Chicken curry with Apricots

 

A few weeks back I came across this wonderful Chicken recipe in a magazine.The recipe was a mix of Indian  curry sauce and Mediterranean dried Apricots. It is a very easy to prepare dish and it requires no marination. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about trying the dish, as the very thought of adding dry fruits to a curry sauce was little daunting, but since I was in a mood of trying something new I gave it a shot and it turned out very nice.It has a little tangy & sweet taste to it and it went very well with steamed rice.So here is the recipe.

Ingredients

12 dried Apricots

1/2 Kg Chicken pieces leg and thigh pieces preferred

1 tablespoon ghee

2 onions finely chopped

3 large tomatoes chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

3 garlic cloves crushed

2 green chillies seeded and finely chopped (adjust according to taste)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder

black pepper

4 cardamom pods crushed

Oil for cooking

Method-

1.Soak the dried apricots in hot water (about 250ml)for 1 hour

2.Clean the chicken and rub salt and black pepper.Melt the ghee in a saucepan, add the chicken in batches and cook over high heat for 5-6 minutes or until browned.Remove from the pan.

3.Add some oil to the same pan if required ,add cumin seeds and then put the chopped onions and cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until soft and golden.

4.Add the grated ginger,garlic, green chillies and cook, stirring for 2minutes.Stir in chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin-coriander powder and cook for a further 1 minute.

5.Now add the chopped tomatoes and crushed cardamom pods,return the chicken to the pan.Chop the apricots into bit size pieces and transfer the liquid and apricots to the pan and mix well.

6.Simmer,covered, for 35 minutes or until chicken is tender and the tomatoes are cooked and mashed.

7.Remove the chicken and keep on a plate.Bring the curry sauce to the boil and boil rapidly,uncovered,for 5 minutes till it has thickened a little,Return the chicken back in the pan and remove from gas.

Serve with white steamed rice.

Chicken & Vegetables in Creamy Mustard Sauce

 

A few weeks back we had some guests for dinner.I knew that they are not used to eating spicy food so I had to come up with some dish with no spice in it. Preparing an Indian dish with no spice is difficult, so I ventured into the world of western cooking.After going through a lot of cook books  I came up with a dish which is a combination of 2 main dishes baked chicken and sauteed Vegetables.I used vegetables and chicken together and prepared sort of a one pot meal.It has some cream and cheese in it so those on diet can use little portions of cheese and cream.

Ingredients-

Chicken Thigh fillets- 8 pieces 

1 onion - Sliced

1 Tomato- Sliced

6-8 Button mushrooms- Sliced lengthwise

10-12 Green beans/French beans- Cut lengthwise

250gm Baby Spinach-Roughly Chopped

Chicken /Vegetable stock- 1 cup

2-3 cloves garlic - finely chopped

1tsp garlic paste

2-3 tbsps Honey

Worcestershire Sauce- 2 tsps

1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder

3 tbsp- Butter

Cooking Cream -200ml

2 tbsps Wholegrain Mustard paste

1/2 cup shredded cheese

1/2 tsp Black pepper powder

Olive oil 

Method-

1. Place chicken pieces in a bowl and add 1tsp garlic paste, 1/4tsp black pepper powder, 1tsp honey, 

2tsps Worcestershire sauce, 1tsp butter,4tsps olive-oil &salt mix well and marinate for 2 hrs.

2. Roughly chop all vegetables lengthwise. In a frying pan add 2tsps olive oil when hot add ½tsp chopped garlic & saute for 1 min. Now add onions and saute till raw smell goes away. Add the tomatoes, mushroom and green beans  & ½ cup of the stock, mix well and cook for 5 minutes or till half done.

3. Now add 2tbsps wholegrain mustard sauce and cooking cream and mix well.  

4.Add a  pinch of nutmeg powder, black pepper powder & finally add the chopped spinach and let it simmer for 2 minutes and remove from gas.(Add salt if required as the stock already has salt)

5.Add around 3-4 tbsp of olive oil to the frying pan when hot add the marinated chicken pieces and fry for 5-6 minutes till 3/4th done.Remove and keep aside.

6.Now brush some olive oil to a baking tray. Place the fried chicken pieces along with all the juices in the tray. Add the sautéed vegetables to tray along with the sauce. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of the stock, shredded cheese and season with black pepper powder and nutmeg powder.

7. Bake in the oven at 200deg C for 25-30 mins.Let it sit for 10mins before serving.

 You can serve this with Salad .I served it with white jasmine  rice and it tasted very nice.

