Chettinad Pepper Chicken

Chettinad is part of Tamil Nadu - southern part of India. They are well known for their cuisine, with variety of spices and freshly ground spices.

Today I made Chettinad style Pepper chicken (Milagu Kozhi Varuval).  Varuval is dry fry where all the spices are coated to the meat leaving very little gravy.   I prefer to use chicken pieces with bones.  However, if you prefer boneless try the thigh part of a chicken instead of the breast part.  Also I prefer a wok or a flat pan instead of a pressure cooker.  You want the spices to simmer slowly into the chicken.  Remember to use slow fire.  Best eaten with rice, jeera rice, pulao or even bread.

My favourite combo will be rasam, pepper chicken and hot steaming rice.

Lets look at the recipe

Chettinad Style Pepper Chicken || Millagu Kozli Varuval Chettinad Style

Ingredients
900gm of chicken - cut into bite size (bones in)
1 big onions - slice finely
1 medium size tomato - chopped finely
1 sprig of curry leaves
1.5 tbs of ginger garlic paste
1 tbs of chilly powder
1 tbs of coriander powder
1tsp of turmeric powser
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 bay leaf
2/3 small stick of cinnamon
2 clove
2 cardamon
salt to taste
1 tbs of lemon juice


method
1.  Marinate the chicken with 1 tbs of ginger garlic paste, chilly and turmeric powders.  Also some salt. Mix thoroughly and set aside for 30mins.

2.  In a hot pan, saute onions till soft and brown.  Next followed by the cinnamon, bay leaf, clove, cardamon and fennel seeds. fry for a few more minutes and add in remainder ginger garlic with turmeric powder and stir well.

3. Next add in the tomatoes ensuring that they are well mashed up.  Mix well for a few minutes and add in the coriander powders so that the coat well and stir for a few more minutes.  After which you add in 1/4 cup to the spices, again mix well and stir till the oil starts to separate.

4.  Add in the marinated chicken.  Coat well the spices and cover.  Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the pan.

5. Cover and keep stirring. Let it cook over medium fire.  Check if the chicken is cooked, if needed at some water to cook thoroughly the chicken.  Salt to taste if needed.

6.  Once the chicken is cook, remove from fire and add in the crush pepper and the lemon juice.

7.  Serve with some coriander leaves.

Enjoy

Chicken Rasam Chettinad Style

It's has been a long time since I updated my blog, although I have been trying many dishes.  Just never made it to blog them.

Thought of ending 2016 with a soupy story as Hubby is down with fever. Chicken soup for the soul. 

Search and found this link :.http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.qa

So thanks to Mrs Solai, my hubby has a nice treat of rasam to soothe him.

Verdict from Hubby - he liked it


CHICKEN RASAM CHETTINAD STYLE
Courtesy of Mrs Solai (http://solaiachiskitchen.blogspot.qa)

Ingredients

250gm chicken pieces (I used about 350gm mainly from chicken wings and bones)
15 pearl onions - chopped ( I used shallots)
1 medium sized tomato - chopped
1tsp chilly powder
1tsp of turmeric powder

Rasam powder - to grind

1.5 tsp peppercorns
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander powder ( I used 2tsp of coriander seeds instead)
Dry chillis - 2
Shallots - 8
Garlic - 5

Tempering

1tsp of cumin seeds
1 sprig of curry leaves
oil

Method

1.  Wash and place the chicken pieces into a pressure, Add in chopped tomato, shallots, chilly powder and turmeric powder.  Add about 5 glass of water and salt.  Stir and pressure cooker till 1 whistle and let it simmer for another 10mins.  Switch it off from the flame.

2.  While the chicken is cooking, prepare your rasam powder.  Grind peppercorns, cumin, fennel seeds and coriander seeds to a fine powder. If using coriander powder add in only after grinding cumin, fennel and peppercorns.  Add in shallots and garlic and grind further.  Do not add any water to this mixture.

3.  Open the pressure cooker and strain the contents.  Set aside 

4.  In a pan, heat some oil.  Once it is hot, add in some cumin seeds and curry leaves.  Pour the strained soup into the pot and also the grinded powder. Salt to taste and let it boil gently and remove it from fire.

5.  Serve hot with some chopped coriander.

Note.

** I did not strained the chicken pieces, instead left it together.

Enjoy a hearty soup to cure your cold.


HAPPY NEW YEAR, MAY THE COMING YEAR BRINGS THE BEST TO ALL MANKIND.

Regards


Sathiarani



 

Chicken Chop with Mushroom Gravy

My son has been bugging me about wanting chicken chop for dinner.  If you walk in to any western style café,bistro or restaurants in Malaysia, you had definitely find chicken chop as their menu.

