CHICKEN HOT AND SOUR SOUP

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the long gap of almost an year. I was engaged in all sorts of work including preparing for the MBA entrace exams. However during this period I reinvented my love for Bengali Cuisine and also started making chocolates and got a few orders as well. I will be creating an official FB page for the chocolates .  I do promise I have some delicious recipes coming up for Christmas as well as for parties, luncheons and dinners :)

So after almost an year here is my new post ..... a delicious chinese soup recipe which you will love to have during the winters. Chicken Hot and Sour Soup is something which we Kolkatans are quite familiar with. I personally love this soup it has different veggies, its slightly hot and its bit sour at the same time. This soup can be customised in different ways you can add different veggies and make it vegetarian or add different kinds of proteins to make it non-veg as per your choice. I have kept this recipe very simple and its extremely easy to make.

INGREDIENTS :-

• Onion Sliced 
• Ginger Chopped
• Garlic Chopped 
• Carrot Sliced
• French Beans Sliced
• Cabbage Sliced
• Green Bell Pepper Sliced
• Chicken Boiled and Sliced 
• 1 Egg Beaten
• 1 Tsp Cornflour
• 2 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Vinegar
• 2 Chillis Finely Chopped 
• 1 Tbsp Oil (I used Sunflower Oil)
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock
• Pinch of Ajinomoto (Monosodium Glutamate)
• Salt to taste 

PROCEDURE:-

• Chop the vegetables as finely as possible. The chopping is the key to chinese food. I didnot mention any quantities because you can use as much or as little as you want. Again you can you different veggies as well like chinese cabbage, sprouts, red / yellow bell peppers etc.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the ginger and garlic. fry them for a bit and add the onions and add the ajinomoto and fry them well. You can omit the ajinomoto is you want.

• When the onions become translucent add the vegetables and fry them. In a small bowl mix the soy sauce, vinegar and chopped chillis together. Then add the mix to the veggies.

• Then add the boiled chicken and stir well.

• Now add the chicken stock and let it simmer for a while. Add salt according to your taste. I used fresh chicken stock however you can use stock cubes as well.

• Mix the cornflour with water and slowly pour this mixture into the soup. This will thicken the soup so you can adjust it as per your need. I personally like light broths so I use it in small quantities. 
• Now as the soup thickens, beat the egg and add it into the soup. You can skip the egg if you want but it gives a good flavour to the soup.

• That's it this delicious soup is ready. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!! Do give me your feedback.

ESPECIAL DE DURGA PUJA (DURGA PUJA SPECIAL) : PANCHAMI

PALAK MURG

Its Panchami and therefore as an added bonus a favourite chicken dish of mine - Palak Murg was cooked. This is a dish which is usually cooked by my mom but today I decided to try this on my own. To make it easier I made a few changes to my mom's recipe as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Chicken Breast cut into small pieces
• 1 small bunch of spinach leaves blanched and pureed
• 3 Tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 1/2 Tsp Garlic chili paste
• 1 Tbsp Onion paste
• 2 Tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder
• 2 dried red chillis
• 1/2 Tsp Tumeric Powder
• 1 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Mustard Oil
• Salt to taste
• Water as required

PROCEDURE:

• Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic and chili paste. When it turns golden brown add the onion paste and the dried red chili. I make the garlic chili paste by grinding together garlic cloves and chili.

• Cook this for a few mins and then add the tomato paste. Now add tumeri powderc, red chili powder, salt and garam masala powder. Stir and cook till the oil separates from the masala and then add the chicken pieces.

• Cook on the low flame to make sure that the chicken is cooked. Since these are boneless pieces of chicken they do not take long to cook.

