It was Friday (not the 13th) but 14th Jan :) and i was invited for my friend cum neighbor Rhonda's birthday party. Everyone who was invited was getting something to eat and as Rhonda loves Indian cuisine i thought of making chicken tikka and believe me everyone just loved it..... There was lots of food including Apple pie, wheat salad, crackers, pumpkin pie, lentils & kielbasa stew, chips and not to forget the birthday cake... and ofcourse my chicken tikka :)
Ingredients:
Chicken Marinade-
1.5 lbs - Chicken (make medium size pieces)
3 tbspns - Dahi (plain yoghurt)
2 tspns - Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tspn - Red chilli powder (can add more if you are a spicy eater)
salt - as per taste
1 tspn - turmeric powder
1-2 tspns - Tandoori Chicken masala (can add more if you are a spicy eater)
Other-
8-10 wooden skewers (dip them in water atleast 1 hour before grilling)
Flat pan for grilling / baking
Method:
1] In a container, mix all the ingredients mentioned under Chicken marinade and set aside for 3-4 hrs.
2] Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F
3] Arrange marinated chicken pieces on the skewers and place them on the Flat baking pan. Bake for 12-15 mins or till the chicken is tender and turns golden brown.
4] Broil for 3-5 mins. Turn the skewers so all sides of chicken are broiled.
5] Enjoy these tikkas with Mint chutney/dip
Mint chutney recipe:
Ingredients:
4-5 tbspns - Plain Yoghurt (Dahi)
2-3 tspns - Mint concentrate (easily available in Indian stores)
Salt - as per taste
1 tspn - Sugar
1/2 tspn - Chat masala
Method:
1] Mix all the ingredients in a container and your Mint Chutney / Dip is ready
Enjoy this recipe as appetizer or hog them and skip a meal.
I haven't seen anyone who doesn't like his mom's food... we are brought up with those aromas and learn to love them with a dash of mum's love.... My mom is a very good cook though if told to her she will not acknowledge.... but according to me she certainly is and her best dish is Chicken curry... me and my brother use to hog when mum use to make this dish. It use to be planned well in advance and generally on Sundays. My mom is a doctor but a teacher in medical college and use to be very busy on weekdays.... So sunday use to be our feast and we were never bored of her chicken curry... i miss those sundays but she still makes it for my brother and dad and i'm so jealous of that fact....Even if Gordon ramsay cooks chicken curry for me - that won't be special the way my mom's chicken curry is to me.. nobody on this earth can match it.... That's the bonding i guess but i truly believe in this :)
I still remember when i was studying Engineering i had few friends from Delhi who use to be home-sick and use to crave for home-made food....so i use to request my mom to cook some extra chicken for them.... I use to take a big container of chicken for my dear friends... it use to be fun watching them fight over it... they use to bunk classes to eat it as if it stays in the classroom everyone will be after it .... One of my very good friend Jaspal use to take it to hostel giving a reason that he is just dumping the box and coming back...but infact he use to go and finish it off completely :D :D and my other friend Vishnu always use to be the one who use to satisfy his craving by licking the sides of the container as he never use to bunk..... Ahhh !!! i miss them :)
and i miss my mum's chicken curry so i try to make it whenever i can ... but i can't match her taste to be frank ... but here is the recipe which she keeps telling me....
I made this for the New year potluck party this time and many liked it ...
Here goes the recipe -
Ingredients:
Chicken marinade-
2 lbs - Chicken
2 tbspn - Plain Yoghurt
1 tspn - Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tspn - Turmeric powder
2 tspn - Tandoori chicken masala
1/2 tspn - salt
Gravy -
3 - White Onions - large size ( If you are in India then you might require 6-7 onions as size is comparatively small) - cut into large pieces
1 - Tomato - cut into large pieces
Fenugreek leaves ("Methi") - handful
Coriander leaves - handful
5 tbspn - Oil
1 tspn - Ginger-garlic paste
1 tspn - turmeric powder
2 tspn - Tandoori chicken masala
2 tspn - Red chilli powder
Salt as per taste
1/4 cup - milk cream or butter
Garam Masala mixture-
1 tspn - Coriander seeds
2-3 - Black pepper
1-2 - Bay leaves
1-2 - Star anise
1-2 - Cloves
1-2 - Cinnamon
1-2 - Elaichi
1 tspn - Cumin seeds
Method:
Chicken Marinade-
1] In a container, Add chicken pieces, yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, tandoori chicken masala and salt.
2] Mix well and keep it aside for atleast 3 hrs. You can also keep it overnight in refrigerator.
