Sunday specials

Back after a long break with some Sunday special delicacies..Simple cooking, fast and easy to prepare ensures a hearty and delightful luncheon with family, yet the amount of time spent behind chopping, slicing, dicing and frying is absolutely negligible. 

To start with, I started of with two very simple main courses - Prawn Manchurian and Chilly chicken, with Egg fried rice.

Prawn Machurian 

Ingredients 

• Prawns - medium sized 1 kg
• Onions - 1 large/2 small, finely chopped
• Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, finely chopped
• Garlic - 8-10cloves, finely chopped
• Green chillies - 8-10 finely chopped
• Corn flour
• Dark soy sauce - 2 tbsp
• Vinegar - 2 tsp
• Black pepper - 1 tbsp
• Salt
• Spring onions - optional for garnish

 Method 

• Devein and de-shell prawns, and marinate them in either egg whites, or cornflour. Add salt and pepper and leave for 5 mins.
• Deep fry the marinated prawns in hot oil. Drain out the excess and keep them aside.
• To make the manchurian gravy, add finely chopped ginger, garlic and onions and saute' till golden brown.
• Add dark soy sauce and vinegar, salt and simmer for 3 to 4 mins.
• In a cup make a paste of 2 tbsp cornflour and add 1/4 cup water. 
• Add it to the sauce, stirring continuously, so that no lumps are formed.
• Add the prawns when the sauce starts to simmer and add a little water. Cook for a few mins, till the gravy thickens.
• Garnish with chopped spring onion greens.

Chilly Chicken

This one is a "Cheat" version of the original delicacy. Its easy to cook, and hardly takes any time. so when in hurry, this is what we make.

Ingredients

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Onions - 4 big sliced
• Bell pepper - 2 big, sliced thinly
• Dark soy sauce - 3 tbsp
• Green chillies - 7 -8 chopped
  
• Cornflour - for thickening
• Salt 

Method 

• Boil the chicken and keep the broth for using in gravy.
• Fry the sliced onions nicely, till light golden, then add the bell pepper.
• Cover for a minute and let the onions and pepper soften, then fry nicely.
• Add the boiled chicken, some salt and fry again to let the chicken turn nice and golden brown.
• Add the soy sauce, cornflour and water paste and 2 tbsps of water to make a nice and thick gravy.
• Garnish with chopped scallions.

  






Fried Rice

This one was just the most easy thing you can possibly do. Just cook some rice. Keep it aside and let it cool down, or you can use left over rice too.

In a wok, add eggs, as many as you like, add salt and scramble fry them.  Add chopped spring onion greens, and add in the rice. Mix nicely, add some salt and you are done!!

Hariyali Chicken

Hiya folks! been quite some time since I've posted. Actually didnt have a lot of free time. Well yesterday I tried out my Hariyali Chicken recipe. Its quite simple to prepare. The following is my version of Hariyali Chicken.

Ingredients

• Chicken - 1 kg
• Onion - 3 to 4 medium sized, chopped.
• Potato - 3 medium sized, diced into quarter cubes (optional. I prefer to use it because bengalis prefer a lot of potato, and it goes well with rice).
• Ginger garlic paste - 4 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - a bunch is fine.
• Green chillies - 3
  
• Curd - 1/2 cup
• Turmeric - 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Jeera powder - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - 3 tbsp
  

Method

• In a deep bottom vessel, take 3-4 tbsp of plain vegetable oil. Let the oil heat up nicely, then add the potato cubes. Fry them till they turn golden brown and crispy. Take them out and keep them aside.
  
• Wash and dry the chicken pieces. Drain the water and fry them lightly in the oil, till light golden brown.
• Keep the chicken aside and add the onions. Fry them till they change colour.
  
• Add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, jeera powder and sugar. Mix well and fry on medium flame till the oil starts separating from the sides. 
• Chop the coriander leaves and put them in a blender. Add the green chillies and a little water. Blend to form a smooth fine paste.
• Add the coriander paste and curd in the masala. Add two spoons of water. Mix well with them masala.
• Now add the fried chicken and potatoes. Add salt. Mix well till all the chicken pieces are coated with the gravy.
• Turn down the flame and cover the vessel. Let it cook for about 20 min while covered on a medium flame.
• Serve hot with rice or roti.

