Tomato Pilaf with Mughlai Chicken

It has been quite sometime that I wanted to prepare a tomato pilaf. I dint bother to search the web or any other references. Just kept thinking about it. Recently I stumbled upon a tomato and basil pilaf on television.....well 'this is not that recipe'.....just inspired me to cook my version the same night.....

My version of tomato pilaf is very mildly flavored with numerous spice in meagre quantities. The mild flavor was to compliment the Mughlai Chicken I prepared with this.

Similar to the tomato pilaf, Mughlai Chicken has also been in my mind for quite some time. I was not that impressed with the photographs I saw and the recipe, that sounded very mild on heat and spice. But to my surprise, when i finished the cooking and did my final tasting......i was spellbound.....

recipe for Tomato Pilaf 

Basmati rice - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 tbsp (oil or butter is also okay)
Tomato, cut into round pieces - 2
Green chilly, cut at the stem - 2
Salt to taste
Water - 2 cups
Onion - 1 medium
Dry fruits - 4 tbsp

Spices

Cardamom - 2 

Cloves - 2

Bay leaf - 1 inch piece

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

Star Anise - 1 petal from the star

Mace - 2 strands from the whole piece

the method

Wash the rice and drain the water thoroughly.

Heat a heavy bottom pan or a pressure cooker. When the pan reaches medium heat pour the ghee and add the spices. Stir for a minute or until the spices stop sizzling. Stir in the onion and sauté till translucent. Add the rice and salt and stir until the rice loses its white color (Use a wooden spatula to prevent the rice from breaking). Add the green chillies, tomatoes and dry fruits and stir for few seconds. Pour the water, bring it to a boil and simmer till the rice cooks . If using a pressure cooker, cook it for one whistle. Open when the steam has completely subsided.

recipe for Mughlai Chicken

ingredients for the marinade

Chicken - 500 gms

turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Curd / Yogurt - 5 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

other ingredients

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Onion, chopped - 1/2

Onion, ground to paste - 1 1/2

Garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

Green chilly - 2

Chilly powder - 2 tsp

Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp

Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

salt - to taste

Cashes nuts / Blanched Almonds,  - 15 - 20 (ground to paste alongwith poppy seeds)

poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp

Whole spices

Cardamom - 2

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch 

Cloves - 2

the method

Marinate the chicken with yogurt, salt, turmeric and garam masala for one hour.

Heat ghee in a pan and add the whole spices. Stir for few seconds and add the chopped onion. When the onion turns translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute. Add the onion paste and stir till it is cooked (Add salt to speed up the process). Add the green chilly, chilly powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and stir till the raw aroma is gone. Stir in the marinated chicken and the marinade. Add half a cup of water. When the chicken boils, simmer for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check salt. Sprinkle the garam masala. Mix well and pour the cashew / almond and poppy paste. Bring it to a boil and turn off heat. 

I have made a slight change to the recipe. I have not added beaten cream and egg mixture. Instead I marinated the chicken with yogurt. The dish tastes very very good. It is a must try.

RoseMary & Garlic Flat Bread

I have considered baking a yeasted bread to be a challenge….always…..and my yeastophobia increased after reading several account of the same in the blogworld. All my fears came true with my failure at the first attempt…..the dough did not rise......but i went ahead and baked it ......hoping that it would rise once it is in the oven......the dough cooked with multiple extension of the baking time......but the final product looked like a thick vattayappam (a rice cake) ........well I dint give up….

This flatbread is a result of my second attempt and I did it….the dough did rise and the bread had a good texture….both outside and inside. But my anxiety played a little part……I forgot to grease the bread mould and as a result I had to pluck it out….carefully though…….for the photo session……hope it doesn’t look that bad ….

the recipe

Flour / Wheat flour – 11/2 cup

Yeast – 1 ½ tsp (alter quantity according to the kind of yeast being used)

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp

Veg / Olive oil – 3 tbsp

Water – a little less than ¾ cup
Dried rosemary - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 6 - 8 cloves, finely chopped

the method

Mix the flour with rosemary and garlic.

