Thursday 28 August 2014

FENNEL AND CORIANDER CHICKEN CURRY


Cooking is like love, where food is a necessity cooking is an art, passion and joy of creating something delicious to please the soul. As my adventures started very early in the kitchen, thanks to Maa, my mother who allowed me entry in spite of all the mess which was an add on, cooking and baking is something that I have learnt very naturally. Like most passionate cooks my popular pass time was and still is to watch cookery shows on TV, reading recipe books and journals of different kinds taking notes, tweaking and twisting recipes and  doing my own experiments to explore taste and texture. All these traits in me is due to maa, my mentor in the kitchen, who also happened to be a very enterprising cook. 

This Fennel and Coriander Chicken Curry was thus born.


Although the origin of this recipe was a bit fade in my memories as i had cooked this for the first time in my teens if i remember rightly. However, it was quite a hit and the distinct taste of this delightfully aromatic chicken curry is still fresh in my mind. Perhaps, a doozy kitchen disaster has what made this curry a memorable one!(which i better not disclose:P)


On a more serious note this evergreen curry gets its refreshing flavor from the judicious blend of spices such as Fennel or mouri (saunf in hindi) and herb such as coriander with a hint of green chillis. This gets ready well under 30 mins ( excluding marination time)

Here is what i did:

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken cut into medium size (700-800grams)
1/2 cup yogurt(enough to cover the chicken well)
1 medium size onion, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1/2 tablespoon ginger paste
11/2 tablespoon of coriander powder
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
11/2 teaspoon of kashmiri red chilli powder
2-3 tablespoon fennel/mouri/saunf Powder
(ideally use use 21/2 tbsp. of fennel seed made into paste to maximize the flavour - see step 4 )
Whole garam masala (2-3 green cardamom pods, 2 cloves, 1 medium stick of cinnamon)
1 and half bunch of coriander leaves with stem (roots discarded) roughly chopped
2-3 green chillies (just for flavour)
3-4 tablespoon of mustard oil or any white cooking oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing.


Method:

Step 1: Marinate Chicken:
Rinse your chicken pieces, and pat dry. Add 1 tablespoon of oil (mustard or any other oil, using), salt, turmeric powder, Red chilli powder, garlic and ginger paste, and yogurt. Give your chicken a good massage to coat with the spices and yogurt. Keep aside for at least 30 mins or more if you have time. 


Step 2:

Heat oil in a wok. Add the whole garam masala, after 1 or 2 seconds add the onion slices. The flame should be on medium. Fry the onions till they change colour and start getting a brownish tint (colour). Taking care not to burn the onions just brown them slightly.


Step 3: Now goes in the chicken with the marinade. Keep sautéing the chicken moving it often with your spatula on medium - high flame, until it releases oil or fat on the side. Now lower the flame to simmer cover for a few minutes and let the chicken cook for about 4 minutes or so.


Step 4: Meanwhile, make a paste of the coriander leaves, fennel seeds (if using any),green chilli, with little water as desired for blending.

If you are using fennel powder,  we will add that later in step 5.


Step 5: Remove cover and add the coriander, green chilli paste . Add fennel powder. Mix well to coat the chicken with the spices.

Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes on low flame, making sure to retain the greenish effect from coriander leaves. Turn off heat.

Transfer into a serving bowl and garnish with more of the herb.


This versatile chicken curry can be served with  Rice, Nan, or choice of  Bread.


Enjoy!!!

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With deep care



EAT as you LIKE..



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Monday 18 August 2014

FRUIT KEBABS with HONEY CREAM

 
Make fruits fun for your little ones with these mini fruit kebab sticks with delicious Honey Cream drizzle. They will be gone in just minutes! 
 
Serve them as dessert nibbles or just for kid's birthday parties. They make a great finger food! 
 
 
All you need to do is choose your little ones favourite fruits, clean and chop and arrange them in skewers. Easy Peasy healthy snacking any time of the day!
 

For fruit skewers:
 
For 10-12 Skewers roughly:
 
10-12 whole strawberries, tip removed.
1 green apples (chores removed, cut into chunks) 
1 cup watermelon, cut into chunks 
1 cup pineapple chores removed, cut into chunks 
2 medium banana, cut into little roundels
2 kiwi fruits, peeled, cut into chunks.
10-12 bamboo skewers or toothpicks (break them in halves)
 

You may use any other fruits of your choice, grapes, pears, pawpaw (papaya), berries, melons like rock melon or honey dew melon, orange or mandarins. Always rinse your fruits clean under tap water before use. Cut fruits with minimum thickness in order to thread them into skewers.


Method:

Thread or arrange fruits on the skewers, alternating with different types of fruits , placing strawberries right on the tip. Your little bundle might like to give you a hand though.
 

