Butter Chicken

Today I borrowed a recipe from the internet.I was getting quite  bored cooking chicken my way for quite sometime now.Although I know to cook butter chicken I wanted to try a recipe totally different from what I am usually accustomed too.Hence for a change I tried chef Vah's  butter chicken recipe.You can find the recipe here,which can be easily understood.Unfortunately I didnt have a few ingredients like full cream and garam masala but yet the final product looked good and tasted extraordinarily delicious.Since I didn't have the ingredient called  for in his recipe ,I did use  a substitute.I added  milk powder to the chicken curry instead  of full cream.

If you cannot find cream,go ahead and add milk powder to your butter chicken and  enjoy the distinct taste.Add  a few tablespoons of milk powder to a cup of boiling water ,mix it well and then stir it into the butter chicken  and continue cooking in slow heat till the stipulated time.

Chicken In Yoghurt

I love to try different recipes to satisfy my family's taste buds.I love trying various methods of cooking chicken.Very often I cook chicken with fresh tomatoes and tomato paste .Recently I thought I will make something new with the chicken.Instead of cooking the chicken on the stove, I actually cooked it in the oven.I made this dish in the spur of the moment, I actually didnt have a recipe or didn't know what to expect once done.Nevertheless it was scrumptiously delicious..

Here's how the recipe was created

Add 2 teaspoons of chilly powder,curry powder,turmeric,a few crushed garlic,ginger,salt and mix them well with a cup of yoghurt.Set aside.

Place 10-12 chicken pieces ( or desired amount)in a baking tray.Pour the above yoghurt mixture over the chicken and let it marinade for 1/2 hour .Cover the tray with an aluminium foil and bake it for 20 minutes.Check for salt.Add some lemon juice and cook for a further 20 minutes.Add 1/4 cup  water if you want some gravy. Serve with steaming rice and a green salad.

Spice Up Your Cooking

What a whole lot of information I discovered recently when browsing through a newsletter sent via my email.At times newsletters become a pain,when they  are delivered  to our inbox one after the day.Surprisingly,this time it proved me wrong with this information.Newsletters in a way, pass on to us things we are not aware of . I am very fond of spicy food,but I didnt realize that it had a lot of benefits  eating them. Spicy foods imparts  and enhances flavour and taste to the food we eat ,but I was n’t aware of it’s  advantages. Using the fiery stuff like red chilly could do a lot of good  to the body.Aside the burning sensation to the mouth,lips and tongue,Spicy food actually raises  the body‘s  metabolism due to the chemical compounds  found in spices like red chilly..Adding a lot of red chillies or red chilly flakes to your cooking  can be a good thing if you want to boost your metabolic speed. Go ahead and spice up your cooking and your life as well.

I love to add red chilly to my chicken curry.

Mix And Match Recipe

A number of dishes can be tried with dry fish.This is a recipe  made from dried and salted fish which is then  fried in hot oil.The recipe I have for you  is fried dry fish sambal.This is generally eaten with red rice,dhal curry,a greeny leaf  mallun ( minced salad) and pappadam, a thin crispy savoury  wafer.This  specific recipe and the above dishes make  an ideal Lunch on a cold winter day.This is a typical  lunch in most homes in Sri Lanka.The neighbouring homes know you are cooking this dish because of the tantalizing  aroma that wafts from your kitchen. 


The recipe ( Dry Fish Sambal)
Fry dried fish pieces,any kind .( 8-10 pieces) Set aside.
Then slightly  fry  two sliced  onions,3-4 green chillies ,a tablespoon red chilly flakes and a few curry leaves in a little oil.
Add one large chopped tomato and salt to taste.Mix in the fried dried fish.Squeeze in the juice of a small lime.


You can also mix and match this recipe  with a few  other dishes as well  ...mix it with deviled potatoes.

... or simply add it to fried brinjals ( eggplant)

Deviled Shrimps

This is my favourite seafood.I love it when it is cooked with  onions and chilly.Usually I get them cleaned at the market where we purchase.This time I had to do all the deveining and cleaning  all by myself.I cut both ends of the shrimps and applied a tablespoon of turmeric powder on the fresh shrimps and washed them well.I trimmed both the ends of the shrimps  as my children find it  appetizing  without them.

                                                           - A kilo of Shrimps-

In a little oil,I fried a few cloves of crushed garlic and ginger.Then I sauteed the shrimps.While still cooking,I mixed in a teaspoon of cummin seeds and  2-3 teaspoons of chilly powder and continued cooking till it changed colour.Then I added  a tablespoon of tomato paste,salt to taste and the juice of one lemon.

While it was still sizzling in the pan ,I threw in a few sliced green bell peppers ,a sliced onion and one chopped tomato.Finally I drizzled dashes of soya sauce and let it simmer for a while.

 This is a meal in a jiffy.You can serve it with rice,toast bread or chappatis: flat bread. 

                                                          Bon Appetit! My Friends...


Ps..Click on pictures to enlarge

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop

Savoury Rice

I am  happy when there is left over rice from the previous day so  I can make a  simple dish  with it, with  only a dry curry and a salad as side dishes.However this can be eaten by itself without any accompaniments as it  is well coated with vegetables,herbs and seasonings.
  
You will need
2 breakfast cups cooked rice 
2 eggs

1 large onion shredded
2-3 chopped green chillies
1 carrot finely diced
1/4 cup boiled green peas
1/2 teaspoon red chilly flakes  (optional)
A few cloves of garlic/ginger sliced thinly
1 cube of stock( vegetable or chicken)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cubes of butter ( 2-3 tablespoons)


Preparation
Fry the onions,green chillies,carrots, green peas in the butter.Once they turn pale,mix the ginger/garlic,red chilly flakes .Next add the cube of stock and stir it well so that all the ingredients get well coated.Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add it to the rest of the ingredients little by little.Scramble the eggs with the vegetables.Season with salt and pepper.Finally put in the cups of rice and mix well.Cover with a lid and keep warm .

 Serving Suggestions

With a dry chicken curry ( fried and cooked till all the gravy dries up) 

                                     Salad