Chicken Curry Pic: Priya Q

My impression about ‘ bachelors cooking’, let alone cooking complicated stuff was corrected by Q’s cousins …Akki and Arju… While Arju was secretive about his pepper chicken recipe; the flamboyant Akki was more than happy to share his recipe for his signature chicken dish ….. i have to admit it was absolutely finger licking good!

Chicken –  1 kg
Onion  (big) – 4-5 nos – sliced
Tomato – 2 nos – cubed
Ginger – 2 inch piece
Garlic – 1 pod
Green Chili – 5-8 nos
Coriander Powder – 4 tsp
Red Chili powder – 3-5 tsp
Tumeric – 1 tsp
Chicken Masala – 3-5 tsp
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Coconut Oil / Cooking oil
Coriander leaves / cilantro – for garnish
Salt to taste

1. Wash chicken and sprinkle about 1 tsp of salt and keep aside
2. In a wok fry 2 tsp coriander powder, 2 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp turmeric and 3 tsp chicken masala powder in 1 tbsp of coconut oil and remove off fire
3. Marinate chicken with the above fried spices
4. Grind coarsely ginger, garlic and green chilies and keep aside
5. In a wok heat oil and fry onions and saute well
6. Add remaining chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric and chicken masala
7. Now add the ginger-garlic-chili paste and fry well
8. Add tomatoes and saute
9. Add marinated chicken and mix well and cook for about 5 minutes
10. Add ½ cup water, close the lid and cook on low flame and bring to boil
11. Add coconut milk and cook for about 5 minutes
12. Check for seasoning
13. Garnish with coriander leaves / cilantro
14. Serve with rice / bread

Till next time ….happy cooking!

This is yet another creation of Biji ammai – simple, quick and yummy. What set it apart from the normal lentil preparation is the usage of Zucchini. If you don’t have Zucchini you can use pumpkin instead! Don’f forget to give me a feedback post you cook

Gram daal / chana daal (lentil) – 1 cup

Zucchini – 2-3 numbers

Cumin powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

1. Soak gram dal for 1 hour
2. Cook the dal with sufficient water without closing the vessel. Howver, dal should not get fully cooked.
3. Add chopped Zucchini and cook
4. Add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, salt and cook
5. Serve with Indian bread (chapatti) or rice

Till next time…Happy cooking!

Thanks ammai ….meet Ms.Biji Gopi Ram

We got to taste the yummy Shrimp Pulao made by our vegetarian aunt at Haren a small town with 23k population located in Germany. Its amazing how despite being a pure vegetarian some one can prepare a non vegetarian dish with such ease and taste.

Deveined and clean Prawns / shrimp – 750 gms

Plain yoghurt / curd – 5 tbsp

freshly pounded ginger and garlic paste – 3-4 tbsp

Onions – 3 numbers big – (finely chopped)

Tomato – 2 numbers big – (finely chopped)

Green chili -2 numbers (finely chopped)

Basmati rice – 1 cup

Garam masala – freshly ground preferred else use ready made

Chili powder – 2 tsp

Salt to taste

1. Wash rice and cook separately
2. Marinate shrimp in yoghurt, fresh ginger-garlic paste and garam masala for atleast 1 hr or more
3. Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and add onions. Fry for a while
4. Add tomatoes and fry well
5. Add green chillies and red chili powder and stir
6. Add the marinated prawns and cook till gravy is almost thick and the water content has evaporated
7. Season
8. Add cooked rice and stir gently avoiding breaking of rice grains
9. Garnish with chopped coriander / parsley
10. Serve hot with raita, pickle and papad / plain potato chips

Meet our peppy aunt Biji Gopi Ram

This is quite an old trick and quick one too. One of the evenings at Scotland, Derek added to my newly found love for cheese. check out the crackers in the picture topped with cheese, fresh herbs (like cilantro, parsley,basil etc), tomatoes and cottage cheese*.