 

A taste of Asia-Thai Red curry, Thai Style Cucumber Salad & Steamed Rice

My experience with Thai Food started during our stay in Singapore.With loads of Thai restaurants and Thai Food stalls to try I used to eat my heart out. It was during this time that I developed my taste and liking for Thai food. After reading a few recipes and food blogs on the internet, I realized that making Thai food is really easy and quick. In Singapore the supermarkets had a variety of ready made Thai pastes available.You just needed to add vegetables, meat and coconut milk and it was ready to eat. When we moved to Australia I did not have lot of choices in readymade Thai curry paste (I needed to buy one without shrimp paste and fish sauce), but still  managed to find some.But as luck would have it, a few weeks back  I was watching a food  show by Jamie Oliver and he showed how to make Thai Red curry pasted at home.It was an easy recipe and I decided to try it.Along with that he also showed a very nice Thai style Cucumber salad.I tried both these recipes and it tasted very nice.So here I am sharing this recipe of Thai Red curry and Cucumber Salad.

Thai Red Curry:
Ingredients for the paste
Garlic 2 cloves
Ginger 1" piece (If you are able to get Galangal better)
Lemon grass 1 stick chopped (This is an important ingredient)
Tomato paste 1 big tablespoon
Roasted red pepper - 6 pieces (I used the one you get in Cans)
Coriander a bunch
Red chillies - 2 (adjust according to your spice level)
Kaffir Lime leaves 6 (This is an important ingredient)
Soy Sauce 1 tsp
Veg Oyster Sauce 1 tsp
Oil
Mix all the above ingredients in a food processor and make a paste.You can also store this paste in the fridge for upto 15days.

Ingredients Thai Red curry 
Chicken pieces 250gm - Marinate chicken with some of the paste and keep aside (for those making veg version skip this)
Carrots diced  1/2 cup
Eggplant dice 4-5 pieces
Onion diced 1/2 cup 
(You can add any veg like Broccoli, snow peas)
Coconut milk 1 can
Red curry paste 2 tbsp
Oil (Sesame oil if available)
Garlic chopped 1/2 tsp
Coriander for garnishing

Method
1. In a wok heat some oil , when hot add chopped garlic and saute for a minute. Add the eggplant , carrot , onions and marinated chicken and saute till half cooked.This should take around 3-4 mins.
2. Now add the Red curry paste and mix well. Sprinkle some water and cook .
3. Now add the coconut milk and let it cook on medium heat till veges and chicken is done.
4. Add salt mix well and garnish with coriander.
It may not be the most authentic Thai curry but I still liked it

Thai style Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Cucumber 1
Lime juice 2 tbsp
Seasme oil 1 tbsp
Soy sauce 1 tbsp
Oyster Sauce 1 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp
Coriander chopped a bunch
Red chillies deseeded and finely chopped  1
Peanut crushed 1 tbsp
Salt
Method-
1. For dressing - In a bowl mix all the ingredient from Lime Juice to Gingergarlic paste and keep aside.
2.Now take the cucumber peel of the skin .Now keep peeling the cucumber till you reach the center part.You will get thin shaved cucumber pieces.Assemble this in a bowl.
3. Now add salt, chopped coriander, the dressing, some of the crushed peanuts.Mix well.Garnish with crushed peanuts and red chillies and serve.
 Prepare the Salad fresh and serve otherwise it can get soggy. You can keep the dressing prepared and mix only when serving.
I served the Thai curry with steamed Jasmine rice and a side of Cucumber Salad.

Chicken Lollipop/Fried Chicken drumletts/Drum of Heaven

"Chicken Lollipop" or fried Chicken Drumletts is a very popular dish served as a starter in Indian Chinese restaurants in India.In some restaurants  for some reason it is also called as " Drums of heaven" .When we went to any Chinese restaurants in India it was one of the must have starters . Nowdays it is even served at parties as finger food and its popularity is just growing.
The Chicken drumletts are marinated using a mix of Indian and Chinese sauces it is then coated in a spicy red batter and then deep fried.It is served with a spicy schezwan sauce.A few weeks back I had made these batter fried chicken drumletts at home.I used some ingredients which i saw in a few recipes online.It turned out to be very tasty and hubby has asked me to make it often.For this i used the chicken drumletts that is the smaller version on drumsticks.Drumsticks can be too big and thick so better to use drumletts or wingletts
Ingredients-
Marinate-
Chicken Drumletts- 8 pieces
Garlic pods -15pieces
Ginger- 2 inch
Chilli sauce- 1 tbsp
Soy sauce 1/2 tbsp
Tomato sauce - 1tbsp
Black pepper powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt
Red food color
For Batter
Cornstarch/Cornflour- 4 tbsp
All purpose flour/Maida- 2 tbsp
Oil for frying

Method-
1. Clean the chicken and rub some salt and black pepper and keep aside.
2. Make paste of garlic and ginger. Keep 1/4 th aside and use remaining for marination
3. In a mixing bowl take the chicken and add ginger garlic paste, Red chilli sauce, soy sauce, tomato ketchup and red color and mix well.Coat the chicken in this marinate and keep it aside for 3 hrs minimum.
4. When ready to fry make the batter.In a bowl mix cornflour, Maida , red color and the remaining ginger garlic paste.Add little salt and red color.Add water to have semi thick consistency.
5. In a frying pan take oil . Take the marinated chicken and dip in the batter to coat and fry in hot oil.
6. Fry for around 3-5 mins on medium heat or till chicken is done.Remove and drain on tissue paper.
Take some aluminum foil and wrap it around the leg part.Serve hot with sauce.