Place the yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Heat ¼ cup of the water just above luke warm temperature (if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast). Pour it to the mixing bowl and gently stir it. Close it with a lid and set aside for about 6 – 10 minutes.

Heat the remaining ½ cup water to a luke warm temperature. Open the bowl and the yeast would have melted. Add the oil and mix. Stir in the flour and pour the ½ cup water in batches till the flour is completely over. The dough should now be moist. If it is not, sprinkle some luke warm water or oil. Oil would be better b’coz the dough doesn’t get sticky. Knead the dough well for about 5 -7 minutes. 

Grease a bread mould or whatever pan you wish to use and flatten the dough. Make marks as seen in picture if you please. Leave it to rise.

I dint want to take another risk. So I boiled a pan of water, covered it and placed the bread mould on top of the boiled  water. It took about  1 ½ hours for the dough to rise to double its quantity. Punch down the dough and let it rise again. It took about 45 minutes. Preheat oven for  5 minutes at 180^oC.

Brush the top of the dough with milk or egg whites. Bake for about 16 – 20 minutes. Do the toothpick test (check whether a toothpick or skewer comes out clean).

Take the baked bread out and brush it with butter. Enjoy with more butter. We snacked it.

Golden Soup

Golden soup, as the name suggest is equal to eating gold, said the person from whom i learnt this recipe. Golden soup rejuvenates the body after a brief illness like fever and is a good food for the elderly. With less butter and pure veg ingredients this is a sinless soup that can be had during any time of the day. The croutons in the soup makes it more interesting and crave for more. 

the recipe

carrot - 1

tomato - 2

onion - 1

celery - 2 stalks

butter - 1 tbsp

salt - to taste

sugar - 1 pinch

pepper - 1/4 tsp (adjust to taste)

Milk - 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup

Croutons –  1 slice of a bread or as much as you need

Water – 1 cup

the method

Chop the tomato, onion and carrot into medium sized pieces. Cut the celery into tiny pieces.

Heat butter in a pan and stir in the onion, carrot and salt and saute for about three minutes. Stir in the tomato and sauté for a minute. Pour the water and cook till the vegetables are soft. Let it cool.

Remove the vegetables from the stock and place it in a blender and grind it to a smooth paste. Return the vegetable puree to the stock. Stir in the celery and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat and pour the milk. Adjust consistency. Add pepper and sugar. Check salt and pepper. Turn off heat.

Croutons – Cut the bread into small pieces and fry it in oil or place it on a greased griddle or place it in the oven at 180oC, for 6 minutes (3 minutes either side) to make it crispy.

Serve it in soup bowls or tea cups. Garnish with croutons.

Serves - 4

The recipe goes to Dr.Sameena's Soup Recipes Event

Ginger Chicken

It was just another weekend and time to prepare some meat dish. The usual ones are curried for the need of gravy. Settled down with a not so much gravy ginger chicken….

Ginger chicken is sometimes fried in batter and then sautéed in sauce. I prepared a slightly healthier version without the frying part.  Tastewise, it does not taste that gingery but still has a different flavour when compared to a chilly chicken. Can be had with chapatti or fried rice. 

the recipe

chicken – 500 gms

ingredients for the marinade

ginger juice – 2 tbsp

soya sauce – 1 tbsp

salt – ½ tsp

for the tempering

onion – 1 or 2

garlic – 6 cloves

ginger juliennes – 2 tbsp

soya sauce – 2 tbsp

tomato sauce – 1 tbsp

kashmiri chilly powder –  1 ½ - 2 tsp

salt to taste

spring onion – 2 plants ( i used only the green part)

oil – 2 tbsp

sugar – 1 pinch

pepper powder – ½ - ¾ tsp

the method

Marinate the chicken pieces for an hour with the ingredients for the marinade . Heat oil in a pan and sauté the chicken pieces till three fourth done. Drain it from the oil and water mixture. Heat oil in another pan or use the same pan and stir in the garlic and onion. When soft add ginger juliennes. Saute for about a minute and add the soy sauce and a pinch of sugar and salt. Add the sautéed chicken and mix well. Let it cook for about 2 minutes. Stir it and add the tomato sauce.  Check salt. Mix well and sprinkle the pepper powder and spring onion. Cook for a minute and serve hot as mentioned above. or as you please.

