Thursday, September 19, 2013

Chilli chicken rolls in herbs & celery


Wow! These rolls are amazing. The picture speaks for itself! Simply delicious and scrumptious. 

I wanted to share this recipe two weeks before but I was caught up in some work and I totally forgot to post this super delicious recipe.

So this rolls are not only delicious but they are extremely easy to make. When I say easy, I mean it! I made in 20 minutes, may be less than that. 

Garnish with fresh celery to make it more palatable. It's perfect for evening snacks. All kiddos will go crazy for sure, they will relish till the end.

If you like you can add some grated cheese on top. baby corns,carrots and more veggies are welcomed to enhance the taste. Serve with hot and sweet tomato sauce.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium sized foot long buns
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 500g boneless chicken, small pieces
• 7-8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 medium sized capsicum, chopped 
• 1 small onion, chopped, 1/2 inch sized
• 1/2 tsp ajinomoto 
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp green chilly sauce
• 1 tbsp soya sauce 
• 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce 
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp rosemary 
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 bunch celery, chopped 


Step 1:

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add ginger and garlic, and sauté for sometime. Add chopped chicken and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add onions and capsicum. Add white pepper, ajinomoto and all sauces one after each other. Keep sautéing until chicken is cooked. 

Sprinkle thyme and rosemary. Turn the heat off, sprinkle celery.


Step 2:

Slit one side of each foot long buns. Fill each buns with sautéed chicken. 

Serve with hot and sweet tomato sauce.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Baby corn soup



Oriental soups are best, they are healthy and simple to make. Baby corn soup in oriental style is a delight on a wintery night. It's filled with goodness of chicken and mushrooms and garnished with fresh cilantro, making it a perfect well balanced soup.

I never made baby corns soup before, and in my first attempt it turned great. Best thing about this soup is most of the ingredients will be easily available in your pantry. You can even add extra vegetables as you like, to make your soup flavorsome. 

If you are looking for delectable and flavorful soups to be served in dinner for your family, then this soup is perfect. Make this rich and healthy soup in less than 30 minutes. Here's the recipe below.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 200g boneless chicken 
• 1 cup baby corn, sliced
• 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp green chilies, finely chopped
• 1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
• 4-5 mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cabbage, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 small green capsicum, finely chopped
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp ajinomoto
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp oil
• Salt as required

Note: Skip chicken to make vegetarian soup.


Method:

Boil chicken in 5 cups of water. Shred the chicken and keep the stock aside.

In a saucepan, stir fry the ginger, garlic, half of chopped cilantro and green chilies for about 2 minutes.

Add baby corns and all the vegetables with shredded chicken in the mixture. Add pepper, ajinomoto and salt and stir fry 2-3 times.

Add the soya sauce, stock ( or water if making vegetarian soup) and let it boil, reduce the heat and add the cornflour mixed with half cup of water and stir constantly till it thickens slightly. Sprinkle remaining cilantro.

Remove from heat and serve immediately
. 

Enjoy!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Pita sandwich



After baking the pita bread I went the unconventional way to make my pita sandwich filling. I'll admit, i was running late so i decided to make sandwiches in a hurry. No doubt, it turned amazing and everyone enjoyed till it lasted.

I was excited to use homemade lebanese garlic dip, I made 2 days back. I am so in love with this dip, I keep on making again and again.

Luckily I had chicken marinated in herbs already. That actually takes at least an hour or two to be marinated. Cutting vegetables needs a little neat job, no one likes the thick vegetable pieces in their sandwiches. 


You will need, Ingredients:

For marinating chicken:

  • 500g boneless chicken breast
  • 1 tbsp of lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp of tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp of plain (Greek) yogurt
  • 1 tbsp of white vinegar
  • 4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 tsp of salt (or to taste)
  • ½ tsp of oregano (or thyme)
  • 1 tsp of chilly flakes


Vegetables for the filling:

  • 8-10 Pita bread, halved
  • 1 medium carrot, julienned
  • 4 large mushrooms halved, thinly sliced 
  • 1 small capsicum, julienned
  • 50g baby corns, julienned
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Pinch of ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 150g iceberg lettuce


Step 1: Marinate the chicken!

Rinse the boneless chicken breasts with fresh cold water. Cut into pieces with a sharp knife. Sieve all the water from the chicken before marinating.

Mix all the ingredients (see the marinating chicken ingredient list) in a blender, add to a bowl and mix well with the chicken, cover and let it marinate in the fridge at least for two hours.


Step 2: 

When ready, grill the marinated chicken until cooked. Like I said I was in a hurry, I sautéed in a non-stick pan until cooked, using 1 tbsp olive oil.

Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan, sauté all the vegetables for 5 minutes. Vegetables should be crunchy, make sure not to overcook. Sprinkle salt and pepper.


Step 3:

Shred the chicken thinly as desired and it’s now ready to be added into a pita Pockets. 

Spread the chicken shreds in the pita pockets, spread a bit of Lebanese Garlic paste, add some sautéed vegetables, and some lettuce.

serve warm with salad and hot & sweet tomato sauce. In case if you prepare it early, microwave for a minute and serve hot.


