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Ruchik Randhap

Food & Memories of Mangalore

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Nimbu Chicken – Urban Tadka Style


As I take over from Shireen to write this post for the first time (and may be many more posts in the future if she allows me ;-)) this dish, “Nimbu Chicken” is one of my favorites. My love for this dish began after my first visit to Urban Tadka in Versova, Mumbai a few years ago. The ambience of the restaurant was lovely, complete with a village kind of a setup. The food was served on an unique colored plate, the stirrer for the drinks was made of sugar cane, the dum biriyani was served in earthen pots and finally the ‘last order’ was announced by beating the dhol (drum). All these things made me feel like visiting this place more often.

Thereafter it became a routine to order our office lunch from this place at least twice a week. On Fridays especially extra portions of the spicy dum biryani and jalebis were ordered to celebrate an early weekend that started almost as soon as the heavy lunch was finished. DS (my biz partner) and I must have eaten this dish (Nimbu Chicken) umpteen number of times. I still remember DS commenting right after the heavy meal “Now go to your office, switch off lights and take a nap” while our office staff smiled mischievously as they had gotten used to my post Urban Tadka meal siestas. Furthermore, I used to order this at home and I never got a no for an answer from Shireen and our little fella Yu as they also started loving it.
Once we moved to Dubai I was determined to try Nimbu chicken as I started missing it so much. Having found no recipes on the internet that came anywhere close to what I had eaten, the experiment began and after a few tries, I think I have almost perfected this. It is the closest in terms of the taste & texture although the original served at the restaurant still remains to be my favourite

 

Nimbu Chicken
Prep time: 15 mins + 2 hours (marinating time) | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves 3

Ingredients:

  • 750 grams chicken on the bone (preferably, or you may use boneless too)
  • Juice of 3 medium size limes (approx 3 tablespoons) (adjust and use as required) * see notes
  • 3/4 tablespoon ginger paste
  • 1 tablespoon garlic paste
  • 200 grams fresh cream (I used Almarai, you can use Amul fresh cream)
  • 6 green chilies de seeded & cut julienne
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
  • 75- 100 grams unsalted butter
  • salt to taste

Method:
1. Wash and cut the chicken in medium sized pieces. Allow to drain on a colander till the excess water drips away. If need be, wipe with a kitchen tissue. Then transfer into a bowl and marinate it with salt, turmeric and half of the lime juice for about 2 hours.
2. In a heavy based wok/kadhai heat the butter and fry half the green chillies, garlic and ginger for about a minute.
3. Add the marinated chicken and cook for about 5-7 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat a bit and add the powders (turmeric, red chilli, coriander, cumin, garam masala) and mix well till all the chicken pieces are coated well.
5. Add the fresh cream and mix it until well with the chicken. If you need more gravy you can add a little whole milk (full fat)
6. Cook for about 3 minutes on a low heat and then add the remaining lime juice and the reserved green chillies and cook for a further couple of minutes. Do a taste check and adjust the lime as required. The gravy should predominantly taste tangy from the lime.
7. Remove from heat and serve hot with rice, rotis, pulkhas or plain parathas!

Notes:
1. In Dubai we get limes of various sizes, we used medium sized ones. 1 lime yieleded us approx 1-1/2 tablespoons of juice. For this recipe you need approximately 3-4 tablespoons (in total). However, not everyone prefers a tangy curry, so please add less initially and then add extra juice only if required after tasting.


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Comments

  3. Rafeeda AR says

    beautifully written… I guess Shireen should keep giving ur hubby a chance to cook and blog, then u can take some rest from teh kitchen as well! 🙂 the nimbu chicken looks amazing… bookmarked!

    Reply

  4. Deepak Sitlani says

    absolutely Great…looks almost the same if not better than the original..Yum!Shall wait for you to cook this at my place once your here,will look forward to that!Perhaps now you can join Master Chef SS&pursue my lifetime dream of a restaurant soon GW!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

  5. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Vidyakka: Thank you so much 🙂 I hope you try this dish & like it. Do let us have your feedback 🙂

    @ Deepa: Thanks dear 🙂

    @ Rafeeda: Thank you so much dearie, yeah planning to take a break now..haha !

    @ DS:Thanks so much!! Our masterchef is RS…i don't come close 😀 He will definitely make this for u soon! And God willing you'll have your restaurant even sooner!!

    Reply

  6. Pearl L S says

    Hi Shireen! I had to try this out as i was drooling just reading the recipe. It tastes sooooooo good. It is very heavy on the stomach(butter and cream), but was a amazing treat to the taste buds! Thanks for the share. 🙂

    Reply

  7. Susan Dsouza says

    Hi Shireen

    I tried this recipe to surprise my husband on his our car. Though he loved the curry I didnt find it up to the mark. It gave a very sour taste. The taste of the cream was more dominating than that of lime.

    Reply

  9. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Susan: Sorry to hear that but I am a bit confused. If it was very sour then it means that the lime was dominating. If the taste of the cream was dominating then you used more cream. Sorry, it is confusing. Did you find it too sour or too creamy? What brand of cream did you use?

    Reply

  13. prerana says

    Hi shireen tried your nimbu chicken it came out exactly same as urban tadkas nimbu chicken…..Thanks a lot as I am a big fan of urbans nimbu chicken…added few ingredients thought….I added 2 inch lemon grass stems while sautéing ginger garlic paste. When the ginger garlic was almost cooked I added 1 small chopped tomato to it…and when we have to added the remaining green chillies I added 1inch ginger cut into julienne…again thanks a lot for this lovely recipe☺

    Reply

  14. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Prerana: Thanks sooooo much for your great feedback! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it 🙂 Nice addition of the lemon grass and the tomato – we will try it out next time!

    Reply

  15. Karen Pinto says

    Hi Shireen… U guys are simply amazing.. I too love Urban Tudka's lime chicken.. It's lip snacking… Thanks to ur hubby for helping us get tht taste a hm itself.

    Reply

    • shriram Rane says

      Kya baat hai, this fourth time I am preparing this dish. All the time it gives great taste. This time I am preparing for inhouse party for 15 people let’s see how is the reaction from the guest. Thanks a tonnes.

      Reply

  18. Rahul says

    Hey. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Definitely gonna try it out. I just had one question.
    Wouldn’t the cream split if you add acid (lemon juice) to it at the end?

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Rahul,

      Yes, cream will split if you are cooking this dish on a high heat, You need to reduce the heat as I have mentioned in the recipe and add the lime juice and mix everything well.

      Reply

  19. Tara says

    Just got back from Mumbai after a weekend trip and i googled a place for Nimbu Chicken. So now this recipe is godsent

    Reply

  21. Geetu says

    Its so crazy! Ive been meaning to make my own version of the ‘Urban Tadka’ Lemon Chicken as soon as I’d tasted it.
    Finally decided to try and just happened to google ;Urban Tadka Lemon Chicken Recipe’ and Viola!
    Quick Question, I was hoping to marinate the chicken overnight….have you tried that?
    Or should I stick with this?

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Thrilled to read your feedback Geetu! I am so glad! Well, yes, you can marinate thicken overnight. The longer the better!

      Reply

  24. Priyanka Nimkar says

    I had the same question..
    I am really excited to try this recipe
    Urban Tadka’s Nimboo chicken is my favorite.. and had been searching for the recipie…. thank you so much

    Reply

  25. Priyanka says

    Superbbbbb!!! I tried this and literally tasted like Urban tadka style :d

    Lots of love thank you 🙂

    Reply
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