Chicken Fried Rice with Chilli Chicken

Chilli Chicken – Homestyle version. No added food color and ajinomotto (MSG).

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the chicken:

300 g boneless chicken, cut into 1- inch pieces (preferably boneless chicken from leg joint. This portion is very soft in texture. Collect  chicken leg bones separately from butcher. Approximately 500 g chicken required for 300 g boneless chicken. Remaining will be bones. Reserve bones for chicken stock).

1 egg, beat well

1 tablespoon corn flour

1 tablespoon all purpose flour (maida)

1 teaspoon ginger juice (grate 1 tablespoon fresh ginger. Tie in clean muslin cloth and squeeze out juice. If this step is  difficult, use half teaspoon thick  ginger – garlic paste).

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper powder

250 g oil (to deep fry  chicken)

Method

Wash and clean chicken pieces. Drain out water thoroughly. Wipe boneless  chicken with a clean and soft kitchen towel. In  a bowl, mix chicken pieces with beaten egg, corn flour, all purpose flour, ginger juice or ginger – garlic paste, pepper  and salt. Cover and keep aside in refrigerator for half an hour.

Heat oil in a pan / karahi on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and deep fry chicken until golden color. 8 – 10 pieces at a time. Drain out from the oil and place on kitchen towel to absorb extra oil.

For the chicken stock:

In a pressure cooker, boil  175 – 200 g chicken bones with  1 ¼ cup water (1/2  - inch level  above chicken), ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder. Pressure cook for 3 quick whistles. Allow the cooker to cool naturally. Strain chicken stock with the help of a fine sieve. Chicken stock will  be 1 cup.

For chilli chicken:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, cut into ½ - inch cubes, separate each layer

2 green chillies,  finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 capsicum, remove seeds and cut into ½ - inch cubes

1 tablespoon  + 1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce (Hoisin sauce easily available @ all leading super markets)

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon corn flour (Dilute corn flour in 50 ml water and make a smooth solution)

Deep fried  chicken

1 tablespoon chopped spring onion (green part)

Method

In a small bowl, mix  Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar. Keep it ready.

In a pan, heat oil. Reduce the heat to medium and fry onion, chopped  chilli, garlic and garlic till light color. Do not make crisp and golden.

Add capsicum and fry for 3 – 4 minutes.

Add sauce mix, chicken stock and  diluted corn flour solution. Adjust salt if required. Cover with a lid and boil on a medium heat for 5 minutes (until it boils vigorously).

At this stage, add deep fried chicken and chopped spring onion.  Mix well. Boil on a low heat for 5 minutes. Serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Chicken Fried Rice

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups (standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) cooked and cooled rice

1 cup (200 g) boiled & shredded chicken pieces, boneless

1 tablespoon oil

2 onions or 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper powder

Method

In a wok / pan, heat oil.

Fry chopped onions and garlic till fragrant and pink in color.

Add chopped green chilli and soy sauce. Stir well.

Add rice and shredded chicken pieces. Mix well.

Add salt to taste and pepper powder. Mix well.

Stir well on a low heat for  5 minutes until all the ingredients well combined.

Serve hot with any curries / gravy dishes of your choice.

Stir Fried Eggs with Muttar

Stir  Fried Egg with Muttar - A tasty side dish with rice / rotis or use as a sandwich filling or a filling for Chapati roll !!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, finely sliced

2 green chillies, slit lengthwise or 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 eggs, well beaten

1 cup muttar (fresh green peas), separately boiled

1/4 teaspoon pepper powder

1/2 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

Method

Boil muttar until tender (or microwave high (750 W) for 4 minutes with ¼ cup water or pressure cook until  1^st whistle with ½ cup water until done and soft. More than 1 whistle will over cook muttar).

In a wide pan, heat oil. Add finely sliced onions and fry till golden color. Add slit green chilli or red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Stir well on a low heat for 1 minute until the raw smell goes.

Add well beaten eggs and salt to taste. Cover with a lid and cook again for 5 minutes on a low heat or till done and dry. Remove the lid and sprinkle pepper powder and boiled muttar. Stir continuously for 5 minutes (For Egg Muttar Fried rice - Add 1 cup of cooked and cooled rice. Stir well on a low heat 7 minutes until rice well combined with eggs and spices. Sprinkle  extra salt and pepper). It is tasty and healthy side dish with rotis / rice. Remove green chillies (if using) when serving. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves (optional).

Vegetable Korma

Vegetables Korma - A delicious korma, made of mixed vegetables, Indian spices and creamy coconut gravy. Best with Rotis / Pulao / Rice / Pooris/ Kerala parotta …

Serves: 3

Ingredients

1, For green chilli – ginger and garlic:

1 green chilli

½ - inch piece ginger, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

Chop above ingredients and crush with mortar and pestle.

