Dry Indian Chilli Chicken ~ Indo Chinese Recipe Series

Probably one of the dishes I crave the most on odd days. There are some restaurants that serve good Indo Chinese food in Singapore but they usually leave me feeling dehydrated because of the amount of oil and MSG they use.

This is a super simple version that I cooked at a friend's place. The two non-vegetarians at the table really enjoyed it!

Indo Chinese Dry Chilli Chicken Recipe
Serves 4
Adapted from: KhanaKhazana

Ingredients:
500gm boneless chicken pieces, cut into small cubes
1 onion, cut into cubes
1/2 of a green capsicum / bell pepper, cut into cubes
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp green chilli sauce
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 green chillies, slit (we used the large red chillies that have lesser heat)
1 tsp dry red chilli flakes (optional)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp all purpose flour or maida
1 egg (optional)
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar (optional)
Oil
Spring onions for garnish

How I Made It:

1. Marinate the chicken in 1/2 tbsp soya sauce, egg, salt, pepper, flour, cornflour, half the garlic and half the green chilli sauce for atleast 30 mins. Leave it for an hour or two if you have the time.

2. Heat a shallow pan with about 1/4 cup oil and lightly fry the chicken pieces until golden brown. Set aside.

3. In the remaining oil, add chopped garlic and the chillies and flakes and fry for 2 minutes. Next, add the onions and capsicum and fry until soft (2-3 mins). Add vinegar and mix well. Top off with the fried chicken and the remaining quantities of ingredients used to marinate (1/2 tbsp soya sauce, 1/2 tbsp green chilli sauce, salt, sugar, and pepper).

4. Stir all the ingredients until well combined and fry for another 3-4 mins. Garnish with some chopped spring onions and serve hot. 

Am sending this over to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by Magpie's Recipes this month. 

Shamshad's Chicken Biriyani / Biryani Recipe

What better way to get back fully after a lazy break from blogging? Make someone else do the work. So here's a mild yet yummy and super easy Chicken Biriyani recipe shared by my friend Shamshad. She was very apologetic about the pictures but I have to say she did a mighty good job.

Thanks Sham!



Chicken Biriyani Recipe
Adapted from Awesome Cuisine
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Basmati rice -  4 cups (soaked in water for 1 hour)
Chicken pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 3 large
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Green chilies - 5 (or as per your requirement)
Pepper powder - to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - a 1" piece
Cloves - 4
Salt to taste

To Marinate
Pepper powder -to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For Seasoning
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 15 or so
Raisins - 10 or so
1 large onion

Method:

1. Chicken
Wash Chicken pieces. Marinate for atleast an hour with coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.
Semi fry chicken pieces in a pan with little oil.

Heat oil and add onions and the ginger garlic paste. When it turns brown, add green chilies (cut into small pieces). Add coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.

When it is done, add chicken pieces. Keep it for 5-10 mts till it is half cooked. In between you can turn the pieces so that it is heated equally.

Cook in pressure cooker with about 1/2 cup water. Normally 4 whistles.

Biriyani Rice
Put 2tsp ghee in the pan used to fry the chicken. Add cardamom+cloves+cinnamon.
After 2 mins, add the soaked rice. Stir well for 5 mins, else it will stick to the pan. Add the rest of the main ingredients and cook in a pressure cooker with 6 cups water (the ratio of rice:water should be 1:1.5) - normally 3 whistles for basmati rice.

Once done, mix the cooked rice and chicken.

Seasoning
Put ghee in a pan. Add onion (cut lengthwise very thin), cashew nuts and raisins. When it turns light
brown, remove and garnish the biriyani

Serve hot with papad and raita.

Kodi Iguru/Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Onions

This is going to be the last non-veg recipe till probably I go home on vacation. TH is a vegetarian so I will only be cooking veggie stuff in our kitchen here. This is actually a dish I made around two weeks before the wedding, meaning to dedicate the post to my ex-roomie Prathibha. She loves this chicken dish and I tried to duplicate it. It got lost in my drafts until recently when I came across this event featuring chicken as the star of the dish.

So here it goes, Kodi Iguru, for my friend Prathibha :)

What I Used:

serves 4

• Chicken - 1 kg, cleaned and cut into small pieces
• Onions - 4, sliced
• Tomatoes - 2, cubed
• Ginger - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
• Garlic - 5-6 cloves, minced

For the masala (powder coarsely together)

• Cinnamon – a 2” stick
• Cardamom – 3
• Cloves – 2
• Star anise – 3
• Dried red chillies – 6
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Powdered coriander seeds – 2 tsp

For tempering and garnishing

• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• Oil – 4 tbsp

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and temper the mustard seeds. Then add the onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions turn a dark golden brown. I stop short of burning them, since I like the flavor better then.

