Chilli Chicken

Ingredients
Boneless chicken - 200 gm
Oil - to shallow fry the chicken

For the marinade
Garlic paste - I made a fresh paste of 5-6 garlic pods. You can adjust according to taste.
Pepper powder - to taste
Soya sauce - a little to taste
Salt - to taste, only if needed (since the soya sauce already contains salt, be careful not to overdo it!)
White of 1 egg
Cornflour - about 2 tablespoon 

For the gravy
Cornflour - 1 or 2 teaspoon
Soya sauce - about 1 teaspoon
Green chillis - 4-6, chopped, (adjust based on how hot you want the chicken)
Garlic - about 1 teaspoon, finely chopped
Capsicum - about 1/2, diced
Onion - about 1 medium sized, diced

Method
1. Wash the chicken well and marinate with the ingredients listed under 'For the marinade'.
2. Keep it aside for 15 minutes.
3. Now heat oil in a pan, and gently place the chicken pieces. Do not add the marinade.
4. Shallow fry the chicken till it is light golden.
5. Keep it aside.
6. Now, take some oil in a wok.
7. Add the green chillis, capsicum, garlic and onion.
8. Saute till you get a nice aroma. The onion should not become brown.

9. Make a paste of the cornflour and soya sauce listed under 'Gravy' with some water.
10. Add this paste one spoon at a time till you get the required amount of gravy.
11. Sprinkle a little sugar.
12. Add the chicken and mix well.
13. Switch off the flame when the chilli chicken reaches the desired consistency.
14. Garnish with spring onion and serve hot with fried rice or noodles!

Fish Fry

It started with Suchandra getting fish fry to office for lunch. Once. Then again a second time. Yummy!
It was around then that I wanted to eat more fish fry, one of my favourite fish preparations! Notepad, pen in hand, a quick call to Mom later, I was all set to fry fish on a Sunday afternoon.

Fish fry can be made with different types of fish. Traditionally, Bhetki is the choice of fish for making fry. But since it might not always be readily available, Basa and Salmon are good alternatives.
Since salmon is relatively easily available around where I live, I used it to make this fish fry. The quantity in this recipe serves approximately 2-3 people as a snack, depending on how hungry they are!

Ingredients
Salmon - boneless, cut into about 1" pieces, 250 gm
Oil to shallow fry
Breadcrumbs - about one cup

First marinade
Salt
Lemon juice - about half a lemon
 
Second Marinade
Ginger garlic paste - about 1 tablespoon
Green chillis - 2, finely chopped
Fresh coriander leaves - a small bunch, finely chopped
Lemon juice - about half a lemon
Egg - 1
Cornflour - 2 tablespoon
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Method

1. Wash the fish well.
2. Marinate with salt and lemon for about half an hour. This helps get rid of the 'fishy' smell.
3. Wash the fish.
4. Now marinate with the ingredients listed under 'Second Marinade'.
5. Keep it aside for an hour.
6. Take an old newspaper and spread the breadcrumbs over it.
7. Roll the fish pieces in the breadcrumb and shake off excess crumbs.
8. In a pan, heat the oil.
9.  Gently lower one piece of fish into the oil to check if the temperature is right.
10. If the fish sizzles and cooks properly, add the remaining pieces and fry till cooked and golden brown on both sides.
11. Take out onto a plate lined with paper napkins.
12. Serve hot with ketchup or a yummy dip.

Tip: If you do not have breadcrumb at hand, take a few toast biscuits and pulse them to a powder. Ta da! Breadcrumbs are ready!

A Basic Dip

A dip often jazzes up some simple snacks, and can get you a lot of appreciation for very little effort! There are many variations to making dips, and really, your imagination is the limit. Here, I have included the recipe for a very basic and yummy dip, that goes well with French fries, fish fry, chips etc.

Ingredients
Hung curd - 1/2 - 1 cup (You will need 2-3 cups of curd to start out with)
Capsicum - Approximately 1 teaspoon, very finely chopped
Cucumber - Approximately 1 teaspoon, very finely chopped (Make sure you remove the seeds before chopping, as these can make the dip watery.)
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
A clean muslin cloth to hang the curd!


Method

1. Tie up the curd in the muslin cloth and leave for a few hours so that the excess water is drained out. I usually hang it from the tap in my kitchen sink. (Do make sure you are not using the sink then!) 
2. You will be left with a nice snowy, creamy mass of thick curd, perfect for making a dip!
   
