Ginger Chicken

Here comes my favorite experiment!!!.. after more than a month. Back in India I used to go to this chinese restaurant called "Nan King". I actually don't mind going there every night for dinner. It is always among the top 3 of my favorite restaurant list. Every time I go there with my family we order "Drum sticks", "Ginger chicken", "American Chopsuey" and many others. Well this ginger chicken recipe is some what similar to what I used to eat at Nan-King but not exactly the same.

This recipe has a very unique flavor. That is, unlike the traditional Indian chicken recipe this is a little on the sweeter side and this is also the only chicken recipe where I used curry leaves for making the gravy. 

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 gms
Onions - 3 medium
Curry leaves - 1 handful (10 to 12 strands)
Ginger (grated) - 100 gms
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
Large green chillies (mild) - 4
Soya sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Red food color - 1 pinch
pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Oil - 6 to 8 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Blend curry leaves, (half of) coriander leaves along with stems, green chillies and onions in to a fine paste. 
2. In a separate bowl add soya sauce, vinegar, corn flour and salt to chicken and mix well. Let the chicken marinate for about 30 mins. 
3. Take oil in a pan and fry the marinated chicken pieces till they become golden brown. 
4. Add grated ginger and then ginger garlic paste and mix well. Add onion paste (from step 1) and let it cook well. Keep mixing carefully. 
5. Add food color and mix well. Add pepper powder now and adjust the seasoning to your taste. 
6. Finally season the dish with the remaining coriander leaves. 

Enjoy with hot rice or butter nan!!! 

Note: Be a little generous with the oil for the gravy to be cooked properly. Adding the food color will totally change the look of this dish.

Veg Frankie

Frankie is one of the most common street food that you can get in India. It can be made in different variations using different type of fillings or different types of flour. I used very spicy cauliflower curry (I will upload the recipe for this in my next post) as filling and the normal chapathi flour for making these rolls. You can use pretty much any type of curry as filling, just make sure it is not too dry (later I made these with egg fry and they turned out equally good).  One useful tip: make sure you have enough curry and rolls as they will be gone in no time.

Ingredients:

Chapathi - 6

Cauliflower curry - 2 cups 

Tomato ketchup - 6 tbsp 

Onion (thinly sliced) - one 

Eggs - 2 

Salt - to taste

Chilli powder - to taste

Oil - 1/2 tsp for each frankie

Procedure:

1. Beat the egg in a bowl and add salt and chilli powder and mix well. 
2. Heat a pan and add some oil. Pour 2 to 3 tsp of the egg batter and immediately place the chapthi on the top. Do not press the chapathi. 
3. Let it cook and then remove on to a separate place. 
4. Turn the egg side up and apply some tomato ketchup. 
5. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of the cauliflower curry and spread it. Add thinly sliced onions on top.
6. Once again squeeze a thin layer of tomato sauce on top before rolling the chapathi. 
7. Roll gently and make sure the filling does not fall out of the rolls. 

Enjoy while it is hot!!!

Note: Please check the recipe for Chapatis in my other post.

Spring onion Pulao

Here comes yet another easy and very delicious recipe for rice. The mild flavors used in this dish makes it even more appealing. Combination of this rice with Kadai chicken (recipe for you which you find on my website) was very tasty. Raitha can also be used as a side dish. One important tip for this recipe - It tastes best when it is hot, so try to finish it off before it cools down to room temperature...

Ingredients:

Soaked basmati rice - 1.5 cups
Spring onions chopped - 1 cup
Spring onions chopped - 6  (for garnishing)
Oil - 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 9
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. As they begin to change color, add garlic and spring onions and saute till they change to brownish color. 
2. Stir in rice gently. Add three cups of water, salt, garam masala powder and mix.
3. Cover and simmer until the rice is cooked.
4. Sprinkle lemon juice and garnish with spring onions

Enjoy while it is hot!!!

Cheese Omelet

This can be had as a tasty starter or a snack. I love to eat spicy and steaming omelets especially when it is cold or raining. So I made this when the temperature in Saarbruecken hit -2 C.

