Yet another recipe I had been wanting to post for the past few years. Roti Jala or Malaysian net crepes is made in a special mould which looks like a ladle with 5 holes in it. While in the US, I didn’t have this mould, but this didn’t stop me from making this. I made the mould myself, I put 5 holes in a plastic disposable cup and made the pancake using that cup.

My mom has the mould and she makes this quite often. Roti Jala was introduced to my mom by one of my aunts, she even gave her the mould which was imported from Malaysia. Since then, these crepes have become a family favorite. My mom often stuffs the net crepes with chicken.

First, a batter is made with all purpose flour or Maida, egg and coconut milk. Then a spoonful of batter is poured into the mould placed over a hot flat non-stick pan. Swirl the mould with the batter immediately to create a net shape. When the bottom side of the crepe turns golden brown, flip it to the other side and let that side turn golden in color. Drizzle little ghee on top of the net crepe.  It needs practice to make the perfect net crepe. You should swirl the batter as fast as you can and don’t let the batter fall as drops or thick. Also, the batter must have the right constituency to make the perfect crepe.

With the mould, this comes out really good. Don’t worry if you don’t have the mould, just like me try putting 5 holes in a disposible plastic cup and pour the batter into the cup and make the net crepe.

Here is the picture of the mould used for making the net crepe:

For making the Net Crepe or Roti Jala

Making the batter:

Ingredients:

• All Purpose flour or Maida- 1 1/2 cups
• Eggs- 2
• Coconut Milk, thin- 2 cups
• Salt- to taste
• Turmeric powder or Yellow color or Saffron- a pinch (optional)

Preparation:

• Combine all purpose flour, eggs and coconut milk in a wide bowl without forming any lumps.

• Best way is to combine the ingredients in a blender into a smooth batter and keep aside in a bowl.

How to make the roti jala or net crepes:

• Heat a non-stick flat pan over medium heat.
• When you are ready to make the crepe, pour the batter using a ladle into the mould.
• You could even place a small bowl under the mould to avoid the batter from spilling over the counter top or stove.
• Immediately place the mould over the hot pan and swirl the mould to create a net shape.

• Avoid pouring the batter thick or as drops.
• After pouring the batter into net shape, let the bottom side of the crepe turn golden in color.

• Flip the crepe to the other side, drizzle little ghee on it.

• Remove the crepe from the pan after the both sides have turned light golden in color.
• Place the crepes on a platter.

• You could have the crepes just like this with some side dish or if you are in a mood to impress your guests, stuff the crepes with chicken or other meatof your choice.
• I stuffed the My mom stuffed the crepes with chicken.

Making the Chicken stuffing:

Ingredients:

• Chicken, boneless or bone-in- 1 pound

For cooking chicken:

• Garam Masala- 1 1/2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

For making the Chicken stuffing:

• Onion, cut thin lengthwise- 3
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Cilantro or chopped coriander leaves- 1 handful
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- 2 tbsp

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken with chilly powder, turmeric powder, Garam masala, fennel powder and salt for 10 minutes.
• Cook the chicken in a wide covered pan until all the water evaporates and the chicken turns tender.

• If you are using bone-in chicken, remove the bones after cooking the chicken and shred the chicken, keep aside.

• Heat a non-stick pan, add oil.
• Add the onions and saute till it turns tender.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and saute.
• Now, add the cooked shredded chicken and saute for few minutes.
• Add chopped cilantro and combine everything well.

• Remove the pan from the stove.

Stuffing the Net Crepes with chicken:

• On a platter, place two net crepes one top of the other.

• Spread one spoonful of chicken on the crepes.

• Cover the chicken layer with two net crepes one top of the other.

• Foldl the crepes stuffed with chicken into a triangular shape or as rolls.

• Chicken stuffed Malaysian net crepes is ready to be served.
• This is going to be a hit for any parties.

Tips:

• You could even add a pinch of turmeric powder or yellow color to the batter used for making the crepes. This will make the crepe look yellow in color.
• Also, you could add a pinch of saffron for a nice aroma.
• The batter should flow freely through the mould, if not add more of the coconut milk to make it thin.

