Caramel Nutty Cake

A warm, simple & tasty preparation to spread Christmas cheer...Caramel Nutty Cake

Ingredients for Caramel Nutty Cake:

All-purpose flour – 500g

Sugar – 600g

Butter – 500g (Unsalted/white butter)

Eggs – 500g (The number which equals to 500g)

Vanilla essence – 2 Tbsp

Almonds – 250g (Finely grated)

Cashew – 250g (Finely grated)

Salt – 1 Tsp

How to make Caramel Nutty Cake:

For best results, let all the ingredients be at room temperature before you start baking.

Caramel prep:

Take 100g sugar in a thick bottom sauce pan on low heat. Continuous stirring is a must. Once the sugar starts melting and frothing up, pour little water. As soon as you do it, it turns into a dark lump. But do not stop stirring! Give it few seconds and it will come down to liquid state again. Take it off heat.

Cake mix:

In a blender on medium high speed, put in the butter, eggs and sugar. Once the sugar is completely melted, pour in the vanilla & salt. Put in the flour in small batches and pour the caramel. Let all the ingredients get incorporate well before you turn off the blender.

Now take 3/4^th of the grated nuts and fold them into the batter. Avoid mixing the batter too much as it results in dense cakes and not light fluffy ones.

Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C.

I’ve used cup-cake baking material (Silicon moulds). You can go ahead and use any baking tray or a glass tray available.

Fill the batter to 3/4th of the tray height and sprinkle few nuts on top.

Now set the oven temperature at 180°C and put in the tray. Average baking time ranges between 30-40 minutes. However, it differs from oven to oven. I used an OTG. So, the best way to check if the cake is done is to use a toothpick/any sharp instrument and poke at the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean...Perfect!!! If not, let it stay in there for few minutes and check again.

Once the cake is out of oven, let it rest for 2-5 minutes before you take it off the tray/baking cups.

Hope you’ll enjoy the taste just the way you would enjoy preparing the Caramel Nutty Cake. I am sure U would J

Chilly Chicken

Yet another Chinese dish and an all time favourite – Chilly Chicken

Ingredients for Chilly Chicken:

Chicken – 1 Kg (Boneless)

Ginger-Garlic Paste – 2 Tbsp

Parsley – 4 Tbsp

Vinegar – 1 Tsp

Soya sauce – 2 Tbsp

Tomato Ketchup – 1 Tbsp

Red-Chilly Sweet Sauce – 2-3 Tbsp

Tabasco Sauce – 1 Tbsp

Capsicum – 1 Big (Medium sized cubes)

Onion – 1 Big (Medium sized cubes)

Green Chillies – 4-5 (slit along the length)

Spring onion – 4-5 (Jus the green part, finely chopped)

Ginger – 1-2 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Garlic - 1-2 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Salt and Ajinomoto to taste

Oil (olive oil preferably)

Procedure - Chilly Chicken:

Dice chicken into desirable chunks. Marinate it with ginger-garlic paste, 2 Tbsp parsley & vinegar and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Now shallow fry the chicken pieces. Do not over fry the pieces as they tend to get hard and chewy when cooled down. Take them off the oil, the moment you see the meat is cooked tender. Keep it aside.

Take a shallow pan on low heat, put 2 Tbsp oil. Now drop in the ginger and garlic pieces, and then the veggies including chillies & spring onion. Sauté them for a minute and drop the chicken pieces as well. Let the heat be on low and put in all the sauces. The measurements of the sauces are in accordance to my liking. Please do feel free to adjust them to yours. Sprinkle salt, ajinomoto and the remaining parsley and give it a good stir. Let all the sauces glaze the chicken and veggies well. Once you get the aroma of the same, it’s time to turn off the heat, serve and relish the pipping hot Chilly Chicken.

Chocolate Doughnut

Finger-licking chocolate doughnut, loved by all ages!

