PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

Heeellloooo,

M back after a pretty long time. Was occupied with work. But anyways, now I'm back; and I'm back with a chicken recipe for the first time. Had a lovely cousin coming for dinner, who demanded a nice chicken curry. And since her father hasn't been keeping well, so I had to keep the chicken light and healthy as much as possible, so that even he could take a bite. So, I came up with this simple, light and easy chicken recipe, which has a sweet and sour taste, with predominant flavors of pineapple and fresh coriander. And yes, especially with the mercury soaring high these days, this is one chicken recipe you can vouch for this summer. So, here comes my "PINEAPPLE CHICKEN". Enjoy! :-)

Ingredients:

600gm Chicken, 1 cup Pineapple Pulp, 3 big slices of Pineapple, 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste, 2 medium Onions, a bunch of fresh Coriander leaves, 1 tbsp chopped Ginger, 1 cup fresh Tomato puree, 1 tbsp Vinegar/Lemon juice, 1 tbsp Sugar, 1 tbsp Green chili paste, 1 tsp Black Pepper powder, 3 tbsp Refined Oil, 1 tbsp Olive Oil, Salt to taste, a couple of extra slices of Pineapple for garnishing.

Procedure:

Cut the chicken into desired pieces, and thoroughly wash it. Add ½ cup of pineapple pulp, the ginger-garlic paste, vinegar/lemon juice, green chili paste and salt, and marinate for half an hour. Meanwhile cut each onion into four pieces. Heat refined oil on a pan. Saute the onions. Drop in the chopped ginger, followed by the tomato puree. Fry for 2 mins. Now add the marinated chicken and stir so that the masala gets mixed with the chicken. Add  some more salt and lemon juice only if you require. Cover it with a lid, and allow it to cook on medium heat for around 10-12 mins. Meanwhile, cut the 3 slices of pineapple into small cubes as seen in the picture below.

Check if the chicken is cooked after 10 mins by pricking it with a fork.  If you find the chicken turning tender, add the remaining pineapple pulp and saute for another one minute. Now add 2 cups of hot water, and cook on high flame for 5-8 mins. Once it comes to a boil, add 1 tbsp sugar, and drop the pineapple cubes. Just before removing from heat, sprinkle black pepper powder, chopped coriander leaves and drizzle some olive oil. Garnish with pineapple slices and coriander. This recipe goes fantastic with fried rice or lemon-flavored rice.

PS: You can also add thin slices of carrots in this recipe. I used carrots the second time I prepared this dish. Unfortunately, I couldn't take a snap of it.

DAL-PANEER CHILLA

Heeellloooo,

It's Mother's Day today; and I had a really lazy Sunday today. Did nothing to make my mom feel special. But then, in the evening when she said that she is hungry and wants me to make some snacks for her, I thought atleast I could do something now to bring a smile on her face. But then again, after a hectic week, I was so tired that my body didn't feel like doing anything elaborate. Suddenly, I thought about making chillas, a popular Indian snack, which is filling and really tasty. They are mainly made from chickpea flour, but I decided to make it healthier by using split red and yellow lentils. And people usually spread the cottage cheese or vegetable mixture evenly over the uncooked side of the chilla and then flip it and cook so that the mixture sticks to the chilla. But I preferred to make a filling instead, because this makes the taste of the mixture more conspicuous. So, here comes the easy and quick to prepare recipe, that surely satiates both the appetite as well the heart,  "DAL PANEER CHILLA".

Ingredients:

½ cup Split Red Lentil (Masoor dal), ½ cup Split Yellow Lentil (Moong dal), 1 tbsp Chickpea Flour (Besan), 150 gm Cottage cheese (Paneer), 1 large Carrot, 1 large Onion, ½ cup Green Peas, a bunch of fresh Coriander leaves, ½ inch Ginger. 1 tsp dried Mango powder (Amchur), 1 tsp Cumin powder, 1 tsp Coriander powder, 1 tsp Fennel seeds (Saunf), 1 tsp Black Pepper powder, 2 tsp Red Chili powder, Salt, Refined Oil.