Everyone will claim theirs is authentic. And I would say this is the Malaysian style fried chicken with some sauce or gravy.  Typically you would find the chicken is deep fried.  I decided to bake them and broil it for extra crispiness.

You can have a black pepper gravy, mushroom gravy with side dishes that fancies you such as French fries, peas and carrot or mashed potato.  Since my hubby was away for his graveyard shift, I decided to have mushroom gravy as mushroom is not his thing.

Lets look at the how I prepared my version of chicken chop with Mushroom Gravy.


Ingredients

Chicken Chop
1 kg of chicken thigh with skin and bones
2 tbs of fish sauce
2 tbs of light soy sauce
some freshly grounded black pepper
salt if required
Olive oil
Panko breadcrumbs

Mushroom Gravy
1tbs butter
4 cloves of garlic - minced finely
5-6 medium sized button mushroom - chopped finely
1tbs black pepper powder
3 cups of water (or chicken stock)
1 chicken stock cube ( not required if using chicken stock)
1 tbs of flour

Garnishing
Peas, French fries, sweet corn.

How to prepare

1. Wash and drain the chicken pieces.
2. In a bowl, add in fish sauce, light sauce, fresh black pepper and some olive oil. Taste if you require any salt.
3. Add in the chickens, mix well.
4. Cover and marinate at least an hour.  Overnight will be perfect.
5. Preheat oven at 200C
6. In a baking glassware, coat it with some olive oil . 
7. In a plate of panko breadcrumbs, coat evenly the chicken pieces and arrange it the baking ware. 
8. Bake the chicken for about 30-35 mins with an additional of 3 mins on high broil to achieve the crispy pieces. 
9. Do not discard the marination juice, if any, for the gravy.
10. While the chicken is being baked, you can prepare your gravy.
11. In a pan/skillet - heat some butter.
12. Add in minced garlic and saute till aromatic and soft.
13. Next goes in chopped mushroom, saute well with butter and garlic till soft.
14. Add in the chicken stock cube if using, mixing well with mushroom.
15. Pour in water and any marinating juice, stirring and mixing well and allow it to boil and reduce a further.
16. Salt to taste, seasoning with black pepper powder and freshly cracked pepper powder.
17. Mix flour with some of the gravy, allowing no curdles and add on to the gravy and let boil for a few more minutes.
18. Simmer further into a thick gravy to your preferred consistency.
19. For serving - place the chicken pieces on the plate with some of your preferred side dish, pour over the gravy onto the chicken and ready to  serve.

Enjoy


Chicken Chop and Mushroom Gravy

Sathiarani

Indian Style Black Pepper Chicken

At a recent party, I tasted Black Pepper Chicken, cooked by a friend and had to ask her for the recipe as it was awesome.  It goes well with any rice, vegetable briyanis or even indian breads.

I had tried this with chicken wings.  Ideally best with whole chicken parts cut into small pieces.  It uses a good amount of onions and tomatoes.  Lets look at the recipe

Ingredients
1 kg chicken - cut into small pieces
4-5 big onions - sliced finely
4-5 big tomatoes- chopped.
4-5 green chillies - finely chopped
3-4 sprigs of curry leaves - sliced into half
2tbs of ginger garlic paste
2tsp of fennel seeds
1tsp of cumin seeds
2tsp of turmeric powder
3tsp of black pepper powder
2tsp of fennel powder
2tsp of coriander powder
1tsp of cumin powder
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
coriander stalks - chopped coarsely

Method

1.  In a bowl, add the chicken with some salt, turmeric and 1tsp of black pepper powder and lime juice.  Mix well and marinate for about 10-15mins while preparing the rest.
2.  Heat oil in a wok.
3.  Once heat, add in both fennel and cumin seeds. Once splutter, add in onions and sauté till soft.
4.  Once soft add in green chillies, curry leaves and stir well for a few seconds.
5.  Add in chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and mix well.  Cover wok for a few minutes.
6.  Add in the rest of powders with tomato and onion mixture. mix well and let it cover till the oil separates.  Add in little water if they mixture tend to stick.  Keep stirring.
7.  Add in the chicken pieces, a bit of water, if require, stir to mix and cover the wok.  Keep stirring till well mix and add salt to taste, if required.
8.  Remove from fire once chicken is done.  Add lime juice and chopped coriander leaves.  If desired you can also top it with some light crushed black pepper.
9.  Enjoy with warm rice or bread.

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

Sathiarani

 

Chicken Hyderabadi Briyani

Late post  of Kiren's birthday lunch treat - Chicken Hyderabadi Briyani

The first time I prepared this briyani was long before I started blogging, actually when we first move to Doha.  You have to marinate the chicken and set aside for a short while.  Prepare the rice separately.  Put them together and cook and you get a nice aromatic briyani.