From where can you buy the mould:

• The mould is available in some stores in Tamil Nadu and of course in Malaysia.
• I’ve also found them being sold on ebay.

Dish 2: Pasta in creamy coconut sauce topped with pan fried chicken

One recipe and two dishes, your taste buds would dance with joy seeing this…

During every meal I think it would have been nice if I had variety of dishes lined in front of me to taste. But this happens only during special occasions or when I have guests over for a meal. On other days, convincing my mind to prepare even one dish is a bit difficult let alone two or more dishes And I terribly fail to fulfill my taste bud’s greedy desire for tasting many dishes.

For the last couple of days I found my taste buds to be acting unbelievably nice to me. In return, I decided to treat my taste buds with something special for today’s dinner. I entered my kitchen with the mind of making one dish and came out with two dishes instead. How kool is that? Oh ya, my taste buds are still dancing with joy that they got to taste two dishes in one sitting.

I tweaked the original recipe a bit. The original recipe called for fish, but I used chicken. Also, I used dried oregano and ground pepper to season the all-purpose flour which gave a good flavor to the pan fried chicken. The recipe involves two steps: pan frying the chicken and preparing a coconut sauce. The creamy coconut sauce is then poured over the pan fried chicken. The creamy coconut sauce has a mild flavor with all the spices added in it. For the second dish, I made pasta and poured the coconut sauce over it. Pasta tasted really good with the sauce.

Non-vegetarians could go with the chicken dish and the vegetarians with the pasta in creamy coconut sauce.

Pan Fried Chicken with Creamy Coconut Sauce:

Step 1: Pan Frying Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken fillets- 4
• All-purpose flour or Maida- 1/2 cup
• Dried Oregano- 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Butter- 1 tbsp
• Oil- 1tbsp

Preparation:

• Season the chicken fillets with salt.

• In a bowl, combine all-purpose flour or maida, dried oregano and ground pepper.

• Heat a non-stick wide pan over medium heat, add butter and oil to the hot pan.
• Coat the chicken fillets with the seasoned all-purpose flour, shake off the excess flour.

• Place the chicken fillets on the pan and pan fry the chicken until the chicken is cooked well and both the sides turn golden brown.

• Transfer the pan fried chicken to a platter.

Step 2: Preparing the Sauce

Ingredients:

• Oil- 1tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Onions, minced- 1/2 onion
• Celery, minced- 1 stalk
• Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
• Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Coconut milk- 3/4 cup
• Heavy cream or half -half- 3 tbsp
• Tomato, minced- 1
• Cilantro, minced- 1 tbsp
• Mild Cheddar cheese- 3tbsp (optional)
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• While the chicken is pan frying, make the sauce.
• Heat a sauce pan, add oil.
• Add cumin seeds to the hot oil and saute.
• Add ginger, garlic minced and saute till it starts to turn golden.

• Add onions and salt, saute till tender.
• Add celery and saute for 2 minutes.

• Add turmeric powder. coriander powder, ground pepper and combine well.
• To the mixture add little water to prevent the spices from burning.
• Pour the coconut milk and heavy cream and let it come to a bubble.

• Now, add the minced tomato, let it cook and get mashed.

• Cook till the sauce starts to thicken, add cheese if you want at this point and combine well.
• Garnish with cilantro.

Plating:

• Place the pan fried chicken on a plate, pour the prepared coconut sauce over the chicken.
• You could even serve plain rice or steamed vegetables on the side.
• I decorated the plate with my favorite Mandarin oranges and scallions.

Pasta with Creamy Coconut Sauce topped with pan fried chicken

• Prepare the creamy coconut sauce and keep aside.
• Cook your favorite kind of pasta according to the direction given on the pasta box.

• In a bowl, combine the pasta with the creamy coconut sauce.

• You could garnish the pasta with parsley leaves or cilantro.
• You could even place the pan fried chicken over the pasta and pour some coconut sauce over it.