 

Ingredients for Chocolate Doughnut:
(1 Cup = 200g)

Cooking Chocolate – 500g (Dark)

All-purpose Flour (Maida) – 2 Cups

Wheat Flour (Atta) – 2 ½ Cups

Butter – 1 ¼ Cups (150g)

Sugar – 2/3 Cup

Eggs – 3 (room temperature)

Dry Yeast – 2 Tbsp

Vanilla Essence – 1 Tsp

Salt – 1 Tsp

Procedure - Chocolate Doughnut

Soak yeast in 1 cup warm water and 1 Tsp sugar and cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes. This is the most important ingredient of the entire dish. If the yeast is old/expired, it would not work out well and the doughnuts will be heavy & dense, instead of light & fluffy.

Blend sugar and butter in another bowl by adding eggs one at a time. Once the sugar is melted completely, add the atta, vanilla & salt to the egg mixture. It would be runny/sticky dough. Do not worry. We still have maida to add.

After 10 minutes of the yeast soaking, add maida to it and mix well. Now add this maida+yeast mixture to the atta dough and knead well into dough. If the dough still seems sticky, you can go ahead and add maida, little, not much. Now cover it tight with a clear wrap or a lid and place it in a warm place for the yeast to do its thing. The best place recommended – Microwave. Make sure you do not turn it on J You’ll have to give the dough atleast 2 hrs to rest before you start preparing the doughnuts.

After two hours, the dough would be double the size. Congrats, you’ve got good quality yeast. Now let your kitchen counter be spick & span as you got to knead the dough and start spreading the dough with a rolling pin. Let the thickness be quarter of an inch. Now take a cookie cutter/any tumbler with sharp edge to cut round pieces (doughnuts). Now with a smaller cookie cutter/bottle cap, cut another round piece in the middle of the doughnut.

Meanwhile, put oil in a pan for deep fry on low-medium heat. Once the oil is hot, gently immerse the doughnuts. If they rise to the surface immediately, bang on, the oil is at the right temperature. It would take 1-2 minutes each side to turn into golden brown. Take them out, place them on the kitchen napkin for the extra oil to drip out and then store them in an air-tight container. 

Chocolate Prep:

Take the chocolate in a glass bowl and melt it in microwave for about a minute on low heat. Take it out stir it and again put it back for a minute on low. Continue the process till the bar is melted completely. The stirring and melting process helps in proper tempering of the chocolate and hence good glaze & texture. Now dip each doughnut half way through the chocolate and serve as shown. I’ve used the sprinkles that I had handy at home. You can get going with whatever topping you prefer on your favourite and soft chocolate doughnut.

Topping recommendations – Powdered sugar, choco-rice, coloured rice, choco-chips, melted white chocolate, grated chocolate (milk/dark/white), crushed cookies, crushed wafers and the list goes on...

Pasta in Alfredo Sauce

An Italian favourite and something easy to make at home - Pasta in Alfredo Sauce .

Ingredients for Pasta in Alfredo Sauce:

Pasta (Penne Rigate) – 500 g

Chicken – ½ Kg (boneless)

Cheese – 150 g (Cheddar/Parmesan/Cream cheese - grated)

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 6 Tbsp

Butter – 3 Tbsp (Semi-solid)

Milk – 1 Lt

Onion – 1 (small, 2halves)

Cloves – 2 Nos

Bay Leaf – 2 Nos

Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 Tbsp

Thyme/Parsley – 1 Tsp

Olive oil – 1 Tbsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure - Pasta in Alfredo Sauce:

Chicken Prep:

Cut chicken into desired cubes, mix ginger-garlic paste, parsley & salt and let it marinate for 5 minutes. Then fry chicken pieces in a shallow pan with little oil. Make sure chicken is not over-cooked/fried & turned into brown. It got to be tender and white in colour even after frying. Take it off heat and let it rest.

Sauce Prep:
Take a deep dish with milk, onion halves, cloves & bay leaf and heat it. Take it off heat as soon as you see the first boil.