Chicken in yogurt curry

Yesterday was a Friday and it means start of the weekend, so I generally like to cook some nice non- veg dish for dinner.Most of the time I make some chicken dish.Yesterday since morning I was wondering what type of chicken to make ,was tired of the same old chicken curry with Garam Masala so went on the net and after going through a lot of chicken recipes just came up with this Chicken dish which is a mixture of 2-3 different preparations.The dish turned out to be good . So here goes the recipe hope you guys like it.

Ingredients
Chicken breast pieces cut in 2-3inch around 10-15 pieces
Ginger-garlic-mint leaves -make a fine paste 2-3 tbsp
lemon juice 1-2 tsp
red chilli powder -1/2 tsp
tumeric powder- a pinch
black pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Onion 1 thinly sliced
tomatoes 1 chopped fine or you can use tomato paste
yogurt 1cup beaten
curry leaves
mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
corinder leaves
mint leaves
oil 2-3 tsp

Method-
1.Wash the chicken and add the ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, tumeric powder, black pepper powder,little oil and salt .
2.Marinate the chicken with this and keep in fridge for 3-4hrs.
3.Grill this chicken in oven for 20-25mins at a temp of 225deg or till chicken is soft.You can even fry it in oil if you want,but i prefer to grill it.
4. When the chicken is just about ready we can start making the dry curry paste.
5.In a vessel heat about 1-2 tbsp oil and heat .
6. When the oil becomes hot add mustard seed and curry leaves and cook for few secs till you get nice smell of curry leaves .
7. Now add sliced onion and cook on medium flame for 10-15mins or till onion turn brown.
8.Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till well done or oil starts to separate.
9.Now add the beaten yogurt and cook for 5 mins.
10.Finally add the grilled chicken and mix to coat the chicken with the mixture and let it cook on low flame for 10 mins.
11.Finally add chopped coriander .
12. Serve hot with steamed rice.
You can make this dish more spicy by adding black pepper powder to the yogurt mixture.

Indian style grilled chicken with Potato-Spinach casserole

It was a warm Thanksgiving day in Singapore and since we had just moved from the USA I missed the thanksgiving dinner, so thought of preparing one at Singapore.Personally I do not like turkey so I prepared the thanksgiving meal with chicken with little Indian taste to it. I happened to visit our wet market where we get all fresh sea food and meat items and bought a few chicken leg pieces .This one was the whole leg piece with the thigh still joined to the drumstick.So here goes the recipe
Ingredients
Chicken leg pieces -4
Garlic 8-10pods
ginger 1-2inch
yogurt -1/2 cup
lemon juice 1-2 tsp
red chilli powder
shaan Chicken barbeque masala
cumin-coriander powder
coriander leaves
mint leaves
oil 1-2tsp
Method-
1.Make a fine paste of garlic, ginger, coriander leaves and mint leaves.
2.Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, salt, oil, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, red chilli powder, shan masala and cumin-coriander powder.
3.Mix everything and cover the chicken leg pieces with this mixture and keep in fridge overnight or minimum 2-3 hrs.
4.Heat up the oven and place the marinated pieces in oven on a temp of 225C for about 30-40 mins 5.Halfway through remove the chicken and turn and grill again till done.
6.Garnish with chopped coriander or mint leaves and serve hot with onion slices and lemon.
We had this with a nice Cesar Salad and baked potato spinach casserole and nice Red wine.

Baked Potato Spinach Casserole
Ingredients
Potatoes 3 boiled and coarsely mashed
Spinach 1 bunch
Sour cream 2-3 tbsp
Onion 1 thinly slices
Garlic clove1 chopped
Black pepper powder
Shredded cheese
Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp
Olive Oil
Method:
1. In a vessel heat 1 tbsp olive oil.
2.When hot add chopped garlic and sliced onions and saute for a minute
3.Blanch spinach in boiling water for 2 mins , drain and roughly chop the spinach.
4.Add the chopped spinach to the onion and saute for 2 min.Remove from gas.
5.Add little salt and black pepper powder.
6.Now add the roughly mashed boiled potatoes to the spinach and onion and mix well.
7. Now add the sour cream and Worcestershire sauce sauce mix well.
8.Now in a baking pan put this mixture cover with shredded cheese and season with black pepper and bake for  25-30 mins or till done.
I served this as a side with my grilled chicken.