Tips:

• You could use king fish fillet or tilapia fillet instead of chicken.
• Health freaks: Add light coconut milk, fat-free cream and fat-free cheese( or avoid adding cheese).

Goa, renowned for its beaches and world heritage architecture is one of the most famous tourist destinations in India. I’ve never been to Goa nor have tasted Chicken cafreal from any restaurants. But, I’ve heard a lot about this dish from people who have tasted this. Since then my taste buds had been wanting to taste this Goan speciality. I couldn’t wait till I get to taste this in a restaurant and hence had to prepare it in my own kitchen. I couldn’t agree more with those people who raved about this dish. It was super yummy and my favorite part was it was super easy to make. When I read the recipe for this dish from few websites, first thing that I thought was: that’s easy. The recipe called for ingredients that is always found in my refrigerator and pantry and so I didn’t have to do any extra shopping to make this dish.

This dish was introduced into Goan cuisine by the portuguese. This can be made with chicken or fish. The dominant ingredient in this dish is cilantro or coriander leaves which gives this dish a vibrant green color.

So what are you waiting for??? Rush into your kitchen and in less than 30 minutes you will come out with a delectable Goan delicacy.

Chicken Cafreal

Ingredients:

• Chicken, boneless, cubed- 1 lbs

To marinate chicken:

• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste

To saute:

• Oil- 1tbsp
• Onion, diced- 1 small
• Tomato, diced- 1

For making the sauce:

• Onion, minced- 2 tbsp
• Garlic, minced- 1tsp
• Ginger, minced- 1tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Cardamom, whole- 3
• Clove- 1
• Cinnamon- 1 inch stick
• Ground pepper- 1tsp
• Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
• Cilantro or coriander leaves- 1/4 cup

Preparation:

• Wash the cubed chicken and pat dry it.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and salt to the chicken and marinate it for 10 minutes.

• Grind the above mentioned ingredients for making the sauce with little water and make it into a smooth paste.

• Heat a wide pan, add oil and add onion, saute till it turns tender.
• Add the diced tomato and let it cook.

• Add the marinated chicken, cover the pan with its lid and let the chicken cook fully.

• After the chicken has cooked well and most of the water has evaporated, pour the paste over the chicken and combine well.

• Cook the paste till the raw smell of the paste goes away.
• Stir the chicken and cook till the sauce thickens and start to brown a bit.

• Transfer into a serving bowl and enjoy this with rice, naan or chapathis.

Tips:

• This is a dish with not much gravy in it.
• You could make this watery by adding little water after the sauce has cooked well.
• I would say the thickened and slightly browned version tastes much better.
• You could try this with King fish too, when using fish don’t over cook the fish.

On days when I really don’t want to spend much time in my kitchen, easy breezy recipes come to rescue me from rushing to a restaurant. On such days I find boneless chicken breast as my perfect companion, it cooks faster and any kind of marination and sauce goes well with it. I usually marinade the chicken for a while and pan sear it or grill it or some times griddle it. Then I make a sauce, mostly Asian flavored sauce and drizzle the sauce generously over the browned chicken. This pan seared chicken with the sauce when served on a bed of salad or steamed vegetables make a perfect dinner for me. The whole cooking process takes only 30 minutes or so.

For me, there’s nothing more rewarding than a delicious meal made quick and without much effort. I get to enjoy the homemade dinner and also spend more time with my hubby and doing other things, watching TV, surfing the net etc etc…

This oyster chicken is one such recipe you could make in less time. You get to eat nicely browned caramelized chicken with a sauce along with your favorite vegetables.

Oyster chicken

For marinating the chicken breast:

Ingredients:

• Boneless skinless chicken breast- 3-4
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Mustard powder- 1/2 tsp
• White vinegar- 1tsp
• Oyster sauce- 1tsp
• Salt- to taste, use less as oyster sauce has salt in it
• Olive oil- to drizzle on the chicken while cooking it

Preparation:

• Combine ground pepper, mustard powder, white vinegar, oyster sauce and salt in a small bowl.
• Wash the chicken breast under water and pat dry it.
• Prick the chicken with the fork.
• Spread the marination over the chicken breast and keep aside for 15 minutes, preferably in a refrigerator.

