Looking for a creamy, zesty, tangy, melt-in-your-mouth chicken appetizer? Try these Malai Chicken Tenders as an appetizer for your next gathering.
What are Malai Chicken Tenders?
Malai translates to cream. So Malai Chicken Tenders are pieces of chicken tenderloin marinated in a cream based marinade and then cooked for a delicious appetizer! You can cook these in multiple ways. These chicken tenders can be baked, grilled or pan fried.
I decided to make the Malai Chicken Tenders slightly different than the regular malai chicken boti or malai chicken kababs. After marinating the chicken, I decided to pan fry them with onions so give it some more moisture and body. Another reason for doing that is the leftovers (if any) can be used as a filling for sandwiches or wraps. If you wish to make it without the onions, you absolutely can skip this step.
The Chicken
Chicken tender or chicken tenderloin is the most tender part of chicken (as the name suggests) This is a white meat is obtained from either side of the breastbone and the underside of the chicken breast. Chicken tenders are the leanest, and thus the healthiest, part of the chicken.
However, given how lean the tenders are, they don’t have much flavor of their own. As a result, this cut of chicken begs for a marinade that is flavorful so that the end result is a yummy dish. Hence, a marinade for a chicken breast/ tenderloin recipe should be very strong, both in terms of taste and flavor.
The Marinade
As I mentioned before, chicken tenders require a very flavorful marinade. To help these chicken tenders, I marinated them in ingredients with a creamy profile. Cream= fat and fat= flavor, it is as simple as that! Sour cream, heavy cream, yoghurt and milk powder are the base ingredients. To cut through the fat of this creamy marinade, you need acid. So I have used lemon juice and I also added the zest of the lemon to provide the much needed brightness for this marinade.
However, just because a marinade is creamy, it does not have to be bland. I wanted to have a spicy taste with a creamy finish for these malai chicken tenders. So I have used aromatics such as ginger and garlic pastes and homemade garam masala powder. Marinate these tenders for as long you can, the more you marinate the more flavor tenders will absorb. You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a flavorful impact. Just use good, fresh ingredients and you will realize that a little goes a long way and that fresh is the best!
Cooking the Tenders
Cooking these Chicken Malai Tenders is a very easy process. Marinate the tenders for as long as you can, but for a minimum of 30 minutes. The easiest way is to heat the oil and place the tenders in it and cook until the tenders are cooked through. One thing to remember is that chicken tenders cook real fast and overcooking them will make them very dry and chewy. So you barely need to cook them for 5 to 7 minutes to a perfect creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
I went one step further. I added sliced onions to hot oil and cooked them for 5 minutes until they are slightly caramelized. To add another level of freshness and flavor, I added finely chopped cilantro stems to the onions. I find that the stems have a lot of flavor and we often neglect them for just the leaves. So use the stems! You won’t regret it. After the onions are cooked, I added the chicken tenders including the marinade. I then cooked the entire mixture until the chicken was cooked through and garnished it with more fresh cilantro and served it hot as an appetizer. This could very well be served as a side dish to be had with rotis or parathas as well!
What is your favorite chicken tenders recipe. Do let us know in the comments below. Here is how I made Malai Chicken Tenders…
Malai Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 1 lb Chicken tenders (cut in strips)
- 2 tbsp Plain Yoghurt/ Dahi
- 2 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1/2 tsp Ginger paste
- 1 tsp Garlic paste
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Milk powder
- 1 tsp Salt
Other Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Oil
- 1 Red Onion (sliced)
- 6 Coriander stems (finely chopped)
For Garnish
- 2 tbsp Fresh Cream
- 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves (finely chopped)
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients. Add the cut chicken tenders to it and mix well. Set aside for atleast 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions and chopped coriander stems. Saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are golden brown.
- Add the marinated chicken and mix well. Saute for 6-8 minutes the chicken is fully cooked.
- Remove in a serving plate and garnish with fresh cream and chopped coriander leaves. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Ensure that the chicken is fully cooked before serving. Cooking times may vary based on the size of the chicken pieces.
- You could use bone-in pieces as well, just adjust cooking times accordingly.
- These can also be baked in the oven, just eliminate the sauted onions and directly place the marinated chicken on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until done.
- You can use this as a filling for sandwiches and wraps too.
If in a mood for chicken curry instead, do Check out our other chicken recipes – Instant Pot Chicken Curry