Easy Chicken Curry

This is the easiest chicken curry you are ever going to make. This is my go to when I don't have time and am craving Indian food. My daughter likes this sometimes. She would rather have a burger than have healthy meals 😒. Complete opposite of what I like...or what I consider comfort food.

 Ingredients:

- Chicken (your favourite cut. I have used curry cut) - 1 kg

- Shaan chicken masala - 1 pkt

- Tomato finely chopped - 2

- Onions julienned - 2

- Garlic and ginger paste - 2 tbsp

- Bay leaves - 2 (optional)

- Mustard oil - 3 tbsp (you can use any oil)

- Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

- Potatoes cubed - 1

- Coriander leaves a bunch - chopped

Method: 

- Heat oil in a wok.

- When hot add cumin seeds and bay leaves. 

- When cumin seeds splutter add rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir.

- Cover and cook for 15 mins. Give it a nice stir and cover again.

- Repeat above step unless water has dried up and curry leaves oil.

- At this point, you can add coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/paratha.

- Else you could add water according to your liking and give it a good boil. Add coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

Chilli Chicken - Indian Chinese

 

Nothing is more Indian Chinese than Chilli chicken. No one can match the taste of how good my Ma (her grandma) makes this. This recipe is what I have learned from my Ma and a few of my own additions.

Ingredients:

- Boneless chicken (small pieces) - 350 gms

- Capsicum / Green Bell pepper - 2 medium sized cut into cubes

- Onions - 2 cut into cubes

- Garlic cloves - 4-5 chopped into small pieces

- Ginger - 10 gms - chopped into small pieces

- Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

- Tomato sauce/ ketchup - 3-4 tbsp

- Green chilli chopped - 2 

- Oil - 3 tbsp

- Green chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

- Onion Greens chopped - 1 bunch

Marination:

- Cornflour - 3 tbsp

- Garlic paste - 3 tsp

- Ginger paste - 1 tsp

- Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

- Finely chopped chilli - 1

Deep Fry :

- Oil for deep frying

- Cornflour - 3 tbsp

- All purpose flour - 1 tbsp

- Water - 3 tbsp

Method:

- Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients marked for marination and leave aside for 2-4 hours or better if left in the fridge overnight.

- Heat oil for deep frying.

- Prepare batter with all ingredients for deep frying (except the oil).

- Dip marinated chicken into the batter and fry it when the oil is hot. Set aside.

- In another pan, heat oil. When hot add chopped garlic and ginger.

- On high heat, add the chillies, onion and capsicum and fry for 2-3 mins.

- Add chicken, soy sauce, tomato sauce and green chilli sauce. Mix well. 

- Switch off the flame and garnish with onion greens.

- Serve hot with Roti or Paratha.

Rocky Road : Our first attempt

This was our first attempt at rocky road a week back. Turned out better than we expected it to. Its still stored in the fridge. We have used it for lunchbox and snacks and dessert 😍. Would be a great pick for long road trips too.

Ingredients:

- Cadbury milk chocolate melts: 1 cup

- Cadbury dark chocolate melts: 1 cup

- Nuts of your choice - 1/2 cup (I have omitted nuts as this had to go into lunch box)

- Moist coconut flakes - 1/2 cup

- Kit Kat and cookies of your choice - 1/2 cup (just break into pieces)

- Marshmallow - 2 cups - cut into halves (or you could use the small ones)

- Gummies (cut into smaller pieces)

- Salted butter - 2 tsp (add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter) 

 

Method: 

- Line a baking tray with butter paper.

- In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate melts.

- Keep microwave on low and melt the chocolate in 30 sec bursts until completely melted.

- Add all the ingredients and mix until everything is well coated with chocolate. Keep it quick unless you want to risk setting the chocolate in this shape.

- Put the mixture in a baking tray and level it up.

- Let it cool in the fridge for 2 hours.

- Take it out and leave it on counter top for 30 mins.

- Dip the knife in hot water for smooth cut and even shapes for the rocky road.

- Cut into rectangles or squares and serve.

Note: 

- This can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.

- If stored in the fridge, let it come to room temperature before serving.

Chocolate Coconut Cake

In all these years of cooking and baking, if there is one thing I have mastered it has to be cake. It is our (me and my daughter) favourite pastime during the weekends. I bake a cake each week. It could be any type based on the mood and the princess's choice. This goes into lunchbox during the week and is also used as our afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

- Self Raising Flour - 1 cup

- Oil (Veg/Canola/Olive) I used olive oil, but its up to your choice and pantry - 1/2 cup

- Sugar - 1/2 cup

- Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

- White chocolate chips - 2 tbsp (I did not have chip so chopped up a white choc bar)

- Moist Coconut flakes - 4 tbsp

- Chia seeds - 2 tsp

- Eggs - 2

- Milk - 3 tsp

- Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Method:

- Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

- Line a cake tin with butter paper and keep it ready.

- Crack 2 eggs in a big mixing bowl.

- Add sugar and beat with a spoon until there are no granules and sugar is mixed well with the eggs.

- Add oil and mix well until everything is mixed and forms a batter.

- To this add half the flour and fold it in.

- Add the next half and fold it in too. Do not mix too much else end result might be a crispy cake 😆. 

- Now add cocoa powder and fold that in too. Make sure there are no white spots left else you might end up with a marble cake .

