Guacamole

I probably made this several hundreds of times. Every time, different version of it. No matter, how spicy or sour or creamy I make it, it is still our favorite snack dip. This is the basic version of Guacamole and of course best with Tortilla chips. 

Ingredients: 

Avocados - 3

Lime - 1/2

Tomatoes - 2

Red Onion - 1/2

Fresh coriander leaves - few leaves

Green chilli (non-spicy) - 1

Olive oil - 1/2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Procedure:

1. Separate the skin and the seed from the Avocados. Mash them up with a fork in a clean bowl.
2. Add lime juice and mix well.
3. Thinly dice onion, tomatoes, green chilli and fresh coriander leaves. Add them to the above mixture and mix well. 
4. Add Olive oil, pepper and salt and mix well. At this point adjust the seasoning to your taste.  

Enjoy with some Tortilla chip!!

Note: I just used a blender and it makes your life much more easier. Make sure to slowly blend the mixture. If we use high speeds, its just a mush, and the texture is completely lost.

Peach Crumble with Blueberries

This is the first recipe I tried, which is completely out of my comfort zone. Usually, I like food which is either very spicy or very sweet. But, this recipe is different, in this dessert we can actually taste the fruits. It can be made sweet though :P. But, I stuck to the recipe and it was good. 

Ingredients:

Flour - 200 gms

Salt - pinch

Brown sugar - 100 gms

Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla sugar - 2 pkts

Vegan Margarine - 100 gms

Peaches - 3

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Blueberries - 150 gms

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Honey - 2 tbsp 

Powder sugar - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Add salt, brown sugar, cinnamon powder, vanilla sugar and Margarine to the flour. Mix everything together and using the tip of your fingers knead the dough gently till you get a crumbly texture. Refrigerate this mixture for about 30 mins.
2. Take fresh peaches and chop them in to small pieces. Add lemon juice to the pieces and mix well. 
3. Add Blueberries, vanilla essence and honey to the above mixture and mix well.
   
4. Preheat the oven to about 175 C.
5. Take about 4 to 5 clean ramekins and grease them with margarine. 
6. Divide the crumble mixture from step-1 in to two parts. 
7. First portion of the crumble mixture is layered on the surface of the ramekins. Then add the fruit mixture from step-3.
   
8. The above is topped again with a second layer of the crumble mixture as shown in the pic.
   
9. Place the ramekins in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 mins, till the crumbles turn golden brown. 
10. Remove from the oven, let them cool down a bit and serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on the top.

Enjoy with family and friends.

Note: Agave syrup can be used instead of honey. This gives it a bit more sweetness. 

Chicken with Cashew nuts

One of the easiest chicken recipes ever. Can be prepared in matter of minutes, once we have all the ingredients. There are several variations of this recipe available. I made mine a bit more sweet and spicy. So, watch out if you want less spicy. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 300 gms

Peppers - 1 (Red)

Onion (medium) - 1

Cashew nuts - 20

Red chilli - 2

Ginger - 1 inch 

Garlic cloves - 4

Tomato - 1

Spring onion - 2 to 3

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Corn starch - 1 tbsp

Ketchup - 1 tbsp

Rice Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Hot chili sauce - 1 tbsp (Sambal oelek)

Brown sugar - 1.5 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Oyster sauce - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - 1 cup

Procedure:

1. Fry chicken in a 1/5 tbsp oil shown in the picture. 
   
2. Cut this chicken in to bite size pieces and sprinkle salt and pepper.
   
3. In a bowl take 1 cup of water. Add corn starch, ketchup, rice vinegar, hot chilli sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and mix well. Keep this aside. 
4. In a separate pan heat 1.5 tbsp oil and fry chopped red chillies. Then add chopped Ginger & garlic and let them fry for few seconds.
5. Add Cashew nuts and let them fry. Add chopped chunks of Onions, Tomatoes, Peppers and let them cook for a couple of mins.
   
6. Add chicken pieces from step-2 and cook for a minute.
7. Add the sauce from step-3 and keep mixing. The sauce start to thicken. Adjust the thickness of the sauce at this point by adding more water if required. Cook for about 3 to 5 mins.
8. Adjust the seasoning at this point and keep mixing.
   
9. Add chopped spring onions and mix well and serve. 

Enjoy with some hot rice!!

Note: Add more salt and pepper in step-8 only after tasting. I added more water as I wanted more gravy.