Typically Malaysian briyani's  comes with in a set of briyani rice, chicken/mutton/beef either as a thick gravy and side dish like raita or acar buah- @ fruit pickle

So when I was cooking this briyani, I keep thinking that I need a gravy to go with.  But you will surprise there enough gravy once you get it all done.

I cant remember whose recipe I had used previously, but this time I used Chef Sanjay Tumma of Vahrehvah.com

My portion consists of 1kg of chicken thigh drumstick part which I cut into two ending up with 12 pieces altogether.

As for the rice I used 3 cups about 480gm - it was more than enough for 3 of us for lunch.

Ingredients Required
3 cups of basmati rice or any long grain rice
1kg of chicken - cut into medium size
6 pc - peppercorn
3tbs oil/ghee
1.5 tbs of lime juice - I used lemon instead
1 tsp - coriander powder
1 tsp - cumin powder
2 bay leaves
4-6  green chilly  - slit diagonally
3-4 of cloves
3-4 of green cardamon
2 small sized cinnamon
2 large fried onion
Salt to taste
2 black cardamon - I did not use this
4-5 tbs chopped coriander leaves
1-2 tbs of mint leaves -
3-4 tbs of ginger garlic paste
2-3 pcs of mace
2.5 cups of yogurt
1tsp of tumeric
pinch of saffron soaked in 1tbs of hot water and let it dissolved


Preparation Method

1.  Put all ingredients except rice, fried onions and safron.  Set aside some coriander leaves and mint leaves for rice   Mix well and set aside to marinate.

2. Wash and soaked basmati rice for 1/2hour.  This will ensure the rice be long and fluffy..

3.  In a pot, add some oil  to the boiling water and salt to taste.  The right amount of salt will give you a good taste of the briyani,  You will it is the the right amount of salt is when you taste the water it is salty.   Add ingredients like whole cardamon, cloves and cinnamon, if desired.

Rice being cooked

4.  Add in the soaked rice into the boiling water and half cooked the rice.  To know what is half cooked rice is when the rice is boiling about 50% done.  The grain of rice is crushed but not fully cooked - that is perfect for the rice.

Strained rice before adding to marinated chicken

5.  How to cooked the briyani - In a deep, thick based bottom, lay the marinated chicken, lay evenly and spread well.  Next spread in the half cooked rice. Spread evenly.  Sprinkle the remainder coriander and mint leaves, fried onions and sprinkle the saffron liquid.  Cover the briyani tightly and cooked over medium heat for about 20 mins and the remainder 10 mins on low fire.

Rice spread over marinated chicken with the remainder fried onions and herbs

Note : This is a tip from my friend, on how to avoid the meat from the sticking to the bottom of the pan (thats what happened to me though not to much), place a tray of water over the stove and then putting over the pot in the tray - in the other word - bain marie 

The final product served with onion raita

Chicken Hyderabadi Briyani

Enjoy

** Sathiarani**

Farmer's Market and Palak Chicken

Farmer's market operates only during winter season.  This time it started from first week of December 2013.    It is an effort by Qatar government to get the farmers to sell their produce directly to end users.  There are really good - the only setback is that we need to get them in bulk and we normally go there in a group of 4 to 5 and split amongst ourselves.



Farmers Market buying spree

Palak is a vegetable that comes under the spinach family basically it is called Indian Spinach.  I have never cooked this type of spinach.  So when we saw loads of greens at the farmer's market, I decided to get them.  Haleema, who accompanied me to the farmer's market shared a recipe which she usually make.


Spinach - Palak

Palak Chicken
source : Haleema Rahman

Ingredients
500gm chicken breast
1 tbs ginger garlic paste
1 tsp of turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 bunch of palak
1/4 cup of water
1 small sized tomato
1 big onons
2-3 green chillies
1 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbs butter

Method
1.  Wash and chopped coarsely spinach.
2.  Wash and cut into bite size chicken.  Marinate with ginger garlic paste, salt and turmeric powder and shallow fry till cook.  Set aside.  Do not over cooked the chicken though.
3.  In a deep pan, put in spinach, chilli, chopped tomato and onions. Add in water and season with salt and cook till soft and spinach.
4.  Let it cool and blend (or if you have a hand blender - it works great) till fine and smooth
5.  In a different pan, heat butter, add in chicken, stir well and add in to the blended spinach.
6.  Season with salt if you require and serve with hot steaming rice or chapatis.

