Chicken Lasagna

It is normally made with Beef/Mutton. But Chicken being widely accepted, I’ve tried a Chicken Lasagna and trust me, it’s divine!

Ingredients required for chicken lasagna:

Bechamel Sauce:

Butter – 60g

Flour – 40g

Milk – 500ml

Nutmeg Powder – ½ Tsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chicken Prep:

Olive Oil – 5-6 Tbsp

Onions – 1 Large (Finely Chopped)

Celery – 2 Sticks (Finely Chopped)

Garlic – 4-5 Cloves (Finely Chopped)

Chicken (minced) – 500g

Tomato Paste – 1/4^th Cup

Tomato Puree – 800g

Sugar – 3 Tsp

Fresh Basil Leaves – 10-12 Leaves (Finely Chopped)

Oregano – 1 Tbsp

Paprika/Chilly flakes – 1-2 Tbsp (To your taste)

Salt & pepper to taste

Lasagna Assembling:

Lasagna Sheets – 500g

Cheese (Grated) – 400g (I’ve used a combination of Milk, Cheddar & Mozzarella cheese)

Options for cheese – Parmesan/Cheddar/Mozzarella

Bread Crumbs

How to prepare bechamel sauce for chicken lasagna:

Take a nonstick sauce pan on low heat and put butter to melt. Then stir in the flour. Make sure there are no lumps. Once the raw smell of flour is gone, pour in the milk. Continuous whisking is required to avoid lumps or milk from getting burnt. Now add the nutmeg powder, salt & pepper and let it simmer to a thick consistency. The consistency should be similar that of Alfredo sauce (white sauce). Once done, set it aside.

Chicken Prep:

Take a wide pan on medium heat with olive oil. Once hot, put in the finely chopped onions and let them get to golden brown. Now put in the celery & garlic and give it a good stir. Next goes in, the chicken. Stir it and let it cook for a minute or two before you pour in the tomato paste along with the puree. Let all the ingredients cook for 2-3 minutes. Once you see the puree bubbling, put in the sugar, oregano, basil leaves & paprika. A good stir once again. Add salt & pepper to taste.

You decide spice levels of the dish.

More paprika = More heat.

Chicken Lasagna assembling: (Pre-heat oven at 180°C)

Take a baking tray and grease it, either with butter or greasing spray. Now, the layering of Lasagna is totally to your liking/interest. I have layered it the following way,

Layer 1: Lasagna sheets – Bechamel Sauce (to cover the sheets completely) – Cheese

Layer 2: Lasagna sheets – Chicken – Bechamel Sauce (Very little)

Layer 3: Lasagna sheets – Chicken

Layer 4: Lasagna sheets – Bechamel Sauce – Cheese – Bread Crumbs

Baking Process:

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C for 5-10 min, while you assemble the chicken lasagna tray. Now cover the tray with aluminum foil, and bake for 35-40 min, with the bottom coil of the oven turned on. Remove the foil and bake for another 25-30 min. Poke in a knife/toothpick to check if the bottom most layer is cooked or no. It will be hard to pierce, if uncooked.

Now turn off the bottom coil & turn on the top coil for 5 min till you see the crust bubbling and golden brown.

Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before you serve.

Slightly lengthy procedure, but it is totally worth it!

**If you are as patient as me, to have piping hot food, bake it just an hour before you eat & on the other hand,

**If you hate to wait for your food, bake this much earlier before you eat & leave it in “Warm” mode in the oven.

Either way, you are rest assured; it’ll be deliciously lip-smacking JJ

Chocolate Mousse

CREAMY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE – the perfect ending to a meal.

Ingredients required for chocolate mousse:

Milk Chocolate (Compound) – 500g

Butter – 90g

Whipped cream – 200g

Egg white - 4

Egg yolk (Yellow) - 2

How to prepare chocolate mousse:

Melt the chocolate & butter in a glass bowl, microwave preferably for about 2-3 minutes on low,  and stir till it gets to a smooth liquid consistency (Use a larger bowl, as you’ll have to mix all the other ingredients into the chocolate+butter mixture). In another bowl take the whipped cream and whip it further, till you see the fluffy stiff peaks forming. Set it aside. In bowl No.3 whip the egg whites till the thick peaks form again.