Now take a sauce pan on low heat. Put butter and let it melt. Then put in the flour. Continuous whisking is important as the flour might form lumps or get burnt. Once you do not get the raw smell of flour anymore, pour in the milk. Remember; do not stop stirring/whisking. The flour tends to make the milk a little thicker. Put in thyme, salt & pepper. Now put on the grated cheese and continue stirring till all of it is melted. Taste for the balance of salt and pepper according to your preference. Finally, fold in the chicken pieces and give it a good stir. Take it off heat and let it rest for 5-10 min.

Boiling Pasta:

Take a deep dish and fill it with water. Add salt & 1 Tbsp olive oil and bring it to boil. Now put in the pasta and stir so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. It should normally take 8-10 minutes for it to cook. Do not stir much, as it leads to breaking of pasta. Once cooked, drain the water. Drizzle the pasta with the same oil that you fried chicken with. This not only keeps the pasta glazed but also gives the chicken flavour to it. Serve hot and enjoy the creamy Pasta in Alfredo Sauce.

Vegetarians:

You can totally skip the chicken part. In accordance to your preferences, you can add veggies.

Recommended veggies – Cauliflower, Capsicum, Broccoli, Zucchini etc.  

Chocolate Brownie

Satisfy your chocolate cravings with some oh so sweet Chocolate Brownie!!

Ingredients for Chocolate Brownie:

Dark cooking chocolate – 250g

Butter (regular) – 250g

Sugar – 300g

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 150g

Eggs – 4

Vanilla essence - 2 Tsp

Simple process of Chocolate Brownie:

Melt chocolate along with butter in a microwave on low for a minute. Then take it out and stir and put it back for another minute. Continue the process till the chocolate and butter are completely melted and become a nice smooth, flowing mixture. This process avoids burning of chocolate and results in a good texture.

In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar & vanilla essence. Use a blender for smooth mixture. The sugar should be completely dissolved, before you put in the chocolate-butter mixture. Do not stir the mixture vigorously, but fold in the batter till all the elements are totally incorporated. Now add the flour and repeat the folding process. Batter is ready! Now pour the batter in the baking bowl evenly.

Pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 250°C.

Then, lower the heat to 200°C and put in the baking bowl. It normally takes 45-50 minutes to bake. However, keep checking after 30 minutes, as every oven differs in the heating patterns.

When will you know that the brownie is ready to take it out???

When you poke in a toothpick/knife in the middle, it comes out clean without any batter sticking to it.

Take it out. Let it rest for 2-5 minutes. Cut into a desirable size and serve hot.

Enjoy the gooey dark chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce, choc-chips or ice-cream!

Note:

A glass bowl is preferred for melting chocolate and butter.

I have used an OTG oven for baking and not the Convection.

Egg Fried Rice

A nice and light Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients for Egg Fried Rice:

Rice – 2 Cups (Cooked)

Eggs – 2 (Room temperature)

Milk – 1 Tbsp (Room temperature)

Parsley – 1 Tsp (Optional)

Carrot – 1 (Finely chopped)

French beans – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Spring Onion – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Ajinomoto, Salt & Pepper to taste.

Procedure - Egg Fried Rice:

Beat eggs in a bowl. Whisk in the milk, salt and parsley. Do not over whisk the eggs. Take a wide pan with 2 Tbsp oil on low heat and pour in the egg mixture. Make sure oil is not too hot when you put in the eggs. That will burn the eggs or turn them into dark golden brown which spoils the appealing sight of fried rice. Also, once you put in the egg mixture, do not stir it vigorously. Light and subtle folds and breaking it into desired smaller chunks is recommended.

Now put in the veggies (carrot, beans & spring onion) and let them fry for a minute. Fried rice is all about the colour. So make sure the colour and crunch of the veggies will retain as shown in the picture.

Put in the rice, 1 Tbsp oil, salt, ajinomoto and give it a good stir and let it fry for 1-2 minutes. Add pepper at the end, stir and taste for the balance of salt and ajinomoto. Serve hot and relish the delicious Egg Fried Rice.

Mutton Potato curry

An authentic Andhra style mutton potato curry!!!