Procedure:

Soak both the lentils together for 30 minutes. Blend together the lentils and ginger into a fine paste. And the chickpea flour and ½ -1 cup water to get a semi-thick batter. Add salt, fennel seeds, cumin powder, coriander powder and 1 tsp red chili powder and mix well. Next, scramble the cottage cheese. Chop the carrot and the onion. Heat 2 tbsp oil on a pan. Add the peas and carrot. Sprinkle salt, dried mango powder and red chili powder and stir for a minute. Next add the onions and fry for another 1 minute. Once the onions are translucent, add the scrambled cottage cheese, followed by the black pepper powder. Fry for a minute. Finally add chopped coriander and bring the mixture off the flame. This will be our filling for the chilla. Now, put the pan on medium flame. Pour 1 tsp refined oil and spread it on the pan. Now, take a ladle full of the lentil batter, and pour it right into the center of the pan. Spread the batter evenly with the help of the backside of the ladle, to get a round, chapatti-like shape. Wait for 10-20 seconds, and the flip to the other side. Pour 1 tsp of oil along the edges of the chilla so that the oil slips downside. Flip once again, and reduce the flame. Take 1 tbsp of the cottage cheese mixture and place it lengthwise on the center of the chilla as shown below:

Fold it into half from right to left, mildly pressing over the folded chilla with the spatula, so that the filling settles properly. Serve hot with green chutney, chili-garlic sauce, or tomato ketchup along with a hot green chili. It’s absolutely delicious that can be had for breakfast or as evening snack.

Papaya Pudding with Chocolate sauce

Heeellloooo,,,

I'm going through a sweet patch it seems. No, I'm not in love or something, but rather my tooth seems to be in love with sweets these days. Had some ripe papaya at home. While me and my family finished half of the papaya on the dining table in the name of 'evening snacks', mom kept the other half in the refrigerator for later use. I relished the taste of ripe papaya so much that evening that I decided to make a sweet dish out of it. I tried to make Papaya Pudding, and smeared it generously with chocolate sauce. And the outcome was YUMMMYYYY!!!!! It's absolutely soft, delicate, moist, sweet, with a hint of the bitterness of cocoa. And it's absolutely easy to make, with minimum ingredients, and you don't need to sweat it out in the kitchen preparing it. Do try this out. I think you are going to like it.

Ingredients:

For the Pudding: 1 cup chopped ripe Papaya, 1 cup all-purpose Flour, ½ cup Sugar, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1 tsp Cinnamon powder, 1 cup Milk, 2 Eggs, 1 tbsp soft Butter.

For the Chocolate Sauce: ½ cup Milk, 1 tbsp Fresh Cream, 2 tsp Cocoa powder, 1 tbsp Sugar, 1 tsp soft Butter.

Procedure:

Sift the flour, and add all the ingredients for pudding, except for the papaya. Blend them properly so that no lumps are formed. It would form a semi-thin batter. Add the freshly chopped papaya into the batter and mix with soft hands. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Meanwhile grease the baking dish with butter, and sprinkle some flour on it. Finally, fold in the batter, and bake it in the oven at 165 C for 45-50 minutes.

While the pudding is baking, we shall prepare the chocolate sauce. Heat half cup milk on a pan. Add sugar and cocoa powder. Finally add butter and cream, stirring continuously for 30 seconds. Then remove from heat and refrigerate it. Your chocolate sauce is ready.

You know your pudding is baked when it takes a beautiful deep golden colour. Allow it to cool down. Transfer the pudding from the baking dish to a plate. Be careful while doing so, because the pudding is soft, and might break:

Next, it’s time to pour the chocolate sauce over the pudding as seen below:

Spread the sauce evenly all over the pudding, and then, cut them into pieces. Your soft, moist, and yummy Papaya Pudding with Chocolate Sauce is ready to be served.

Ginger-Garlic Fish

Heeellloooo,

Despite being a Bong, I'm not a big fan of fish. So that day, I was just thinking that I should try to make something with the fish which I'd really like. Then I thought since I'm a big fan of Indo-Chinese cuisines, why don't I give it a Chinese flavor, with of course, a bit of my personal touch. I prepared something that was in between "Fish Manchurian' and 'Chili Fish'. And yes, I added a tbsp of roasted sesame seeds to give it an extra taste and flavor. And since I used a lot of ginger and garlic, I decided to name it "GINGER-GARLIC FISH". So, here comes the recipe. And for all those who are big fish-fans and non-fish fans, I'm sure you will love this. It's simple, and can be prepared in half an hour.

Ingredients:

6-7 small pieces of Rohu fish, 1 inch Ginger, 1 tsp Ginger paste, 6 cloves of Garlic, 1 bunch Spring Onion, paste of 1 large Onion, paste of 1 large Tomato, 1 tsp Cinnamon powder, 1 tbsp roasted Sesame seeds, 1 tbsp Corn-flour, 2 tbsp Soy sauce, 2 tsp Vinegar, 1 tbsp Chili-Garlic sauce, 2 pinches of Ajinomoto, 2 tsp Red Chili powder, 1 tsp Sugar, a bunch of fresh Coriander, Refined oil, Salt to taste.

