Chicken in Red Thai Curry

I was introduced to Thai food when I was in Bahrain by Nalini Aunty....she is such an amazing host and cook....can whip up Prawn Tom Yum Soup, Chicken in Green Thai Curry, Stir Fried Vegetables and Jasmine rice in less than 60 minutes....this was when I fell in love with Thai food.

I was paired with Madusmitha of Red Spice this week for Blog hop Wednesday...When I was surfing through her recipes...I just pounced on the Red Thai curry...I knew this was one recipe I would love to try out...Madhusmitha had used ready made red curry paste in her recipe...but I always wanted to make the paste  from scratch...I had Nita Mehta's book 'Thai cooking for Indian kitchen' and I tried out her recipe...I was so happy with the end result.....nothing is as satisfying as seeing my daughter enjoying the curry with rice for lunch...and asking for the same Thai curry again for dinner.......my best CRITIC :)

This is a 'must try'dish....you won't be disappointed .

Recipe Source :Red Spice and Nita Mehta's Thai cooking


Ingredients
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• 200 grms Boneless Chicken (cut to medium size)
• 1/2 small Broccoli,cut to small florets 
• 10 to15Mushrooms, sliced
• 10 Baby corn, sliced to two
• 1/2 Red Capsicum, diced
• 500 ml Coconut Milk (I used tinned)
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce,optional (I skipped this)
• 1 tsp Soya Sauce
• 20 to 25 Basil leaves
• 5 to 6 lemon leaves
• 2 tbsp Oil
• Salt to taste
• 4 Fresh Red Chillies, slit (optional)
• Red Curry Paste
• 200ml  Water

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pan, add red curry paste and fry for 3minutes on low flame.
2. Add chicken and stir fry for 4 minutes.
3. Add all the chopped vegetables and stir fry for a minute. Add the coconut milk, soy sauce and lemon leaves. Cover and cook on low flame for 7 to 8 minutes,till the chicken and veggies are cooked.
4. Add salt ,chopped basil leaves and fresh red chillies and water. Cook for 5 minutes and garnish with red chillies and fresh basil
5. Serve hot with rice.

Sending this post to Tickling Palates

Chilli Potatoes - Blog Hop Wednesday

This week for Blog Hop Wednesday I was paired with Deeksha from Dee's Kitchen.Thank you for the recipe...my daughter enjoyed it.

Recipe Source :Dees Kitchen
Ingredients
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• 2 big Potatoes (peeled and cut lengthwise)
• 3 tbsp Rice flour
• Pinch Orange Color (optional)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 big Onion (chopped)
• 1 Capsicum (cut lengthwise)
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
• 2 tsp Green chilli sauce
• 1 tsp Red chilli sauce
• 1/2 tsp Soy sauce
• 2 tsp Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 tsp Pepper powder
• 2 tsp Chilli flakes (optional)
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp Cornflour mixed in 3 tbsp water
• Spring onion for garnish
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. In a bowl mix in rice flour, salt, orange color and enough water to make batter ,the consistency of the batter neither be too thick nor too thin.
2. Add the chopped potatoes into the above batter and mix well to coat. Fry the potatoes in hot oil,till light and crispy. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel. Keep this aside while you prepare the sauce.
3. Place a pan on medium flame ,add oil,when hot add ginger garlic paste and stir for 30 seconds. Now add the onion and stir fry till they turn pink. Add the capsicum  fry for few seconds.
4. Now add soy sauce, red chilli sauce,vinegar, tomato ketchup, green chilli sauce, pepper powder, red chilli flakes and cook for a minute. Now add 1/2 cup water and bring to simmer.Add the cornflour paste and stir till the sauce thicken. Toss in the fried potatoes and mix well. Adjust salt and add honey.
5. Garnish with spring onion.

Sending my entry to Radhika from Tickling Palates

My entries for Blog Hop Wednesdays so far.....