Ingredients for Mutton Potato curry:

Mutton – 1 Kg

Potatoes – ¾ Kg (Medium sized pieces)

Onion – 3 medium sized (Finely chopped)

Tomato – 2 small sized (Finely chopped)

Ginger- Garlic Paste – 2 Tbsp

Coconut milk – 1-2 Tbsp

Tamarind – half a handful (soaked in water)

Lime – ½

Jeera powder – ½ Tbsp

Dhaniya powder – ½ Tbsp

Garamasala Powder – 1 Tbsp

Salt and Chilly powder to taste

Procedure - Mutton Potato curry:

Marinate the mutton with chilly powder and turmeric and put it in the fridge, covered for ½ hour. Any meat that is put in the fridge for marination, has to be taken out 5 min before you start the dish prep.

In a pressure cooker, put 2-3 Tbsp oil. Once hot, put in the onion and let it fry till golden brown. Now put in the ginger-garlic paste, jeera powder, garamasala powder, dhaniya powder & salt and let them all fry well, till you do not get the raw smell of the powders anymore. Now put in the meat & tomato and give it a good stir and let them all fry for a minute. Drop in the potatoes and once again, a nice stir and fry for a minute. Now pour in water till the level of all the ingredients and put on the cooker lid along with the weight. 4 whistles and you can turn off the stove and let the steam totally die out. Open the lid and put it back on the flame. This is the time when you take a quick taste to check for the balance of the spices and salt. In-case anything required more, please do not hesitate. When everything is well balanced, now pour in the coconut milk, give it a good stir and take the pan off heat. Garnish with coriander and serve hot & savour the spicy mutton potato curry.  

Egg scramble slice

Simple & creamy Egg scramble slice...

Ingredients for Egg scramble slice:

Bread slice – 1-2

Eggs – 2

Milk – 2 Tbsp

Parsley – ½ tsp (Optional)

Chilly flakes – ½ Tsp (Optional)

Cheese slice – 1

Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure - Egg scramble slice:

In a microwavable dish (preferably glassware), whisk 2 eggs and pour 2 Tbsp milk and stir well. Season it with salt. Now cover it and put it in a microwave on low for 2.5 - 3 minutes. Once done, take it out cut it into desired chunks with a fork. Put in the parsley, chilly flakes & pepper and stir. Now spread the egg scramble on a bread slice and place small strips of cheese on it. Now cover and put it back in the microwave for 30 sec or until the cheese melts. Enjoy the cheesy egg scramble slice accompanied with a glass of your favourite juice/milkshake etc.

**Always use eggs that are at room temperature to get fluffy and light egg scramble.

Fish Cutlets

Sea food time!!! - Fish Cutlets

Ingredients for Fish Cutlets:

Fish - 1Kg (deboned)

Green chillies - 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Spring onion - 5-6 (Finely chopped)

Ginger garlic paste - 2 Tbsp

Garam Masala powder - 1 Tbsp

Dhaniya powder -  ½ Tbsp

Jeera powder - 1 Tbsp

Chilly powder - 1-2 Tbsp

Eggs - 3-4

Bread crumbs - 2-3 cups

Salt & Pepper to taste

How to make Fish Cutlets:

Fish Prep:

Clean the fish and keep aside. The preferred fish for this dish could be King fish (Vanjaram)/Salmon. Take a wide pan/bowl and fill it with water. Put some salt and turmeric and get it to a boil. Now put in the fish and let it cook for a minute each side. Once you see the fish flaking out, that’s when you’ll know it is cooked. Take out the fish out of the water and let it cool. Then debone the fish and mash it.

Easier option: Pick up tin fish and directly mash it, as it is already pre-cooked

Cutlets prep:

Put in all the ingredients into the mashed fish and mix well. Do taste for salt and chilly. Please note all the powders/ingredients mentioned can be varied according to each ones’ taste. Once mixed well, prepare the shapes as shown in the picture or any shape that you prefer. Dip the cutlet in the egg and then coat it with bread crumbs. Let them rest in the fridge for half an hour before you fry them. These cutlets can also be stored in the freezer and like any frozen food can be taken out, thawed and fried. You can store them for at least 2-3 weeks in the freezer.

