Food

G for Grilled Chicken

Continental Cuisine, Food / By / July 26, 2021
Grilled Chicken cover pic

Grilled chicken or any grilled meat for that matter is a no muss no fuss kind of dish which is healthy, is easy to make but is superbly tasty. While it may sound like something exotic, something which we usually eat at a fine dining place, it is actually a basic dish which can be a dish in itself or be used as a focal point and then a full-fledged meal built around it.

The Continental Palate

Continental food refers to dishes which originate in the continent of Europe be it Spanish, Italian or French etc. Continental dishes favor herbs rather than spices and their sauces are not used as gravy rather as a dressing to the main course – mainly meat. This dish I’m about to give the recipe for is a continental dish though I do not know which country it specifically belongs to. This is my take on Grilled Chicken – recipe is totally a self-invented one.

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken – 250gms.

Vinegar – 1.5 tsp.

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Pepper – 2 tsp.

Dried Thyme – 3 tsp.

Dried Oregano – 3 tsp.

Dried Rosemary – 1 tsp.

Red Chilli flakes – 1 tsp.

Onion – 1 large

Potato – 2 medium

Oil – 2 tbsp.

Butter – 10gms.

Method:

  1. Make light slice marks on the chicken. It is preferred that the chicken is in 2 or 3 large slab like pieces. Marinade with vinegar, ginger garlic paste, salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 2 tsp. thyme, 2 tsp. oregano, rosemary and red chilli flakes. Keep for atleast half an hour.
  2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion and cut the potatoes into thin round slices.
  3. Heat oil in a grill pan.
  4. Arrange the onion and potato slice around the edge of the frying pan and sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme and oregano over them.
  5. Lay the marinaded chicken pieces in the centre.
  6. Now scoop butter into small globs and distribute over the chicken pieces and the onion and potato. Let it cook on low flame.
  7. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken and the onion and potatoes. They should have a nice brown char on them. If not, keep for longer. This depends on the thickness of the chicken slabs.
  8. Let the other side me similarly grilled for 15 minutes or so until fully cooked.
  9. Grilled chicken with accompaniments is ready to feast on! Have it with lightly toasted bread for best results.

This quantity should be enough for 2 people, multiply accordingly for more numbers. This is such an easy dish to make with minimum prep. but with utterly delicious results.

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 7 – Letter “G”.

E for Egg Devil

Food, Indian Cuisine / By / July 25, 2021
Egg devil cover pic

There are some foods which are like ambrosia, some little pieces of heaven which you are only blessed with on special days and events. And when you are, you thank your lucky stars and stuff your face! This little dish was my manna during childhood and that feeling has not changed in adulthood. There were rare occasions when ma used to make these and I just gorged on them.

From my Homeland

From the east of India, my homeland Kolkata, I bring you this purely Bengali dish – “deemer devil”. This is a crunchy fried ball of boiled egg with a thick coating of spicy mashed potato.  It is a little complicated and time-consuming recipe which is probably the reason for it not being made very often but I assure you the end justifies the means. Occasions like festivals or guests coming in were times when these got made and the connection to this dish is totally from the heart!

Ingredients:

Egg – 6

Potato – 7/8, large

Onion – 2, chopped

Coriander leaves – handful, chopped

Green chilli – 2, thin round slices

Salt – to taste

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Cumin seeds/jeera – 1 tsp.

Coriander seeds/dhaniya – 1 tsp.

Amchur powder – 1 tsp.

Chaat masala – 1/2 tsp.

Bread crumbs – 100 gms.

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

  1. Boil 5 of the eggs and all the potatoes.
  2. Dry roast the jeera and coriander seeds. Cool them and grind them into a fine powder.
  3. Lightly fry the chopped onions till lightly brown.
  4. Mash the boiled potatoes roughly; it doesn’t matter if there are little lumps.
  5. Add the fried onions, green chilies, coriander leaves, salt, red chilli powder, powdered roasted masala, amchur powder and chaat masala and mix well. It should form a tight mixture and not a watery one.
  6. Peel the boiled eggs and cut into halves longitudinally.
  7. Now, carefully coat the boiled egg halves with the potato mixture evenly – about ½” thick.
  8. Beat the remaining raw egg in a bowl and spread out the bread crumbs on a plate.
  9. Dip the potato coated egg halves in the egg wash and then roll them over the bread crumbs to form an even crust.
  10. Heat oil in a deep pan. Now release the balls into the hot oil and fry till golden brown.
  11. Serve hot with kasundi (mustard sauce) or ketchup.

If you make these, let me know how they you like them but I can assure you, you will be a hit among your guests and family!

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 5 – Letter “E”.

D for Deep Fried Goodies

Food, Indian Cuisine / By / July 26, 2021
Deep fried cover pic

Junk food is my comfort food. There’s nothing like sitting with a huge packet of Lays Magic Masala and munching away. Don’t judge me! I have had an incredible childhood where I always had yummy food at home. Of those, some of my favorite foods included deep fried goodies. Granted, they were not an everyday occurrence but whenever these treats were cooked at home, my day was made. These are vegetarian or non vegetarian deep fried bite sized wonders which are a burst of flavour on your tongue; the crunchiness simply adds to the experience.

