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.