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.