Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Prawns Roast


A very quick and easy prawns roast that requires only a few ingredients and is very yummy too. Just grind all the ingredients, marinate the prawns  and leave them to get roasted. The aroma of the curry leaves in the coconut oil is just indescribable. 
Ingredients
400 grams prawns, cleaned and deviened
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tomato, roughly chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
a handful of curry leaves
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon black pepper powder
4 tablespoon coconut oil
salt

Method

  • Grind the onion, tomato, garlic, chili powder  turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt, 1 tablespoon coconut oil and half of the curry leaves in to a fine paste. Marinate the prawns with this paste for 1 hour.
  • Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Add the remaining curry leaves and the marinated prawns.
  • Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
  • Then open and dry roast the prawns on a medium flame stirring frequently until dark brown in colour. Serve hot.

*You can add 1/2 teaspoon of fennel powder and a pinch of garam masala too for an added flavour.

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Chicken Hong Kong


Ingredients
250 grams boneless chicken cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoon soya sauce
1/2 egg
3 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
2 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 inch ginger sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
4 broken red chillies
4 green chillies chopped
1 tablespoon spring onions chopped
salt
5 tablespoon oil + extra for frying
Method

  • Marinate the chicken with 1 tablespoon soya sauce, egg, 2 tablespoon cornflour, 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder, 1 tablespoon vinegar and salt. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for one hour.
  • Deep fry the marinated chicken pieces until golden and keep aside.
  • Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wok and saute the spring onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and red chillies on a high flame for 30 seconds.
  • Pour the chicken stock into this and allow to simmer.
  • Meanwhile in a bowl mix together 1 tablespoon soya sauce, 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon vinegar.
  • Pour this to the simmering chicken stock and continue cooking for 30 seconds.
  • Now add the fried chicken. Mix well and let it cook for 30 seconds.
  • Mix 1 tablespoon cornflour in half a cup of water. Pour this little by little into the simmering chicken, mixing simultaneously until the required consistency(thick gravy) is attained.
  • Add the sesame oil and check the seasoning and add more salt if required. Your dish is now ready to be served.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Spaghetti with broccoli and chicken




Ingredients
250 grams dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
rind of 1 lemon cut into small strips
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
250 grams of diced boneless chicken
250 grams broccoli, cut into florets and blanched
250 ml chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon chopped spring onion
salt
Method
  • In a large pan bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
  • Drain the spaghetti and transfer to a serving dish. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and toss well and keep aside.
  • In another saucepan heat the olive oil. Add the lemon rind and cook on a low heat, for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Stir in the ginger, garlic and sugar. Saute for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pour the chicken stock/water and bring to a boil.
  • Continue to cook this for a further 5 minutes or until the sauce is reduced to half. Remove from flame and keep aside.
  • Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a frying pan. Add the chicken and onion and cook stirring continuously for 5 minutes or until the chicken turns into a light brown colour. Add the broccoli and fry for 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the lemon- ginger sauce, thyme and spring onion and cook for 1 minute.
  • Add the chicken sauce on top of the spaghetti and serve.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Pineapple Smoothie


Ingredients
100 gram  chopped  pineapple
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small banana, peeled and sliced
100 gram plain yoghurt
100 ml milk
1-2 tablespoon brown sugar

Method
  • Blend thoroughly pineapple,banana,yoghurt,milk,lemon juice and sugar until smooth.
  • Pour into glasses and serve.

*Serve immediately. All fresh juices should be consumed immediately. Enzymes contained in fresh pineapple will eventually turn the drink bitter. This will not happen if canned pineapple is used.

Recipe source: Food lovers.


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Coriander and Egg chutney spread


Ingredients

2 bunches of coriander leaves roughly chopped

1 boiled egg

2 tablespoon grated coconut

3-4 shallots

2-3 green chilies

40 grams unsalted butter

Salt to taste
Method
  • Grind all the ingredients in a blender to a smooth paste without adding water.
  • Garnish with a dollop of butter.