Inji Puli (kinda Ginger Relish)

Inji puli or puli inji has a prominent or rather a permanent space in the onasadya alongwith the pickles. I have had this in massive amount when I was a kid, when my mother’s friend used to make it for Onam and send a pack of it for further season’s relish.

The making of Inji puli has however remained a quest with me since I did not have the confidence that I can come out with the same taste. Once I bought a readymade version which didn’t taste as good as the aunt made one.

Last Onam, I just set out on a trial of Inji Puli beginning with a recipe search on the web and I was astonished to find about 10 – 12 variants. So I had to pick the ingredients to bring out the same old taste and the result was almost the same but not exactly the same…. : - ) …….

…ingredients that went into the making…

Ginger, cubed into tiny pieces – 5 tbsp

Tamarind  – 2 tbsp (mix with water and make a pulp)

Jaggery, grated – 2-3 tbsp (adjust according to preferred sweetness, you can keep adding and tasting)

Oil – 2 – 3 tbsp ( I used veg oil)

Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Green chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 5 leaves

Chilly powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 or 2 pinch

Salt – to taste

Rice flour – ¼ - ½ tsp

Yields 1 cup inji puli (as seen in the picture)

the method

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Add the ginger and let it fry. When three fourths done, add green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté for few seconds and add chilly and turmeric powder. Add the tamarind pulp and let it boil. Stir in the grated jaggery and salt and mix well. Let it boil. Mix the rice flour in 2-3 tbsp water to make a rice solution. Pour it into the ginger mixture. Boil it again until the mixture turns to a lightly semi- liquid/solid state. Taste it. Adjust taste and turn off heat. The inji puli will further solidify due to the addition of rice flour which also balances the sharp flavour of tamarind. Use it as a pickle with rice or serve as you please. 

Frijole Mole (Chickpea Spread)

Out of the various addictions i have, reading lifestyle articles is one among them. As you might know nowadays, the newspapers goes beyond reporting news: there is a lifestyle section that includes everything from music, movies, fitness and of course food. 

Frijolemole is adapted from a recipe I found in the newspaper which I would call  is a cousin of hummus. The basic recipe is boiled chickpeas ground to a coarse paste while all the seasoning that goes into the making  is completely different. The seasoning gives an extra freshness to the frijolemole that can be used as a dip or a spread in chapati's, tacos or tortilla wraps.

the recipe

Chickpeas / White Garbanzo beans - 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

Onion - 1 medium

Garlic - 3 cloves

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp or slightly more ( as per taste)

seasoning

spring onion with greens - 2

green chillies, de-seeded & finely chopped - 2

tomato, blanched, peeled & chopped - 1

Tobasco sauce or chilly sauce - 1 tbsp ( I used chilly sauce)

coriander leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp

sour cream or hung yogurt  (optional )- 1 tbsp ( i did not use them 'coz  i felt the combination of sauce and yogurt wouldn't suit our palate)

the method

Soak the chickpeas overnight and boil it with salt. Reserve the liquid from the boiled chickpeas. 

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic till light brown. Turn off heat.

In a blender, place the boiled chickpeas, lemon juice and the sautéed onion and garlic along with the oil. Grind it to a coarse paste. Add the reserved liquid if the mix is too thick. Place the ground mixture in a bowl and add all the seasonings. Mix well. Use it as mentioned above.

Baby Corn Salsa

To me, salsa is a versatile food ‘coz anything can go into it as long as the basics are followed for that fresh taste.

Baby Corn salsa happened as an establishment of my longtime  longing to make some tacos, and there couldn’t have been a better timing when I found these fresh, tender and very light baby corns in a store along with a rare citing in our place – red bell peppers. I lightly sautéed the red bell peppers to replace the jalapenos, usually added in a salsa. The sautéing was done to get rid of the raw taste of the peppers which otherwise my kids would reject. Recipe time.