Enjoy!

Homemade Pita Bread


Homemade pita bread is irresistibly delicious and fresh. I must say, baking a bread is fun especially when you end up with a perfect well done bread. 

Lot of people have asked me, why do I need to make bread at home when they are readily available in stores. My answer is unless you try your hand at it you will never know. As the bread turns perfect, you really get immense pleasure.

Baking pita bread is not a rocket science, anybody can make. It's so far the most easiest bread I have ever baked. I made in less than an hour.

Serve pita bread filled with lebanese garlic dip mixed in chicken, lettuce and other veggies.


You will need, Ingredients: 
Makes up to 8-10 pita bread.
  • 25g fresh yeast (1 Tbsp dry yeast)
  • 1 tsp sugar 
  • 150g all purpose flour
  • 10g margarine
  • 1 tsp salt
Baking temperature: 180'C
Baking time: 10-12 minutes

Step 1:
Add sugar in yeast with 1 tbsp water in a small bowl. Cover the yeast with a lid for 5 minutes or until the fermentation bubbles appear.
Mix yeast in flour. Knead flour with water. Make sure to not to use too much of water. Mix margarine with salt and mix it on the dough. 
Lightly flour the kitchen counter or any work surface, turn the dough on the floured work surface. Knead the dough, stretch it, fold it, turn it 90 degree and repeat. Knead for 7-8 minutes by hand. Keep dusting the work surface with flour to prevent the dough from sticking to hand and to the work surface.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 230'C. Dust some flour on the Surface. Place the dough on dusted surface and cover it with a damp muslin cloth for 20 minutes. The dough will rise.
Step 2:
Uncover the dough, divide the dough into small 8-10 equal pieces. Roll each into long oval shape. Roll into thin or thick bread layer as you like.
Bake the pita bread for 10 minutes on a greased baking tray.

The bread will puff up.
Cool on a wire rack. Halve the pita bread to get pockets. 

Previously I made thick pita bread and it looked something like this-


Anyways this time I preferred rolling thin bread layer and they were good too. Fill the pita bread with Pita sandwich filling.
Serve with hot & sweet tomato sauce and salad. 
Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Seekh kababs


Omg! This recipe totally surprised me. It turned super delicious at one shot. Seriously! if you are looking out for some real authentic recipe for seekh kababs, then you are at right place. 

My curious head always pushes me to try out new recipes and to be honest I never share the recipes if it turns bad. I personally recommend this to anyone who is looking for homemade seekh kababs. This recipe is undoubtedly amazing and easy.

If you must be checking my blog regularly, then you must have noticed my recurrent use of chicken as an ingredient in most of my recipes. 

I just want to disclose that I love chicken! In fact I call myself as chickentarian!...( I created that word FYI...)

But don't worry I always mention the alternative option. I made seekh kababs using minced chicken, you can use lamb mince too.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
  • • 4-5 green chillies, or to taste
  • • 4-5 large cloves of garlic
  • • 2.5cm piece root ginger
  • • 2 meduim potatoes
  • • 500g chicken/lamb mince
  • • 3/4 cup gram flour
  • • Salt to taste
  • • 1 tbsp ground red pepper, or to taste
  • • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • • 1 tsp aniseed powder
  • • 1/4 bunch finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
  • • 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
  • • 2 tbsp ghee/oil 
  • • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • • 15 bamboo skewers, soaked in water


Step 1:

Semi boil potatoes, peel and finely grate them. Keep it aside.

Process the onion, green chillies, garlic and root ginger in a food processor until finely chopped.

In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture and the potatoes with the chicken/lamb mince and the remaining ingredients. Mix well. 

Cover and leave in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight.


Step 2:

Take handfuls of the mixture and wrap around each skewer in the shape of a sausage. 

Place under a hot grill at the highest setting, or cook on a barbecue heated to high heat, or place the skewers in OTG oven at 230'C for 20 minutes. 

Note: Grease the tray with oil while using an oven.

Turn over once whilst cooking. Kababs are done when both sides are crisp and browned, and when juices run clear.

Serve hot with slices of onion,lemon wedges and mint chutney.
Enjoy!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Oats in Haleem Style


Holy Moly! This is amazing. This recipe is always a hit. Never thought oats can be used in such a great way. Oats in Haleem style is very healthy and delectable. It'a my all time favorite dish.

I took this recipe two years back from one of my aunt and since then I prepare this dish very often. The reason I prepare it very often is because it's unbelievably easy and fast to prepare.

If you enjoy Haleem then you will definitely love this dish. Prepare in chicken or mutton, both are delicious in taste. Follow the simple instructions.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 200g boneless chicken or mutton  
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp oil + more for frying onions
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 green chillies
• 4-5 curry leaves (optional)
• 4 tbsp oats
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste 
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 bunch chopped coriander 
• 2 large onion 
• Mint leaves for garnish


Step 1:

Boil chicken/mutton with ginger garlic paste in 3-4 cups of water. Shred chicken/mutton and keep the stock aside.