Gravy-
1] In a mixer, add onions, fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves. Chop them fine like a paste by adding very less water. This will look slightly green.
2] In a pan add oil. Add Garam masala mixture and saute for half a min. To this add the Ginger-Garlic paste and Onion paste. Cook the onions till it starts leaving oil. This may take lot of time but believe me its worth the taste.
3] Make tomato puree in mixer and add to the pan. Let it cook for 10 mins. You will see the paste and oil is separated nicely. This is a indication of cooked paste.
4] Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and tandoori chicken masala and saute for a min.
5] Add marinated chicken to this. Close the lid and let it cook for 10 mins. You will notice chicken starts leaving water and becomes tender. Don't add water it spoils the taste. Let it cook in masala till chicken is soft and tender.
6] Add milk cream or butter and let it simmer for another 5 mins. If you think gravy is too thick then add some Hot water. Taste it. Add extra salt or red chilli powder if you are a spicy eater.
7] Let this simmer for 10 mins and your chicken curry is ready. Garnish with Coriander leaves.
Enjoy this with hot parathas or rotis or rice.
My family loves Mexican food ... we had been to one of our fav Mexican joint here "Sol Azteca" .... and my fav is Spinach Quesadillas ...
I have this habit of analysing the ingredients while eating..... i'm not a food critic but i like guessing ingredients while eating - that helps me in not referring to the recipes when i cook.... So last time when i was enjoying my Spinach Quesadillas my mind was working on what all has gone inside .. i opened it couple of times to see what's in there - thats stupid to do i know but i desperately wanted to know what am i eating..... so i can cook at home.... and i was successful ... its easy !!!
Every 2 weeks we have started visiting Farmers market in Raleigh with one of our friends... I love going there as it gives me a feeling of "sabji-mandi" in India... except you get different variety of vegetables and the ones which are common between India and US - sizes here are larger.... Farmers market has all the organic vegetables and fruits at a reasonable price which kind of attracts me....So when we went there this time .... i couldn't go and buy the vegetables as my lil one was in deep sleep in his car seat... kids look so sweet when they sleep and i didn't want to wake him up... so asked Aditya to go and buy..... When he was back he happily showed me 3lbs of Spinach... and i was wondering what am i gonna do with so much Spinach... we love spinach but 3 lbs is way too extra.... but i figured out a way to store them fresh in my freezer so they last long.... that gives me a chance of having a Spinach week... So i made my fav Spinach Quesadillas.... and we loved it....
Ingredients:
2 cups - Spinach leaves - chopped
1/2 cup - Corn kernels (frozen)
1/4 cup - Onions - chopped
1 tspn - Oil
1 tspn - Chilli flakes
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup - Mozarella cheese ( less or more, the way u want)
2 - Soft Tacos - readily available in market, i generally buy whole wheat ( if you are unable to find these, just make thin whole wheat chapatis)
Method:
1] In a pan add oil. To this add Onion and let it cook. Add Spinach leaves and corn.
Close the lid and let the Spinach cook.
2] Add salt, chilli flakes to the mixture and let it cook without lid so the water in the Spinach is evaporated. Once cooked keep aside.
3] Take a pan and let one side of taco cook. Turn it and now place the above Spinach mixture in one half of it. Sprinkle some cheese.Then fold the Taco as shown in the pic above.
4] Let the Taco cook and be crispy. Turn the side of the Taco and let it become Crispy.
Enjoy it !!!!
Its very easy to make and tastes amazing.
Chinese bole to manchurian !!! I had been to "Around the world market" (indian store here) where i picked up Ching's Manchurian sauce and luckily i had most of the vegetables needed for it.. so thought of giving it a try and came out pretty well.. This dish compliments very well with steamed rice...
Ingredients:
2-3 tbspn - Ching's Manchurian sauce (can be found easily in any indian store)
1/2 cup - water
1 - capsicum - chopped
2 - carrots - chopped
1 cup - Cabbage - finely chopped
1 tbspn - Ginger - peeled and chopped
1/4 cup - corn kernels
1 cup - Spring onions (green onions) - chopped
salt as per taste
1 tspn - Olive oil
Method:
1] In a pan, add Olive oil. To this add all the veggies. Saute them nicely for a min.
2] Add Manchurian sauce and water to this. Add salt.
3] Close the lid and let it cook for 5 mins or till the veggies are cooked. If needed, add more water.
Enjoy this with hot steamed rice.. it tastes amazing!!!