Enjoy





Sathiarani

My Version of Chicken Noodle Soup

I made this for yesterday night's dinner.  another simple and quick to prepare.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients
1 packet of rice noodle
5 clove of garlic
thumb size ginger
1 tbs of black pepper
2 tsp of white pepper powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
3 medium sized thigh - skin removed
roughly chopped celery leaves
6-7 baby carrots - halved
a handful of cauliflower florets
salt to taste

Saute (A)
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 cardamons - bruised
2-3 cloves
2-3 aniseeds
1 tsp of fennel seeds
Sesame oil for saute

Garnishing
shredded cooked chicken
fried taufoo
finely chopped celery leaves
finely chopped spring onions

How to do

1.  Wash and toss chicken.
2.  Grind or pound ginger, garlic and black pepper.
3.  In a pot put some water enough to make soup add in chicken and the grinded ginger garlic and black pepper.
4.  Add in white powder, cumin powder roughly chopped celery leaves and let it boil till the chicken is cooked.
5.  Removed the chickens from the soup, removed the chicken from the bones, and put back the bones into soup, add in the carrots and cauliflowers and cook al dente.
6.  Heat  a pan, heat sesame oil, and sauté ingredients (A) till aromatic and pour over the soup.
7.  Shred the chicken pieces. and set aside
8.  Preparing the noodles : - In a pot, add cold water, and noodles, cook till it is soft.  Remove from fire and strain it and ready to use.

To prepare - Dish out some noodles into a bowl, pour hot soup over it and garnish it with taufoo, shredded .

 

 

Enjoy

 

Sathiarani



Chicken Lemongrass Noodle Soup.

I did this recipe a long time ago but some how never got to post it - maybe because I could not find the pictures that I took for this.  I have been wanting to try this recipe for sometime and finally did it. I also learn to make the perfect way to soften the rice vermicelli from http://www.tiffinbiru.com/2013/05/mi-sup-ayam-berserai-untuk-che-mat.html.  thank you very much

My children's verdict  - delicious, must do again, Mine - surely a kepeer, simple and quick to do, hubby's - ate with no comment so it's an A ok...

Lets look at the recipe.

Chicken Lemongrass Noodle Soup...

1/2 kg of chicken cut to bite size
4 potatoes cleaned and cut into 4 and soak in water
a handful of celery leaves - chopped roughly
1 tbs fried onions
1 Maggi Chicken cube
1 packet mix spices for soup (I did not used this)
Water
Salt to taste
1 packet of rice noodle

Ingredients to grind (A)
6 onions
4 cloves garlic
1½ inch ginger
1½ fresh turmeric
1 tbs full black pepper
2 candlenut - slice finely

Ingredients for sauté (B)
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
1 star aniseed
3 cardamons
3 lemongrass - bruised lightly

Other ingredients (C)
Dried noodles
Taufoo - fried an slice
Bean sprout , remove ends, wash and drain
chopped celery leaves
Hot Spicy Soya Sauce Sambal

How to prepare:

1.  Soup preparation - Cut chicken into bite size, wash and toss.
2. Heat oil, sauté all in (B) till aromatic.  Add ingredients from (A) and fry till the oil separates. 
3.  Add in the chickens, mix well, add enough water.
4.  Let it boil and  reduce the flame.
5.  Add the chicken cube and roughly chopped celery leaves and fried onions. 
6.  Continue cooking till the chicken is soft, Add water if necessary. 
7.  When chicken is cooked, add in potato and cook till soft. 
8.  Add salt to taste. Let it cook for a few more minutes and remove from fire.

How to prepare the noodles -  Put enough water in a pot, put in the rice noodles in, and let it cook till soft. Once cooked, drain and ready to use.

To dish out - Dish out the cooked noodles into a bowl, Pour in the soup together with the chicken and potato. Garnish with finely bean sprouts, fried taufoo, chopped celery leaves, spring onions and fried onions.

Serve hot with hot spicy soya sauce.

Enjoy just like we did


Sathiarani

 

Anita's Morrocan Spiced Chicken

This recipe is courtesy of Anita - hence the post title - Anita's Morrocan Chicken.

Anita and my brother are classmates and we all live in the same neighbourhood back home and she currently resides in New Zealand.  She shared this recipe over the FB and I always like simple and easy recipes.

I love the smell of paprika when it was baking.  Lets look at the recipe.

Morrocan Spiced Chicken

Source - Anita Muthukaruppan

Ingredients
1 heaped tbsp good smoked paprika
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
2-4 tbsp olive oil
12 chicken drumsticks
6 medium potatoes cut into 1-2cm slices - I omitted this as I ran out of potato

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Mix everything in a large baking dish until combined and coated.

3. Bake for 45min-1hr until cooked. Turn chicken after 30 min & mix potatoes once/twice during cooking

4. Eat with couscous/rice or just by itself. Yummy.
 
For a nice twist, add grated zest of one orange and juice of one orange into marinade. Even more yummy.

Enjoy

Sathiarani

Todays' Dinner - Oven Fried Chicken & Tagliatelline Pasta with Cheese and Herbs

My son has been asking for chicken chop for days now.  I remembered making this oven fried chicken just before summer holidays.  But never got to post it. The other time I made the chicken with black pepper sauce and mash potato.

