Day before yesterday was a Sunday and I had indulged in late-night binge-watches as usual. Had to wake up early in the morning because my kitchen sink had stopped working and needed plumbing services. It was quite a hectic Sunday and I knew Monday is going to be more stressful with work resuming, household chores, cooking and managing a plumber in the lockdown. Also, there was a persistent tension as to how I am going to let a stranger in in this pandemic situation, maintain distance and manage everything else – my mind was a chaos.
Nevertheless, I managed to contact a plumber, thanks to my landlord and asked the plumber about his health conditions, confirmed he’s well and asked him to visit. Woke up early morning just when the plumber rang the bell. I opened the door and made him sanitize his hands in a jiffy, asked him to keep the shoes out and step in. Thankfully, he wore a mask and was very particular about his hygiene and repeatedly washed his hands after cleaning the sink pipe and I was relieved. He was done in 30 minutes and after he was gone, I cleaned my door knobs to make sure everything is clean and sanitized.
I was tired. Inadequate sleep, fatigue, uninterrupted paranoia and the fear of “What should I cook now?” made me… go to sleep. Yes, that’s how I apparently deal with problems, by sleeping it off. Don’t we all though? Anyway I woke up to the sound of a kid walking in the neighborhood with his quack-quack shoes which are not cute btw, especially when you are trying to sleep!
I wake up, I am tired AND hungry. I head to my kitchen with a headache and think of cooking something EXTREMELY hassle-free. A few months before, I watched a Marion Grasby recipe of Sticky Asian BBQ Wings in a slow-cooker and decided to give it a try by giving my own twist. It’s oil-free, sticky, sweet, spicy and the best part is the meat falls off the bone just like that and make you go weak in the knees with the heat!
I served it on a bed of egg stir fry noodles (a usual recipe you can get online) and grilled onions and topped the drumsticks with an amazing spice mix. Let’s have a look at the recipe!
Ingredients:
- Chicken legs: 4 pieces
- Bhoot Jolokia sauce/paste: 6 tbsp
- Schezwan sauce: 2 tbsp
- Tomato sauce: 4 tbsp
- Sweet Chili sauce: 4 tbsp
- Pickled red paprika (optional, sliced): 2 tsp
- Soya Sauce: 1 small cup
- Jaggery: 3 tbsp
- Honey: 3 tbsp
- Salt to taste
For the topping:
- White sesame seeds: 2 tsp
- Black sesame seeds: 2 tsp
- Orange rind: 1/2 tsp
- Lemon rind: 1/2 tsp
- Pepper powder: 1 tsp
- Salt: A pinch
- Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp
Recipe:
- In a slow-cooker/saucepan, add all the ingredients and give it a hearty mix.
- Let it cook in a medium-low heat with occasional stirring for an hour. The meat must fall of the bones almost and that’s how you know it is done.
- If you think that the consitency is not as you desired, then add warm water and heat it to make it a little runny or add a tsp of wheat flour in the sauce to make it stickier.
- Roast all the ingredients for the topping lightly (except the orange and lemon rind) and lightly coarse it. Mix it with the rinds and assemble.
Assembly:
- Put a bed of chowmein prepared of your choice. I would suggest to keep it light and less spicy as it should overpower the taste of the chicken.
- Then put some grilled onions on top, and then layer with the sticky braised sauce.
- Add some more grilled onions on the sides and place the chicken drumsticks.
- Top it with the topping mixture and serve hot.
If you liked this recipe and want to see more of this mother-daughter duo, don’t forget to reach out to us at rannabaati00@gmail.com and our Instagram Handle @rannabaati by Oliva Das. We look forward to your requests and feedback!
Ranna Baati 