Ingredients: 

Eggs - 2
Cheese slice - 1
Tomato (medium) - 1
Onion (medium) - 1
Freshly chopped Coriander leaves - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - to taste
Salt - to taste
Garam masala - to taste
long green chillies (mild version) - 1
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure:

1. Chop the onion, tomatoes and chillies in to small pieces. 
2. Beat the eggs and add onions, tomatoes, coriander leaves, chilli powder, salt, garam masala, green chilli and mix well. 
3. Add oil on a nonstick pan and pour the batter from step 2. 
4. Turn the omelet on to the other side and cook it for 2 mins. 
5. Serve it on a plat and spread the cheese slice on the top when the omelet is still hot. (cheese melts immediately)

Enjoy the omelet while it is hot!!!!

Creamy mushroom pasta

I think its time to change the format of my posts. Old format is a bit boring and anyways I think the new post looks more interesting with more pics and fewer words. Coming back to the recipe - easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - 350 gms

Fresh cream - 200 ml

Cheese - 1/2 cup (or to taste)

Salt - 1 tsp (or to taste)

Pepper - 1/2 tsp (or to taste)

Extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbsp

Onion - 1

Minced garlic - 3

Bow-tie pasta - 2 cups

Dried thyme - 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Prepare pasta: I used bow-tie pasta this time. No special reason, was just interested in the shape. It took me about 25 mins approximately to cook the pasta. Add a pinch of salt and 1 tsp olive oil to the boiling water before adding pasta.

2. In a non-stick pan heat olive oil. Add chopped garlic and chopped onion and let it cook for 3 to 5 mins.  

3. Add in the mushrooms as shown in the figure. Let them cook for about 5 mins. Add dried thyme leaves and let it cook for some more time. Mushrooms will become soft after a while.

4. Add cream and let it cook for about 3 mins. Add salt and pepper and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Add the cheese and let it cook for a min. Add in the cooked pasta from step 1 and mix it well and serve.

Top it with little bit of cheese and enjoy while it is hot!!!

Note: Add white wine while cooking the sauce, it tastes even better. make sure you use Parmigiano cheese while making this pasta. If you think that the sauce is too liquidy, just use a tsp of flour (dissolve it in water and then add to the pasta)  or add more cheese. 

Kadai Chicken - Spicy and Non-Spicy versions

This is probably one of the most easiest ways to make chicken. I made two versions of this dish, obviously the spicy version is for myself and the non-spicy version is for my spanish friend Elena. She loved it. We had it in combination with Spring-onion rice (for which I will be uploading the recipe soon).  I love the fact that it was sooo easy to prepare and very delicious at the same time.

Ingredients:

Non-Spicy version

Chicken - 600 gms
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Black pepper corns - 8
Dried red chillies - 5 (for non spicy - 1)
Oil - 3 tbsp
Onion (Large) - 1
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Green chillies chipped (mild) - 2 to 3
Tomato - 2 large
Salt - to taste
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Fresh coriander leaves - 1/4 th bunch

Procedure: 

1. Cut the chicken in to bite size pieces. Chop onion, tomatoes and coriander leaves. 
2. Dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, pepper corns and red chillies. Cool and make it in to a fine powder. 
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Add onion and saute till brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and saute for a while. 
4. Add tomatoes and salt and let it cook. Add ground masala powder (step 2) and cook.
5. Add the chicken, stir, cover and cook till chicken is tender. Make sure all the excess moisture is dried up. 
6. Add garam masala powder and garnish with coriander leaves. 

Enjoy with rice or roti!!!!

Vegetable masala Pulao

This is one of the best variations of rice that I have cooked so far. I used a special masala (pav bhaji masala) which I never thought could go with rice. It was very easy to prepare and was very very very delicious.

Ingredients:

Boiled basmati rice : 3 cups 

Oil - 3 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 

Onion - 1 chopped

Tomato - 1 chopped

Beans - 1/4 cup 

Carrots - 1/2 cup 

Green peas - 1/4 cup 

Long mild green chilli - 2 chopped 

Pav bhaji masala - 2 tsp 

Garam masala - 1 tsp 

Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp 

Lemon juice -  1 to 2 tsp

Procedure: 

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Once they start to change color add chopped onion and cook it till it becomes translucent. 
2. Add tomatoes and salt. Cover it and cook it for a minute. 
3. Add carrot, beans and let it cook. 
4. Add green peas and sprinkle pav bhaji masala and cook for few mins. 
5. Add rice to the above and sprinkle pav bhaji masala, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt and mix well. 
6. Sprinkle some water to make it a little moist. Add the chopped chilli and coriander leaves and cook it. Sprinkle some lemon juice before serving.

Enjoy with raitha on the side!!!!