*This can be used as a sandwich spread.
*Coriander and egg chutney sandwich is a good option for a healthy snack. Your kids will love it!!!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Jelly Pudding


A pudding that melts in your mouth....
A very easy to make and tasty to eat pudding that was shared to me by my friend Fathima, long ago. This is a hit among her kids. As it is a very easy recipe she used to frequently make this at home especially for her little ones. Thank you Fathima, this was a hit in our home too...

It was our wedding anniversary too, so was planning to make something sweet. Cakes had been quite repeating these days and kids didn't prefer to have one more and hence chose this strawberry flavoured jelly pudding to mark the day :)
Ingredients
2 packets of jelly crystals(85 grams )- Any flavour of your choice, here I have used strawberry flavour
1 tin Nestle cream
3 tablespoon sweetened condensed milk
1 sachet of whipping cream mix(36grams)- I used Dream Whip, whipped topping mix
Method
  • Dissolve one packet of jelly crystals in one cup(half the quantity of water mentioned on the jelly pack) of hot water and keep it aside to come down to room temperature.
  • Once it is down to the room temperature, blend it with the cream, whipping cream mix and condensed milk.
  • Pour this mixture into a mould and keep in the refrigerator to set.
  • With the remaining one packet of jelly crystals, prepare the jelly as per the instructions given on the jellly pack.( Here I dissolved one packet of jelly crystals in one cup hot water. Once all the crystals were dissolved, added one cup of cold water and mixed well. This was then kept in the refrigerator until set.)
  • Once the pudding and the jelly are set, serve it as per your instincts. 
  • You can place a few slices of strawberry or any fruit of your choice at the bottom of the mould and then pour the pudding mix on top of it and allow it to set. When the pudding is later transferred from the mould the fruit pieces  will look beautiful at the top.




Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Spicy Roasted Cashew nuts


I started gaining weight when I started blogging :(   so, to burn out some calories I decided to join a dance class.....but, contrary to my expectations, I still never stopped gaining weight  and guess why?? 
We are a group of 8 in the dance class. Though our primal purpose of forming a group was to practice dance, food turned out to be the main agenda of the group. Almost every day someone in our group would’ve got some snacks to tempt us into eating. It was during one of those occasions that my friend Shetal had brought some home made spicy roasted cashewnuts. The moment I had a bite I decided to try this out the same day and here it goes…


Ingredients
500 grams unsalted cashews (unroasted)

3-4 tablespoon besan powder/gram flour

1-2 tablespoon kashmiri chili powder

A pinch asafoetida

Salt as required

Oil for frying


Method
  • Mix gram flour, cashew nuts, chili powder, asafoetida and salt in a bowl
  • Sprinkle water in between and mix well so that the masala adheres well with the cashew nuts (ensure that the masala should be dry and not sticky or watery).
  • Heat oil in a kadai.
  • Spread these cashew nuts and fry in medium flame.
  • Remove from pan and spread it on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.
  • Store in an airtight container once it cools down.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Pav Bhaji


Ingredients
2 tablespoon pav bhaji masala
1 potato boiled and mashed
1/2 cup cauliflower chopped
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup carrots chopped
1/2 cup capsicum chopped
1 cup onion chopped
5 tomatoes chopped
2 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
black salt
5 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
8 pav/ square buns
Method
  • Pressure cook the potatoes, carrot, cauliflower and green peas, for 1 whistle. Once the steam is released, open the cooker and mash the vegetables well and keep aside.
  • Heat 4 tablespoon butter in a pan. Add the onion and capsicum and saute until translucent.
  • Add the garlic paste and fry until the raw smell of garlic goes.
  • Add the tomatoes and cook until the oil separates.
  • Add the turmeric powder, chili powder, pav bhaji masala and black salt. Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the mashed vegetables , mix well and cook for 5 minutes more.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves.
  • Slice each pav/ bun into 2 horizontally.
  • Apply butter onto each slice and heat on a hot griddle until lightly browned.
  • Serve immediately with the  hot bhaji  and chopped onion and lemon wedges.