Baby corn – 4

Tomato, chopped – 2 medium

Onion, chopped – 2 tbsp

Garlic, chopped – 1 clove

Lemon juice – 2 tbsp

Red bell pepper (sauted in a tsp of oil) – 2 tbsp or jalapeno, chopped – 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves / cilantro, chopped – 2 tbsp

Salt – to taste

the method

Blanch the baby corns – Boil water (just adequate to immerse the corn) with salt. Place the baby corn in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from water. Cool and cut it into preferred shape.

In a bowl mix together, the chopped tomatoes, red bell pepper, onion, garlic, coriander, lemon juice, baby corn and salt. Serve it in tacos or as you please. This can also be served as a salad.

Chocolate & Vanilla Marble Cake

The original post with the detailed recipe is here.

Kedgeree

When it comes to savoury rice it was just the pulao and biryani that I used to prepare. Kedgeree comes as a big difference because it is prepared with eggs and fish and it also gives the option to add whatever you want, like potatoes, raisins and the like.

Kedgeree is eaten as a breakfast in the UK. I would call this an Indo – British dish because it is inspired by the Indian Khitchdi. The protein rich lentil in Khitchdi is replaced by the protein rich fish and egg in Kedgeree.

Though this is officially a breakfast, I prepare this as a quick fix for dinner. As regards seasoning, I have replaced the parsley in the actual recipe with mint leaves and the curry powder with garam masala. 

A vegetarian alternative is of course the khitchdi although the non-veg ingredients can be replaced with paneer or soya chunks (both packed with protein).

More information about the recipe is found here

rice  - 1/2 cup  (i have used short grained basmati jeera rice)
water - 1 cup

oil - 2 tbsp
onion - 1
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
chilly powder - 3/4 tsp (adjust according to taste)
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
salt - to taste
tomato, chopped - 2
potato, cubed - 1
raisins - 2 - 3 tbsp
Mint leaves, chopped - 1 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1 pinch

Fish - 4 fillets
Egg - 2-3

the method

Marinate the fish fillets with salt and pepper powder. Fry it and flake it. The eggs can be either boiled and chopped or scrambled. I scrambled the egg to save time. 

Heat a pressure cooker and add oil. Stir in the chopped onion and sauté till light brown. Add the turmeric, chilly and garam masala powder and stir for few seconds. Add the tomatoes, salt and sauté for few seconds. Add the mint leaves, potato, fennel, rice, raisins and mix well. Pour the water and close it with the lid. Switch off heat when the first whistle blows. If using a pan, cook till the rice is done.

Add the fish flakes and scrambled egg to the rice mixture and mix well. Serve hot.

Soya Mince Curry

It is a tough task to zero in on a quickie curry for breakfast and therefore I tried the soya mince curry with inspirations from a mince meat curry preparation I saw in a cookery show. Most of the ingredients are the same as in a spicy curry and the new ingredient is boiled onion paste that gives a rich texture to the gravy and balances the pungency of all the spices.

About soya mince (dunno whether it is readily available in shops), I placed a few soya chunks in the blender for about 3 – 5 seconds. It comes out in a coarse powder form which when soaked in water bloats a little.

Hope you will like my experimentation!!

the recipe

Soya mince – ½ cup (blend about 20 soya chunks – the mince can be prepared in advance and stored)

Ginger juliennes – 1 tbsp

Garlic, chopped – 1 tbsp

Tomato – 1 large

Oil – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Spice powders

Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Chilly powder – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala – ¼ tsp

Boiled onion paste - boil 1 large chopped onion in ½ cup water and cook till all the water is absorbed. Grind it to a fine paste

the method

Soak the soya mince in hot water for ten minutes. Drain the water and wash again. Use a sieve to drain the soya mince.

Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic. When lightly brown add the ginger. Saute for a minute and stir in the chopped tomatoes till soft. Stir in the spice powders and sauté. Pour the boiled onion paste and ½ cup water. Add salt. Let it boil for a minute. Stir in the soaked soya mince and let it simmer for 5 minutes or till oil separates and is visible above the curry. Check salt. A dash of lemon juice enhances the taste. Serve as you please. We had it with pidis (rice dumplings). 


the recipe goes to Dish it out by Vardhini