Once you let the cutlets rest for half an hour in the fridge, shallow fry them and serve them with your favourite dip.

Need some help with dips??? Mayonnaise and Sweet chilly dip recipes coming up soon!!!!

Chicken Chettinadu

An authentic classic South Indian dish with flavours of Tamil Nadu, Chicken Chettinadu.

Ingredients for Chicken Chettinadu:

Chicken – 1 Kg

Fresh coconut pieces – ¼ of a coconut

Cinnamon sticks – 3

Cloves – 5-6

Jeera – 1 Tsp

Dhaniya seeds – 1 Tsp

Dry chilly – 4-5

Black Pepper corns – 1 Tsp

Turmeric – 1 Tsp

Chilly powder – 1 Tsp

Bay leaf (biryani leaf/tej patta) – 2

Star Anise (biryani flower/chakri phool) – 2-3

Capers (biryani stick/shalmali) – 2-3

Onion – 1 Big (finely chopped)

Tomato – 1 Big (finely chopped)

Ginger-garlic paste – 2 Tbsp

Coriander – 1 Tbsp

Oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Salt to taste

Procedure - Chicken Chettinadu:

Clean chicken and marinate it with little turmeric & chilly powder and leave it to rest in the fridge for at-least 30 minutes.

Chettinadu Paste Prep:

All the spices we are using are the whole ones and not powders. Dry roast the following – biryani leaf, biryani flower, biryani stick, pepper cons, dry chilly, jeera, cloves & cinnamon. Then mix all of them with coconut pieces and grind them into a thick paste.

Chicken Chettinadu Prep:

Heat oil in a pan and put in the finely chopped onions. Once golden brown, put in the ginger garlic paste and let it fry well. Now drop in the Chettinadu paste and give it a good stir. Let them all fry well till you do not get the raw smell of either pastes. Put in the chicken and let it fry for 5-6 min along with the paste. Now the tomato pieces go in. Give it all a good stir and pour ½ cup water and then cover and let it cook for around 10-15 min. Once you feel the chicken is tender and cooked, put in the coriander, stir and serve hot.

Vegetable Manchurian

Here is a very popular Indo-Chinese accompaniment – Vegetable Manchurian.

Ingredients for Vegetable Manchurian:

Cabbage – 4-5 leaves (Finely chopped)

Carrot – 1 medium size (Grated)

French beans – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 1 ½ Tbsp

Corn flour – 1 Tbsp

Onion – 1 medium size (Finely chopped)

Spring onion – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Garlic – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Tomato ketchup – 1 ½ Tbsp

Soya sauce – 1 Tbsp

Chilly sauce (Red/Green) – 2 Tbsp

Tasting Salt (Ajinomoto) – 1 Tsp

Chilly powder – 1 Tsp

Oil – 2 Tbsp

Salt – 1 Tsp

Procedure - Vegetable Manchurian:

Veggie Balls Prep:

Take finely chopped/grated veggies in a wide bowl. Add 1 ½ Tbsp all-purpose flour, salt, chilly powder & ajinomoto to the veggies and knead the veggies until all of them are well incorporated. Now add ½ Tbsp corn-flour into the mixture and knead it all together. The moisture from the veggies will make the mixture, dough like. Now prepare small sized balls, by rolling them in your palm.

Put a pan on medium heat, with oil enough to shallow fry. Make sure the oil is medium hot before you fry the balls. Reason being, less heat oil will make the balls absorb more oil, where on the other hand, high heat oil will fry the balls dark brown from outside quickly, not allowing the inside to cook well.  Put one ball into the pan and see if it touches the bottom of the pan and rises to the oil level again. That’s the right temperature to fry the veggie balls. Once done frying them to a golden brown, leave them to rest.

Manchurian Glaze Prep:

Take a shallow pan on low heat. Put 2 Tbsp oil. Put in the chopped garlic & onion pieces and let them sauté for few seconds. Make sure they do not get fully cooked. Let the crunch retain. Now put in the spring onion and give it a good stir. Put in the tomato, soya and chilly sauce and let it cook for few seconds. Meanwhile mix ½ Tbsp corn-flour in 3 Tbsp water. Pour in the corn-flour mix into the veggie-sauce mix. 