Garlic Pull Apart Rolls 

Chilli Paneer

Kadubu Shaped Modak 

Mharo Rajasthan

Corn and peas Fritters 

Rasmalai

Dahi Vada

Corn & Peas Fritters - Blog Hop Wednesdays

     
                                     Ok I will name this Blog Hop Disaster Wednesday.........

Last week when I decided to hop into the blog I was to paired with  this Wednesday..I decided to make Khandvi  from Santhosh Bangar's blog Santhosh's Kitchen.... I was a little apprehensive in the beginning coz I have had a bad experience before with this dish...but I like to challenge myself  ...tried it out again (over confident:)....I tried out the Microwave method of making the Khandvi...all was fine....till the time came to roll the Khandvi.....I was successful with few but the rest just refused  to be rolled (Picture Below).....the dish tasted exactly like it should have  and it disappeared in minutes....but it just wasn't presentable....So that was disaster number one.

Now  Disaster Number 2...I tried Khandvi again yesterday (coz I wanted it to be presentable)...this was not me being over confident.....it was plain foolishness. I struggled and struggled  ...but this time the Khandvi just refused to set....I thought at some point between the one and half hours of struggling...my mom would come for my rescue....but my mom ..being my mom...totally disowned me looking at  my condition and left the kitchen...No Khandvi :(

Disaster Number 3... I was jinxed ..I had to make something ...went back to Santhosh's blog today morning and finally decided to do something quick and simple...Corn and peas Fritters.....had all the ingredients at home...and they tasted good. Came to me room to quickly put up the post...only then to realize that Santhosh actually made these fritters for her Blog Hop Wednesday from another blog ( Anamika Aruns Taste Junction) last month...:))))

Moral of the story : Always read the entire post before trying out the recipe and

 Khandvi is only for experts.

Ingredients
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Recipe source : Santhosh's Kitchen

• 1 cup Corn Kernels
• 1/2 cup Peas
• 1/2 cup Channa dal (Bengal gram)
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1 medium Onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 1 tbsp Dill Leaves
• 1 tbsp Coriander leaves
• 3 to 4 Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for Deep Frying

Method

1. Soak Channa Dal in water for 2 hours. Cook corn and peas in water with little salt. Drain and keep aside.
2. Drain the Channa Dal, transfer to a mixie or blender, add cooked corn and peas, ginger and green chillies. Grind to a coarse paste .
3. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the onion, salt, chopped dill leaves, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix well.
4. Heat oil to deep fry, Make flat patties with the ground paste and fry in oil. Do not move the patties for 30 seconds (they might break apart). Fry till they turn dark golden brown.
5. Serve with chutney or Tomato ketchup.

Sending this to Radhika :- Tickling Palates

Rajma Masala - Red Kidney Beans Curry

Recipe source :Mharo Rajasthan Recipes


Ingredients
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• 1 cup Red Kidney beans / Rajma (washed and soaked overnight )
• 1 cup onion (finely chopped)
• 1 cup tomatoes (finely chopped)
• 1 inch Ginger (grated)
• 3 cloves Garlic (grated)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Rajma Masala
• 1 tsp Chat Masala
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 4 tbsp Coriander leaves Chopped

Method

1. Cook the Rajma/ Red Kidney Beans in pressure cooker till done (8 to 10 whistles)
2. Place a pan on medium high heat and add oil, when oil is hot add onion, ginger and garlic. Fry for about 3 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and the dry masala powder and salt and fry till oil seperates.
4. Add cooked rajma/ red kidney beans and mix well (if you want the rajma to be soft and mushy you can pressure cook at this point)
5. Garnish with coriander leaves.
6. Serve with Methi Paratha.

Methi Paratha

Blog Hop Wednesday...continues..............

Recipe Source :Mharo Rajasthan Recipes

Ingredients
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• 2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Fenugreek leaves (washed and chopped)
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• Water to knead.

Method

1. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl, add water little at a time to make dough which is neither too soft nor too hard.
2. Make Round chappatis and cook on hot tava on both sides. Apply ghee or butter.
3. Serve with any curry ..Rajma masala or Dal Makhni.