Note: If preparing in mutton, use pressure cooker for fast result.


Step 2:

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add chopped garlic, chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Keep stirring for a minute and add oats. Sauté oats for 3-4 minutes and mix white pepper, ground black pepper and garam masala. Add salt as required.

Add shredded chicken/mutton and then milk to the oats mixture. The mixture will thicken. Add chicken/mutton stock. Cook for 2 minutes more. Add water accordingly if the mixture is too thick.

In an other pan, heat sufficient oil and fry onions till golden brown. Drain fried onions on an absorbent paper.

Mix half of the fried onions and chopped coriander in cooked oats. Stir well and serve hot. 

Garnish with mint leaves and remaining fried onions on top.

Enjoy!


Saturday, September 7, 2013

Mix herbs bread



Baking a bread is fun. Once you learn the technique of baking breads then you can bake whatever you like. I made this bread when I was making chicken and mushroom pizza.

As I realized I've exceeded the quantity for pizza dough, I utilized the same dough for a mix herb loaf. Just a little bit of addition to the same dough yielded a superb mix herb bread.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 150g All purpose flour
• 20g yeast
• 15g sugar
• 1 egg
• 15g margarine
• 7g salt
• 1 tbsp mix herbs 
• 1 tbsp cooking oil

Baking temperature: 200'C
Baking time: 20-25 minutes.


Step 1: 

Mix yeast with sugar and 1 tbsp water. Pour it over the centre of a dough and leave it to rest for 5 minutes or until yeast bubbles appear.


You will see lots of bubbles. Mix the yeast in flour. Beat an egg and mix in the flour. Knead the flour using water occasionally. 

Too much of water will spoil the dough, be careful while using water. Mix Margarine with salt. Spread it on the dough entirely. The dough texture should be soft and non-sticky. In case of lumpy texture, use flour to balance the dough softness.


Cover the dough with a damp muslin cloth and leave it to rise undisturbed for 10 minutes.  


Step 2:

Preheat the oven at 200'C. Uncover the dough, hit against the surface and knock the air bubbles out of the dough. 

Mix oil with mixed herbs, spread it entirely on the dough. Knead the dough lightly. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for 5 minutes again.


Step 3:

Spread some flour on a surface. Uncover the dough and hit on the surface to remove the air bubbles. 


With light fingers, lift the ends of the dough and roll it easily.


Keep rolling with light fingers.


Tuck the edges while rolling.


Turn the rolled dough, pinch the appearing line to avoid loaf breaking.


Place it on a greased tray.

Cover again with a damp cloth and place it on top of the heated oven. Allow it to proof (rise) for 5-10 minutes.


Step 4:

Once done, uncover the dough. Sprinkle some mix herbs.


Egg or milk wash with a brush on top of the dough for beautiful golden-brown color, sprinkle some water on the dough. (I forgot to click a picture of this stage) 

Note: Don't miss egg/milk wash stage following with sprinkling of water. It maintains bread's softness.

Finally pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200'C. Your bread will rise more after baking. 


Allow it to cool. Carefully remove the bread from the tray with a pallet knife. Cool it on a wire rack.

Slice the bread with a sawing technique for perfect slices.


 Enjoy!

For any queries, ask questions on a comment section. Have fun.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Chocolate Covered Banana Bites



My love for chocolates will never die. I keep on making something new out of it. I remember in my chocolate tempering classes, one of the teacher said "go crazy when it comes to chocolates", and it was true. Handling chocolates are easy and fun.

You can use chocolates in almost all of the things you like. I've tried Chocolate with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. This time i used bananas and it turned super delicious at one shot. Follow the simple instructions.


You will need, Ingredients:

• 2 large bananas
• 250g dark or milk chocolate compound


Step 1:

Slice the bananas into 1/2" thick rounds and place them flat and un-touching with other pieces on a paper plate or a paper parchment lined baking tray.

Set the bananas in the freezer and freeze for at least 3 hours or until the bananas are completely frozen.


Step 2:

Place the dark/milk chocolate in a microwave bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds and stir the mixture.

Microwave again for 30 seconds if the chocolate is not melted completely. Stir until the mixture is smooth.

Line a tray with parchment paper or wax paper.

Note: Make sure the microwave bowl is small, so that the melted chocolate completely fills the bowl. For dipping the frozen bananas easily, you will need a deep bowl filled with melted chocolate.


Step 3:

Remove the bananas from the freezer and gently pierce them one at a time with a toothpick and dip them into the melted chocolate. 

Turn slowly to allow the excess to drizzle off and then place on reserved parchment paper. The chocolate will set immediately.

Note: While using a toothpick, the banana pieces sometimes slips away. To prevent such failure, simply drop the banana pieces one at a time into the melted chocolate and use two forks to lift them out. Quickly drizzle off the excess and place on the parchment paper immediately.

Allow the chocolate banana bites to rest for 2 minutes on parchment paper. Remove carefully from the parchment paper and serve immediately.

Serve immediately or place back into the freezer until ready to eat.

 Enjoy!