The preparation is pretty simple and not at all time consuming. Traditionally, people prefer to use mint leaves along with coriander, but no one likes mint in my house. Also I have found that adding the curd intensifies the flavours and thickens the gravy quite nicely.

Well, thats all for now. I'll be back with some more recipes soon, as and when I cook something new.

Happy Eating :)

Christmas and Birthday Special

Ummm Christmas means cakes and chocolates and pastries and savouries in every variety imaginable. Although we dont celebrate Christmas per se, we do celebrate Dad's birthday.

So today I decided to do some continental fair and even had a friend over who went all ga-ga over it..hehe.. Not much to do, pretty simple recipes.

We had some Creamy chicken soup, Garlic bread, French fries and Herb Fried chicken.

The soup and bread were of course ready to eat. Just made the fries and chicken

Herb Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken - cut into medium sized pieces
• 2 whole garlic
• 4 Tomatoes
• 6 to 8 green chillies
• Oregano for seasoning
• Salt

Method

• Marinate the chicken pieces with the garlic, tomato and chilly paste for 24 hours. 
• Add oregano and salt.
• Keep inside the fridge for 24 hours for marination.
  
• Deep fry the chicken till crispy and golden but tender and cooked thoroughly.
• Serve hot.

P.S - The pictures are taken by my most resourceful and wonderful friend and human being Pia Sinha. Not only did she do a wonderful job on them, but also provided a wonderful atmosphere with her presence :) thanks..mwaah :)

Chicken Vindaloo

Some days back, I had made one of my favourite chicken dishes. Vindaloo is a very popular chilly and vinegar based fiery hot dish from Goa, on the western coast of India.  Goa was occupied by the Portuguese for a number of years and so naturally, the Portuguese style of cooking has a marked influence on the local dishes of Goa. Though traditionally, vindaloo is made from pork, I've substituted it with chicken. The recipe itself is very simple, doesnt take much time except the marination part. Some recipes might be different, there are variations of course. Some people use yoghurt, etc.

But this is the way I make it, and well, no one's complained so far. So here's the recipe :)

Ingredient

• Chicken - 1kg, diced into medium sized cubes (boneless) or cut into medium sized pieces.
• Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
• Cardamom seeds - 1 tsp
• Whole black peppercorns - 1 tsp
• Cloves - about 7-8
  
• Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp
• Cinnamon sticks - 3/ 1 tsp if powdered
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
  
• Ginger - 2inch piece
• Garlic - 10 to 12 cloves
• Onion - 3 big sized, sliced thinly
• Potatoes - Optional
• Turmeric - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Vinegar - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Bay leaves - 4
  

Method

• Gently roast the dry spices from coriander seeds through to cumin seeds for about 5 minutes in a fry-pan on low heat.
• Put these roasted spices in a  blender along with  mustard, turmeric, salt, garlic and the vinegar to form vindaloo sauce. Add little water if necessary.
• Marinate the chicken in this vindaloo sauce for over 8 hours in a non-metallic bowl.
• Heat oil and saute bay leaves and onions until soft.  Remove and set aside.
• If adding potatoes, fry them on medium flame till light golden and soft. Remove and set aside.
  
• Now fry the marinated chicken for a few minutes, adding more oil if necessary
  Add the remaining vindaloo sauce, sauted onion, potaotes,and water. Add a little sugar if you prefer a not-so sour taste.
  
• Simmer till the chicken is tender (stirring well) and the curry is thick. Add salt and chilli to suit your taste if necessary. 
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with steamed Basmati rice.  I hope you will enjoy this delicious curry recipe.

15 min Lunch

Ok, So not much response from people yet, but yet I am back. This time, unfortunately I don't have a picture of the dish. It's a simple and easy rice dish - sort of a pulao and takes hardly 15 minutes to prepare. So whenever I'm too hungry, or in a hurry, this is what I cook.