Friday, May 10, 2013

Poached Egg Curry

Ingredients
4 eggs
2 large tomatoes
1 small onion
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 cup water
2 tablespoon oil
salt to taste
Method
  • Blend the tomatoes, ginger, onion and yogurt in a blender.
  • Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. Once they splutter take the pan off the flame and stir in the coriander powder and chili powder. Mix well and then add the blended tomato- yogurt puree. Stir and return the pan back to flame.
  • On a medium flame, stirring continuously cook until the oil separates from the sides.
  • Add the water, salt and allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes.
  • Carefully break the eggs one by one into the pan in such a way that each egg lies away from the other.

  • Cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 minutes. Do not stir in between.
  • Sprinkle the garam masala on top  and serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Dum Machhli

Ingredients
1/2 kilogram king fish or hamour cut into thick slices
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoon oil plus extra for shallow frying
3 onions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon red chili paste(blanch few whole dried red chillies and grind them into a paste)
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 1/2 cup yogurt, whisked
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
salt to taste
Method

  • Marinate the fish with turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt for 30 minutes. Wash and pat dry.
  • Shallow fry the fish pieces on both sides until slightly golden and keep aside.
  • Heat 4 tablespoon oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. 
  • Add the onions and fry till pink.
  • Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the chili paste, cumin powder, ginger and salt. Saute for a minute.
  • Remove from flame and stir in the yogurt. Mix and return back to flame.
  • Stirring continuously cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the fried fish pieces and garam masala. Mix and cover with a tight lid. 
  • Cook on a very low flame for 8-10 minutes. Serve hot.


Curry flavored chicken puffs

Savouring puffs was something we all loved as kids. Nowadays as the health factor and healthy eating habits have outsourced our mind and body, we have excluded this from our cravings list. Still, sometimes when the kid within us urges us to have at least a bite of this snack , we decide to have it but only after it is pressed within our palms in a tissue paper to remove any more excess oil the puff has sucked in.
Though not always, once in a blue moon day, we can lend our ears to the child within us and have this oily snack...again perhaps pressed, distorted and wrapped in a tissue paper.
A great snack for a kids party. Whats the fun in party without any fried snacks, especially for kids!!!
But again option is yours..here I have fried the puffs, you can opt to bake it for a healthier version. 
Ingredients
100 grams boneless chicken
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1 whole dried red chilli. deseeded and chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper powder
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
salt
1 egg slightly beaten
10 square puff pastry sheets
1 tablespoon oil, plus extra for frying

Method

  • Cook the chicken with little salt and turmeric powder in 1 cup of water. Once cooked mince the chicken and keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili and saute for 2-3 minutes.
  • Lower the flame and add the curry powder and minced chicken.Mix and stir fry on a high flame for 3-4 minutes.
  • Add salt, pepper and chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Switch off the flame and keep aside.
  • Cut out one circle from  each of the square pastry sheets using a round shaped cutter or you can even use the rim of a glass to cut out the circles.
  • Place a spoon of chicken mix in the centre of each circle. 
  • Brush the beaten egg along the edge of the pastry sheet. Now fold the pastry sheet in half , thereby enclosing the chicken filling in it. Using the tines of a fork, press and crimp the edges to seal.
  • In a wok heat enough oil for deep frying. Once the oil is hot deep fry the puffs, turning occasionally  in batches for 2-3 minutes or until it puffs up and is golden in colour.
  • Transfer onto a kitchen towel and serve with tomato ketchup.


* For baked puffs, preheat the oven to 220 degree Celsius. Place the prepared puffs on to a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook for 15- 20 minutes or until the puffs are puffed up and golden in colour.



Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Mustard Chicken


Saw this recipe in a cookery book long ago but the taste of mustard is something which somehow doesn't seem appealing to me. Hence was quite hesitant to try out this recipe. But the picture displaying the dish was so very captivating that this recipe was bookmarked to  be tried out sometime in the future. Finally  the other day when  this was made, I really regretted for not trying it out before. It was really a lip smacking dish and moreover all at home loved it. And that is what matters to us the most!!
So here is the recipe for all the mustard lovers as well as mustard haters(like me).