• Heat a wide cooking pan over medium heat.
• Drizzle olive oil on the pan and place the marinated chicken on the hot pan.
• Cook the chicken until it gets browned on both sides and no longer pink inside.

• Don’t over cook it, it will become dry.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and keep aside.

For making the sauce:

Ingredients:

• Butter, unsalted- 3tbsp
• Onion, minced- 2tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• All purpose flour- 1 tbsp
• Chicken stock- 1 cup
• Tomato sauce- 1tbsp
• Oyster sauce- 2tsp

Preparation:

• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
• Add minced onion and saute until tender.
• Add ground pepper to it.
• Reduce the flame and add flour, stir constantly for a few seconds.
• Add chicken stock and stir constantly to dissolve the flour without forming any lumps.
• Let the chicken stock come to a boil.
• Add the tomato sauce and oyster sauce.
• Combine well and let the sauce become thick.

• Remove from the flame.

How to serve:

• Place the pan seared chicken breast on a plate, pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with salad or steamed vegetables of your choice.

Tips:

• You could grill the chicken or even cook on griddle.
• Leftover chicken when microwaved can be eaten for next day lunch.

Right now I am screaming, Thanks God it’s Friday…

Only at TGI Friday’s I order food without much confusion. I don’t have to flip the menu several times nor piss off the waiter by asking for minutes and minutes to make up my mind on what I really want. Only here I am pretty sure about what I want, Dragon fire chicken. It has got everything I am looking for: it’s low fat, it’s just the right portion for me and the right price. Besides these, the chicken is grilled, the sauce is spicy enough to fire my taste buds, it’s served on a bed of rice pilaf, with a side of pineapple Pico De Gallo and has my favorite mandarin oranges topped on it. It couldn’t get better. My taste buds will be seen enjoying these myriad of flavors without even caring to make a pause in between to see what’s happening around.

I’ve been wanting to recreate this dish in my kitchen for a long time. When I google searched about the TGI Friday’s dragon fire chicken recipe , many sites lined up in front of me. In almost all sites I’ve found the same recipe given and hence thought of trying it. I must say my taste buds were pleased with this recipe and the taste was quite close to that of TGI Friday’s. If there’s anyone out there just like me wanting to recreate Dragon fire chicken at home could try this recipe. I’ve made few alterations in the amount of ingredients used to meet my needs.

Dragon Fire Chicken: ” Marinated chicken breast topped with fiery Kung Pow sauce, mandarin oranges and pineapple pico de gallo”.

Step: 1 For making Marinade:

Ingredients:

• Olive oil- 3 tbsp
• Honey- 2 tbsp
• Rice vinegar- 1tbsp
• Lime juice- 1/2 tbsp
• Parsley, chopped- 1tbsp
• Jalapeno, seeded and chopped- 1
• Garlic, minced- 2tsp
• Onion, diced- 1tbsp
• Salt- to taste

• Chicken breast fillets, boneless- 3

Preparation:

• In a blender, combine all the above mentioned for making marinade ingredients except the chicken to a smooth paste.

• Pour the marinade paste in to a zip lock bag.
• Pound the chicken breast fillet flat with a mallet to make it tender.
• Add the chicken breasts into the marinade in the zip lock bag and combine well.

• Refrigerate the marinade chicken in the zip lock bag for an hour or you could even keep it overnight.

Step:2 Cooking chicken on a grill or a on stove top:

• When the chicken has done marinating, grill the chicken breast on a barbecue grill until it’s cooked well.
• You could even cook the chicken on a skillet over stove top.

• Cook the chicken until it turns brown on both sides and cooked well inside.

Step: 3 Making Kung Pow Sauce:

Ingredients:

• Water- 1/4 cup
• Rice Vinegar- 2tbsp
• Dark Brown sugar- 1/2 cup
• Soy sauce- 4tbsp
• Chili sauce- 1tbsp
• Garlic, minced- 1tbsp
• Ginger, minced- 1tbsp

Preparation:

• Combine all the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
• When the mixture begins to boil, lower the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

• When the sauce thickens, remove from the heat, if you want you could strain the sauce to discard the ginger and garlic and keep aside.

