Crispy Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

Like everyone else battling meal planning woes during these quarantine times , i would be lying , if i said I find cooking all my meals exciting . It is , most agreeably , the most arduous part of my weekday when I , as a working women need to switch off from my work mode and plan dinner and consequent meals for the household . As such , I try to keep it a simple one- pot affair . More often than not , it is a dish from the western world , which is easier to put together and cuts out all the frills of having mandatory accompaniments . This chicken dish is a weeknight dinner winner and can be made in variations with peas & carrot sauce as well . The better part is that the sauce soaked chicken , doubles up as a leftover champion & can be used up as a topping to a toasted slice of bread or as a filling to an omelette for breakfast on the following day . All in all , this is an easy make and summons a flavorful, delicious, comforting and warm dish to your table in no time . Let me take you through the steps :

Things you will need ( Makes for 02 )

For the Crispy Chicken

• 4 medium size bone-in chicken thighs

• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper - to taste

• 01 tablespoons butter

For the Mushroom Sauce

• 01 tablespoon butter

• 03 cloves of finely chopped garlic

• 200 gm of thinly sliced mushrooms ( Button mushrooms are best here )

• 04- 05 stalks of spinach (optional )

• 01 tablespoons cornflour

• 1/2 cups toned milk + 1/2 cup water

• 3 tbsp of fresh cream

• 1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs ( store bought )

• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, as per taste

• 2/3rd cup red wine ( any variety is OK , also this is optional )

Steps

Skillet fry the chicken , till it gets a nice crispy skin

1. In a bowl , rub the chicken pieces with the salt , pepper , herb mix and keep aside.

2. Heat a shallow skillet ( You can choose a slightly larger skillet so that you can cook the entire dish in this itself ) . Add the butter and allow it to heat fully in high flame .

3. Once heated , move the flame to medium and place the chicken pieces on the skillet one by one and allow them to fry on one side , till they get a nice brown crispy skin . Once done , reverse and roast the other side . 4. The chicken should have a crispy finish all over - Drain the excess fat and keep aside in a bowl ( Refer pic below )

For the mushroom sauce :

1. To make the mushroom sauce, melt butter - Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, for about 6-8 minutes. 2. Once cooked , lower the flame and gradually whisk in the milk water mixture , fresh cream - mixed herbs , crushed red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. 3. Separate 02 tbsp of the sauce onto a separate bowl and whisk in the the corn flour to this . 4. Add the cornflour mix back into to the main mushroom sauce and mix . 5. At this point , add in the red wine . Remember - all through step 2 to step 5 , keep the flame low . 6. Simmer until slightly thickened 7. Now , turn the gas off and place the crispy chicken into the sauce . 8. In a separate pan , saute the spinach in little butter and add for garnish , if desired .

Pro-tip - Serves will with herbed rice or your choice of bread as accompaniments