Vegetable Manchurian Prep:

 Immediately put in the veggie balls and let them all get coated well with the glaze. This has got to be quick as the corn-flour tends to thicken soon. Once all the veggie balls get well incorporated with the sauce mix, take it off heat and serve hot. Garnish with spring onions.

Mac & Cheese

Let’s do some Macaroni & Cheese …

Ingredients for Mac & Cheese:

Macaroni – 500 g

Cheddar cheese – 300 g (shredded)

Pizza cheese – 300 g (a mix regular & mozzarella is a must& not just mozzarella) (shredded)

Butter – 100 g

Milk – 6 Cups

Fresh cream – 1 Cup

All-purpose flour (Maid) – 5 Tbsp

Parsley – 3 Tbsp

Bread crumbs – 4 Tbsp

Salt & pepper to taste

Procedure - Mac & Cheese:

Macaroni (elbows) Prep:

Take a deep dish and fill it with water, enough to cover the macaroni and a little higher. Put salt and bring the water to a boil. Then, put in the macaroni and cook it for 5-6 min. They have to slightly under-cooked as we got to bake it later on.  Pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil in the macaroni. Now drain the water completely and set it aside. Keep giving a slight stir in regular intervals so as to make sure they do not stick to each other.

Sauce Prep:

Take a sauce pan and put it on low heat. Put butter into it and let it melt. Once done, put in the flour. Stir continuously to avoid lumps. Once the flour is completely incorporated with butter, pour in the milk. Make sure the flour does not turn brown before you pour in the milk. All the while, let the heat be only on low or medium low. Bring the milk to a simmer and take it off heat.  Now leave aside 3 tbsp of each of the chesses for further use and mix the rest of the entire chesses with the milk. Continuous stirring is required. Now add the macaroni to the cheese mix. Add parsley, salt & pepper. Now pour the mixture into a baking pan and garnish it with cheese (both) & bread crumbs for a nice golden brown crust on top as shown in the picture.

Baking:

While you start mixing the chesses and the macaroni, turn on the bottom coil & set the baking oven to pre-heat at 250°C- 300°C for 10 minutes. Now put in the baking tray let it cook for 15-20 minutes till you see the cheese bubbling. Not turn off the bottom coil & turn on the top one & let it cook for 2-3 minutes till you see a golden brown crust. Turn off the oven and take out the tray & let rest for 2 minutes before serving the delicious soft & creamy Mac & Cheese.

Cooking Guide

Here are few simple tables showing the common units of culinary measurement...

COOKING GUIDE  

• tsp = Teaspoon
• tbsp = Tablespoon
• g = Grams
• oz = Ounce
• 1 oz = 28 g
• 1oz = 29 ml
• Castor sugar = Regular superfine sugar
• Confectioner sugar = Icing sugar

Liquid

Cups = ml

1 tsp = 6 ml

1 tbsp = 15 ml

1/8 cup  = 30 ml

1/4 cup = 60 ml

1/3 cup = 79 ml

1/2 cup = 120 ml

1 cup = 240 ml

Butter

Cups = Grams

1/4 cup of Butter = 57 grams

1/3 cup of Butter = 76 grams

1/2 cup of Butter = 113 grams

1 cup of Butter = 227 grams

Dry Goods - All-Purpose Flour and Confectioners’ Sugar

Cups = Grams = Ounces

1/8 cup = 16 g = 0.563 oz 

1/4 cup = 32 g = 1.13 oz

1/3 cup = 43 g = 1.5 oz

1/2 cup = 64 g = 2.25 oz

2/3 cup = 85 g = 3 oz

3/4 cup = 96 g = 3.38 oz

1 cup = 128 g = 4.5 oz

Bread Flour

Cups = Grams = Ounces

1/4 cup = 34 g = 1.2 oz

1/3 cup = 45 g = 1.6 oz

1/2 cup = 68 g = 2.4 oz

1 cup = 136 g = 4.8 oz

White Sugar (Granulated)

