Easy Pan Fried Chicken

Cut chicken 8 to 10 pieces
2 tsp chilly powder
2 tsp dhania jeera powder (coriander-cumin powder)
1 tsp haldi/turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 tblsp lime juice
2 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste

Add all the spices to the chicken pieces. Add lemon juice and salt. Coast mixture well on chicken and marinate from 30 minutes to over night. Heat oil in a pan, a little less than shallow frying. Add chicken pieces. Fry on high hear till chicken browns on all sides. Reduce heat and cook till done. Serve with chopped cilantro and a slice of lime.

Konkani style okra (aka "bhenda hulli")

I am not a big fan of okra. My husband on the other hand loves it. I try to make it often, trying new recipes every time. I am in search of a recipe that I hope might change my opinion about this vegetable. This one is a classic Sarasawat recipe. My mom made this at home often for my dad and he loved the fried garlic in this dish.

Okra/ladyfinger/bhindi, wash, dry well and cut into medium sized pieces--about 3 cups
5-6 dry red chillies (bedgi style: gives color and flavor more than heat)
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 cup shredded coconut
11/2 tsp tamarind paste ( I useTamicon)
5 to 6 cloves garlic, pound to break slightly (with skin on)
salt to taste

In 1 tblsp oil fry chillies and dry spices. Add to shredded coconut. Add ½ cup hot water and grind to a smooth paste.

Meanwhile, in a pan heat 1 tblsp oil. Add okra, salt and tamarind paste. Cook till okra is almost ready. Add ground paste, cook for 5 more minutes. Add water to make a thick gravy and bring to a boil. In ½ tblsp oil fry garlic and add to boiling okra mixture. Cover immediately.

Eggs on Tomatoes

This recipe is my grandmother's (Amami as we used to call her). She would make this for my sister and me. We loved the name (it sounded exotically fun to us kids for some unknown reason) and it looked really good. This recipe makes what I call an "egg tomato pan pie". It is super easy to make and is a welcome change from "anda bhurjee" on those week nights when you don't want to make something exhausting.

Ingredients
Eggs-6
Onion 2 large
Tomato 1 large
Tomato paste 2tblsp
Dhania jeera powder 2 heaped tsp
Red chilly powder 1 tsp
½ cup chicken stock (or add water)
Salt to taste

Saute sliced onions in oil till golden.



Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and spices. Cook for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add stock/water and simmer for a bit till sauce is a thick gravy. Make small depressions in the sauce and break an egg into each depression. I like to make a flower pattern with 5 eggs on the side and one in the center.



Cover and cook till eggs are done and the sauce has thickened such that you can cut each egg out with the sauce around it. Serve hot with paranthas or bread. If desired garnish the top of each egg with a small pinch of paprika.

Easy and Quick Weeknight Pasta

Ingredeients
Pasta: Elbows/Penne. I use the fiber enriched pasta
Olive oil
One large tomato, chopped
One large onion, chopped
Red pepper flakes 2 tsp (reduce or omit as preferred)
Black pepper
Garlic 3 pods chopped finely
Prego tomato onion basil sauce
Basil (fresh 5 to 6m leaves or dried ½ tsp)
Chopped parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

Boil water in a large pot with salt in it. Add pasta to boiling water. Always season water. That is the only time we can season the pasta. Drain and reserve pasta. Keep some pasta water about ½ cup.
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic, stir only for a few seconds and add chopped onion. NEVER let the garlic brown. Add pepper, chilly flakes and tomoato. Add salt and pepper and stir for about 5 minutes. Stir in Prego sauce. Heat through. Add basil.

Lastly, stir in pasta till sauce coats pasta well. Serve hot garnished with chopped parsley and grated parmesan.

Carrot Cake

This recipe was attempted because of my husband's love for carrot cake from "Cheesy Eddies". I made this cake for my friend's birthday and she and her husband loved it. It was eaten so fast that I didn't have the time to take a proper picture. This recipe is my modified version of the recipe from the Victory garden cookbook by Marian Morash. It’s a very moist cake and quite delicious. I hope you like this recipe as much as I do.

Ingredients
2 Cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ cup oil
4 eggs
3 cups shredded carrot (I buy one small bag of baby carrots, grate them all up finely in a food processor and use it all)
1 cup chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins

Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl. Slowly beat in the eggs one by one. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, adding mix slowly in batches and beating with each addition. Stir in carrots, nuts and raisins (Don't beat STIR). The mixture will be heavy and thick. Grease a 12 inch pan and dust with flour. Pour in the cake mixture and tap down the cake pan to release air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Cool and ice with the cream cheese frosting (recipe included in the coconut cake recipe, just omit coconut cream and coconut flakes from the recipe. Use good quality vanilla please.)