It’s Desi and Home-made!

The connection is totally desi! The dishes I am about to describe are all Indian. Whichever part of India we travel to, these will be available in some form or other and by various names. Home-made is the best way to go and trust me, these will turn out delicious!

Pakoda / Peyaji / Kanda Bhajji

Ingredients:

Onions – 2, medium sized

Turmeric – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Besan (gram flour) – ½ cup

Green chilli – 1 or 2 (optional), thinly chopped

Water – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

  1. Cut the onions into thin slices.
  2. Add the besan, salt, turmeric and green chillies.
  3. Now mash in the besan with the onions so that the juices of the onions are released, and a cakey mixture is formed. Add in water as required so that the final result is a sticky batter, lightly coating the onions. The batter should not be too runny or thick.
  4. Now heat oil in a deep kadhai (pot). Put in the onion batter in dollops and deep fry till golden brown.
  5. Drain the fries on absorbent paper and your yummy pakodas are ready to be enjoyed with a cup of tea!

Tip: For best results, midway through frying using your spatula to flatten the dollops like a coin. It helps in better heat distribution and even frying.

Preparation stages
Pakode!!

Daal Fritters / Tele bhaja

Ingredients:

Masoor dal – 1 cup

Bengal gram (chholar daal) – 2 tbsp.

Salt – to taste

Kashmiri red chilli powder – to taste

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

  1. Soak the two pulses – masoor and bengal gram – for atleast 1 hour.
  2. Drain the pulses and grind them into a paste in a blender. The wet pulses should be enough to be a paste; if not, add water in tiny teaspoon measures.
  3. Once the daal are ground to a paste, take it out into a bowl and add salt and Kashmiri red chilli powder.
  4. Now whip/beat the mixture with a simple hand whip. This aerates the mixtures and makes the fritters fluffly.
  5. Now heat oil in a deep pan and add the batter in small balls.
  6. Deep fry till they are golden brown and then drain onto absorbent paper. Crunchy fluffy daal fritters are ready!

Tip: This recipe can be done without the Bengal gram. The Bengal gram is my personal addition to make the fritters truly crunchy. I sometimes add yellow and green moong as well. Multi-daal fritters taste as good as the original version.

  • Daal / lentils
  • Mixture
  • Daal Pakoda

Beguni / Eggplant fries

Ingredients:

Eggplant – 1 (preferably thin, long one)

Salt – to taste

Turmeric – 1 tsp.

Besan (gram flour) – 1 cup

Water – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

  1. Slice the eggplant longitudinally to form fillets. Of ½” thickness and 2” or 3” in length.
  2. Marinade with salt and turmeric.
  3. Create a batter out of besan and water. The batter should be slightly thick and gloopy, not runny at all.
  4. Heat oil in a deep pan. Coat the eggplant fillets in the batter evenly and drop into the hot oil.
  5. Deep fry till they are golden brown and drain onto absorbent paper.
  6. Enjoy with hot rice and daal!

Tip: Add a tbsp. of the hot oil into the batter and mix. It makes for crunchier fries.

(PC: Whatanindianrecipe.com)

Chicken Pakoda

Ingredients:

Chicken – 200-250gms., boneless

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Vinegar – 1 tsp.

Soya sauce – 1.5 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Egg white – 1 egg

Flour – 1.5 tbsp.

Cornflour – 1 tsp.

Oil – for deep frying.

Method:

  1. Cut the chicken into cubes. Marinade with ginger garlic paste, vinegar, soya sauce, salt and red chilli powder for minimum half an hour.
  2. Add the egg white, flour and cornflour and mix well.
  3. Heat oil in a deep pan. Now fry the chicken pieces till they are golden brown.
  4. Serve hot chicken pakodas with ketchup or mayonnaise.
Ingredients, batter, frying
Golden chicken pakodas!

All the recipes above are ideal for 2 people. Try out these simple but delicious deep-fried wonders at home and let me know how they turn out. I know any of these on any given day would just make my day!

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge: Day 4 – Letter “D”.

C for Cupcakes!

Baking, Food / By / July 25, 2021

As far as my memory goes back, I have seen my mother baking cakes. I used to love watching her whip up cake batter and I used to love helping her with the mixing. I remember sitting and gazing with wonder at the ease with which she made those cakes – vanilla, orange, chocolate. And then I had the utter happiness of eating those divine cakes. I developed a love for cakes since that tender age and have never fallen out of love.

Under her tutelage, I learnt how to bake cakes on my own; the measurements, the techniques, the little tips and tricks of baking a cake and then icing it. Eventually, once I had my own kitchen, I ventured onto making cupcakes, adding my own twist here and there.

Travel Connection?