Ingredients

• Rice - 2 cups
• Onion - 2 medium sized
• Garlic - 5-6 cloves
• Green chillies - optional
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Sabzi masala - 2 tsp
• Soy nuggets/Soy granules - a cup-full
  
• Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Chopped coriander - for garnishing
  

Method

• Fry the garlic and onions (chillies if you use), till light golden.
• Add the soy nuggets after they have been soaked in water and have become soft.
• Add garam masala powder and sabzi masala powder.
  
• Stir and fry the mix till golden
  
• Add the rice, that has been soaked in water for about 10 minutes.
• Add sugar and salt.
• Add 3 and half cups of water, close the pressure cooker and allow 4 whistles to rise.
• Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with raita or curd.

 P.S - The main taste here is accentuated by the Sabzi masala powder I use. I generally use Everest. Ofcourse you can use subsititute it with Biryani masala also :) Also, instead of soy, you can add boiled chicken. Both work well :)

Cheers!

Since I love Food so much....

Umm, not really anything special, just putting some pictures of one of my favourite foods - Sizzlers

This was the egg noodle soup I made when Maa had fever. **grins.. Someone pat me on the back for being such a lakkhi meye :D

Introduction today - Kosha Mangsho

Hmm,,

Not that I am writing for the first time, just that this is the first time I'm attempting to write a food blog. Cooking has over the recent years changed from being just a hobby, to a full time passion. These days, you will probably find me chopping, grating or frying stuff in the kitchen. Of course the chopping part is mostly done by Maa. But somehow the entire focus of cooking for home has fallen upon me these days.
Not that i object. Of course not. I love to cook.
Well since it's my first post tonight, I wont regal everyone with my cookery skills. Yet..hehe
I've been cooking since I was 12 or so, the first times being pure disasters, like cracking the egg shell with the shell falling in the bowl and the egg on the floor. Oh how i was beaten then.. :D

Anyways, for starters, I am going to just post the recipe for Kosha Mangsho I'd made during Pujo at Dida's place in Kolkata.

Ingredients

• Mutton(washed and diced into medium sized pieces) - 2 kg (that's how much I used at least)
• Onion(sliced lengthwise) - 15 to 16 medium sized (use as per your requirements)
• Ginger Garlic paste - 4 -5 tbsp
• Potatoes (diced into quarters) - about 6 or 7. optional usage, use potato if you are a potato lover
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Red chilly powder - according to taste buds ( I prefer about 2 tsp )
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala - either whole or powder ( 2 tsp powder )
  
• Salt - to taste
• Mustard oil - 1 ½ cup
  
• Bay leaf - 2 or 3
• Sugar - ½ tsp
  

Method

• Wash and drain the mutton nicely.
• Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker/wok/kadhai
• When hot enough, add potatoes.
  
• Fry the potatoes lightly, till light golden. Drain the excess oil and keep them aside.
• Add the bay leaves. (if using whole garam masala, add them now)
  
• Add sliced onion. Fry till onions are golden brown.
• Add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilly powder, garam masala powder (if using powder) and sugar.
• Turn down flame to medium and cover for a while to release oil.
• Turn up the heat and add the mutton. Mix well and fry for a while.
  
• Add salt according to taste, cumin and coriander powder.
• Cover and about 3 water and wait for 3-4 whistles.
• Once the oil starts separating from the meat the sides, add the potatoes, add about 3 cups (andaaj moton add korle hobe, or till the meat is immersed) water and wait for 2 more whistles.
• Open the cooker and turn the heat on low flame for about 5 to 6mins, allowing the oil to start separating once again. (tel chara chara). (Sprinkle coriander leaves if desired for garnishing)
  
• Kosha mangsho is ready to be served.
  
• Serve the dish hot with rice or paratha.

:) This is how I made the dish. There are of course various ways to prepare the same. But I must say this was my first attempt at Mutton, and it turned out delicious (Self praise cholbe?)
Anyways, Bon Appetit people. Hope you guys like it. Hoping to post more recipes, and waiting for your advice and insights friends.