Indian Flavored Pounded Chicken

One the things I like most about cooking is learning new cooking techniques and trying new cooking methods.
I always find it fascinating. I’m like “Whoa this is genius, I should have thought of it myself!”
Take a chicken breast for instance, how many ways can you cook it?
Well, you can boil it (blah!), broil it, bake it, fry it, slow-cook it, grill it, smoke it, even burn it
OR
you can butterfly the breast and pound the meat thin (so thin it looks like a chicken pizza), season it, and briefly cook it over high heat.
After just 2 minutes in a hot pan, you have a crazy tender, deliciously thin chicken breast that is so succulent and juicy I can say without fear it’s one of the most great tasting piece of chicken I had in a long time.

I’ve learned this cooking technique in Marco Canora’s latest cookbook “A Good Food Day”, (which btw I discovered by listening to The Splendid Table on WNYC-FM.)
What’s genius about it, is that by pounding the chicken breast pizza thin, you increase the surface area of meat touching the skillet and that creates a delicious caramelized crust.
But that’s not it; the chicken also cooks more evenly, without drying, and — last but not least — it absorbs better the flavors.

It’s also super quick.
The longest part of the entire process is pounding the meat which btw is a great stress-reliever at the end of a long day.
Another extra-benefit to this method is that the bid size of the "pizza" meat tricks you into thinking you’re getting a lot more than just one breast. (When your plate looks full, you tend to believe you’re eating more)
In other words, this is your typical win-win-win situation.
One final note, I’ve flavored my pounded chicken with a mix of Indian spices, feel free to play around with different spices and herbs though. There’s no going wrong with this recipe!

Indian Flavored Pounded Chicken                                                                          Print this recipe!

Barely adapted from A Good Food Day

A couple of notes. As per the author suggestion, I’ve used small chicken breasts as they’re easier to pound out to a uniform thickness.
You can also prepare the breasts ahead of time, cover them chicken in plastic wrap before flavoring them and refrigerate. They’ll keep for up to 2 days.

Ingredients
Serves 4

4 (6 ounces) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons onion powder
3 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

In a small bowl combine ground cumin, turmeric, ground coriander, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Set aside.
Starting at the thicker side, using a sharp knife make a lengthwise horizontal cut into the top ⅔ of each chicken breast, stopping before cutting all the way through.
Fold the chicken breast open like a book (it should still be in one piece.)
Put it between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound it out on both sides with the flat side of a meat tenderizer, working from the center out, until it’s spread to double its original size and about ¼ inch thick.
Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
Remove plastic wrap and rub the olive-spice paste evenly across one side of the 4 chicken breasts. Cover with plastic wrap again and lightly pound in the seasoning with the toothy side of the meat tenderizer. Flip the breasts, rub the remaining olive oil-spice o into the other side of the chicken breasts. Cover with plastic wrap and lightly pound in the seasoning.
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large over high heat.
When it’s sizzling, add 1 chicken breast, put a weight on it (a cast iron pan or tea kettle should work) and cook for 1 minute. Flip, add the weight, and cook for another 1 minute (this may vary depending on thin your meat is, just make sure the chicken is cooked through!).
Transfer to a plate, and let it rest for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 344 calories, 13 grams of fat, 0 grams of carbs, and 53 grams of protein.