Now into the chocolate mixture, put the egg yolks & stir slightly. Next, fold in the whipped egg white in small portions. Make sure you fold the mixture and not stir it. Profuse stirring will result in a dense textured mousse and not light and creamy.

After the egg white, fold in the whipped cream in the same manner. Make sure all the ingredients incorporate well into a creamy mixture.

And that’s it, the process is done. Simple isn’t it?

All you have to do now is pour it in a serving tray, place it in the fridge & wait n wait n wait till it sets properly.

Garnish (Optional)

You can garnish the mousse with choco-chips/choco-rice/grated chocolate/colorful sprinkles/chocolate truffle etc.

How to make chocolate truffle for garnish:

Melt a small chunk of dark chocolate and pour warm milk in it. Continuous stirring required. As soon as you pour milk, it forms into a lump. Continue stirring as it loosens up into a thick liquid. The thickness depends on your liking. More milk, more liquid consistency.

Recommended – Let it be little thick as it gets easy to garnish.

Once you put mousse in the fridge for setting, wait for 10-15 min and then pour the truffle on it and put it back in the fridge. This will avoid mousse and truffle mixing up.

Enjoy your creamy chocolaty mousse!

Mashed Potato

Here is a very popular conti sides dish for the up-coming weekend – Cheesy Mashed Potato.

Ingredients required for mashed potato:

Potatoes – 5 Big

Milk – 1 Cup (Room temperature)

Butter – 1 Tbsp

Cream – ¼ cup

Cheddar Cheese – ¾ cup (Grated)

Processed Cheese – ¾ cup (Grated)

Dry Parsley – 2-3 Tsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

How to prepare mashed potato:

Boil the potatoes till they are extremely soft. Peel them and mash into a smooth paste and let it rest aside.

Take a sauce pan on medium heat and put butter. Once melted, pour in the milk and let it heat. Continuous stirring is required as there is a chance of milk getting burnt.

Once the milk will come to a boil, put in the 2 kinds of cheese& cream and stir till all melts into a thick cheesy paste. In case you get a burnt smell, take the pan off heat and continue stirring. The heat in the milk is enough to melt the grated cheese.

Add salt & crushed pepper to your taste. Garnish it with parsley.

Once everything is incorporated well, pour in the cheese mixture into the mashed potato bowl and give it a good mix. If still granulated, use a blender to smoothen it.

Keep on adding salt and pepper until it is in accordance to your palette.

Enjoy the cheesy mashed potato plain, or as an accompaniment with toasted bread/sautéed veggies/garlic bread/grilled chicken (my FavJ) and the list goes on… 

Chicken Manchow

A quick starter for the nearing weekend – Chicken Manchow

Ingredients to prepare chicken manchow:

Chicken – 500g

Noodles (regular) – 1 cube

Sugar – 1 Tsp

Cornflour – 1 Tbsp

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 1 Tbsp

Ginger – 2 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Garlic - 2 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Capsicum – ½ (Finely chopped)

Spring onion – 5-6 (Finely chopped)

Carrot – ½ (Finely chopped)

Cabbage – 5-6 leaves (Finely chopped)

Coriander – 2Ttbsp (Finely chopped)

Veg/Chic. Stock cube – ½ cube

Tomato ketchup – 2 Tbsp

Soya sauce – 3 Tbsp

Green chilly Sauce – 2 Tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste – 2 Tbsp

Salt, ajinomoto & black pepper to taste

Oil

Procedure of Chicken Manchow:

Chic Prep:

Clean chicken and dice it into 1 cm pieces. Marinate it with 1 Tbsp soya sauce, 2 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste, little ajinomoto & salt and leave it to rest for 15 minutes. In a flat bottomed pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil and sauté the chicken pieces until cooked well.