Mharo Rajasthan - Blog Hop Wednesdays

Its Wednesday and I am blog hopping.This week I was paired with Priya Mitharwal ---Mharo Rajasthan Recipes.

When I first visited Priya's blog...I saw the first few recipes and I decided to make chocolate brownie ... then I realised that Priya specializes in Rajasthani food and I wanted to get outside my comfort zone...... "Baking"  for once. So I went through her Rajasthani recipes (by the way Priya has close to 100 Rajasthani recipes )..when I was going through her list I was amazed...I could actually visualize  one of my favorite vegetarian restaurant Rajdhani's thali just appear before me....Priya has crazy collection of recipes and I was very confused...I bookmarked more than ten recipes....and sat down thinking.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before ...our family is ' Hardcore non vegetarian'...but there is one day in a week  'Thursday' when most of the ladies in the house are Vegetarians (yes including me and my sister Devs)...I still don't know the reason why........hence Thursday is always considered a dull day for us and if anyone  invites us for a party on a Thursday (which rarely happens)....its frowned upon.So coming to the point .....this Thursday I took charge of the kitchen....it was 'Mharo Rajasthan Thursday'  and I finally decided to make Rajma Masala, Methi paratha and Jaljeera.

I  love to cook for my dad, my hubby and daughter...but my favorite guinea pig is my sister Devs...I love cooking for her and she is my best critic and her opinion matters.... So this is what Devs had to say...."I can have vegetarian food like this everyday" (In our house that sentence is equal to committing a crime)

Today I will be putting up Jaljeera recipe.....tomorrow Rajma Masala and Methi paratha.

Ingredients
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• 2tbsp Cumin/Jeera (roasted and coarsely powdered)
• 10 to 12 Mint leaves
• 1tsp Mango powder (aamchur)
• 1/2 tsp Black salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 3 cups cold water

Method

1. Make a paste of all the ingredients except water.
2. Mix the paste with cold water blend well and refrigerate.
3. Strain before serving. 

Sending this to Tickling Palates

Kadubu Shaped Modak (Indian Momos)- Blog Skip Wednesday

I know I was supposed to post this last Wednesday  but due to few reasons I could not....I apologize.

So  I am naming this Blog Skip Wednesday.

I know I know.... this not the actual  modak shape....but believe me I tried ...I saw this video on 'how to make modak'.....and I thought 'wow that is super simple' and tried it out and failed miserably. I was all set to give up and my mom (moms are superwomen, they get ideas in a split second)  told that I could use a kadubu mold....different shape....but same taste. 

Last week I was paired with Nirmala from Nirmala's kitchen , and I chose to make Modak from her blog. Thank you for the recipe Nirmala.

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 Ingredients For filling

• 1 cup fresh coconut 
• 1/2 cup jaggery(grated or powdered)
• 1 tsp cardamom powder

Method for filling

• Place a pan on medium heat, add in coconut and jaggery and cook till the jaggery melts and the mixture is little dry. Add  cardamom powder and mix well. Keep this aside and prepare the outer cover for the modak.

Ingredients For outer covering

• 1 1/2 cups raw rice powder (I used pathri powder)
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp ghee
• pinch salt

Method

1. Heat 2 cups water in a non stick vessel, add ghee and salt. When water comes to boil add the rice powder. Keep stirring to avoid lumps.Take off the flame.
2. Cover and keep aside for few minutes
3. Knead the rice dough while its warm, apply oil to your hands and the vessel you are kneading in. The dough should be smooth, soft and shiny.

