Tandoori Chicken Fried Rice

Often times after I bake tandoori chicken I feel bad to put away so much cooked masala marinade which fell from the chicken pieces onto the foil.

There was this one day when I baked some tandoori chicken and had lots of this cooked masala marinade left on my foil tray. So quickly I remember the left over biriyani rice in the fridge, and put on my cooking hat to come up with something differetn and tasty. Not leaving our nutritious veggies,a new dish called Tandoori Chicken Fried rice was born.

This is a typical Indian spicy fried rice which can be made from the fresh or left over cooked tandoori masala marinade and tandoori chicken and either we can use the plain rice or if you have krushka or pulav, or left over biriyani. You can used frozen or fresh veggies. I always prefer cutting fresh veggies. So there you got a complete meal in one dish - Proteins, Carbs, Vitamins and fibre.....and .....not to mention the good taste.

Ingredients:
2 Thigh pieces of Tandoori chicken(Baked or Barbecued)
3-4 Tbsp of Cooked Tandoori Chicken masala Marinade
4 - 6 Cups Cooked Rice/Fresh or Left over biriyani
1 Egg
2 tsp cooking oil
1 rem of fresh Curry leaves
2-3 Thai Green Chillies slit into halves
1 big Onion cut length wise
2 - 3 Cups choice of chopped veggies (Carrots, Cabbage, Beans, Peas, Broccoli, Cauliflower)
1/2 tsp each of Chilly, Coriander, Cumin powders( if desired)
Salt to taste
Finely chopped fresh Coriander to garnish.

Procedure:
In a wide pan, heat oil, sizzle curry leaves, green chillies.
Add Onions and cook till Onions are little cooked and crispy
Now add the Chopped veggies, some salt and stir the veggies till crispy and cooked, for 5 -7 mins or so,
Now make space in the pan to beat an and make it into scramble, adding enough salt for the egg.
Once the scramble egg is fried mix it with the rest of veggies.
Now add the cooked Tandoori masala marinade, chicken pieces and the plain or biryani rice along with the CCC powders if using.
Add enough salt again and mix well.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and remove from heat.

This is also sent to Srivalli from Cooking for All Seasons for the food blog event Rice Mela

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Its been more than a month since I published a post or done a photo session after cooking some special dish. Life has been hectic to the core. Dealing with upgrades in every sphere of life, my kindergartner stared school this year, and the list goes on. If I don't force myself to blog on a recipe now, very soon food blogging can become history for me.

For now let me post a recipe with the pictures that are saved in my drafts.

The main ingredient in this recipe is Maggi sweet & sour sauce. In those days when this sauce was newly introduced, I learned this recipe from a friend and tried it a few times only, coz hubby is not a huge fan of any deviations with the basic chicken curry.

It has a simple recipe, you don't need grind any sought of paste like the traditional ginger garlic or the garam masala paste.

We can substitute the Maggi brand with Knorr or even the regular Heinz tomato ketchup would do too.
Served with any seasoned rice this would go well.

Ingredients:
2 lb Chicken (Skinned, fat removed, cut into medium size pieces)
2 Tbsp oil
3 inch Fresh Ginger (cut into 1 inch height thick strips)
4 each of Cinnamon, Cloves, and Cardamom spices
1 Big Onion (cut length wise)
2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tsp Chilly powder
1 cup Sweet & Sour ketchup (Maggi, Knorr or Heinz)
2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce (optional)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp sugar
A few coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Heat a kadai/pot, add oil. After the oil is hot add the whole spices.

Fry till the spices turn their color.

Add the fresh ginger pieces and fry till the aroma comes

Add the onions and fry till the slightly brown and soft.

Now add the Chicken pieces, salt, and fry for a minute

Add the tomato paste and fry for 2 mins till the raw smell leaves.

Add chilly powder and mix well.

Now add the ketchup and mix well and allow the contents to cook till the chicken is tender on a medium heat.

Now increase the heat and keep stirring the chicken till all the sauce sticks to the chicken pieces.

Add some oyster sauce and sugar if you desire more flavour and sweetish taste.

Add some more ketchup and give it a nice stir just before removing from heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves

Thick Chicken Gravy - for Curry Mela

The month of August has been so special in my life. More over this year with all the saga of 888 of the Olympic games, the whole world is waiting for the arrival of this month. Wow that was a splendid and spectacular opening ceremony put forth by China in Beijing 2008. Not to mention this year and this month is special to me and my hubby, as we are celebrating our 10 years of wedding on Aug 12th.

Though not as glorious as the Beijing Olympic games, but my husband wants a decent celebration, which I'm postponing as ever. Nevertheless promised to cook him Biriyani for dinner and some chicken curry to go with chapathi, roti or dosa.

After a tired day of work, where is the patience to click the food before eating it. Some how I had these chicken curry pictures in my drafts.