 2, For  the coconut paste:

5 tablespoon grated coconut (or 3/4 cup)

½ teaspoon saunf powder (perumjeerakapodi)

6 cashew nuts (or 12 cashew nut splits)

50 ml (1/4 cup) water

Soak cashew nuts in 50 ml water for 1 hour and make a smooth paste  (along with soaked water) in a mixer with grated coconut and saunf. Keep aside.

3, For the korma:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

3 cloves

3 cardamoms

3 cinnamon sticks (1 – inch size)

1 small bay leaf

1 onion, chopped

Crushed Green chilli – ginger – garlic

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

¼ teaspoon (or 2 pinches) turmeric powder

1 tomato, chopped

2 small size carrot, cubed (1/4 – inch cubes)

8 French beans, cubed (1/4 – inch cubes)

1 potato, cubed (1/4 – inch cubes) (or any vegetables of your choice like cauliflower, green peas…)

¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 cup (200 ml) water

1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

Coconut paste

Extra 50 ml water

2 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves

Method

Dilute red chilli powder -  coriander powder and turmeric powder in  2 tablespoons of water and keep aside.

Steam chopped vegetables for 15 minutes  (Steam in a steamer or in a pressure cooker (without weight). Reserve vegetable stock (may be ¼ - ½ cup).

Heat oil in a pan / kadai. Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Fry on a low heat for 2 – 3 minutes until fragrant.

Add chopped onion and fry until light golden color on a medium to low heat.

Add crushed  green chilli – ginger – garlic. Stir on a low heat for 3 minutes until the raw smell goes.

Add diluted  red chilli - coriander – turmeric powder mix. Stir well for 2 – 3 minutes until well combined.

Add chopped tomato and stir well for 2 minutes.

Add steamed vegetables (along with stock),  1 cup water, garam masala powder and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a tight lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 10 minutes (until gravy boils vigorously).

At this stage, add coconut paste, adjust the consistency of the gravy with extra 50 ml / ¼ cup water if required (but not more than 50 ml. It won’t taste good if the gravy is too thin) and adjust salt to taste if required. Mix well nicely and cook on a low heat for  7 minutes. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve with rotis / pulao / ghee rice / poori …

Ragi Pesarattu

Ragi Pesarattu   - Pesarattu dosa is very popular in Andhra cuisine !!!

Makes: 10 - 12 pesarattu

Ingredients

Tip : This can also be made with yellow moong dal (split yellow dal)

1 cup / 200 ml whole moog (green gram) Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity

1/4 cup raw  rice or 2 tablespoon raw rice

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1/2 - inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

3 tablespoon ragi flour

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste )

4 teaspoons cooking oil or ghee

Method

 Soak the moong  (green gram) and rice in 2 cups of water  for six hours or overnight.  

Drain out water and grind soaked moong – rice with green chilli,  ginger and salt in a mixer. Batter should be of pouring consistency and slightly thicker than normal dosa batter. Do not add more water when grinding (or 1/4 cup water). 

No need to ferment this batter. Transfer this batter into another vessel / bowl and finally mix with ragi flour. Batter should be just like normal dosa batter. So adjust water if required (may be 1 - 2 ladleful of water). Mix well until well combined / smooth batter without any lumps.

 Heat a non stick pan / flat griddle  on medium heat.

 Smear a very tiny quality of oil all over the pan. Spread ladleful of batter on the pan to form a round shape. Use the back of a ladle to spread it as thin as possible ( but slightly thicker than the normal dosa ).

Drizzle some oil  (or ghee) all round the batter as well as on the top.

Cook on medium heat till the underside become light golden.

 Flip carefully and roast the other side.

Turn over again and roast for a few seconds more. Serve hot with coconut chutney , or a dip made with a mixture of fresh yogurt and Andhra mango pickles.

Coconut chutney

Ingredients

1 cup ( 200 ml / 8 oz – Indian standard measuring cup) coconut grated

2 green chilli, small

1 teaspoon tamarind paste ( optional )

Salt to taste ( or 3/4 teaspoon )

Ginger - 1/2- inch piece 

For the  seasoning:

Ingredients

2 teaspoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon urad dal

1 red chilli, halved

1 spring curry leaves or 4 nos

Method

Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste with a little water. Adjust the thickness of the chutney with extra 2- 3 tablespoons water if you required.

For the seasoning:

Method

In a pan, heat 2 teaspoon oil. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add remaining ingredients. Saute well. Pour this over to coconut chutney.