Tilapia with lemon caper sauce

Tilapia fillets 4 (Substitute any other mild fish)
All purpose flour 1 cup
Salt ½ tsp
Pepper to taste (use fresh ground pepper please)
Red chilly powder (to taste or omit)
One egg, beaten

For the sauce
¼ stick butter
1 cup chicken stock
Salt
pepper
Rind of one lemon
Lemon juice
Capers -3 to 4 tablespoons
Parsley chopped about ½ cup
Optional: lemon slices to garnish

Mix together flour, salt, pepper and chilly powder in a flat dish. Beat one egg in another wide dish. Drench fillets in egg and then coat with flour mixture. Shallow fry till golden brown. BE VERY GENTLE WITH FISH OR IT WILL BREAK. Use two spatulas if necessary to turn fish. When ready, keep warm in the oven. Meanwhile melt butter in a frying pan. Add capers, lemon juice and lemon rind. Stir for half a minute. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and half the parsley. Bring to a boil and let it reduce for about 10 minutes. Pour sauce over fish. Garnish with parsley and slices of lemon. Serve hot.

Chicken Kathi rolls

Ingredients
One packet Kwaan Malaysian paranthas (Frozen)
One egg per parantha, beat and keep in a bowl.

Chicken filling

One onion
Cilantro one bunch
Ginger small piece
Green chilly one
One large tomato

Grind above ingredients to a paste. Can be made without grinding for a chunkier filling.

Chicken tenderloins cut into small one inch pieces

Shaan chicken curry masala (1 tsp)
MDH meat masala (1/2 tsp)
salt to taste
Lemon juice

Garnish

Sliced onions
Cilantro chopped
Lemon juice

Method
In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add ground paste and psices. Cook till oil runs out from mixture. Add chicken, salt and lemon juice. Fry well for about 5 minutes. Add ½ cup water. Cook uncovered till mixture is dry. Keep aside.




Fry frozen paranthas on a hot pan on both sides till lightly cooked. Beat one egg and pour in the middle of the parntha and flip parantha to cook egg on it. One can also cook thin egg omelettes separately (one per roll) and add it later to the roll. I like the second method as it is less messy. Slice one onion into thin slices. Chop cilantro. Add cilantro and lemon juice to onions mix.



Lay parantha flat. Add chicken mixture in a line in the center. Add onion garnish (and egg if adding separately). Roll and serve hot. Yummy!!

Eggplant Parmesan

Here is my entry to Pooja's Vegetable of The Week



Ingredients

2 medium eggplants
salt
2 jumbo eggs/egg substitute/ you can also replace ½ tsp bkg powder in 2 tblsp water for each egg for eggless recipe although I have not tried it
2 cups dried bread crumbs ( I use italian seasoned crumbs)
Oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Dried oregano (about 1 tsp)
Fresh basil (if you don't have fresh, you can use dried)
Sliced mozzarella (I buy one store packaged ball, you can also use shredded)
3 cups tomato sauce (I used Prego Chunky garden Tomato onion garlic sauce-10oz jar)

Method
Cut off ends and peel the eggplants. Cut into rounds. Sprinkle salt on eggplant slices and let it rest for about 15 to 30 min to drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pat dry each slice off eggplant using paper towels. Beat two eggs in a wide mouth bowl. Spread bread crumbs on a plate. Dip each eggplant in the egg and then coat with breadcrumbs. Lightly pan fry in little oil till both sides of eggplants are golden brown. Let fried eggplant rest on paper towels to drain excess oil. Rub few drops of olive oil on the bottom of a glass lasagna dish. Arrange half the eggplant slices on the bottom. Sprinkle with oregano and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Layer slices of mozzarella. Add half the tomato sauce. Repeat layer this time adding fresh basil as well. Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with warm rolls and a tossed salad.

Cauliflower Paranthas

Stuffed parathas used to be my dad's favourite. He was a vegetarian and every restaurant he went to, he always wanted stuffed paranthas and aaloo gobi. This is an easy recipe from my mom and I always make these when I think of my dad.


Dough

Take whole wheat flour--3 cups, add salt and warm water about 1/2 cup. Cover for 10 minutes. Knead. Add water as needed, finish with oil to knead. Dough should be not be too soft or too hard. Knead well and leave covered for at least half an hour.

Stuffing

1 small head of a cauliflower
1 inch piece of ginger
a small bunch of cilantro or parsley
2-3 green chilles
salt

Throw all ingredients except salt into a food processor. Grind together.


keep aside. Add salt last. Salt releases water from the mix. So water has to be squeezed out before adding to paranthas.

Roll out dough into thin small (about 6 inch diameter) using dry flour to avoid sticking. Roll out two such rounds for each paratha. Take one round. Squeezer out water from mixture, sprinkle over rolled out dough as shown.

Cover with second piece of rolled out dough. Pat lightly with a clean dry hand, especially around the edges. Roll out lightly using a rolling pan flattening out the" dough sandwich".



Place on a hot "tawa" or flat non stick pan. Brown on both sides. Then add aboutn 1/2 tablespoon of oil on each side and fry till golden brown. Turn and repeat on other side. If you want parathas soft don't press down too much on the dough when you cook them. If you want it reddened and crispy press down after adding oil. Place in a covered container before serving to prevent hardening. Serve with yogurt beaten lightly with salt and sugar to taste.