Both kids were really happy with that version.  I thought I will make the same chicken however paired it up with a pasta that was given to by my friend when she went visiting her daughter in Italy.  And also I had a packet of McCormick's Herbs and Cheese that soon will be expiring.

It is quite simple to do this.  You need three different bowl.  Fillet dip into flour, next into egg mixture and then to breadcrumbs and place in a lined baking tray and bake.  And you get a beautiful baked chicken - it reminds me of like production line....

Oven Fried Chicken
Source :- http://www.laurenslatest.com/oven-fried-chicken-the-best-coleslaw-ever/

Ingredients

for the chicken-
4 chicken thighs, skin and extra fat removed & rinsed - I used about 800gm of chicken breast
1/2 cup all purpose flour + salt & pepper, to taste
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
3 dashes hot sauce + salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil

Note - my bread crumbs had herbs to it so I did not add any Cajun or paprika only salt & pepper.

Directions
 

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Line baking sheet with foil and set aside.

3. First bowl, add in flour, salt and pepper, mix well and set aside

4. Second bowl whisk egg with mil, pepper and salt, hot sauce .

5. Third bowl add bread crumbs, Cajun seasoning and paprika, salt and pepper and oil - mix well

6.  Dredge prepared chicken in flour, next dip into egg mixture and finally into bread crumb mixture and place on prepared baking sheet.

7. Bake 40-50 minutes or until crust is golden and chicken is completely cooked thoroughly.

My version of Pasta with Cheese and Herbs

Ingredients

1 packet of pasta (about 250gm) - boil al dente
1 packet of McCormick's Herb and Cheese
4-5 pip of garlic - minced finely
a handful of broccoli - sliced into small size
2-3 tbs of olive oil

Direction:

1.  Heat olive oil.  Saute the garlic till fragrant

2.  Add in broccoli.  Mix well - fry for 4-5 minutes.

3.  Add in the pasta and the cheese and herb packet. 

4.  Stir well and cook for another 3 -4 minute and ready to serve.




Tagliatelline Pasta
 

Chicken all ready to be baked

 

Crunchy and golden brown and well done



Pasta with broccoli and herbs and cheese all ready

All ready with the pasta and chicken -
Really need to improve on my photography - the chicken looked burnt although it is not.



Chicken Rendang

tried a long time ago but never got chance to upload...

Rendang is one of the favourites of Malaysians.  Usually served at wedding receptions and during Eid celebrations.  You can use chicken, mutton/lamb or beef to make your rendang.  It is normally cook dry or semi dry.  I cooked mine the in between version - not so dry not so curryish..

Traditionally the meat is cooked with roasted coconut that is pounded - it is called kerisik. Like so many others food stuff, kerisiks are available ready made.  But nothing compared to making your very own kerisik

My turmeric leaf - daun kunyit came all the way from Malaysia courtesy of a good friend.  This is one of the main ingredient that makes the added punch in a rendang.  I wrapped them up with aluminium wrapper and store them in freezer.

Now lets look on how to make Chicken Rendang.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken - cut into bite size
1 cup of thick coconut milk
1 cup of thin coconut milk
4-6 tbs of red chilli paste -depending on our spicy you want it to be.
200gms of shallots-sliced
1 turmeric leaves- sliced finely
6tbs of kerisik (more if you like the taste of coconut.)

Chilli Paste
15-20pieces of dried chillies- cut
a handful of shallots
4-5 cloves of garlic
thumb size of ginger
thumb size of galangal
3-4 of lemon grass-chopped
half of thumb size of turmeric
Blend all of above

Method
- heat oil in a wok/pan
- once heat add in chilli paste and cook till fragrant and oil separates
- Keep stirring occasionally so as not to burn the paste
- Add in sliced shallots and saute further till soft.
- Add in chicken with coconut milk - both thick and thin milk and cook on medium fire.
- Stir occassionally and cook till the chickens are cooked and to a desired consistency ( I prefer mine semi gravy.
- Season with salt, add in turmeric leave and kerisik and stir so as to mix well and let it simmer for another 10mins.
- Ready to serve

BBQ Chicken Wings

The weather is so good that a few of us decided to have BBQ. I prepared the chicken with a recipe that was posted by my friend Baya.  It is a simple marination and yet so good.  The aroma is so good even while preparing for the marination.  She had done with lamb as usual there is no takers for lamb hence the chicken.

My friends prepared some 2 different types of fish for bbq,which we ended baking over over to save time, some prawns and squids indonesian style, some bruschetta and indonesian style fruit salad...look

Picture not so clear...(R to L) fish grill, prawns, chicken, bbq, sambal to go for the fish, mashed potato and tuna, french fries, bruschetta and squids..yumm.. yumm...