Use you creativity by using olives, jalapenos, hummus etc

*churn cottage cheese along with some milk and dried herbs, salt and pepper in a mixer

….Derek McMillan for you!

Well, one thing both me and Q did all through our travel in Europe was to try out the local cuisine. Afterall food constitutes a major part to your whole travel experience. Derek a friend of our’s whom we met in Kerala made Scottish porridge for us when we visited him in Edinburgh – Scotland. It tastes different from the oatmeal porridge I am used to making. And I am definitely going to make this back home and why not??..variety only makes life interesting!

Oats – 5 tbsp

Water – 1 cup

Milk

Honey / sugar – optional

Mixed dry fruits – 1 tbsp

Fresh fruit – banana / blueberries etc

1. In a pan boil water and oats with salt together with occasionally adding few tsps of milk till whole thing turns to a lumpy mass.
2. Serve in a bowl.
3. Top it up with required milk, fresh fruits, dry fruits and sweetner.

Meet our multi talented friend Derek McMillan

photo credit: imgdive

This one was different from the crepe I normally was used to. This one was salty and filled with all stuff you love. And this one also had a special name that is Galette

Galette was my first brush with French cuisine as Paris was our landing port.Jessica and Sebastian our friends Palaiseau (a quaint suburb 40 minutes away from Paris)made for me and Q mouth watering Galettes!

Galette is the original term for Crepes except for the fact that Galette is the salty version while Crepe is sweet. From the look of it I thought I will be able to take in atleast two of the galettes till I had one! Its quite filling and a full meal in itself. Check it out!

All Purpose Flour – 2 cups

Buckwheat flour / wheat flour – 2 cups

Eggs – 4 nos

1. Mix all the above and make a soft dough
2. Start adding milk (1-2 cups) and continuously whisk the dough avoiding lumps. The idea is to get a running batter stage
3. While whisking the batter add melted butter (1-2 cups) and keep whisking till you get a smooth running batter (almost like Indian dosa batter) devoid of any lumps
4. Heat a pan and add a dash of butter. Pour out a ladle of batter on the pan. Lift the pan and tilt it sideways to make a batter run and make a neat circle
5. After 2 minutes flip and cook the other side.
6. Add fillings of your choice and close to make it look like a semi circle
7. Serve hot!

Options for filling: Beaten egg with herbs and / or cooked vegetable and/ or cooked meat

Till next time…happy cooking!

Meet Jessica and Sebastian…. currently pursuing PhD studies! All the best for your future guys!

Another recipe that Lucie gave me besides the chocolate muffin(check previous post for recipe) was Strawberry preserve. Fresh warm bread with home made preserve can be a divine combination

Strawberry – 1.5 kg

Sugar – 1.5 kg

1. Cut strawberries and crush them nicely.
2. Place them in a pan and boil it. Do not add any water
3. Now add sugar and let it boil for another 10 minutes
4. You will get a white layer on the top, carefully remove it.
5. Pour the strawberry mixture in a glass container and keep the container upside down for next 2-3 days. Doing this helps sterilize the bottle with the heat of the preserve.

On the 4th day your strawberry preserve is ready to be consumed!

Hey! wasnt it cool? Home made fresh jams,preserves and marmalade are so much better and fresher! No preservatives and so great to taste.

Let me know if you liked it…yeh? I will wait for your feedback…I always do

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Lucie..

Tour de France took us to the stunning Bourg St. Maurice. a ski resort town in France where I met lovely Lucie and her family who stay in Les Arcs ski resort with a mind blowing view to the Alps! Check my travel diary on Composed Volcano for more information.

As I cooked a Indian meal for them, Lucie decided to prepare some yummy chocolate muffins. Though there are various recipes one may find, this one to my opinion is the simplest!

