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.