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By Root 345 0

along the delicacy to the Indian upper classes, who were only too eager to ape and copy. But while these upper classes ate chops and cutlets as a status symbol, they were secretly very bored by the blandness of these foods. So they began to spice them up. Soon a whole new class of cooks developed. Under the distinguished titles of khansama (“lord of the pot”) and babarchi, they cooked for the rich and specialized in Westernized foods adapted to the Indian palate, or, very often, Indian foods adapted to the Western palate. They could cook a treacle pudding just as easily as they could a roast duck stuffed with Indian herbs and spices, and a jam tart just as easily as a delicate pullao.

It is from this line of cooks that we get the recipe for chicken cutlets. Our family cook had not only inherited the recipe for an Indianized version of the cutlet, but he had also been taught a different name for it. As he said it, it sounded more like “cutliss” than anything else. So every Friday, which was the day off for all Muslim butchers (and most butchers were Muslim), we had either fish or chicken. And when it was chicken, it was frequently “chicken cutliss.” The “cutliss” were very often served with boiled beans and potatoes as a first course for dinner. Then, as a second course, we had chapatis with the usual Indian lentils and vegetables. For dessert, we switched again to a sponge roll or lemon tarts, both of which were very popular. These sudden changes of cuisine at the same meal struck no one as peculiar.

I use chicken breasts for the cutlets. One breast (two cutlets) serves one person generously, two people skimpily. If you are having cutlets as a first course, you could serve four people easily with two breasts. The chicken breasts are boned and skinned (your butcher will do this on request, but it is easy to do yourself), and marinated overnight in a paste of onions, garlic, ginger, Chinese parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. They are then dipped in a beaten egg, breaded, and fried. Very simple, and very mild.

2 whole chicken breasts, boned, skin removed, and each breast split into 2 sections (about 1 pound of meat)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped

A piece of fresh ginger, 1 inch long and 1 inch wide, peeled and coarsely chopped

½ medium-sized onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 fresh hot green chili, finely sliced (this will make your chicken only very mildly hot; use 2 or 3 if you want it hotter)

2 tablespoons chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro), or Italian parsley as a second-best substitute

3 tablespoons lemon juice

¾ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 egg

Bread crumbs (homemade bread crumbs are best: leave 6 slices of white bread exposed for 24 hours, or until they harden; then crush with rolling pin or spin in the blender)

Vegetable oil, enough for at least ¼ inch in skillet

GARNISH

Lemon juice and wedges

Salt and freshly ground pepper

A few sprigs Chinese or Italian parsley

Four to 24 hours before cooking, marinate chicken.

Place the garlic, ginger, onion, green chili, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in the container of an electric blender. Add a tablespoon of water and blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste. (You may need to stop the blender and scrape down the paste a few times.)

Place the 4 boned and skinned chicken pieces in a bowl. Prick all over with a fork. Pour the marinade paste over chicken and rub into the pieces. Cover, and leave refrigerated 4 to 24 hours. (It will taste better if you can marinate it 24 hours.)

30 minutes before serving:

Beat the egg in a bowl.

Spread out the bread crumbs on a flat plate.

Lift out chicken pieces, one at a time, leaving marinade sticking to them. Dip first in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs. Coat both sides generously with bread crumbs and set aside. Prepare all chicken pieces this way, and let them sit, breaded, for 10 minutes.

15 minutes before serving:

Heat oil in a 10–12-inch skillet over medium-low flame. When the oil is hot, place chicken cutlets in the skillet and