- Add in and mix vanilla essence and milk at this time to get the right consistency.

- Mix in coconut flakes, chia seeds and white chocolate.

- Pour this mixture into the cake tin evenly.

- Once the oven is preheated, put the cake on the middle rack and bake for 20 min.

- Do the toothpick test, if not completely baked, bake for another 5 mins. Baking time will vary based on the strength and design of your oven.

- Once baked, take out of the oven and let it cool.

- Cut and serve. 

Note:

- This cake can also be used as a base for birthday cakes.

- Can be stored in an airtight box in the pantry for a week (does not last that long at my place 😉)

Goan Fish Fry

Tastiest fish fry ever...We have been to Goa with you our daughter once till now..we went with her cousin !! She and her enjoyed every bit of it. 

In the Goan cuisine, Rawa fish fry finds a very important place. On one of his trips with his friends,  hubby got this goan fish fry masala for us. This is a dish that he prepared for us and of course was a hit.

Below are the methods and ingredients. If you are not able to find the masala in stores wherever you are, you can actually prepare it yourself, recipe is available here . 

Ingredients:

- Basa Fish - 2 cutlets, you can use fillets too if you don't want to deal with the bones. But the cutlet holds the shape better.

- Karma Goan Fish fry Masala - 5 tbsp

- Semolina and poppy seed mixture - a bowl

- Salt - 1 tsp for marinade

- Oil - to shallow fry

 Method:

- Marinate the fish with masala and salt for 30 to 40 mins

- Coat the fish in the poppy seed and semolina mixture and put it the fridge for 20 mins. This will help bind the mixture to the fish.

- Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying the fish

- When hot, fry the fish until brown. 

- Serve hot with Kashundi sauce or mustard sauce.

Sambar

Sambar...a lentil-based stew mixed with vegetable and tamarind juice. This is a stew very famous in the south of India. Goes very well with idli, dosa, rice or any south Indian delicacy. I personally like it hot with rice. 

Now the question, does my daughter like it? She liked it as a small kid when she was 5-7 years old. Now her taste has changed. As a 10 year old, she does not like 'anything Daal'....😆- This is in her words. But this stew is very very healthy so she finds this in my menu plan at least once a week. 

Ingredients:

- Toor Dal - 1/2 cup

- Tomato - 1

- Garlic - 3-4

- Ginger paste - 1 tsp

- Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch

- Salt - 1.5 tsp

- Sugar / jaggery - 1 tsp

- Curry leaves - a bunch

- Pepper corns - 5-6 

- Oil - 2 tbsp

- Sambar Masala - 3 tbsp

- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

- Veggies of your choice (I have used pumpkin, okra, raddish and drumstick)

- Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

- Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

- Tamarind pulp - 2 tbsp (This can be easily prepared by soaking tamarind in hot water)

 Method:

- Wash Toor dal and throw away the water. Wash till the water is clear.

- Put dal in a pressure cooker, add garlic, ginger, tomatoes (cubed/halved), a pinch of salt, turmeric.

Cook in low flame. Switch the flame off after 2 whistles. Do not open the lid of the cooker.

- In a wok add oil

- When hot add pepper corns, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, hing and let it splutter.

- Then add all the veggies and let it cook, stir occassionally.

- In 5-7 minutes add the sambar powder and a little water (this is to prevent the masala from burning).

- When veggies are cooked, add dal from pressure cooker into the wok and mix well.

- Add salt and jaggery and the tamarind pulp.

- Let is come to a boil. Add coriander leaves and serve hot with rice, idli or dosa.

Doi Begun

 Begun or eggplant is one of my favourite veggies. I love having it fried, in curries, in mixed veg stir fries or in bhartas (mashed eggplant). However, everyone in the family including you hate Begun.

Someone asked me once if there was only one veggie in the world you could eat for the rest of your life what would it be - and pat I gave the answer - Eggplant. 

This curry that I am talking about today is Doi Begun (eggplant in a yogurt gravy). One of my favourites and goes amazingly well with hot rice. I have used small eggplants (Indian or Thai) for this curry. You can use any just make sure you cut them into right size pieces.

Ingredients:

- Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

- Mustard oil - 2 tbsp

- Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

- Curry powder - 2 tbsp

- Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

- Ginger Paste - 1 tsp

- Onion Paste - 1 tbsp

- Tomato paste - 2 tbsp

- Salt - 1 tbsp

- Sugar - 1 tsp

- Yogurt - 1 cup

- Vegetable oil (or any white oil of your choice) - 1/2 cup

Method:

- Halve the small eggplants and marinate well with the turmeric and 1/2 tbsp salt.

- Heat 1/2 cup white oil in a wok.

- When the oil is hot, add the eggplants and fry them well, set aside.

- In the same wok add the mustard oil and let it heat.

- When hot add cumin and mustard seeds.

- When they splutter add ginger paste and onion paste, fry well until raw smell is gone.

- Add the curry powder and tomato paste and fry well for 4-5 mins. Add 1 or 2 tsp  water if it seems too dry.

- Add remaining salt and sugar and fry till oil separates.

- When oil separates, add yogurt on low flame and mix fast and well. Let it simmer.

- When cooked (oil separates again) add eggplants and 1/2 cup water. 

- Let it boil, let water reduce to desired consistency.

- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.