Tawa Chicken is a quick easy chicken side dish. It is often served as an appetizer, or as a meal with Naan. I occasionally like to go untraditional and make Tawa Chicken Taco.
To break it down Tawa means skillet, which describes the cooking style of the dish. Hense the name Tawa Chicken. Spice covered marinated chicken bites are shallow fried in a cast iron skillet for juicy center and perfect char. Tawa Chicken is a famous street food in India which can be cooked either with just spices or sometimes made a little saucy by adding more onion and tomatoes.
What goes in Tawa Chicken Taco?
- Tawa Chicken : Shallow fried skillet chicken
- Yogurt and cilantro sauce
- Sliced cucumber
- Lettuce
- Sliced red onion and tomato
Marinating the Tawa Chicken Taco
Spices used to marinate the chicken for Tawa Chicken can totally depend on you. I used few basic
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Fennel seeds
- Dried fenugreek leaves
- Kashmiri chili powder
I always prefer to use yogurt to marinate the chicken because it cooks the chicken to really juicy tender. With this dish, I also added some heavy cream.
Yogurt and cilantro sauce
Taco always needs a sauce and while you can surely use store bought sour cream. I would highly recommend to try this super refreshing yogurt cilantro sauce.
It’s just a mix of fresh cilantro leaves, roasted and crushed cumin seeds, salt, sugar and thick yogurt. Blend it and use it as a dip or sauce.
You can serve the Tawa Chicken as an appetizer with this delicious yogurt and cilantro sauce.
KEY POINTS:
- Go for chicken thigh boneless instead of chicken breast. Chicken breast stays juicer while chicken breast gets dry very quickly.
- Marinate the chicken for at least 4 hrs or overnight for best flavor.
- Use a cast iron pan to prepare the chicken for that crispy char on the outside.
Tawa Chicken is a quick fix boneless chicken dish that takes about 20 minutes to prepare. It tastes best when served warm, irrespective of how you serve it!
CHICKEN DISHES TO TRY:
Baked Chicken Meatballs – Spiced Sticky
Chicken in Brown Butter with Fresh Herbs
Chicken And Quinoa Mason Jar Salad
Tawa Chicken Taco
Ingredients
for the Tawa Chicken
- 1 lb boneless chicken thigh (cut into bite size.)
- Thick Greek yogurt – ¼ cup
- Dried fenugreek leaves - 1 tablespoon
- Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Fennel seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Kashmiri chili powder – 1 teaspoon
- Salt – 1 and ½ teaspoon
- Sugar – 1 teaspoon
- 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
for yogurt cilantro sauce
- ½ cup thick greek yogurt
- handful of fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds (crushed to fine or course)
- ½ teaspoon salt
for the taco
- flour or corn tortilla
- sliced red onion and tomatoes
- Thinly sliced cucumber and
- Chopped lettuce
- Shredded cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and fennel seeds in a medium hot pan until the color changes a shade darker. Then cool it down a bit and grind it either using a mortar pestle or a coffee grinder.
- Marinate the chicken pieces with yogurt, dried fenugreek leaves, freshly grind spices, Kashmiri chili powder, salt and sugar. Leave it aside for at least 4 hours. Or overnight for better flavor.
- When ready to prepare the dish, place a cast iron pan on medium high heat and drizzle some oil. You don’t need a lot of oil to prepare this dish. Layer the marinated chicken in one layer. Also scatter the sliced red onion in and around the chicken pieces and let it sizzle for 4 to 5 minutes on one side. Then flip the chicken pieces and let it char for 3 more minutes. Depending onthe size of the chicken pieces you might need more or less time. Remember tonot over crowd the skillet.
- For the yogurt cilantro sauce, just put everything in the blender and blend it to a smooth consistency. Taste for salt and add any if needed.
- One the chicken pieces are cooked and the sauce is ready, toast the tortilla and serve it as a Taco with all the sides and topping mentioned.
Nutrition
Neelam Sablok
This is sounding awesome. Will definitely make it. Tho I wish you had put pictures
Arpita
Those tacos my goodness... They look incredible and so flavourful.😍