So decided to post this for the Curry Mela food event hosted by Srivalli from Cooking for all Seasons

Ingredients:

Chicken - 2 lb
Onions - 2 Big
Green Chillies - 3 to 4
Ginger garlic paste - 3 Tbsp
Tomato Paste - 1 Cup

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
Coriander and Cumin powder - 1 tsp each - Optional
oil - 1 tbsp
Salt -to taste
Coriander leaves - a few finely chopped

Procedure:

Heat oil in a pot, add Green chillies and then onions and fry till onions are translucent.
Add the ginger garlic crushed or paste and saute for a minute taking care that it doesn't stick to the edges of the vessel.
Add the tomato paste and keep mixing for a minute or two till the raw smell of tomatoes is gone.
Add all the the powders except the garam masala powder and fry for a minute
Add the meat pieces and salt and mix well to give a nice coat of the masala for each piece.
Cover and cook for 3-5 min.
There will be some water coming out of the chicken.
According to that add more water depending upon the amount of gravy desired.
Cover and cook on simmer till the meat is fully cooked( say 15- 20min), mixing regularly so that the curry doesn't stick the edges of the pot.
Add the garam masala powder when the chicken is almost
cooked add the coriander leaves and leave for a minute.
Remove from heat and serve hot with Dosa or Chapathi.

As the Olympics fever continues with late night TVs to watch Micheal Phelps swimming to win those Golds on NBC and to cheer up Canada on CBC and to rejoice with the Indians for Anubhav's Victory in Beijing 2008 on NDTV, I'm sure our tummies may ask for a second serve.

Nihari curry

For those of you who have been sending emails about this post, here is the much awaited "Nihari curry". Sorry for the delay girls, this was due from long time. Any way better late than never. So instead of writing a story...lets go straight into the making of it.

Ingredients:
Meat:
Beef/Lamb- 2 lb

Whole Spices
a few of each Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves, Fennel seeds, Bay leaf, Star Anise etc...

Spice powders:
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Nihari Curry Powder - 2 - 3 tbsp (depending on mild or hot)

Others:
oil - 1 tbsp
Onions - 2 Big
Green chillies - 4 slit
Ginger garlic paste( or Chopped finely) - 1 tbsp
Tomato Paste - 1/4 cup or 2 large Tomatoes finely chopped
All purpose or rice flour - 2 tsp.
Water - 3 cups
Salt -to taste

Garnish:
Fresh Coriander leaves - a few finely chopped
Fresh Ginger cut into thin strips - 10
Fresh Lime wedges



Procedure:
Heat oil in a pot, fry the whole spices till color changes.
Add onions, green chillies and fry till onions are translucent.
Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute
Add the tomato paste and keep mixing for a minute.
Add all the spice powders and fry for a minute
Add the meat pieces and salt and mix well to give a nice coat of the masala for each piece.
Cover and cook for 3-5 min, to allow the spices to be absorbed by the meat.
Add 2 cups of water depending upon the amount of gravy desired.
Cover and cook on very slow heat for 3 - 4 hours till the meat is fully cooked and completely soft. (The traditional Nihari curry requires 6- 7 hours of slow cooking)
Keep mixing regularly and add more water if required so that the curry doesn't stick the edges of the pot.
When almost cooked add a few the coriander leaves.
After 3 hours check to see whether the meat is soft and check for taste too.
Add more Nihari curry powder if you think the curry is bland.
Now add flour to the enough water to make a smooth watery batter and add it to the cooked curry.
Mix well.
Allow it to cook for 5 -7 min till the raw flour smell goes away and the aroma of the curry sustains.
Remove from heat and garnish with remaining coriander leaves, ginger strips and lemon wedges.
Serve hot with Plain or Flavoured Rice, Roti, Paratha or Naan.

Paneer Butter Masala

The aroma of this dish is so soothing to my soul that even the best of any NV dishes can wait when this dish is on the menu.

This is yet another popular desi dish...mostly in North India. But for sure people in south cherish it as much too.

Back home I never even attempted to make this at home...cause you get the best of best at our North Indian restaurants. But here the longing for this dish made me to venture cooking it at home.

At times due to time scarcity I use the ready made President Choice Butter chicken sauce after i season cut onions with with some whole spices and ginger garlic paste. But the traditional way is made from scratch.



Ingredients:
Paneer - 500gms
Tomatoe puree - 1/2 - 3/4 tin, (400gms)
Onions - 2 large ground into a smooth paste
Cashew - 10 soaked in enough water and ground into paste
Ginger-Garlic paste - 3 to 4 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Dhaniya Powder - 2 tsp
Red Colour -1 tsp(optional)
Butter - 50gms + 50 gms + 50gms
Whole Spices - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt to taste
Cream - 1/2 cup
Coriander Leaves to garnish

Method:
Saute paneer in 50gms of butter until it becomes golden brown and keep aside.
In a kadai melt another 50gms of butter, add whole spices if using and saute onion paste till cooked.
Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry a little.
Add the tomato puree and cook till the raw smell is gone.
Add the chilli powder,dhaniya and powder garam masala powder.
Add 1/2 cup water.
Allow the gravy to boil.
Add the cashew paste and stir well.
Now add the paneer cubes to the gravy masala,
Mix the food colour in 1/4 cup of water and add it to this gravy.
Allow it to boil for 3-5 mins
Add a few coriander leaves and remove from heat.
Garnish with fresh cream and remaining coriander leaves.