Cupcakes are global! Enough said. That is the connection. In every country I have been to, every hotel breakfast buffet has had cupcakes of some kind or another. Even buffet restaurants here in India almost always have cupcakes in their dessert option. Without further ado, here’s my recipe for chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing.

Ingredients:

Flour – 1.5 cups (~200gms.)

Baking powder – 1.5 tsp.

Cocoa powder – ¾ cup

Butter – 75gms. (at room temp.)

Sugar – 1.5 cups (~180gms.)

Eggs – 4

For the icing:

Butter – 25gms. (at room temp.)

Powdered sugar – 1/3 cup

Warm water – as required

Method:

  1. Sieve together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. This helps to create a homogenous mixture and to avoid lumps. Do the sieving at least three times.
  2. In a mixer, mix the sugar and butter together until they are properly blended.
  3. Add the eggs and blend thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl.
  4. Next, add the dry ingredients’ mix 3-4 tbps. at a time and mix by hand until you get a nice smooth dough.

Tip: Always be sure to mix in the same direction be it clockwise or anticlockwise. The whole mixing can be done in a mixer or a food processor, but I find mixing by hand is the best atleast partially as indicated above.

  • Preheat the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, grease your cupcake tray, place cupcake liners (if available) and ladle the batter into them. The cupcake molds should be filled upto ¾ height only to allow space for rising.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester (usually a fork) comes out clean.
  • Cool the cupcakes and then its icing time!
  • For the icing, mix together butter and powdered sugar, adding a little warm water to ensure correct consistency.
  • Spoon the icing onto the cupcakes and then use a butter knife dipped in warm water to smooth them out over the surface of the cakes.
  • Optional: If you have piping bags, use them to pipe your buttercream icing onto your cupcakes.

Delicious cupcakes are now ready to gorge on! Try this recipe out and let me know how it turns out for you. I’m sure you will love them.

Ingredients
Fresh from the oven!
With Icing…not too pretty but it was my first try with piping bag!

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 3 – Letter “C”.

B for Baked Vegetables

Food, Healthy Food, Italian Cuisine / By / July 26, 2021

I love cooking, I really do, but sometimes when I am too tired after a workday I feel like taking a shortcut to cooking. Again, I am a huge foodie, but those foodie tendencies are more inclined towards non vegetarian food or desserts. I am not a fan of vegetables in general and do not eat most vegetables. The ones I do eat, I need to make them more interesting once in a while to keep myself interested. Out of these 2 proclivities was born the idea of baked vegetables.

This is an – almost – healthy dish with lots of vegetable and is easy to make at home. Its delicious to eat and brings a twist to boring, everyday vegetables.

Which Cuisine?

This is essentially an Italian dish. However, I have never been to Italy and don’t really have a connection per se. Italian is simply a cuisine I love and Italy is a country on my bucket list. In fact, had in not been for the pandemic, I would have had visited Italy last October. Be that as it may, here goes my simple but lovely recipe for baked vegetables.

Ingredients:

Carrot – 1 medium, chopped

French Beans – 100 gms., chopped

Peas – ½ cup

Cauliflower – ½ of a medium sized, diced/cut into half florets

Potato – 1, diced

Garlic – 4/5 cloves, chopped

Flour – 1 tbsp.

Milk – 2 cups

Salt – to taste

Pepper – 1 tsp.

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Oregano powder – 2 tsp.

Thyme powder – 1 tsp.

Cheese – 1.5 cup, grated

Butter – as required

Oil – 2 tsp.

Method:

  1. Boil the chopped carrots, french beans, peas, potato and cauliflower with a pinch of salt in a saucepan till they are about ¾ cooked; al-dente. Drain them once done.
  2. Meanwhile, let’s prepare the white sauce which brings the whole dish together.
    1. For the white sauce, heat 2 tsp. oil in a frying pan. Add chopped garlic and sauté till you get the nice fried garlic smell. Then add a knob of butter (~1tbsp.).
    1. Once the butter melts, add the flour and keep mixing so that it doesn’t form lumps.
    1. Now add in the milk and keep sauteing to avoid lumps.
    1. Once the sauce starts to thicken, add in salt, pepper and red chilli powder, thyme and oregano and mix.
    1. Add ¼ cup cheese and mix.
    1. Adjust taste and take it off the heat.
  3. Grease a baking tray with butter. Preheat oven for 5 minutes at 180 °C.
  4. Add half of the boiled veggies to the baking tray like a layer. Ladle the white sauce over the veggies. Sprinkle half the grated cheese. Repeat for a second layer.
  5. Bake the entire thing for 15 minutes, making sure the cheese has melted and become slightly golden brown.
  6. Garnish with red chilli flakes and oregano. Baked vegetables is ready!
Ingredients
White sauce preparation
Preparing for baking – layering
Ready to bake!
Presenting…Baked Vegetables a la Nils!

This may sound like a lot of steps but I just broke it down for ease of understanding. It really is quite simple to make and is pretty fast. Please try out and let me know how it turns out!

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge; Day 2 – Letter “B”.