Procedure:

Chop ginger, garlic and spring onion. Wash the fish pieces and smear them with salt. Heat 3 tbsp oil on a pan and lightly fry the fish until soft golden. Let the fish cool down, and then carefully separate all the bones from the fish. Now mash the fish. Add corn-flour and cinnamon powder and mix. Now make small balls of the mixture. 6-7 small pieces of fish will make 10-12 balls. Deep fry them on medium flame, until they are golden brown. Next, heat 2-3 tbsp oil on a pan. Add the onion paste, and fry until it turns softly golden. Add ginger paste, chopped ginger, garlic and spring onion, and fry for around a minute. Now, pour in the tomato puree and salt, and cook for another 30 seconds. Add soy sauce, vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, ajinomoto and red chili powder, and mix them properly. Finally, add the roasted sesame seeds. Stir for a minute. And then add 2 cups of water, bringing it to a full boil on high flame. Once the curry comes to a boil, drop in the fish balls and 1 tsp sugar. Cook for not more than a minute. Otherwise, the balls would become too soft. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

ALOO DUM (a thick Potato curry)

Hellloooo,

One of the traditional and favorite Bengali recipes is Aloo Dum. No doubt that it's a favorite in my house as well. today, while my mom made chapatis for breakfast, I wanted to have aloo dum with it. But then, my mom had strict instructions not to use ginger, garlic and garam masala, and rather keep it light and less oily because of her indigestion issues. So, there I was, left with a challenge, to prepare Aloo Dum without onion, garlic and garam masala. In short, I had to prepare the curry without it's important ingredients. But tell you what, I felt so good when I saw my mom and dad relishing the aloo dum I prepared. How did I prepare? Well, here's how:

Ingredients:

4 medium size Potatoes, 1 tbsp White Sesame seeds, 1 tsp Ginger paste, Puree of 1 medium size Tomato, 2 tsp Fennel seeds (saunf), 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1 tsp Coriander powder, 1 tsp Red Chili powder, 2-2 Green Chilies, 2-3 dry Red Chili, 3 Bay leaves, 3 tbsp Mustard oil, 1 tsp Turmeric powder, ½ tsp Sugar, Salt to taste, 3 cups warm Water, a dollop of fresh Cream for garnishing.

Procedure:

Peel and wash the potatoes, and cut them into equal halves. Roast the sesame seeds on low flame, making sure it doesn't burn. When it starts releasing a nice aroma, bring it off the flame. In a blender, drop the roasted sesame seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds, green chilies and a little water; and blend them to a fine paste. Now heat oil on a pan. Add the bay leaves and dry red chilies. Once the chilies start turning brown, add cumin seeds and 1 tsp fennel seeds. Wait for 5 seconds, and then add the potatoes. Sprinkle salt and turmeric powder, and mix well. Now cover the lid and allow the potatoes to cook on medium flame. Check if the potatoes have grown tender. Then add the tomato puree, ginger paste, coriander powder, red chili powder, and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Finally add the sesame-fennel paste and mix properly. Add 3 cups warm water and ½ tsp sugar. Cover the lid and cook on medium heat until the curry thickens. Garnish with a dollop of fresh cream.

FIRNI SUNDAE

Helllooo,

Well friends, I've already told you how much I'm in love with the mangoes. And since it's summer-time, I thought, why not make a maximum utility of the juicy mangoes by preparing a chilled dessert. But the, mango sundaes, mango ice-creams and even mango puddings are pretty common. Then, an idea hit my mind. I decided to prepare the Indian delicacy 'firni', which is almost the same as 'kheer', with the only difference that the rice is ground here instead of using whole rice. And then, I gave it a mango and creamy and chocolaty twist. This dessert is rich, sumptuous, with outburst of multiple flavors  And I can assure you, this, can never go wrong.

Ingredients:

For the Jelly: Pulp of 1 Ripe Mango, 1 tsp Gelatin, 2 tbsp Sugar, 1/4^th cup Hot Water.

For the Firni: 1/4^th cup Joha Rice, 1 tbsp paste of Mint, 1 tsp Cardamom powder, 6 cup Milk, 4 tbsp Sugar, 1 tbsp Ghee.

 For the Topping: ½ cup fresh Cream, 10-12 Cashew nuts, 1 tbsp Sugar,  few Rose petals, 2 tbsp Rum, 1 tbsp Drinking Chocolate.

For Garnishing: Cherries.

Procedure:

We shall start by boiling the milk till it thickens and reduces to three cups.

While the milk boils, we shall begin our jelly preparation. Blend the mango pulp together with the sugar. Place a pan on flame and pour in the mango pulp. Keep stirring. Meanwhile dissolve gelatin in hot water and pour it on the pan. Mix it with mild hands. Keep the serving cups glasses ready. Pour the mango mixture carefully into the glasses and refrigerate it till it sets.