Serve hot with flavoured rice or Roti/Paratha.

This is my entry for the event "Paneer - a delicacy" hosted by Vandana Rajesh of Cooking up something nice

Also since paneer is rich in protein I'm sending this to the event "Eat heathly - Protein Rich" hosted by Sangeeth of Lets all Cook

Mango Pudding with Lime Jello Topping

I can write pages with my experiences with this King of Fruits - "Mango" . Like any other Indian I too love this fruit to pieces. In my childhood days there are very few days in summer where we won't enjoy this fruit atleast once day, after a meal. In fact I and my two brothers would threaten my Grand mother that we would starve that meal if we don't get mangoes. The moment we see our Grand mother coming from the market place we search the basket for mangoes. Usually she places them on top in her basket. And our faces would lit up with joy when we see the basket containing mangoes. I must admit i enjoyed the feast of mangoes in my childhood days.

In India summer is distinctly flavoured by the sweet aroma of this fruit. Most of the streets are filled with the vendors selling heaps of mangoes. The fruit markets are decorated with this yellow fruit spread. All these have now just become memories to me.

After migrating to North America, I hardly ever eat this fruit. Though we get some versions of mangoes in Asian, Indian and Tamil stores here too, I feel they can't come near that good old taste. I feel bad that I may not enjoy this fruit fresh ever any more. Because except for a must business trip, we will definitely try to avoid visiting India in summer as kids are still very small now to take the summer heat. More over with the global warming at its best than ever, we keep hearing stories of hot sun in India whenever we chat with family and relatives back home. So one thing I will still miss though I visit India is my mangoes, cause I'm sure we will be visiting in winter time only, where there is no crop of mangoes.

So to overcome my taste buds craving for this fruit, I try to use the mango pulp which is imported from India, to make desserts, shakes etc...One such delicacy is this Mango Pudding. Very very easy to prepare and boy it takes me back to those days of fun filled mangoes.

Since i was assigned to bring dessert for the Pot Luck dinner for Father's day celebration last month at TCFC(Telugu Christian Fellowship of Canada) where some of the Telugu Christian families in Toronto, gather once or twice a month to worship God in our own ethnic language. I thought the easiest and best would be this Mango pudding since its summer and as I already mentioned Summer reminds us of Mangoes.
In our family all our b'days fall around some famous celebrations...My first son Josh's b'day around Mother's day..in the same month mine around Victoria day celebrated in Canada with a long weekend and my second son's b'day very close to Christmas day.

Lastly my husband's b'day being around Father's day..this mango pudding was a perfect treat as a b'day special dessert.


Ingredients:
1 Tin - Mango Pulp
1 Milk Cream Medium
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Packets Gelatin

For Topping :
1 Packet Lime Jello

Method:
Mix Mango pulp, Sugar and Cream together.
To this add the gelatin mixture prepared following the instructions on the Gelatin box. (Which is usually - mixing the gelatin powder to 1/2 cup of cold water and adding it to 1/2 cup of boiled water.)
Allow the Mango, Cream, Sugar and Gelatin mixture to set in the desired container in the fridge for about 3 hours.
Mean while prepare jello with the instructions on the Jello box..(Boil 2 cups of water and add the jello powder to it, let cool)
Keep aside.
Once the Mango pudding is set pour the jello on it and again refrigerate for 1 hour or until the jello sets.
Serve cold.

This is my entry for Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Mango Mania

and for the other food blog dessert event - Cool Desserts hosted by Paajaka Recipes

Cauliflower Masala / Gobi Masala

This a simple veggie dish, which goes well with rice with sambar or rasam or even with roti or dosa.

As I mentioned earlier in my blog, I cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies. It is one must vegetable in my fridge all the time. Hubby is not so fond of though. But he doesn't mind it, as long as it is accompanied with some other main course dish. As u can see in the picture below.


Ingredients:
Cauliflower medium size - 1 (broken into small florets)
Tomatoes - 3-4 or Tomato Puree - 1 cup

Tempering:
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1/4 tsp
Channa Dhal - 2 Tbsp
Onion - 1 small
Green Chillies - 2 slit
Curry leaves - 8 leaves
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Vegetable Masala Powder or Chat Masala Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves - a small bunch

Procedure :
Heat oil in a Kadai/Pan,
Allow mustard to splutter.
Add channa dhall, and stir till color changes.
Add cut onions, green chillies, curry leaves and saute til onions turn slightly brown.
Add the Cauliflower florets, red chilly powder, salt, and mix well to give an even coat of all ingredients.
Now add the tomato puree or the crushed tomatoes, mix well.
Add the Vegetable or chat masala and mix it evenly.
Add some water if needed and cook the florets for about 15- 20 minutes, mixing occasionally.
Add the finely chopped coriander leaves just before removing from heat.