Cups = Grams = Ounces

2 tbsp = 25 g = 0.89 oz

1/4 cup = 50 g = 1.78 oz

1/3 cup = 67 g = 2.37 oz

1/2 cup = 100 g = 3.55 oz

2/3 cup = 134 g = 4.73 oz

3/4 cup = 150 g = 5.3 oz

1 cup = 201 g = 7.1 oz

Packed Brown Sugar

Cups = Grams = Ounces

1/4 cup = 55 g = 1.9 oz

1/3 cup = 73 g = 2.58 oz

1/2 cup = 110 g = 3.88 oz

1 cup = 220 g = 7.75 oz

Honey,Molasses & Syrup

Cups = Grams = Ounces

2 tbsp = 43 g = 1.5 oz

1/4 cup = 85 g = 3 oz

1/3 cup = 113 g = 4 oz

1/2 cup = 170 g = 6 oz

2/3 cup = 227 g = 8 oz

3/4 cup = 255 g = 9 oz

1 cup = 340 g = 12 oz

Oven Temperatures

275°F = 140°C

300°F = 150°C

325°F = 165°C

350°F = 180°C

375°F = 190°F

400°F = 200°C

425°F = 220°C 

450°F = 230°C

Fried Chicken Biryani

Let's do a regional twist on an all time favorite...

The recipe is Fried Chicken Biryani.

Ingredients for Fried Chicken Biryani:

Chicken - 1/2 Kg

Rice - 1/2 Kg

Ginger-Garlic paste - 4 Tbsp

Jeera - 1 Tsp

Shahjeera - 1 Tsp

Coriander - 1 bunch (finely chopped)

Mint leaves - 1 bunch (finely chopped)

Tomato - 1 Big (finely chopped)

Onion - 1 Big (finely sliced)

Curd – 1/2 Cup

Lime - 2 nos

Green chillies - 4 nos

Coriander powder - 1 Tbsp

Cinnamon - 2 sticks

Cardamon (Elaichi) - 3 nos

Cloves - 4 nos

Turmeric powder - 2 Tbsp

Garamasala powder - 4 Tbsp

Ghee - 2 Tbsp

Salt, Chilly & Turmeric powder to taste

Oil

Procedure - Fried Chicken Biryani:

Rice Prep:

Wash rice and put it to boil with water, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, salt and 2 Tbsp oil. The rice should be 70-80% cooked, before it is taken off heat. Drain the water and with lid open, let it rest.

Chicken Prep:

Clean chicken and marinate it with chilly powder, turmeric powder(1 Tbsp), garamasala powder(2 Tbsp), ginger-garlic paste(1 Tbsp) and let it rest for 15 minutes. Now shallow fry the chicken and let it fry till thru about 70-80%.

Fried Chicken Biryani Prep:

Pour the oil and ghee in a deep dish and let it heat on a medium flame. Put jeera & shahjeera and immediately put in the onions and let them fry till golden brown. Now put in the tomatoes and put a lid for few seconds till the tomatoes get mushy. Put in the coriander, mint leaves & green chillies

and give it a good stir. Now season with salt, turmeric powder, garamasala powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and stir. Cover it for a couple of  minutes. Let the moisture of onions & tomatoes retain. Do not let it dry up. Pour in the curd and give it a good stir and cover again. After 2-3 minutes, taste the mixture for the balance of the salt and chilly. Go ahead and add any of the powders to your taste. Squeeze in a lime now. If you are a tang lover, use both the lemons or else, add accordingly. Now put in the chicken and 1 cup water & let it cook for 2 minutes along with the mixture with the lid on. Give the entire chicken mixture a good stir and put rice on top of it. Do not stir. Just spread the entire rice on top of the chicken mixture. Add few streaks of turmeric water for colour and cover it with a lid. Leave it to cook on high for 5 minutes. Place a plate under the dish and bring the heat to low and leave it for 15 minutes and then turn off. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then mix the entire thing and enjoy the yummy fried chicken biryani.