Step: 4 Pineapple Pico De Gallo

Ingredients:

• Pineapple, finely chopped canned or fresh- 1/2 cup
• Tomatoes, finely diced- 2
• Red onion, finely diced- 1/2 cup
• Cilantro, minced- 2tbsp
• Jalapeno, minced- 2tbsp
• Lime juice- 1tbsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

Step: 5 Almond-Spinach Couscous:

• Couscous- 1cup
• Onion, diced- 1
• Spinach- 2 cups
• Almonds, toasted- 1/2 cup
• Chicken stock, low sodium- 1 1/4 cups
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Olive oil- 1tbsp
• Salt- if needed

Preparation:

• Heat a sauce pan over medium heat, add olive oil, saute onion till tender.
• Add spinach and saute.
• Add almonds and ground pepper, pour chicken stock and let it come to a boil.

• Now, add the couscous and cover the pan with its lid and remove from the heat.
• Let stand for 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, open the lid and stir the couscous with a fork.

Step:6 Serving

• In a plate, make a bed of couscous (1/2 cup).
• Place one chicken breast on top of the couscous.
• Drizzle Kung Pow sauce on the chicken generously.
• Drain canned mandarin orange section and sprinkle orange segments on the top of the chicken.

• Place Pico de gallo on the side.
• Enjoy this TGI Friday’s Dragon fire chicken not at TGI Friday’s but in your home.

A successful sunday cooking experimentation which made my day worthy…

Whenever I get into the kitchen to whip up lunch or dinner, I feel like I am a novice in cooking. I cannot think of a single day when I actually would have entered the kitchen with the pro feeling. Initially, I was a real novice and as I got better, I was hoping that this feeling would fade way after a while. But it hasn’t yet changed a bit, I still feel the same. Honestly, this is the worst feeling ever.

So this is what happens the moment I enter the kitchen:

As a novice I enter the kitchen, I wander around cluelessly for a while. I open the pantry and refrigerator at least ten times. I even stare at certain veggies or fruits or other ingredients a few times, something triggers my brain, my hands and legs seems to co-operate together. I get into action, I witness myself involved in sauteing, stirring, flipping and frying; at this point I act and feel like a pro. Finally, a spectacular dish would jump out of the cooking pan, now comes my favorite part: plating the food I’ve made and the verdict made by my hubby and my taste buds. If they approve, the-novice-feeling vanishes at once. This repeats all over again the next day…

All of the above things happened yesterday too when I entered the kitchen to whip up lunch, it was already 3 pm so I should rather call it “cooking for linner”. And I came out with a delicious Almond chicken. I was hoping to save any leftover for next day lunch, but there wasn’t any leftover it got finished so fast. Do I have to say any more to prove how this dish tasted?

Browned Spicy Almond Chicken:

• Chicken breast, boneless, diced- 1 pound
• Black Cumin seeds- 1tsp
• Red pearl onions or small red onions, cut lengthwise- 15 no’s
• Ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- 3 tbsp

To make into a coarse paste:

• Whole cardamom- 3
• Whole cloves-2
• Cinnamon stick- 2 inch
• Dry Red chilli- 3
• Ground fennel- 2 tsp
• Almonds, sliced- 1/2 cup
• Water- enough to make a paste

Preparation:

• In a blender, blend the above mentioned ingredients to make into a coarse paste with enough water, may be 3 tbsp or so and keep aside.

• Heat a wide non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil and add black cumin seeds to it and saute.
• Add chopped red pearl onions along with salt and saute till it gets slightly browned.

• Add ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add turmeric powder to this and saute for a minute.
• Now, add the coarse almond paste to the browned onion, also rinse the blender with little water and pour the water into the pan, saute till the oil starts to ooze out of this mixture.

