Chicken Paturi / Chicken wrapped in Banana leaves

This was an experimental dish for me. I am thankful to one of my Facebook friends Satyaki da for the idea of this dish, who is a great chef at the same time. 'Pata' means leaves, the marinated minced chicken breast wrapped in banana leaves is cooked in steam. Macher Paturi or Fish wrapped in leaves is very popular and delicious dish in Bengali Cuisine.  Similar dish is  Patrani Machchi in Persian Cuisine. So I gave a try to make Chicken Paturi following those recipes. It was a good try, I must say. This is a kid friendly recipe and healthy too.

You can replace chicken with turkey. It tastes very close to Meat loaf or Meat ball, but mustard oil, mustard paste and green chilies will give a 'deshi' flavor and a nice kick. It can be served either as a snacks with mustard sauce or as a appetizer or starter with lunch and dinner menu. It can be made in any variation depending upon your taste buds. You can use aluminum foil instead of banana leaves, but you wouldn't get nice flavor of leaves in foil. Last week I could get a bunch of Banana leaves, but didn't have any fish in my freezer so felt like giving a try with chicken. The recipe is very easy and simple to make. Let’s come to that.

Recipe of Chicken Paturi: Serve  5-6 

Ingredients

1.     Minced Chicken Breast - 1 lb approximately 500 gm 

2.     Onion - 1 big finely chopped

3.     Garlic - 1 tbsp minced

4.     Ginger - 1 tbsp (paste)

5.     Egg - 1

6.     Cilantro - a handful (finely chopped)

7.     Green chilies - fine chopped ( as per taste)

8.     Coriander powder- 1 tsp

9.     Mustard paste - 2 tbsp

10.  Salt to taste

11.  Mustard oil - 2-3 tbsp

12.  Banana leaves

Method

1.     Marinate the minced chicken breast with all the above ingredients (onion, ginger, garlic, egg, cilantro, green chilies, coriander powder, mustard oil, mustard paste, salt), except the banana leaves.

2.     Let it rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cut the banana leaves into square sizes, wash and pat dry. In a deep-bottomed pan take water. When it starts to boil, turn off the gas.

3.     Take the banana leaves and dip into the hot water for 3-4 minutes, this would help to ovoid getting crack in leaves when you will tie them.

4.     Take out the leaves from water and brush them with oil. Put 1-2 tbsp marinated chicken in the center of leave, wrap it gently with kitchen strings or with tooth-pick.

5.     Repeat the process for the remaining chicken. Take a non-stick pan, grease with some oil and heat it up.

6.     Put the wrapped chicken on it and cover with lid. Cook on medium flame until the leaves get brown in color on both sides. Chicken Paturi is done, open it from the wrap and serve hot with sauce.