2. Next add the ginger and garlic and fry for 10 seconds before adding the ground masala. This mixture needs to be fried for about 2 minutes. Add some oil at this stage if the masala looks too dry.

3. Add the tomatoes and chicken pieces next and stir well. Do NOT add any water. Keep the fire on sim and cook covered for about 15 minutes till the chicken is tender.

4. When you remove the cover, there will be some more water left in the pan. So cook with the cover open till its dry, the masala sticks to the chicken pieces and the oil separates. Keep stirring at this stage, without breaking the chicken pieces.

5. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

This is my entry to the ‘Chicken – My Favourite’ Event hosted by Vandana of Cooking Up Something Nice.

Cooking with Leftovers - Tandoori Chicken with Steamed Potatoes

Though I am immensely interested in cooking something nice and healthy for myself over weeknights, its almost always never possible. Simply because I am lazy or blame it on tiredness. In such situations, there is a place that we order take out from called Surabhi Restaurant. Once, I ordered tandoori chicken kabab as an appetizer for dinner. There was quite a lot leftover and I just stashed it in the fridge, thinking I will deal with it the next day.

Around 5-6 pieces of frozen tandoori kabab stood staring at me next day morning and I briefly looked at the vegetable tray only to find some good old (literally!) potatoes in there. Idea struck and here is what I came up with.

Tandoori Chicken with Steamed Potatoes

What I Used:

Tandoori Chicken - 5-6 pieces
Potatoes - 2 medium
Onion - 1
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Chicken masala - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Fresh coriander leaves - for garnishing

How I Made It:

1. Steam the potatoes, peel and cube them.

2. Saute the onions in very little oil and the masala and chilly. Mix the potatoes in and stir well for another minute.

3. Shred the chicken pieces and mix in well.

Serve hot with bread.

It was done in less than 20 minutes and I enjoyed a nice Saturday brunch :)

Potatoes always come to the rescue when you need to convert leftovers to a proper meal. That's why this dish too goes over to Sia's Ode to Potatoes and DK's Potato Fest!

Easy Tomato Spaghetti with Shredded Chicken

Any kind of pasta is always a welcome dinner for me, simple because it is hassle-free and doesn't demand a side dish or gravy. Isn't that a perfect meal for one? (Oh!! How I hate cooking just for myself!) I prefer the tomato based paste to the cheese base, though I crave for the latter occasionally. This is an as-simple-as-it-gets kind of recipe to make some yummy spaghetti. Vegetarians, just avoid the chicken and add mushrooms instead, if you like them, or just go plain!

What I Used:

Spaghetti - one packet
Shredded cooked chicken - 1/2 cup
Pureed tomatoes - 4
Capsicum/bell pepper - half
Spinach (optional) - 3 to 4 stalks
Crushed garlic - 6 pods
Oregano - 2 tsp
Pepper - 3 tsp
Salt - to taste
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

How I Made It:

1. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water till done. Add some salt and a little oil the water to enhance flavour and prevent it from sticking together once done.

2. Heat the oil and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the diced spinach and capsicum, pureed tomatoes and the chicken and fry for another minute.

3. Add the spaghetti and mix well. Season with the oregano and pepper while still on the stove and mix well. Adjust salt and remove from fire.

Serve hot.

This One-Dish Dinner goes to Meeta's Monthly Mingle.

Chicken Noodle Broth

I spent 10 mins trying out different names for this post. Chicken soup, Chicken noodle soup, Chicken soup for the soul (yeah, I know!), Noodle chicken broth, etc etc. Finally settled on Chicken Noodle Broth.

If you check recipes of chicken noodle broth online, you will invariably find chicken pieces added to it or atleast shredded ones. What I have here is just plain chicken broth with noodles in it, spiced up with some pepper and salt.

Wikipedia says that Chicken broth is the liquid part of chicken soup. Broth can be served as is, or used as stock, or served as soup with noodles. Broth can be milder than stock, does not need to be boiled as long, and can be made with meatier chicken parts.

Its great to have when you have a cold or a bad throat. As the weather is cold these days, its great to have a hot cup of chicken broth to curl your fingers around and watch some TV.

Chicken Noodle Broth



What I Used:

Maggi Chicken Stock Packets - 2 (150 gm)
Noodles - 100gm
Water - 4 cups
Pepper powder - 3 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp (optional)
Cornflour - 1 tsp (if you want thicker consistency)
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Boil the noodles in little water, until cooked.