I was going through Meeta's food blog and saw a very nice recipe for breakfast. As i finished reading it i knew Aditya will love it as he is a big fan of Eggs. I didn't make the exact recipe but i added some personal touch to it by adding different ingredients. But i would deeply thank Meeta for inspiring me :)
Weekend mornings are always the lazy ones in my family. We all start our day by 10am in the morning... my lil one will also co-operate on getting up late on weekends ... thank god !!! So i generally try to make something heavy for breakfast (well i should rather call it Brunch) so i can take a break from making lunch :D
So here it goes Sandwich french toast....
Ingredients:
4 - slices of bread
2 - Eggs
Any Bread spread ( i had my Cranberry marmalade and Nutella)
a pinch of salt or sugar
1 tbspn butter
Method:
1] Apply your fav spread on the bread and make sandwich. Cut them diagonally so you get 4 triangles.
2] Beat the eggs. Add sugar if your spread is sweet or Add salt if your spread is not-sweet. Beat the eggs nicely.
3] Take a shallow dish and keep 4 triangles on them. Pour the egg mixture so the bread is thinly covered with egg mixture. Keep them for half an hour.
4] Later, take a pan and add roll the butter evenly onto it. Place the triangle and let it cook. Turn the triangle and let the other side cook properly. Repeat this for all the 4 triangles and your breakfast is ready.
This is a very very simple dish and can be made as per your creativity. So go ahead add whatever you want in between the bread and make french toast. Aditya (my hubby) just loved them.....It is a heavy breakfast so your family won't bother you for 2-3 hrs :) :)
try it out!!!
When i was a kid me and my brother use to love Jim-Jam cookies .. i think all kids love those cookies.... Recently i had made Cranberry marmalade and i thought of trying my hands on Jim-Jam cookies using it. For the recipe of Cranberry marmalade click here
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup - All purpose flour / Wheat flour ( i used wheat flour to give healthy touch)
1/2 cup - melted butter ( you can use more butter instead of milk)
1/2 cup - Sugar
2 tbspn - cocoa powder
2-3 tbspn - Cranberry marmalade (check the link for recipe above)
2 tbspn - cold milk
a pinch of salt
2 - Egg yolks beaten
1 tspn - baking powder
1 tbspn - powdered sugar
Method:
1] Separate the egg yolks, add sugar and butter. Beat and Keep aside.
2] Mix All-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt in a container. Add egg mixture to this and start kneading. Add milk as required to make a soft dough.
3] Knead till dough becomes soft and make small balls from it.
4] Make a well in each ball with your finger and add Cranberry marmalade in that with a small spoon.
5] Arrange the cookies at a distance of 1-2 inch on a cookie sheet or any flat baking pan.
6] Pre-heat the oven at 375 degree F and bake the cookies for 10-12 mins. Cookies are done if the botton becomes brown.
7] Once out of the oven, sprinkle powdered sugar on them. They look lovely !
Enjoy these cookies with a Jam in it :)
We are enjoying these cookies with Tea/Coffee or just like that....
I always had this urge of buying fresh cranberries from market and i did it last week without knowing how they taste. First thing i did after dinner was to wash cranberries and taste them... and i had this big sour face :D i never thought they would be so sour. I realised i have always had sun-dried cranberries and they are sweet so that means it has loads and loads of sugar and that's against my eating habits.... I'm a person who hates sweet / extra sweet... i can only eat light sweet else everything is a poison for me ... i lack that sweet touth but that's just me... my hubby is exactly opposite - he loves anything which is sweet.. anyways back to cranberries... so once i tasted them i decided no one in the family will eat this sour...not even me..they exceeded my tolerance of eating sour too... so decided to make a Cranberry sauce /Chutney / marmalade and it came out pretty well... so here it goes... you can enjoy it with Bread as a "Spread" or with Chips as a "dip" or with a roti as a "jam"... try your own way of eating this... and enjoy the sweet n sour taste of it :)
Ingredients:
Fresh Cranberries - 1 small packet ( generally its a 1lb packet)
Apple - 1 - peeled, cored and chopped
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1 cup
Cinnamom - 1 stick
Cloves - 1 or 2
Method:
1] In a pan, add water, sugar, cloves and cinnamom. bring it to boil.
2] Add Cranberries and apple and cover the pan with lid.
3] Let it boil for 10-15 mins and check if its cooked. If not, boil for some more time. The mixture should look like a paste, if it doesn't then try to mash apple cubes and cranberries with a spoon and let it cook for 5 mins.
4] Cool the mixture and pour in a jar / container. Refrigerate it once its cooled.
That's it - its simple... just assemble all the ingredients, mix them and boil them and u get a nice sweet n sour sauce which can be used in multiple ways. Well i have used it in various ways but will post about them here later... Till then Enjoy !!!!
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