3. Whisk it well.
4. Add the capsicum, cucumber, salt and pepper.
5. Mix well and serve.

Sabudana Kheer

This one is not from my Mom's kitchen. I don't think she has ever made sabudana kheer ;) That's where my Mom-in-law steps in. Teaching me recipes that are yet to be cooked in my Mom's kitchen!
This quantity makes about one good-sized bowl of kheer. And is polished off in minutes by an adoring son, 'coz it is made how his Mom makes it!!

Ingredients
Sabudana - about a fistful
Milk - 1/2 litre
Sugar - to taste (about 6-8 tablespoons)
Green elaichi - 1, lightly pounded
Ghee - 1-2 tablespoons

Method

1. Wash and soak the sabudana in water for about 10-15 minutes so that it fluffs up.
2. Boil the milk with the elaichi.
3. Lightly squeeze out the excess water from the sabudana, and in a heavy bottomed pan, saute it in ghee for a few seconds.
4. Add the boiling milk. 
5. Cook on low flame, stirring in between to ensure that the milk is not stuck to the bottom of the pan.
6. After a while, the sabudana will look clear and glassy, indicating that it is cooked.
7. Continue cooking till the kheer reaches the desired consistency.
8. Serve hot.

Butter Chilli Garlic Noodles

Invented in China? Maybe. But Made in China? Naah! It's the Made in India version that I crave.

You guessed it, I am talking about Chinese food! The Indian-Chinese kind I mean. The Chinese-Chinese I am yet to eat. So for now, the Indian version is what makes me happy. The 'died and gone to heaven' kind of happy!

This recipe is what I love eating at one of our favourite restaurants in Hyderabad, Aromas of China. Here goes my simplified take on it.  

Ingredients

Noodles - 1 packet
Butter - a few tablespoons (depends on how buttery you like the noodles)
Garlic, chopped - 4-6 cloves (again, depends on how garlicky you want your noodles)
Red chillies, broken in half - 2-4 (yep! Depends on you. Who else!)
Onion, thinly sliced - 1 large
Capsicum, thinly sliced - 1
Green chillies - optional (depends on how fiery you want the noodles)
Veggies of your choice (you can use carrots, beans, broccoli, corn or babycorn, red or yellow bell pepper, etc), julienned
Chicken, boiled and shredded - optional

Method
1. Add the noodles and some salt to plenty of boiling water.
2. Cook till done. This takes a few minutes. (I usually check by tasting. :P)
3.When it is cooked, immediately drain the noodles and hold under cold running water. This ensures that the noodles cool down and stop cooking. Else, they become soggy and stick together.
4. Spread on a plate and mix in about a tablespoon of oil.

This is how the noodles look at this point.

5. Heat a non-stick pan and add a dollop of butter. You can mix in a little oil if you want, as it prevents the butter from burning.
6. When the butter is hot, add the garlic and chillies and saute for about a minute or so.
7. Add the onion and capsicum and saute for a couple of minutes.
8. Add the remaining veggies, and chicken (if you want), and cook till the veggies are done. Veggies should be crunchy at this point, and not soft or overcooked.

10. Mix in the noodles, give a final stir to mix everything well, and serve hot.

Chholar Dal

Ingredients
1 cup chholar dal (chana dal)
Salt to taste 

Haldi powder

For the tempering
Paanch phoron
Hing
Garam masala powder
Red or green chillis
Bay leaf (tej patta) 

Garnish
Raisins
Grated/ nicely chopped coconut
A pinch of sugar
A little grated ginger

Method

1. Pressure cook or boil chholar dal with salt till cooked.
2. Heat some ghee and add paanch phoron, hing, garam masala, red chillis and tej patta for tempering.
3. Add this phoron (tadka/ tempering) to the dal.
4. When the dal is boiling, add the coconut, raisins, sugar and grated ginger.
5. Mix well and serve hot.

Tip: This dal goes really with with the Bengali pulao I posted earlier.

Simple Tamarind (Imli) Chutney

This is the recipe for a basic tamarind chutney, that goes well with chaats, dahi vada etc. There are several variations, for example, one that includes dates, but I am just sticking to the basic recipe for now!


Ingredients (for a very small bowl of chutney)
Very little tamarind (approximately 1/4th part of a lemon), soaked in water for 1/2 - 1 hour
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder to taste
Nutmeg powder, a pinch
Cumin (jeera) powder to taste

Method

1. Take the tamarind extract and strain it to extract the juice. Now transfer to a non-stick pan and add the remaining ingredients. 
2. Add water and cook on low heat till the chutney reaches the desired consistency. 
3. Taste, and adjust spices as required.

Please note that the chutney will become thicker once cool. So, you may have to mix in some water before serving.