• Add chicken and cover the pan with its lid and let the chicken cook in its own water.

• When the chicken has cooked well, remove the lid and stir fry till the chicken gets browned and all the water evaporates.

• Add chopped cilantro, ground pepper and salt, stir fry for some more time.

• This is a dry dish so there won’t be any gravy, however this dry dish will not disappoint you.
• Adjust the spice level by increasing or reducing the amount of ground pepper accordingly.
• Serve with Plain Basmati rice and Raita.

Almond chicken stir fried with Basmati Rice:

• Transfer the chicken to a separate dish.
• In the same pan used for cooking chicken (without washing it, as it has all the yummy flavors from the chicken buried in it) combine the chicken and rice depending upon how much you need and stir fry it for 2 minutes.

• Serve this with Raita.

Tips:

• Make sure to brown the chicken after cooking it, this enhances the taste of the chicken.
• You could also increase the amount of almonds for more nutty flavor according to your wish.

Biryani and special occasions are inseparable, at least in my home. If there is any special occasion, you are guaranteed to get a plate of biryani from my kitchen. The aroma of the biryani spreads in such a way that forces anyone going through that way to pause and take a deep breath in. However, I don’t always need a special occasion to make biryani. By making biryani on an ordinary day, it will turn that day into a special one.

Last weekend, my husband and I made an impromptu trip to my favorite city Chicago. On the way we had visited my cousin in Madison. My cousin who is an awesome cook had made fried chicken biryani along with many other delicious dishes for us. I must say the best homemade biryani I had in a while. After spending a night at my cousin’s, we drove to Chicago. We went straight to the Chicago Auto Show. My husband has been going to the Auto show for 10 years in a row now and it’s my fifth auto show in a row. After that we visited our best friend and surprised her on her birthday. Hence we had an amazing and fun-filled weekend with our dear and near ones.

Those of you who couldn’t be a part of the Chicago Auto Show this year, here is a collage of pictures I had clicked:

Chicago Auto Show 2010

After coming home, my mind was still on the biryani hangover. I couldn’t resist and hence called my cousin right away and took notes about the recipe. In this biryani I fried the chicken marinated with spices and combined it with the biryani masala. You get to enjoy the biryani and also the fried chicken on the same plate.

Fried Chicken Biryani, inspired by my Cousin-Ayesha

Step 1 Making Rice

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice- 2 cups
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala ( ground cardamom, cloves and cinnamon)- 1tsp
• Ghee- 1 tbsp
• Water- 3 cups
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Place basmati rice on a sieve , wash under running water and drain the water.
• Fill the rice cooker with water and add turmeric powder, ginger, garlic, garam masala salt, ghee and rice.

• Switch on the rice cooker and cook until the rice is done.
• Remove the rice pot from the cooker and keep aside with the lid on.

Step 2: Marinating chicken:

• Chicken, bone in- 12 pieces
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Chilly powder- 2 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp
• Lemon juice- 2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Remove any excess fat from the chicken and thoroughly wash it.

• Drain the water and place in a large bowl.
• Put all the above marinating ingredients over the chicken and combine well.

• Cover the chicken and keep in the refrigerator for at least half an hour or more.
• You could even marinate the chicken overnight.

Step 3: Shallow frying the Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Marinated chicken
• Vegetable oil- enough for frying
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Preparation:

• In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the curry leaves and shallow fry the chicken until it turns light golden on both sides.

• Transfer the fried chicken on a paper towel and keep aside.

• Save the oil for frying onions which is used for garnishing the biryani.

Step 4: Making the Masala:

Ingredients:

• Onion, cut lengthwise- 4 large onions
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2tsp
• Green chilly, cut half- 3, or depending upon your spice level
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2
• Curry leaves- 6 no’s (optional)
• Fried Chicken- 12 pieces
• Garam Masala- 1tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Yogurt- 3tbsp
• Lemon juice- 1 tsp
• Coconut oil- 2tbsp
• Ghee- 2tbsp

Preparation:

• Heat a wide non-stick pan over medium heat, add coconut oil and ghee.
• Add onions along with salt and green chillies and saute until it turns transparent.