Lets look at how to prepare chicken wings.

some burnt parts though - nevertheless it was good.

Lets look at the recipe.  The portion mentioned is good enough for about 5kg lamb chops.  You may adjust the marination accordingly.

What you need

3 onions **

6 cloves of garlic**

2 inch ginger **

1½tbs fennel**

1½tbs cumin seeds**

Blend the above marked ** and mix the following:

1Tbs turmeric powder 

1Tsp white pepper powder

4Tbs Mustard (optional) ditukar dengan 1 1/2 sudu besar ketumbar yg telah dikisar halus).

1Cup Yogurt.

1Cup Hot and spicy barbeque sauce(add another ½cup if you want more)

3 Tbs Oyster sauce.

3 Tbs Mayonaise

1Tsp sugar

1 tsp salt (add 1/4tsp more if you want saltier taste)

Mix all above well, taste if it fits your taste bud. adjust accordingly.

For lambchop marinate about 4hrs and then bbq/grill.

Note : the above mentioned is an estimate by the original chef...I adjusted to suit my taste basically with all the ingredients.

Enjoy......

Green Chicken Curry - My Style

Today's menu simple chicken curry and chicken varuval with potatoes.

My style green chicken curry

450gm chicken -bite size
1 big onion-quartered
1 tomato -quartered
3 garlic Ginger thumb size
1 green chilly-deseeded
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A handful coriander leaves - chopped coarsely

1. Blend onion, ginger, garlic, tomato and coriander leaves, salt and turmeric powder.

2. Marinate chicken with blended paste for 20 mins.

3. Heat a pan, add the marinated chicken and cook till the chicken is done

4. Stir occasionally to avoid burning, you may want to add water depending on how thick out want you curry or if you like creamier taste add cream or coconut milk towards the end and let it boil once and remove from fire.

Chicken Masala with Methi

This is another version of chicken masala - kind of creamy and not spicy.

What you need..
1.5 kg of chicken - cut into small bites.
1 1/2 cup of yogurt - whisked (I use laban)
3 tbs chicken masala powder
1 tsp of tumeric powder
1 tbs of ginger garlic paste
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 tsp of fennel powder
1 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cardamon powder
1/2 tsp of clove powder
1 big tomato - chopped
1 big onion - sliced
coriander leaves a handful
2 tbs of dried methi leaves

How to do...

• Marinate chicken with all except tomato, onions, methi and coriander for at least half hour - the longer the better.
• In a different pan cook the marinated chicken over medium fire - covered. Do not add any water.
•  In the meanwhile, in a different wok/pan, heat oil sand saute onions and tomatoes till soft and brown on slow fire. Remove from fire, let it cool and blend together with coriander leaves till a fine paste.
• Once the chicken is done, add in tomato/onion paste together with methi leaves, salt and then cook on slow fire for a few more minutes till the methi leaves are soft.
• Serve with flavoured rice, plain rice or chapatis/puris/parotha.

Divali Day and the Food

Happy (belated) Divali to all my Hindu readers...

The celebration started with the day before, preparing the next days menu...Chicken Dalca, Mutton Perathal, Chicken Masala and Jeera Rice.  Eve of Divali lighted up tea candle lights instead the usual earthen lamp and oil. Needed the use up the tea candle lights (trying to figure up why I got them in the first place...)

The only food that I managed to take pictures was of Idli...Family photographer on school trip...The recipe for Idli is the same as Thosei...It is steamed  with a special mould and steamer, normally for a 15 mins depending on the size of your mould.  Remove the idli from the mould with a spoon and serve.

Dalca is combination of meat and lentils with some vegetables and curry powder with sambar powder.  Tradionally it is cooked with mutton, I changed it to chicken as my hubby and kids are less fond of mutton.   I added drumstick, the fruity part of Muringa Tree and eggplants

Chicken Dalca

What you need..

2 cups of toor dhal
2 tbs of ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 tsp of tumeric powder
2 eggplant - quarter
2 long drumstick - cut into bite size.
1 big tomato - quartered
1 bowl of chicken pieces - preferable the one with bones.
1 big onion - sliced finely
2 sprig of curry leaves
1 green chilly-slit lengthwise
2 tbs of chicken masala powder
1 tbs of sambar powder
*2 cardamon
*1 tsp cumin
*1 tsp fennel
*1 cinnamon
*3-4 cloves
*3-4 aniseed
*1 bay leave
chopped coriander and or mint

p/s : you can add potatoes, carrots, long beans if you wish.

How to do...

• Wash and pressure cooker the dhall with ginger garlic paste and tumeric powder and tomato.
• When the dhall is cooked add in green chilly,eggplants, chicken meat and drumstick and any other vegetables that you like.
• Once the vegetables are cooked, add curry powder and sambar powder and salt to taste
• In different wok/pan, heat oil and saute all marked * till aromatic, add in onions and curry leaves, bay leaves.  Fry till the onions are soft.
• Pour into the dhall, stir well  and let it boil for a few more minutes.  Remove from fire and add coarsely chopped  mint/coriander.
• Serve with rice, thosei, idli or chapatis/puris.