Now, moving on to our key layer, i.e. the ‘Firni’ coarsely grind the joha rice. If joha rice isn't locally available, basmati rice or any other aromatic rice will do. Heat ghee on a pan and fry the rice in ghee until it becomes mildly golden. Meanwhile, keep aside ½ cup from the reduced milk, and add the fried rice into the remaining 2 ½ cups of milk. Cook on low flame till the rice becomes tender. Once you are sure that the rice is properly cooked, add sugar and cardamom powder, and stir well. Finally add the mint paste, and allow the mixture to cool. The rice would soak in the extra bit of milk, if any; and you will be left with something like a soft, but thick paste. This is your ‘firni’. Finally, place it into the refrigerator.

Coming to our final layer, blend together, cashew nuts, rose-petals and sugar into a fine paste. Pour fresh cream over this paste and mix it thoroughly. Finally pour in the rum and keep the mixture in the freezer for minimum 45 min. This will be our ice-cream

Now take out the glasses from the refrigerator wherein we’d earlier poured the mango pulp. The mango jelly is set. Take 2 tbsp of the firni and spread it evenly on each of the glasses. Next, drop 1 tbsp ice-cream into each glass. Place the glasses back into the refrigerator.

While serving, heat the ½ cup of milk earlier kept aside. Add the drinking chocolate. And pour this hot chocolate sauce over the ice-cream, with a cherry on top. Your FIRNI SUNDAE is ready that has mint, cardamom, mango, chocolate and rum to simply blow away your senses. Give it a shot, and you will surely love it.

BHARVA BAINGAN (Stuffed Thai Eggplants)

Hellooo Friends,

It was my mom's birthday yesterday. Had a few guests at home for lunch. Was just wondering how do I set the menu. I'am a Bong, but I didn't wish to have a typical Bengali menu, because of the obvious reason that I wished to break free from monotony. I think it happens often, especially in India, that our guests are left without any excitement about the kind of food we would serve them, because the menu becomes so predictable, sticking to our respective regional cuisines.. As such I wished to try something different. And amongst all that I prepared, BHARVA BAINGAN, or stuffed eggplant curry became a surprising hit. Of course, I didn't follow any set recipe. And instead of the traditional baby eggplants used in this recipe, I used the skinny Thai eggplants, & made a curry instead of keeping it dry, since I knew my guests love curries. So friends, here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

7 skinny Thai Eggplants, 2 medium Potatoes, ½ tsp Carom seeds, ½ tsp Cumin seeds, ½ tsp Coriander seeds,1/2 tsp Fennel seeds, 2 cloves of Garlic, 1 tsp Garam masala powder (a mix of large cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper & nutmeg), 1 tsp Dried Mango powder (amchur powder)4-5 tbsp Chickpea Flour, 1 bunch of fresh Coriander, paste of 1 medium Onion, puree of 1 medium Tomato, Paste of 3 Green Chilies, 1 tsp Red chili powder, 1 tsp Turmeric powder, Refined oil, Salt to taste.

Procedure:

Boil the potatoes & mash them. Roast together garlic, coriander, cumin, fennel & carom seeds in low flame. Be careful not to burn them. Keep stirring continuously. When they start releasing the aroma, take them off the flame & grind into a fine powder. Add this aromatic powder into the mashed potatoes, along with amchur powder, salt & ½ tsp red chili powder. Mix it properly. Keep 1/4^th cup of this mixture aside, & the rest we shall use for the eggplant stuffing. Slit the skinny Thai eggplants lengthwise, leaving just 1 ½ or 2 cm uncut at the bottom. Now stuff the eggplants with little portions of the potato mixture. Meanwhile, add enough water to the chickpea flour to make a thick batter. Add salt & turmeric powder, & mix well. This will be our coating for the stuffed eggplants. Now smear the eggplants with this batter. Take special care to cover the slit parts of the eggplants with extra batter so that the stuffing doesn't come out while deep frying. Next, heat oil in a deep frying pan. Drop in the eggplants, maximum three at a time. Fry in low flame. Otherwise, the coating will get burnt, but the eggplants won’t be cooked properly. Now for the curry, heat 3 tbsp oil. Add ½ tsp cumin seeds & ½ tsp fennel seeds. When the seeds begin to splutter, pour in the onion paste & fry till golden. Add tomato puree, turmeric powder, chili paste, red chili powder, salt & 1/4^th cup of the potato mixture that we kept aside earlier. Fry for another 1 minute. Finally pour 5 cups of water & bring to a boil. When the curry comes to a boil, add the garam masala powder. Finally, carefully drop in the stuffed eggplants. Cook for not more than 1 minute. Or else the eggplants might become too soft & break. Garnish with fresh coriander. This recipe tastes best with plain steamed rice.