 
 

For honey cream you will need:
 
50 ml cream (1/2 cup)
 
2-3 tablespoon of honey ( or as desired)
 
mint leaves to garnish (optional)
 
Method:
 
Mix cream and honey in a bowl  and serve with those delicious kebabs..
 
 

A healthy snack for the entire family is ready in minutes. Age no bar!
 
 
 
Enjoy...

Dear readers, thank you for stopping by. If you like this post  leave a feedback. For regular updates on more mouth-watering and exclusive recipes  "LIKE" my page on facebook

With deep care



EAT as you LIKE

You may also like:

 http://eatasulike.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/strawberry-santas-with-cream-cheese_22.html

Tuesday 5 August 2014

GOBI MANCHURIAN

Gobi Manchurian is a Vegetarian  Indo Chineese dish  mostly available around India, most popular in the south.This Indo Chinese cooking style developed in Kolkata due to the presence of a small number of Chinese migrants that settled at one time. It is mostly chinese way of cooking to suit the Indian taste buds.

Basically Gobi Manchurian is crispy cauliflower fritters sautéed in soya and chilli  based sauce.You may add green capsicum as well which I did not have. There is always something missing in my kitchen!


There are two variations to the recipe, either you can have gravy or you make the dry version. Both are equally hit. The dry version is my personal favourite as you may choose to serve that as an entrée or starter or just as party nibbles. Today's recipe is the dry version of Gobi Manchurian. 


 
Now before we move on let me warn you that this dish requires deep frying which is certainly not a healthy affair..as an occassional indulgence you may ignore cholesterol for a day and enjoy the dish.. !! After all you are not going to eat Gobi Manchurian every day ! Make it for your cheat day lunch or dinner (wink with a LOL;)


Over to the recipe; the recipe has two parts, first dipping the cauliflower florets into a spicy flour batter then deep frying in oil. So forget cholesterol and enjoy!

Next step is to sauté those crispy fritters in a spicy sauce of onion and garlic. Let's take a look.


PART I - Cauliflower Fritters.

I have used:

Half cauliflower, florets separated washed and dried.
For Batter:

1/4 cup plain flour
3-4 tablespoon cornflour
seasoning of salt n pepper and chilli flakes
2 teaspoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves  
chilled water
extra plain flour in a bowl or plate for coating/dusting.
Oil for deep frying

METHOD 1:

Step 1: Heat oil in a  sauce pan/deep frying pan. When the oil stops bubbling you will know it is ready for frying. You may spoon in a lil batter, and if it floats to the top the oil is good to go... Reduce heat to medium to enable even cooking inside out.

Step 2: Make a batter with all the 5 ingredients above, excepting the extra flour that you will use for dusting. Add water judiciously so that the batter is neither too runny nor too thick.

Step 3: Fold the dry cauliflower florets in that extra flour for coating in a bowl, shake off excess flour and dip them in the batter (this will help the batter to stick to the cauliflowers)

Step 4: Drain off excess batter and gently add to the preheated oil. Fry until golden or crisp. You may follow pictures below for clear understanding of the steps.

Step 5: Fry them in batches (2 to 3 at a time) and do not overcrowd the pan. Else the temperature of the oil will fall and you may not get the desired result.

While the cauliflowers are frying lets get the sauce ready.


The result is this Crispy Golden Cauliflower Fritters. It is okay to gulp a few. Ouchhh, careful it's hot!! :P


PART II The sauce base:

For half a cauliflower I used:

3 spring onions finely chopped (a few greens set aside for garnishing)
1 medium clove of garlic finely chopped
Green Capsicum seeds removed and diced (I did not have)
chopped green chillies (if you like)
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon tomato chilli sauce/chinese chilli sauce.
(for kids friendly version you may use sweet chilli sauce as a variant)
lemon juice to finish (a wedge)
seasoning of pepper (black or white)


Step 1: In a skillet or a non stick pan, heat oil.

Step 2: If using green capsicum you sauté the capsicum first until they are a just a little tender but yet has the crunch. Set aside

Step 3: To the same oil add garlic, spring onion and quickly sauté  and green chilies.

Step 4: Once fragrant add all the sauces (soya and chilli) and when it boils then add the cauliflower fritters. Gently fold them in the sauce to coat evenly and season with pepper. (there is no need to add extra salt as it gets enough from the sauces been used in the recipe) 
Transfer into a serving bowl.

Step 5: Finish with a squirt of lemon juice and garnish with some coriander leaves, spring onion and serve immediately! 


Enjoy this as nibble or just as a side.

 

Enjoy and have a wonderful week ahead !

Dear readers, thank you for stopping by. If you like this post  leave a feedback. For regular updates on more mouth-watering and exclusive recipes  "LIKE" my page on facebook

With deep care

EAT as you LIKE..
 
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http://eatasulike.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/char-grilled-pineapple-chicken.html











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