To make Modaks

1. Make a rice ball, oil a chappati stand and place the rice ball on it, roll out the rice ball into a circle and place it on the kadubu mold, place 1 tbsp of filling and close the kadubu mold and press. Remove excess rice dough from the sides and open the mold and remove the kadubu and place on a greased plate. Continue with the rest.
2. Steam the modaks for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Serve with ghee

Note : Roll the rice dough thick ,or while steaming the modaks might crack, mine did:)

Sending to Radhika's tickling palates

Chilli Paneer - Blog Hop Wednesdays

Its WEDNESDAY  and I have been paired with blogger Laxmi  from Samayal Diary. I chose Chilli Paneer from her recipe list. This will be my first Paneer dish on my blog.I have made few changes, made the dish spicy and add other ingredients.

Thank you Laxmi for the recipe .

Sending this recipe to Radhikas Tickling Palates

Ingredients
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• 200 grms Paneer(cubed)
• 1 medium onion (cubed and separate layer)
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 capsicum (cubed)
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp chilly powder
• 3 tsp chilly flakes
• 5 green chilies(slit)
• 3 tbsp oil
• few sprigs spring onion chopped
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Method

1. In pan heat oil ,when hot add cubed paneer and fry till golden brown (I have always noticed that fried paneer becomes chewy, I put the fried paneer into hot water and 1 tsp salt for 15 minutes -this way the paneer remains soft), to the same oil I have added cubed capsicum and fried for 2 minutes and kept it aside.You can skip this step.
2. In the same pan heat oil and add ginger and garlic, fry for few seconds add onion, green chillies , paneer, capsicum and tomato sauce, soya sauce,green chilli sauce, chilli powder and chilli flakes and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Mix cornflour with 1 1/2 cup water and pour into the pan and mix well. Stir till the sauce thickens.
4. Add salt and sugar . Soya sauce and chilli sauce will have salt content so be careful while adding salt.
5. Garnish with spring onion and serve hot with fried rice and noodles.

Sending this to taste of pearl city

Garlic pull apart rolls

'Blog hop Wednesdays' This is the event I am taking part in. I am paired with different bloggers  every Wednesday and I have to recreate a dish from their blog . I am glad that in the first week I was paired with an amazing blogger from Bahrain , Anamika Arun who has a great blog Taste Junction.

I love to bake, so I chose this recipe .These rolls are super soft and the aroma of garlic and butter is so amazing.Instant hit at home and my best critic -my daughter just loved it.

(I suggest you use a bigger baking dish, as you can see my rolls swelled up)

Thank you Anamika for the recipe and Radhika (tickling palates) for starting this event.

Ingredients for roll

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• 1 1/2 cup Flour (maida)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3/4 tbsp yeast (1/2 tbsp if using instant yeast)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp oil

Ingredients for garlic spread

• 100 grms unsalted butter (softened)
• salt to taste
• 2tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped Dill leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder

Method
1. Prepare garlic spread: mix all the ingredients for garlic spread in a bowl and keep aside.
2. Prepare roll: In a small bowl pour in 1/4 cup warm water, sugar and yeast, mix till yeast dissolves. Keep this aside for few minutes till the mixture looks frothy.
3. Now in a large bowl mix flour, salt, yeast mixture and remaining water and form a sticky dough. Oil your fingertips and knead the dough until it springs back when you press with your fingers, 6 to 7 minutes.
4. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and allow it to double (keep in a warm area). This will take 45 minutes to 1 hour.

 5. Once the dough doubles, punch the dough to remove the air and knead again for few minutes.
6. Prepare a baking dish, grease with oil and keep aside.
7.  Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.Place one portion dough on a flat surface. Use little flour if the dough is very sticky.Roll the dough into a rectangle with 1/2" thickness.

 8.Place 2 tbsp garlic spread on the rolled out dough and spread out evenly.

 9. Roll from one end .

10. Cut the roll into halves.

11. Then cut each half into halves to get 4 rolls.Repeat the same with the other portion of dough.

 12.Place the rolls in a greased dish with cut side up and brush the top with milk and spread remaining garlic spread on top. Sprinkle sesame seeds.

 13.allow the rolls to rise for about 20 minutes.

14. Place in a pre heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 180 degree C,or till the top looks golden brown.
15. Serve warm.