2. Add the water, bring to boil and then add the chicken stock powder. Mix well before it forms lumps. Add the coriander powder and cornflour also, at this stage.

3. When the raw smell of the stock powder leaves the broth, mix in the pepper, adjust salt (stock powder has added salt, so be careful!) and remove from fire.



Serve hot with bread sticks.

Chicken Drumsticks - Easiest Chicken Dish In The World!

This used to be a favourite dish during my childhood days, when we go out for dinner. Chicken legs used to fascinate me and I used to fight for it from my mom's chicken curry, with cousins my age. All the more reason why chicken drumsticks were good, cuz no fighting necessary. It meant an entire plate full of them, arranged florally, with tomato and green chutney in the centre.

Chicken Drumsticks


What I Used:

Chicken legs - 4
Curd - 5 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Jeera powder - 2 tsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp

How I Made It:

Mix all the ingredients and marinate the chicken legs in it for 2 hours.

Shallow fry in little oil and serve hot with rice or roti with chopped onions and tomato/green chutney.



By the way, I received mostly positive feedback about the new template but I agree with those few who said it looks childish and less like a food blog template. So till I get a better one, I am going to go with this. Probably for new years, I will have a new template. Till then, bear with me. After all, its autumn time for most of you out there. In India, its all the same of course, but Hyderabad is getting cooler by the day and its quite pleasant.

Chicken Sausages in Onion Gravy

I turned my brains upside down wondering how I can contribute to the Weekend Breakfast Blogging event #14, that's all about ethnic breakfasts. That's when I thought of sausages and 'Indianizing' it into a dish. This is simple and yet makes a great breakfast dish.



What I Used:

Chicken sausages - 6
Onions - 2
Tomatoes - 1
Green chillies - 2

Masala
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

How I Made It:

Defrost the sausages

Saute onions in oil till transparent and add the tomatoes and chillies. Fry for two minutes.

Add all the masala and fry till the raw smell leaves the paste.

Add very little water and mix well with the cubed sausages.

Garnish with curry leaves.

I served it with fried potatoes and bread.



This goes to Weekend Breakfast Blogging #14, hosted by Glenna. Original event idea - Nandita of Saffron Trail.

The Birthday Cooking Bash - Vegetable Pulao, Special Chicken Roast

Sigh.. I turned another year old last Saturday and this year I decided to 'treat' my friends differently. I cooked for them. Also gives me some stuff to post in here, since I have resolved not to let my cooking blog die a slow death with neglect.

So, here are the things I made. Sadly, I didn't get much time to take good pics, since the guests were hungry and I was busy with the cleaning, setting up the table, getting ready myself before the 'cake-cutting', etc :). Anyway, here goes.

Vegetable Pulao




What I Used:

Ingredients Set One

Basmati rice - 3 cups
Onion - 1 big
Tomato - 1 big
Carrots - 2 medium
Beans - 15

Ingredients Set Two

Bay leaves - 1
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Green chillies - 4
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tsbp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker pan, add ingredients set two and fry for two minutes.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute before adding the finely chopped vegetables in ingredients set one. Stir this mixture for 3 more minutes. Add required amount of salt.

3. After that, add the rice and fry for another minute.

4. Add 5 cups water and pressure cook till the first whistle.

5. Open as soon as steam has espaced and transfer to a wide bowl.

Serve warm.

This is my entry to this month's JFI - Rice, hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam.


Mummy's Special Chicken Roast

This is a dish that my mom used to make when I was in college and I used to love it! Tried to replicate the taste and almost succeeded.

What I Used:

Chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 5 medium, cut into small square pieces
Tomatoes - 2
Capsicum - 1 small
Green chillies - 5
Jeera powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
Chilly powder - 2tsp
Curry leaves - 3 strands
Oil - to fry
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Crackle mustard seeds in the heated oil and add the onions. Saute till golden brown.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric-jeera-coriander-chilly powders, curry leaves, chillies and fry for 2-3 mins, till the raw smells have gone.

3. Next, add the tomatoes and capsicum pieces. Stir for another minute and add the chicken pieces.

4. Close the pan and wait till the chicken has cooked. Note that no water should be added at any stage. Once closed, the chicken will release water and will cook in that itself.

5. Once the pieces have cooked, open the lid and keep on fire till all the water has gone and the oil starts clearing.

Enjoy hot!

Tip: This dish is on the spicier side and sometimes when it seems a little too much so, amma adds a pinch of sugar. I follow the same method. In fact, I add a pinch of sugar to almost all the curries I make, that involve a masala paste.

We also made payasam and of course a cake! Recipes and pics to follow in the next post :)