Ramadan Buzzz...

With Ramadan starting from tomorrow, Life would be busy, we try and concentrate more on the Ibaadat (worship). Genuine morals, beliefs, intentions take up prime place in our lives. Routine life seems so special. Its all in the way we think, i suppose. Our little family (Me and my Hubby)  is all so excited for the coming days. This makes me a little fizzy in my thoughts as everything needs to be in place at the right time(with time playing the best role).


To make things more simpler i have garnered and stuffed my larder full of all the main contents of the dishes required for both Suhoor (pre-dawn meal) and Iftar (Evening meal -Breaking the fast).

Our Sehri is generally made up of rice, dal and some stir-fries, specially non-vegetarian. Starting a day with a meal at that hour has to be special. For the quick turn up of dal, I have stacked up mashed Tuvar Dal. I stock it up for like, 1 week. Marinated chicken in both Green masala paste and Red Masala paste.  All herbs nicely cleaned, and chopped. Garlic peeled and stocked up. Ginger garlic paste (the main ingredient in all of the Indian dishes) is all set for the whole month.

Tamarind pulp boiled and condensed. Chicken and Mutton mince patties and more to be added in the coming days.


Kitchen tasks become easier than it seems to be if we cook consistent things in bulk. You can also try and make a list of the most common ingredients and the amount of usage of them in your kitchen. Plan it ahead for the coming bigger day or store up for your daily routine life.


If you have any other ideas or suggestions to make things easier, please drop  in your comments. Lets continue being creative in every aspect of our lives. Cheers to womanhood!!

KFC Popcorn chicken

Ingredients
200 gms Chicken cubes 
1 cup Plain flour 
1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp Soya sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 Lemon juice
1 tsp Pepper Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder/Mango(amchur) powder
1 tbsp Icing sugar
1 Egg whites
1 tbsp Milk
1/2 cup Bread crumbs
Oil to fry


Directions
Marinate the chicken cubes in ginger garlic paste, soya sauce, salt, lemon juice and pepper powder.
Take Plain flour in some bowl. To this add salt, onion or mango powder, icing sugar and pepper powder. Give it a stir. This is the seasoning mixture for the chicken cubes.
Take egg whites in another bowl Add some milk to this. Whisk it and keep it ready. 
Take bread crumbs in a plate ready for rolling-in the chicken cubes.
Take one chicken cube, coat it with seasoning mixture, dip it in the egg white and roll it on the bread crumbs, dip it back into egg white wash and again roll it on the bread crumbs. Repeat the process with all the chicken cubes.
Take oil in pan and fry these chicken cubes. Once the chicken cubes cook through and turn golden brown. Drain them on the paper towel. Serve them with Tomato ketchup.

Pepper chicken (Kali Mirch Murgh)

Enjoying a sumptous meal on Sunday afternoon is an ultimate pleasure. Residing in a multi-storey building with so many families together has it own plethora of initiatives. The clock ticks 12"0 clock and you can sense different smells emanating from each home. Every woman busy in the kitchen, toiling hard to give the best food of the week to their family. Its the festive mood lingering in everyones mind that ticks their ribs to cook a mouth watering platter. What a wonderful way to begin a week!! 
Three cheers to my family, my mom who always had an edge over her generation to cook even the simplest two ingredient dish to a sumptous affair. My dad, the masterchef at our home always made me and my siblings to wait for Sunday for the exemplary food he cooked. Mutton Biryani, Liver and kidney curry, Mutton korma, Mutton fry, Raita, Rotis and Salad were laid on our table for the Sunday fests. 
Well, tried my best to reach atleast 10% of what my Mom and Dad used to do for me. Wish, i each time get inspired by my childhood memories and the neighbours around me to excel in what i cook for my husband. Love my best critic!! My Husband!!

Ingredients
500 grams of Chicken pieces
½ tsp. Turmeric Powder 
1 tsp. Ginger Paste
1 tsp. Garlic Paste
100 grams of Green Chilli Paste
Salt (to taste)
1 Lemon Juice 
2 tbsp Cooking Oil
1 ½ tsp. Cumin Seeds
4 Curry Leaves
2 medium Onions
1 ½ tbsp. Coriander Powder 
2 tsp. Crushed Pepper
A bunch of Fresh Coriander/Cilantro Leaves (Hara Dhania)


Directions
Marinate the chicken pieces with turmeric, ginger paste, garlic paste, green chilli paste, salt and lemon juice. Chop the onions and keep them aside.
In a kadai or heavy based pot, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle, add in the chopped onions and sauté until golden brown.
Now add the curry leaves, coriander powder and crushed pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes and add in the marinated chicken.
Sear on high flame, then reduce heat and cook for another 15 minutes - stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle in the chopped coriander leaves and cook for 2 minutes. Before serving garnish with more crushed pepper and coriander leaves. Serve it hot with Pulav or Roti, Naan and Paranthas.

Aloo Methi Matar (Potato, Fenugreek and Peas) Curry

Potatoes, the common domestic ingredient in anyones larder, always comes as rescue when the kitchen is short of vegetables. Potato aka Aloo can be combined with almost all of the vegetables to create an extraordinary dish. Frozen peas, Potato and Fenugreek leaves,  together they are one hell of a combination. As our dinner generally comprises of Paranthas and curry. This one came as a delight to both me and my husband. The lip smacking gravy paste (coconut and cashewnut) adds creamy richness to it. Try it out girls and do let me know how it fares in your kitchen. Happy cooking!!

Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves (cleaned, washed and finely chopped)
1-2 medium peeled and cut into small pieces aloo (potatoes)
1/2 cup frozen peas/boiled fresh peas
1 medium Onion
2 green chillies
4 tbsp Coconut and cashewnut paste
1 tsp of Ginger garlic paste
Salt To Taste
1/4th tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Red chili powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil


Directions
Heat oil in a medium size pan on medium heat. Toss in the potato cubes and let it partially cook. Take it in a bowl and keep it aside.
Add cumin seeds and cloves to the remaining oil and allow them to sizzle for 10-15 secs. Add in onions and let it turn golden brown. Now add ginger garlic paste and let it cook for few minutes till the raw smell evaporates. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, green chillies. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Grind coconut and cashewnut paste. Add it to the above mixture and let it cook for 2 minutes.
Add green peas, potato cubes and chopped fenugreek leaves. Mix well, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Be sure to stir in between to prevent sticking. Add Garam masala. Cover it with a lid and cook until Peas, potato and Fenugreek Leaves are cooked. Serve hot with Chapati, Naan or Rice.

Chicken in Yogurt gravy

The all time favorite recipe of our home. CHICKEN CURRY. It can be an accompaniment for Rice, Pulav, Chapatis, Paranthas and Naans. My freezer at home is best friends with chicken. I store them in Zip pouch bags in various categories and label them accordingly as per use. As i know the quantity required for a course of meal for two, i store them in a moderate way. I keep the chicken bones and boneless in separate pouches. This makes work easier for me. My Hubby is an ardent fan of chicken recipes, so I like trying out variant methods to suit his palette.

Ingredients
10-12 pieces of chicken 
 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 Medium Onions
1/2 coconut paste
2 green chillies
2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 cup yoghurt beaten till smooth
1 Tomato chopped
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala(hot spice mix) powder
Finely chopped fresh coriander
2 lemon wedges

Directions
Take Yoghurt and add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and lemon juice. Mix it evenly and marinade the chicken into this mixture for 1 hour. 

Heat a pan with oil. Fry the onions till golden brown, add finely chopped green chillies and ginger garlic paste and keep stirring it till the raw smell vanishes off. Add coconut paste to it and saute it for few minutes till it turns golden brown. Increase the heat and add  the marinated chicken Let the chicken cook for few minutes and then add the other ingredients, coriander powder, cumin powder. Let the chicken lose all the moisture in the pan. Then add the chopped tomato. Add 1 cup water to the pan. Simmer the chicken on low heat for 15 minutes. When the oil starts settling on the edges of the pan. Garnish it with freshly chopped coriander.The Chicken is ready to be served.

Note: If you have invited friends or guests at your home you can add cashewnut paste to the cocunut paste to make the curry rich.

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian

Days are just passing by and the gap seems so long (since my previous recipe entry). Guess things at home keep me occupied so much that i dont get time to publish my drafts. Well here comes something that i wanted to try from a long time, a Vegetarian Chinese Recipe with the culmination of all the Chinese sauces and seasonings. To admit it, this is the easiest and yummiest recipe to prepare for starters and evening snacks. The ingredients required for this recipe are easily available in supermarkets.

Ingredients
1 medium Cauliflower floret
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1 Tbsp Corn flour
1 Tbsp Gram Flour
Salt to taste
2 chopped green chillies
11/2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
I cup finely chopped onions
Chopped Coriander leaves
1/4 tsp Ajinomoto
1 Tbsp dark Soya sauce
1 Tsp Green chilli sauce
2 - 3 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
2 Tbsp Oil


Directions
Wash and cut the cauliflower into small florets and boil them till they are almost done. Take the All purpose flour, Gram flour, corn flour and salt into a bowl. Make a paste of this using water. Take a tsp. of ginger and garlic paste, add it to the paste. Dip the florets in the paste and deep fry till golden brown. Keep this aside.


Heat oil in another pan and add the left ginger & garlic paste, chopped onions and green chili to it.


Now, add ajinomoto, soya sauce, green chilli sauce and tomato sauce to it.
Add the fried cauliflower florets and mix well. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Serve the gobi manchurian hot with chapatis or paranthas.


Note: For Wet Gobi Manchurian, add 1 tsp of corn flour to cold water and dissolve it. Add it to the sauce before adding the florets.

China Grass Pudding

China Grass is another name for Agar-agar. It is a Vegetable ‘gelatine’ derived from a number of seaweeds (Gelidium amansii) which are processed by boiling and drying. It is used as a setting agent in Asian countries. 

It is available in powdered form or as dried strands. If using Strands, always cut  them with scissors into small pieces and soak them into water for 10-15 min.

You can try out different versions of this recipe with fruits and dry nuts.

Here is the base version of this recipe

Ingredients


1/2 litre Milk
3 pods Cardamom
4 strands Nutmeg
7 tsps Sugar
5 or 6 Almonds
5 or 6 Kishmish/ Currants
1 packet of China Grass powder
2 Tbsps Milkmaid/Khoya/ Condensed milk (Optional)
Edible colour


Directions


Boil Milk in a pan. Take some milk from the pan and dissolve China grass in it till it melts completely.
Simmer milk on slow fire. Add sugar, powdered cardamom and nutmeg to the milk. Let it simmer till the sugar dissolves.
Mix in china grass and bring it to a boil. Keep stirring it for 5 minutes.
Cool it for 10 minutes and put in a rinsed flat dish.
Set in a cool place or in a refrigerate till it turns firm.
Cut into pieces, mix with fruits and serve it.


P.S: You can divide the  milk into two parts and add different edible colours to them I prefer lighter  one at the bottom and darker one on the top. Seems interesting for children.
I tend to use fruits from my refridgerator, be it any. Cut them into thin slices and arrange at the bottom of the flat dish, so that when you turn it upside down, It sort of gives an absolute presentation.