Black Pepper Chicken

Enjoy a simple, quick to make dish.  My style, Chinese dish...

What you need

• 900gm chicken breast - cut into small cubes
• 1/ 2 green bell pepper - sliced
• 1/2 white onion - sliced
• 1 carrot - quartered and slice diagonally
• 1/2 bowl of cauliflower
• 1 tbs of ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• 3 tbs of soya sauce
• salt to taste
• spring onion - optional

How will you do....

1. Marinate the chicken with ginger garlic paste, sesame oil and soya sauce.
2. Heat oil in a wok/pan. Add in the onions, stir for a few minutes.
3. Next add in the cauliflower, carrots and bell pepper, saute for more minutes
4. Mix the black pepper powder with 1/2 cup of water.
5. Add in the chicken and black pepper mixture, stir well and cook till the chicken and vegetables are tender and done.
6. Garnish with spring onion and serve hot with rice.

Simple Roast Chicken Thigh

Yesterday, June 19, was Father's Day,and was not sure what to have for dinner.  I know I have some chicken thighs in the freezer, so decided to make bake chicken thigh.  and again i dont want something too fancy..looked around the kitchen found spices that can be used to marinate the chicken. add some veges to it,  instant mushroom soup, a few slices of buttered bread l put in the oven for a few minutes and what I got was "a simple but fulfilling dinner" - quote from my daughter....

Happy Father's Day my dear husband.....hope you enjoyed the dinner....Happy Father's Day my loving dad too.........

Simple Roast Chicken Thigh

6 medium sized chicken thigh - wash and pat dry.
a handful of rosemary
a handful thymes
2 tbs of honey
1/2 lime juice
2 tbs of worchester sauce
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
carrots - clean and cut 1/2inch diagonally
potato - scrub clean, cut quartered

Method

1. wash and pat dry the chicken thighs.
2. in a different bowl, add other ingredients, mix well and rub well with the chicken, stuff some of the marination into the skin.  Add in the veges of your choice, cover and let it marinate atleast an hour (the longer the better it will be), in fridge.
3. Heat oven at 180C, for 5 mins, place only the chicken on a roasting pan/casserole, including any marination juice, if any, cover with foil, and bake for 30mins. 
4. At 30mins, remove foil, and bake further.
5. Place veges for baking just before the last 20mins...  Once done enjoy your meal. 

Kashmiri Cardamon Chicken

This is a dish from my friend Wan Noor Baya.  She is a good cook and loves to share her recipes and I have tried many of her recipes.

Lets look at the ingredients.

500gm skinless chicken cut small bites
1 big onion - chopped small ( I used bombay onions)
3 cloves of garlic - chopped
1 inch of ginger - chopped
10 - 12 green cardamon, take the pods/seeds and pound fine or 1 tsp of cardamon powder
2-3 clove
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp cumin powder
1tsp fennel powder
2 -3 tsp  of chilli paste from dried chillies (I used a few pieces of red chillies instead)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of yogurt
oil
Method
Marinate chicken with ginger, garlic, fennel powder, salt black pepper, chili paste and half of cardamon powder for at least 4 hours or overnight. Fridge it.

Heat oil, saute cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and cumin powder for a few minutes.  Saute onions for 8-10 mins add in marinated chicken, mix well , reduce fire, cover pot and let it cook till done about 25-30mins.  Make sure to stir every now .

Add in the rest of the cardamon powder.and remove.  Add mint and serve with bread or rice.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala

This is a recipe that I found when browsing thru Qatar's Food and Beverage Special Magazine called Bilhana (Issue 13, April 2011).  Not spicy, kind of thick gravy and suitable for chapatis, pooris and alikes....although we had ours simply with hot steaming rice, rasam and stir fry beans with garam masala....

Ingredients
6 large Chicken thighs (I used about 900gm of chicken cut into bite size with skins removed)
ground pepper to season the chickens
salt to taste
4 cloves of garlic
50gm piece of ginger
1 small to medium size of onion
2small red chillies - the fiery ones.
3tsp groundnut or vegetable oil
1 tsp of brown mustard seeds
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of ground tumeric powder
1 tbsp of ground coriander lightly heaped
5 medium sized tomatoes (600gm)
100ml of water
3tsp of garam masala
juice from 1 lime
1 small bunch of coriander leaves