• When the onion turns tender, add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a minute.
• Add tomatoes, curry leaves and saute until tomatoes get mashed.

• When the onion and tomatoes have turned tender, add the garam masala and fennel powder.
• Combine well and add the fried chicken to this.

• Give it a stir, add yogurt, lemon juice and combine well.

• Cover the pan with its lid and cook the chicken along with the onion masala for 15 minutes.
• Keep an eye on the masala, if the masala dries up add little water and continue cooking.
• Combine everything well and remove from the heat.

Step 5: Layering Rice and Chicken

Ingredients:

• Fried onions- 1 onion cut lengthwise and fried in the oil used for frying chicken
• Raisins, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup

How to Layer:

• In a flat baking bowl, first add half of the prepared chicken masala and make a layer.

• Add half of the cooked rice and make a layer on top of the chicken masala.

• Add half of the fried onions and half of the chopped cilantro on top of the rice and layer it.

• Repeat this one more time and on top garnish with fried onions, cilantro and roasted raisins.

Step 6: Baking

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Cover the bowl layered with rice and chicken masala with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes.

Step 7: Serving

• While serving combine the rice and the chicken masala and serve with your choice side dish or with Raita, Pickle, Pappadum etc.

Tips:

• Use coconut oil for sautéing the onion, this gives a nice aroma to the biryani.
• Fry the onion in the oil used for frying chicken.
• For making homemade Fennel powder: Roast the fennel seeds or use roasted fennel seeds and ground it to fine powder. Sieve the powder and store it in an air-tight container.

A fried, puffed up yogurt flatbread treat…

This was one of the flatbreads my mom used to make as a special treat when I was young. Also, when I had visited my cousin last year this was served along with the Spicy Chicken curry and thus caught my special attention. Since then making this was on my “must to do in my kitchen” list. I added fresh and thick yogurt to knead the dough. The fried bhatura came out puffed up and tasted really rich and delish. It was easy to prepare and the dough can be made ahead of time. The warm homemade bhaturas will become the center of attraction of all foodies at any party.

Bhatura or Fried Yogurt Flatbread

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour or Maida- 2 1/4 cups
• Thick yogurt- 1 cup
• Egg- 1
• Baking soda- a pinch
• Salt- to taste
• Sesame seeds, black or white (optional)- 1 tbsp
• Vegetable oil- enough for frying

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt
• Break an egg to this and mix well.

• Now, add thick yogurt little by little and knead the flour for few minutes until soft.

• The dough is supposed to be sticky, so avoid adding more flour while kneading to make it a hard tough dough.
• Cover the dough with a wet paper towel and keep aside for 2-3 hrs.
• After 2-3 hrs, add sesame seeds to the dough and combine well.
• Make medium sized balls out of the dough.
• The dough will be sticky, while rolling the dough we will add flour to make it easy to roll.
• Sprinkle flour on a wooden board or on a clean counter top for rolling the dough, place a dough ball on it.
• Sprinkle little flour on the dough and roll the dough using a rolling pin.

• This dough cannot be rolled thin just like chapatis, so roll to an inch thick small round shape or oval shape.

• Roll all the dough balls and keep aside for frying them.

• Heat a deep fryer or a skillet over medium heat, add oil.
• When the oil has turned hot, place the rolled dough into the oil and fry both sides until golden brown and puffed up.

• Transfer the fried bhatura to a platter lined with paper towel.
• Fry all the bhaturas and serve hot with chicken curry or lamb curry or vegetable korma.

Tips:

• Bhatura should be served hot, cold bhaturas will turn hard and tough.
• You could knead the dough ahead of time, but fry the bhaturas just before serving them.

For me, Super bowl fun is incomplete without Pizza, if it’s homemade pizza the fun seems to double…

For the past few years, pizza has been a main attraction of the super bowl party hosted by me. Each year, I think of trying out a different pizza and yet end up making this one. This pizza is loaded with flavors. I get the taste of grilled chicken wings, two cheeses, baked scallions, tomatoes and the spiciness. This can be made hot or mild. Scallions sprinkled on the pizza enhances the taste of the pizza greatly. Whenever I make pizza at home, I can’t think of any other recipe but this one.