Noodles Prep:

Noodles that are used in the recipe are the regular plain ones and not maggi, top ramen etc. Take a deep bottomed pan with water enough to submerge the cube completely and bring it to a boil. Sprinkle little salt for the boiling process to quicken and a tbsp of oil. Now put in the noodles in the boiling water and let them cook to perfection. Strain the water and mix cornflour and maida in the noodles. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes. Now take a frying pan on medium heat and pour 2-3 Tbsp oil. Fry the noodles in small portions until they become crispy. Dab the excess oil on a kitchen towel and store in an air-tight container.

Chicken Manchow prep:

Take a frying pan on low heat and put 1-2 Tbsp oil. Put in sugar and let it caramelize. Now goes the ginger and garlic pieces. Once golden brown, put in capsicum, carrot and cabbage and let them cook for few seconds. Next goes spring onion & coriander. Give all of them a good stir and let them sauté for few seconds. Now crush in the stock cube and stir well (We get the maggi veg/chicken stock cube in any grocery store). Let not the veggies cook totally. Let the crunch retain.

Now it is time to pour in all the sauces. Get going with all the sauces in accordance to your own palette.

The last part – season the dish with the right amount of salt, pepper and ajinomoto. Turn off the heat.

And Just before serving, crush the noodles and stir them into the chicken.

Enjoy the crunchy and spicy chicken manchow dish on a cool evening.

Cheers!!!

Vegetable Pulao

Nothing like a spice filled aromatic vegetable shahi pulao!!!

Ingredients:

Basmati rice – ½ Kg

Carrot – 1 Big (diced)

Beans – 4-5 Nos (1 cm long pieces)

Potato – 1 Big (diced)

Onion – 1 big (sliced)

Cumin seeds – 1 Tsp

Shah Jeera – 1 Tsp

Curry leaf – 7-8 leaves

Mint leaf – 7-8 leaves

Cloves – 3-4 Nos

Cinnamon stick – 1 Big

Staranise - 1 Nos

Spices powder – 1-2 Tsp (Cloves+Cinnamon – grind it into a fine powder)

Turmeric powder – 1-2 Tsp

Ghee – 5-6 Tbsp

Oil

Salt to taste

Procedure:

Soak the rice in water for 15-30 min and set aside. Take a wide bottomed pan in which you prefer to prepare the pulao, on a low medium heat. Pour in 3 Tbsp oil and 2 Tbsp ghee and let it heat. Once hot, put in both the kinds of jeera. Let it sautee for a second and put in the onion slices. Once the onions are golden brown, throw in all the veggies and let them fry for a minute. Now you can increase the flame to medium high.

Put the curry leaf and the mint leaf and give it a good stir. Next goes all the whole spices (Cloves, Cinnamon stick, Staranise) along with the spices powder. By now you should already be getting the beautiful aroma of the veggies and the spices.

Strain the rice from the soaked water and layer the rice in the pan and stir it softly, preventing the breakage of the rice. Now pour in water and put turmeric powder, salt to taste. Add 1 Tbsp oil to the water.

Rice to water ratio is 1:2

Let the flame continue on high till the water gets to boil and reduces to the rice level. Once you can see the rice, put a lid and lower the flame to low. It is just 4-5 minutes away that a delicious tray of pulao is on your way.

Just remove the lid and check if all the water is absorbed. Do not stir. Turn off the heat and garnish with few fried onions and 2 Tbsp Ghee and close the lid.

Do not stir till it is cooled down for a while. This will prevent rice from breaking.

Toasted Chicken Sandwich

Here’s a quick bite recipe of Toasted Chicken Sandwich for the weekend.

Ingredients for the Toasted Chicken Sandwich:

Chicken – ½ Kg

Bread – 8-10 slices

Capsicum – 1 Big (Sliced into thin long strips)

Onions – 1 Big (fine Sliced)

Chilly Powder – 2 Tbsp

Garamasala Powder – 1 Tbsp

Jeera – 1 Tsp

Tomato Ketchup

Green Chilly sauce

Oil – 2-3 Tbsp

Salt to taste

How to prepare yummy toasted Chicken Sandwich:

Chicken Prep:

Clean chicken and keep it aside. Take a wide pan on medium heat. Next put in the jeera (cumin seeds) and onions. Once onions are golden brown, put the chicken, chilly powder & garamasala powder. Give it a good stir and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes. There should be no water remaining by the time the chicken gets cooked. It has to be dry & moist, and definitely not saucy. Take it off heat and let it cool.