• Then add water and finally add the spinach puree and cook for a few mins. Serve Hot with rice or rotis :)

CHICKEN DO-PYAZA

I am always on the lookout for new chicken recipes. This is a very famous dish and I am sure we have all had this dish at least once in our lives. I always had this dish in restaurants. So I decided to try this recipe out for our sunday lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 grams chicken
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 medium onions diced into big pieces
• 3 medium tomatoes pureed
• 2+1 tbsp yogurt
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1+1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp garam masala powder
• Salt to taste
• Water as required
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2-3 green chillis

For the Garam Masala:

Grind together

• 2-3 green cardamom pods
• 1 big black cardamom pod
• 1/4th stick cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 tsp mace

PROCEDURE:

• Marinate the chicken with ginger- garlic paste, 1 tbsp yogurt,salt and 1 tbsp red chilli powder for 15-30 minutes. The dish will turn out fine if you marinate for a few minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic paste, the chopped onions and cook till the onions turn translucent.
• Then add the tomato puree (i used fresh tomato puree but you can use any store-bought tomato puree) and cook till the oil separates.
• Mix the tumeric powder, chilli powder and cumin powder with the yogurt and add to the pan. Stir well.
• Then add the chicken and the diced onions and mix well so that the masala coats the chicken and onions well.

• Now add water as required (if you want more gravy then add more water) and cook the chicken on a low flame till it cooks.
• Now add the garam masala and mix it well.
• Chicken Do-Pyaza is done :) 

You can serve this with rice and some freshly made salad or with rotis, as you please :)

 

Please do give me feedback :)

Kolhapuri chicken

I was searching for a new chicken recipe when I came across this recipe in NDTV GOODCOOKS website. Since it is a fairly easy one and I had some time I decided to give this one a try.Although i had lying around a packet of Kolhapuri Chicken Masala but i decided to try and make this masala from scratch. This recipe turned out to be quite good and a refreshing change from the everyday chicken dish that is cooked at home.

INGREDIENTS:

For the marination:

1/2 kg chicken

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chilli

1 tsp garlic paste

Salt to taste

1 tsp lime juice

For the Kohlapuri Masala:

2 tsp oil (I used mustard oil)

1 bay leaf

2 cinnamon sticks

5-6  cloves

1 tsp crushed black pepper

1 green chilli

2 medium onions, chopped

3 tsp grated coconut

1 large tomato, chopped

For preparation:

3 tsp oil

Coriander leaves for Garnish

3 green chillis (optional)

PROCEDURE:

• Mix turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garlic paste, salt, and lime juice with the yogurt. Now add the chicken pieces to the marinade and leave aside for half an hour.

Marinated Chicken

• To make the masala, heat the oil in a pan. Then add the bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, crushed black pepper and chopped onions. Saute till onions turn translucent.
• Now add grated coconut. Saute till coconut color changes.
• Then put in the tomatoes, and cook for 10 minutes or till the tomatoes are soft. Let it cool and puree the mix in a blender. (Make sure you take the bay leaf out before pureeing)

The Kolhapuri Masala

The masala pureed

• Now heat oil and add the marinated chicken to the pan. Cook for 25 minutes on low fire while stirring regularly.

• Now add paste and simmer on low flame for a few minutes or till the chicken is cooked. I added a few green chillis in this stage.
• Kolhapuri chicken is ready.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.

I hope you try this recipe. Until next time Adiós :) :)

My Second Post :) :)

KEEMA MATAR

(Minced Chicken With Peas)

Minced chicken (Keema) is a very versatile product. It can be used in various dishes. Usually in our house, we cook Keema with Indian spices in a desi way.This recipe is simple and quite easy. However here the chicken keema can be substituted with mutton keema or any other minced meat. 

Enjoy the recipe :) :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 gms Chicken Keema
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 thin slices of ginger finely chopped
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 6-10 garlic cloves 
• 4-5 green chillis
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 Tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
• 3/4 Tsp tumeric powder
• 2 heaped Tsp Yogurt
• 1 egg boiled (for garnish)
• 1 Tsp meat masala (optional)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Oil

Procedure:

• Make a paste out of the garlic cloves and the green chillis.
• Put oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and ginger. Cook till the onions turn golden brown.
• Now add the garlic chilli paste and cook for about 2 mins.
• Add the chopped tomatoes then, cover and cook till they are soft.
• Then add the red chilli powder, tumeric powder, Meat masala (you can avoid this), yogurt and a little water cover with lid and cook.
• When the oil separates from the masala add the minced chicken (Keema) and stir well. Cook on a low flame with the lid on, occasionally stirring the Keema.
• Keema will be ready within 15-20 mins :)

Keema Matar (pic with flash)

(Pic without FLash)

Serve with rice or rotis

This is one of my favourite dishes to have with rotis. Do give this a try :)

Until next time adiós :) :)