Green Chilli Chicken Caesar: The Italian Classic With A Spicy Kick

The Caesar salad, much to everyone’s surprise isn’t named after Julius Caesar, but after an Italian restaurateur named Caesar Cardini. Since then, the salad has travelled around the world and features on almost every bistro menu, that have their take on how to present it. Traditionally made using a dressing that uses anchovies and egg yolk, many versions either skip the anchovies for a vegetarian rendition or go full throttle and add fixings like boiled eggs, bacon and shrimp to the salad.

As delicious as they are, this green chilli version, more suited to the Indian palette, has a bit of a spicy kick from the chillies and a hint of woodiness from the cumin that replaces the anchovies. It has a rather unconventional approach to how the salad is assembled which is what makes every component so special and flavoursome. All we can say is that, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

Ingredients:

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• 250 grams chicken thighs
• 1 + ½ head gem lettuce
• 2 green chillies (use the spicy variety)
• 1 egg yolk
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder/ground mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 slices of bread, cubed

Method:

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• Season the chicken thighs on both sides generously with salt and pepper and cook them in a skillet with a bit of oil on medium heat, until the outside turns golden brown and crispy. Check the centre to see if the chicken has fully cooked and set aside on a plate.
• In the same pan with the remaining oil and chicken fat, toast the croutons until they start to brown and turn crispy.
• Using a mortar and pestle, crush the cumin seeds into a coarse powder before adding in the chillies and garlic and macerating them into a fine paste. Add the egg yolk, mustard powder, a bit of salt and grind everything until combined.
• Slowly begin to drizzle the olive oil in a thin stream and continue to mix well, to prevent the dressing from splitting. Once the mixture emulsifies, it should resemble a lemon yellow, creamy spread-like consistency. Add the parmesan cheese to this and mix thoroughly.
• Roughly shred the lettuce and add it to a bowl. Add the dressing and toss everything together until all the leaves are coated with the creamy dressing. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper and mix. Slice the chicken into pieces of your desired size and lay it out on top of the salad. Add the croutons and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese and serve.