Once cool, debone the chicken & shred it well.

Sandwich prep:

Take 2 slices and apply ketchup and chilly sauce on both. Place chicken on one slice. Top it up with capsicum pieces and some chilly flakes (optional). Place another slice on top and put it in the toaster. After 2-3 minutes, just brush the top of the sandwich with little butter and close the toaster again. Leave it for a minute and serve hot with any sauce of your own choice.

I’ve used a toaster. You can as well use a grill or a flat pan on stove with a lid. But please make sure you have an eye on the heat (as you do not wanna have a burnt sandwich!) J

Sweet Chilly Crispy Potato

A tasty and crispy veggie starter…

Ingredients for Sweet Chilly Crispy Potato:

Potatoes – 2 Big

Maida (All purpose flour) – 1 Cup

Corn flour – ½ Cup

Spring Onions – 4-5 (Finely chopped)

Capsicum – 1 (Diced)

Ginger – 1 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Garlic - 1 Tbsp (Finely chopped)

Honey – 3 Tbsp

Chilly Sauce – 1 Tsp

Soya Sauce – 2 Tbsp

Ketchup - 1 Tsp

Pepper – ¼ Tsp (freshly ground)

Ajinomoto – 1 Tsp

Green chilly - 2 (Finely chopped)

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

How to make a Sweet Chilly Crispy Potato:

Firstly, peel and dice the potatoes (long, ½ an inch thickness) as if they look like French fries. Now we double fry these potatoes – 1^st, with dry batter and 2^nd, with wet batter. This is main reason the potatoes turn out to be extra crispy and do not get soggy at least till an hour and a half from preparation.

Dry batter:

Put oil in a deep bottomed pan on medium high heat. Meanwhile in a another bowl, put ½ cup Maida, ¼ cup corn flour, 1 tsp salt & 2 Tbsp oil and mix well. Now put all the diced potatoes and coat them well.

Dust the extra flour off the potatoes and deep fry them once the oil is hot. Once the potatoes are 60-70% cooked, take them off heat and place them on a kitchen towel/tissue to get rid of the extra oil.

Wet Batter:

You can use the same oil to fry the potatoes for the second time. Let the pan be on low flame till you prepare the wet batter. Ingredients that go in for the same – ½ cup Maida, ¼ Cup corn flour, 1 Tsp salt, 2 Tbsp oil & ½ cup water. Mix well into a lump-less batter and put in the fried potatoes into it. Make sure all the potatoes are coated well before you deep fry them once again. Also make sure you get the pan on medium-high to fry the potatoes or else they tend to soak up more oil.

When you fry for the second time, the potatoes tend to stick to each other.  You can separate them and coat them again in the remaining wet batter and fry them. This way, all the potatoes will be coated well and become equally crispy. 

Final Sauce & Dish Prep of Sweet Chilly Crispy Potato:

Take a wok on medium-low heat and put in 2 Tbsp oil. Add the ginger and garlic pieces followed by capsicum and let them sauté for few seconds.  Now add spring onion, green chilly, chilly sauce, soya sauce, ketchup and mix all of them well and leave it to cook for 30 seconds. Add freshly ground pepper and ajinomoto and give it a good stir. All the ingredients can be added in accordance to your taste. Finally add 3 Tbsp honey and mix well. This helps potatoes get a good glaze. Now the last step, add the fried potatoes and stir them well in the sauce. Once all of them are perfectly glazed, take them off heat, garnish with coriander or parsley (optional) and serve hot.

I am sure you would enjoy this delicious Sweet Chilly Crispy Potato as much as I did. Cheers!