poaching ingredients (except the oil) to the pan and turn down to a medium heat, slip in the quail and poach for around 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the birds and set aside to cool for a couple of minutes. Then coat them in the batter bowl, making sure they're drunk in batter.
Now heat the oil in a deep pan until crackling and gently lower the quails, making sure they're totally crispy all over.
Serve on a bed of lentil daal and sprinkle with crispy onions.
Finger Lickin Fowl
Quail...ever associated it with Indian cuisine? Maybe not.
Think again, these baby sized birds have been part of Indian cuisine for hundreds of years...often regarded as a delicacy perhaps because of their diminuitive nature (a bit like the North African appetite for songbirds). Its petite proportions have been enjoyed in polite society for eons but there's no polite way of eating them, your fingers and teeth need to work in harmony to strip the bones clean. Often they're eaten whole allowing the diner to gently remove the soft bones once the tender meat has been removed. So when eating quail...lead the way, discard the knife and fork, resigning your neighbout to follow suit and use your digits to grasp a leg and dive in.
With friends of Persian descent popping over for dinner I knew the sure fire way of igniting the hunger in their eyes, was to dish up a quail recipe Rajah stylee and remove all eating implements. However one needs to show a little tenderness when preparing these diddy birds...so a spiced poaching liquor is required to keep the quail as supple as a yoga yogi, before flash frying them to cripsen their little jackets.
The result for this Indian quail recipe?
Well...a copse of bleached bones and his stubbled chin bristling with quail glee tells me everything I needed to know.
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