** We are using salt and chilly powder in individual preparation. So, please remember to bring it to balance at the end in accordance to your taste.

Chicken Spring Roll

This may seem a little lengthy... but TRUST me when I say this, the process is worthwhile.

It is a Chicken Spring Roll recipe.

Ingredients for Chicken Spring Roll:

Chicken – 100g (Boneless)

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 5 Tbsp

Egg – 1

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Parsley – 1 Tbsp

Capsicum – 1

Carrot – 1

Cabbage – 8-10 leaves

Onion – 1 medium size (finely sliced)

Ginger – 1 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Garlic -1 Tbsp (finely chopped)

Cornflour – 1 Tbsp

Chicken cube – ½ (available in any hyper market) 

Tasting Salt (Ajinomoto) – 1 Tsp

Oil – to fry spring rolls

Salt & Pepper to taste

Process for Chicken Spring Roll:

There are 4 steps :

•          Crêpe prep (Spring roll cover) 
•          Veggie prep
•          Chicken prep
•          Put all together into the roll

Crêpe Prep

Take the all-purpose flour (Maida) in a bowl and add the egg and baking powder to it. Now keep adding little water and mix till it forms into a lump-less batter. The consistency of batter should like the one used for thin pancakes. Even a little lighter batter is alright, but definitely not thicker than that. Add parsley & salt to the batter and leave it to rest for 15min.

Now place a non-stick pan on medium heat. Once the pan is hot enough, pour in around 2 tbsp of batter and spread it in circular motion, just like a normal dosa preparation. Make sure you do not add any oil to the pan in the entire process and hence a non-stick pan is a must. Once the crêpe starts lifting off the edges on the pan, take it off heat. You need not roast it on the other side. Also, the roasted side got to be white in colour and not turn brown. Likewise, you should be getting 4-5 crêpes (dosa like) with this batter.

Veggie prep

Cut all the veggies (capsicum, carrot & cabbage) into long thin juliennes (strips). Put pan on medium heat and add 2 Tbsp oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the finely chopped ginger and garlic. Follow it by putting in all the veggies and letting them fry a bit. Meanwhile, mix cornflour in small amount of water. Add the chicken cube to the veggies. Now add the cornflour as well. Add salt, ajinomoto and pepper to taste. Make sure you do not over fry the veggies. Let their crunch and colour retain. Take them off heat.

Chicken Prep

Take a pan and put the chicken in it. Add sliced onions, salt, pepper & little water (100ml) to the chicken. Give it a good stir and put the pan on medium heat. Let the water reduce as the chicken gets slow cook and becomes flavoursome. Take it off heat when the chicken is cooked. The chicken got to be moist and tender. Do not overcook; else it will get too dry. Leave it to rest for 15 and then shred it into small pieces.

Chicken Spring Roll Prep

Take a crêpe. Place in little veggies and chicken on the crêpe, leaving a little gap to roll and fold. Now, fold the top of the crepe over the chicken and veggies. Fold in the left & right sides of the crepe and continue rolling it till you reach the end. Seal the ends with the muddled egg. The specified quantity should give you 4-5 spring rolls. Once the spring rolls are prepared, leave them to rest in the fridge (not freezer) for 15 min.

Frying Chicken Spring Roll

Put pan on medium heat and put in the oil, just enough to deep fry the rolls. Once the oil is medium hot, immerse the rolls and fry them. Make sure you do not fry them to deep brown in colour. They should be taken off heat once they are golden brown as in the picture. Leave them to rest for few seconds and enjoy these yummy & crispy chicken rolls with soup as accompaniment or just as an appetiser.

** Please note that we are adding salt in each individual preparation. So, make sure to add slightly less so that it would come to the right amount of salt when all put together.

Vegetarian Spring Roll:

For all the vegetarians, you can skip the chicken prep. Replace the chicken cube with veg cube. Add sweet corn & mushroom(cleaned & boiled in hot water) to the veggie prep and rest everything is the same.