Ingredients
750 grams boneless chicken thighs or boneless tender chicken breast
2 tablespoons oil
1 big onion, sliced thin
1 teaspoon small mustard seeds
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
2 teaspoons curry powder
250 ml water
6 tablespoons whisked yogurt
salt and pepper to season
Method

  • Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes.
  • Heat oil in a large wok. Add the sliced onions and saute until soft.
  • Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic and mustard seeds. Add this to the onion and stir-fry for a minute.
  • Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder and curry powder. Stir- fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the chicken.
  • On a high flame stir fry for 5 minutes and then add the measured water.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • When this begins to boil, reduce the flame and cover and cook on a low flame for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked.
  • Remove from flame and stir in the yoghurt.
  • Serve immediately garnished with a little whisked yoghurt and a few mustard seeds.

* This is a mildly spiced dish. If you prefer it a bit more spicier you can pound 4 dried red chillies, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and 1 star anise along with the garlic and mustard, and add.

Monday, May 06, 2013

Manakesh Zaatar



Our very first attempt from the Arab cuisine. Manakesh, an all time favourite of all of us here at home especially the kids. Inspite of being living in the Middle East since quite a long time, I had never bothered to try out any of the Arab delicacies though we used to relish most of them from the Arab restaurants here.
This Arab bread was finally baked in my kitchen the other day. I should thank my cousin Rekha for this. She asked me if I could do a guest post in her blog Food0licious Pictured. She runs a beautiful blog with many delicious recipes. I wanted to give her something different, and what more could I give her staying in an Arab country other than an Arab delight. You can find us in her blog here.
For all those of you, who are not much aware of Zaatar and Manakish,  “Zaatar” in Arabic is a traditional Middle Eastern herb mixture popularly eaten in countries such as Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. It is traditionally eaten as part of a healthy breakfast with flat bread and olive oil or yogurt cheese. It is also used to spice chicken, meat and vegetables and can be mixed with olive oil and vinegar to make a salad dressing.
It is a mixture that is made out of mostly dried thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and sumac….there are many variations to it that consists of cumin, coriander, fennel seeds etc.
Here in UAE, it is readily available in all the grocery stores. For all those of you who are not in the Middle East can either check it out at any Middle Eastern grocery store or you can even make it at home.
If you are going for the home made zaatar you will need
  • 1/4 cup sumac
  • 2 tablespoons thyme
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
  • 2 tablespoons marjoram
  • 2 tablespoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt

 Coarsely grind the sesame seeds in a food processor or with mortar and pestle.  Add  remaining ingredients and mix well. That’s it, zaatar is ready!!!
This zaatar can be stored for a long period if kept in an airtight container in a cool and dark place.
Manakesh Zaatar
Manakesh, manakeesh or Manaeesh is an Arabic food consisting of a dough similar to a pizza dough, topped with zaatar, cheese(Akaawi cheese) or ground meat, but used widely in many Levantine countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Similar to a pizza, it can be sliced or folded, and it can either be served for breakfast or lunch.
A very tasty and healthy dish which should be had with a cup of sweet black tea.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water, lukewarm
1 cup zaatar
1/2 cup olive oil

Method
  • Mix the yeast in ¼ cup of lukewarm water and let it sit for 15 minutes.
  • Mix the zaatar with the olive oil and keep aside.
  • In a bowl mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast solution and knead well to form a soft dough by adding water little by little.
  • Grease a bowl with a little oil and transfer the dough into this bowl. Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and keep it in a warm place for 1- 2 hours. After 2 hours the dough will rise and double in size.
  • Knead the risen dough on a floured surface for a few minutes. Now divide the dough into 8 equal parts and using a rolling pin, roll out each portion into your desired thickness and size(thickness depends on whether you want a crusty or soft base. For a crusty base roll out into thin rounds and for a soft base roll out into thick rounds.)
  • Using a fork prick generously on the rolled out bases. Now smear one tablespoon of the zaatar and olive oil mixture on each base. Spread it all over the base.
  • Bake these in a preheated oven at 350F for 12 – 15 minutes.
  • Serve warm with a cup of extra sweet black tea.