Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Quick Chicken Stir-fry!

From my friend Prabha, of the varied talents :)

Ingredients

200gms boneless chicken cut into thin juliennes or bite sized pieces. They cook fast.

Marinade - garlic (3-4 cloves) crushed, salt to taste, Green chilly (1 -2) crushed, lime juice (half), one egg beaten, 2-3 tsp of cornflour or maida.

Method

Marinate the chicken pieces with all of the above ingredients and ensure it is marinated for at least 30 to 60 mins.

Heat oil in a Wok or Kadai. 2 tbsp
When oil is hot, drop in pieces of the chicken in small batches and quickly toss them in the oil. You will see the chicken turning white and will be done in a matter of 2 mins. Remove them and drain excess oil.

Repeat with the other chicken pieces.

Note: you are not exactly deep frying them just stir frying them in a little bit of more oil :). This will ensure that the chicken is soft in the inside and crisp on the outside.

Variation in the marinade (lemon juice, egg and flour will always remain) - add soya sauce, or Barbeque sauce. or go the indian chicken 65 way add all these masalas (ginger -garlic paste, tandoori chicken masala powder, corriander, cumin, red chilly, and turmeric powder, pepper).

You can just eat it as a snack, as a side dish or wrap it in chappathis with left over vegetables and sliced onions and pudina chutney for yummy home-made katti rolls.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Pasta with Raw Fresh Tomato Sauce

Salsa di Pomodoro Cruda – Raw Fresh Tomato Sauce – serves 4

Ripe Tomatoes – 4 large chopped into small cubes with juices and skin
Garlic – 4 or 5 medium cloves chopped extra fine
Basil – two large handfuls of basil leaves, no stems, chopped VERY fine
Olive Oil – 8 tablespoons of Extra Virgin, preferably a nice dark green oil
Sea Salt – 1 tablespoon or to taste
Black Pepper – 1 to 2 tablespoon extra coarsely ground
Pecorino Romano Cheese – 8 heaping tablespoons, grated
Spaghetti or Macaroni – 1 lb.

Mix all of these (except for the pasta, naturally – just checking to see if you’re paying attention) into a large high sided bowl and allow them to marinate while you cook your pasta.
Stir the mixture well so that the tomatoes begin to macerate and watch to see if it thickens. If it doesn’t, add a bit more olive oil at a time until it does. A shallow dish will not do for this.
Cook your pasta until it is extra firm in well salted water. The second it is done, drain it well, and throw it into the raw tomato mixture and stir or toss like you would a salad, making sure every bit of pasta is covered with the mixture.

From here - http://thepastachannel.com/mediterranean-diet/

Fish Fry Masala

This masala paste is simple, and results in great fish fry! Tried and tested.

Garlic
Curry leaves
Red chilly powder
Coriander powder, a little
Turmeric
Salt
Lemon juice

Grind all these to make the paste. I used to use tamarind earlier, but lime gives a better taste. Proportions? Garlic and Curry leaves the max, and the others a lesser quantity.
Apply on fish and keep for a few hours for the best results.