I assure you that this pizza will be a hit for any super bowl party.

Your Reward: A standing ovation and a round of applause from your friends and family

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza:

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast, boneless – 3/4 pound
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Grill seasoning, (recommended: McCormick Montreal Seasoning) – 2-3 teaspoons
• Pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizzeria- 1
• Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough
• Butter- 2 tbsp
• Worcestershire sauce- 1 tablespoons
• Hot sauce, medium to spicy heat- 2 to 3 tbsp
• Tomato sauce- 1/2 cup
• Shredded Monterey Jack cheese – 1 cup
• Blue cheese crumbles- 1/2 cup
• Scallions, thinly sliced- 3

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat grill pan to high.
• Place chicken on a plate and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken then season with grill seasoning.
• When grill is hot, add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side.
• Stretch dough to form pizza using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. If you let it rest and warm up a few minutes it will handle even easier.
• Set pizza on pizza pan to the side and clean board.
• In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce.
• Remove the chicken from grill and thinly slice it. Add chicken to sauce and coat.
• Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses, and scallions.
• Bake 18 minutes or until crisp.

Tips:

You could also add your favorite toppings along with the chicken.

Recipe courtesy: Rachael Ray

Spruce up your salad by topping with chunks of Orange Chicken…

Are you tired of eating the same salad over and over? Then you should consider adding this new twist I’ve given to my salad. Here is the most delicious way of eating salad, top your favorite veggies with Chicken cooked in a Spicy Tangy Orange Sauce. When I came across this recipe, I never thought that this easy orange chicken would enhance the taste of the salad instantly. Now I can’t help having this salad almost everyday, and I really don’t mind having this even for breakfast.

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of salad and I go for salad only during worst situation when I really can’t find any other good alternative. And the funny thing is that while eating out with my girl friends, when my health conscious friends orders salad, on the other side of the table I will be seen surfing through the real food on the menu:p

When I made this orange chicken, I only had lettuce and carrots to give this chicken a company. Hence, I topped the veggies with chunks of orange chicken. A forkful of this salad, and I immediately bowed the salad with appreciation. It was way too delicious and I didn’t get the feeling of having a salad. This salad was healthy, protein rich, filling and flavorful. What more do I want? Now even I have the answer if someone asks me about my favorite salad, it’s none other than Orange Chicken salad.

Orange Chicken Salad:

Ingredients:

For marinating chicken:

• Boneless Chicken breast, cubed or cut thin long- 1 1/2 pounds
• White Vinegar – 2 tbsp
• Corn starch- 1 tbsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Salt-to taste

For Orange Sauce:

• Orange juice- 1/3 cup
• Soy Sauce, low sodium-2 tbsp
• Sesame oil- 1tsp
• Brown sugar- 1tsp
• Crushed Red chilly- 1/2 tsp

Other ingredients:

• Garlic minced-1 tsp
• Ginger minced-1 tsp
• Green onions, chopped- 1 tbsp for garnish
• Oil for stir frying- 2tbsp

Preparation:

• In a bowl, combine the chicken, vinegar, corn starch, ground pepper and salt.

• Marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the sauce by mixing all the above mentioned ingredients for making the sauce.

• Heat the wok or wide skillet, add the oil and add ginger and garlic minced, stir fry it until aromatic.
• Now, add the chicken and stir fry it until cooked well. Avoid over cooking or browning the chicken.

• Add the prepared sauce into the chicken and stir fry it for another 2 minutes.

• Garnish with Green onions.

• Remove from the heat and serve hot with salad or Rice of your choice.

Tips:

• I added the orange chicken to lettuce and baby carrots sliced.
• Try to use sesame oil as this enhances the flavor of the orange chicken greatly.
• Leftover chicken can be  refrigerated. Reheat the chicken in microwave and top with your favorite veggies.