Method

1. Season the chicken with salt and ground coriander and set aside.
2. Peel and crush garlic, peel and grate ginger and mix together
3. Peel and finely chop the onion.
4. Warm oil in a wok or frying pan, add the cicken and fry on both sides until the skis is pale gold.
5. Lower the heat, cover and leave to cook for 10-12 mins until it is almost cooked through.
6. Pierce the thickest part with a metal skewer; if the jices are clear then it is ready. 
7. If there is any of blood, continue cooking for a few more minutes.
8. Remove the chicken to a plate and discard the oil (though I skip this part,) but do not wash the pan (as there is much flavour stuck to the bottom)
9. Return the pan to the heat and add the garlic and ginger paste, stirring to prevent burning and to mix the pan-stickings. 
10. Add the mustard and cumin seeds, finely chopped chillies, tumeric, tumeric and coriander and fry briefly, then add the chopped onions and leave to cook over a moderate heat with the occasional stir, for 5 minutes or so.
11. Finely choped the tomatoes, losing as little of their jice as you can.  (note from the article chef: I find cutting them one at a time, putting each one into the pan immediately it is cut, helps) 
12. Add the chooped tomatoes to the pan, simmering over amoderate heat and stirring from time to to time. 
13. leave for 5 minutes before puring in the water, the garam masala and alittle salt.
14. Bring to the boil, stir, and leave to simmer for a couple of minutes before returning the chicken to the pan.
15. Simmer for 5 minutes or so until the cicken is hot and then add the lime juice and chopped coriander and serve.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice an all time favourite of Malaysians.  This is a recipe shared by my online friend, a fellow Malaysian residing in US.  I have used her recipe many times and it never fails me.

Lets look at the recipe.
Source : Wan Noor Baya Wan Chik – ResipiNet



For the rice


3 cups long grain rice
2 tablespoons chicken fat, with skin (I know..but it makes the rice taste really good)
2 tablespoons water
2-3 cm ginger, grated
3-4 garlic cloves, grated
1-2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
3 1/2 cups chicken stock, according to rice package instructions (or more, reserved from chicken that you will boil)
2 screwpine leaves (optional..it will make the rice more fragrant)


Hainanese chicken


1 whole chicken
water, enough for boiling chicken
1 piece thumb sized ginger, smashed
4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed slightly
1 teaspoon salt


Chilli garlic sauce for dipping


10 fresh red chilies
2 cm piece ginger
4 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chicken stock (from the boiled chicken. This stock is essential for the chilli sauce)


Ginger sauce for dipping


75 g ginger
6 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chicken stock (again stock from the boiled chicken)


Sauce for chicken


1 tablespoon garlic oil (you can shallow fry the garlic in oil and reserved the oil)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
5 tablespoons light soya sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)
3 tablespoons chicken broth (from boiled chicken)


Garnishing


fresh coriander leaves
sliced spring onions
sliced cucumbers


How to cook.

First of all wash the rice then place it on to a tea towel or colander to dry.

Then, prepare the chicken. Bring enough water to boil in a large pot. Once boil, add in the salt, ginger, garlic and chicken.

Lower the heat and cook chicken for about 20 - 25 minutes, uncovered. It is very important to boil the chicken very slowly over low flame. Turn off flame and cover the pot.

Allow the chicken to steep inside for another 20-25 minutes. Remove chicken and immerse it into a basin of cold water for 5-6 minutes.

Take chicken out and drain in a colander to drip dry before cutting it into serving pieces

While the chicken is drip drying, prepare the rice. Heat up wok and add in the chicken fat and water.

Bring to a low simmering boil until oil is released from the fat. Add in the ginger and garlic and fry well (without burning the garlic) Remove and discard the chicken fat and skin.

Add in the rice that has been dried and salt and stir fry briskly about 1 - 2 minutes. Transfer rice into an electric rice cooker or pot.

Add in the chicken broth from the boiled chicken together with the screw pine leaves if using. If cooking in a pot, cook over low flame stirring occasionally so as not to let the bottom of the rice burn. Boil until rice is cook.


While the rice is cooking, you can prepare the chili garlic sauce. Just add all ingredients into a blender or food processor, and give it a good whizz, until ingredients are well blended.

Adjust the seasoning with more salt or sugar to taste. The chili garlic sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days only.

To prepare the ginger sauce is the same give the ingredients a good whiz in the blender. What gives the extra oomph for the sauces is the stock from the chicken broth -- so, do not omit this ingredient.


Lastly combine all the ingredients for the chicken sauce and pour it all over the cut up chicken. You can add more soya sauce and chicken broth to the chicken if you prefer. Just adjust the taste of the sauce with soya sauce and chicken broth.

If you do not have garlic oil, you can fry a few cloves of garlic in oil for few minutes then take out oil and garlic pour it into a jar, and let the garlic steep inside the oil.


Finally, garnish the chicken with the coriander leaves, spring onions and cucumbers.


Enjoy meal with the rice and dipping sauces!