So here’s Lucie’s version of the recipe

Refined Flour – 80 gms

Eggs – 4 nos

Sugar – 180 gms

Combination of milk and dark chocolate – 140 gms

Butter – 140 gms

1. Melt chocolate and butter on direct heat
2. In a bowl add sugar, flour,eggs,melted chocolate and blend it nicely with a spoon
3. in a non stick muffin tray dole out the above mixture
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 15 minutes for a creamy effect and for 20 minutes to bake it completely

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Lucie and her baby doll

While in Greece  Q and myself  got hosted by lovely Katherine called  Kay by her friends. After a long trip to stunning Zagora village (famous for Zagorin apples) in the mountain called Pelion; as we all settled down Kay quickly tossed a salad and served it with some Cipuro ( a stronger version of Ouzo).  How can I describe this Greek salad called Dakos but it to say – DELCIOUS!!And how much we all had!

However, there is a small hitch… One ingredient that gives character to this salad is the Dried bread (called rusk in Greece). I am yet to see this kind of bread in India. The rusk we get here is toasted, faintly sweet and goes well with tea and coffee. So, I might have to wait before I get to have next share of Dakos…no wait may be my newly acquired bread machine can do some magic…hmm goto start experimenting soon!

Meanwhile, herez the recipes for Greek salad called Dakos for those who have all ingredients readily available..

There is no hard a fast rule on the measurements of the ingredients…afterall its a salad! Just toss how much ever you want!

1. Soak the dried bread (rusk) in water and squeeze out the water once the bread is semi soft
2. Toss sliced onions, cubed tomatoes, sliced pepper, black olives, fetta cheese, capers, crushed garlic (optional), oregano and olive oil
3. Mix all and serve

Isnt that insanely simple!? A must try out…

Till next time….happy cooking!

Meet Kay…a retired Librarian, enthusiatic and adventours, warm and gentle and our super host in Thessaloniki. Her taste in home decor can be interesting topic of discussion. Her passion shows in her beautifully done dream house!

I had never experienced a sit down formal (almost) dinner till I got invited by Alice at her lovely home in Greece where she treated us to Octopus (click here for recipe) and Pita. Your trip to Greece is not complete till you taste the absolutely delicious Pita. It involves some amount of work which pays off in the form of multi crispy layers in a Pita. Alice howver shared a comparitively easier recipe comprising of 2 thick and crispy layers instead of multiple one and still tasting good.

As soon as I can I am going to try this recipe out in my kitchen, meanwhile you try it too and do let me know how well it turned out…

All purpose flour – 2.5 cups

Butter – 225 gms / 1 cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Spinach – 1 kg (boiled)

Green Onions – 2 nos (chopped)

Eggs – 2 nos

Semolina – 1 tsp

Fetta / Mozarella cheese

Parsley / Dil – chopped

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

1. In a bowl combine cold butter and flour with hands till its forms a crumbly texture
2. Add salt and mix well
3. Add 7-8 tbsp of icy cold water and gently mix with a fork till the mixture starts to come together. Refrigerate this mixture for atleast 1 hour.
4. Divide the mixture into 2 halves
5. Roll one half and place it on a pie tray
6. Drain boiled spinach and chop.
7. In a pan heat Olive oil and saute green onions and spinach and leave it to cool
8. After you have turned the heat off add 2 beaten eggs and generous amounts of dil / parsley to the above mixture
9. Season with salt and pepper
10. Add cheese to your liking. More the tastier!
11. Add semolina to pull off the moisture of spinach
12. Add this mixture to the bottom of the pie
13. Roll out the second half of the dough and cover on top of the spinach mixture
14. Score the pastry into portions (see picture) so that the pie gets to breathe
15. Bake the pie at 200 degree C for about 45 minutes to an hour
16. Serve hot

Pita can be served for lunch or dinner with or without side dishes. Serve it with salad or team it up with a portion of Octopus and rice like Alice did!

If you are looking at making multi layer Pita, all you need to do is have roll out 8-12 layers from the dough. Combine 2-3 layers and roll out again

Till next time…..happy cooking!

Meet Alice Eppinga …..Alice is an retired English teacher with an undying love for travel and books and a very interesting person.