Diwali Special- Manjol Eeretha Ghatti/ Sweet Rice Dumpling Steamed in Turmeric leaves

Diwali and no Manjol Eeretha Ghatti......no way....Diwali is incomplete without this for us Mangaloreans.

Aroma of turmeric leaves being steamed is unforgettable.

I had a hard time getting a nice picture of the ghatti...this was best among the worst....though ghatti tastes amazing.....they are not great lookers ...but who cares ....taste matters ....right....

Ingredients
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• 15 turmeric leaves

For outer covering

• 2 cups brown rice/rosematta(washed and soaked for 5 hrs)
• salt to taste

For sweet filling

• 2 cups coconut
• 1 1/2 cup jaggery
• few tablespoons of water (optional)
• 2 tsp cardamom powder

Method

For outer covering:-

1.Grind the soaked rice and salt using little water to a fine, moist and thick dough.Keep this aside 

Prepare Filling:-

1.Place a pan on medium flame,add jaggery, when it melts add the coconut,few tablespoon of water and cardamom powder and mix well,cook till you get a thick but moist filling.

2. Wash the turmeric leaves and wipe with dry cloth.

3. Apply the rice dough on the turmeric leaves, flatten it with your wet hands.

4. Place the sweet filling on the dough.

5. Fold the leaf.

6.Place it in a hot idli steamer, repeat the same with other leaves.Steam for 45 minutes.
7. Take off the flame, remove the dumpling from turmeric leaves and serve with homemade ghee.

Diwali Special- Manni / Rice Pudding

Okay let the fireworks begin....Diwali celebration starts ........Now 

Manni is a famous sweet dish for us Mangaloreans...something that used to be made on a weekly basis in most of the households...any guests home ...invited or not...Manni  was all ready to be served ....I remember every summer vacation we used to spend it in Karkala and any house I went to...we were served Manni and without fail....by default...there had to be boiled egg(roasted in salt and chilli powder)......and it was the same in our house too.

There are so many dishes Mom used to make when we were kids....so many we disliked.....I used to hate Sajige (Upma)...."Mom , whats for breakfast?" .....she would say "Sajige" and my reply would be "You mean concrete".....hated brinjal...dry fish chutney....pelakai da ghatti.....so many more.....and Manni always topped the list. I just used to hate the fact that it wobbles.....hated all these dishes through school....college...graduation and one fine day get married ...go to a different house...in some other country ...far far away.....then after 1 or 2 years get back home...then these same dishes are ....like... I AM IN HEAVEN.......I think this is when I realized ....my dad might be a hero to me.....but my Mom ....she is SUPERWOMAN (Please don't tell my mom I said that)

When I think of Manni the first name that comes to my mind is ...Vatsala Aunty (my ex neighbor and relative).....all I remember is that ...she always had manni in her fridge...always (ok maybe I am exaggerating ...maybe the right word is OFTEN)....I thought this must be very simple...I mean Vatsala aunty makes it all the time.....until I tried it out ..under the guidance of my Mom....The ingredients are pretty simple...its just the muscle power needed to cook this dish....almost 1 hour of constant stirring...we kept taking turns...its was a good workout...made up for 2 weeks of skipping gym....and my Gym Sir calls me Lazy....little did he know......

Ingredients
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• 2 cups rice (washed and soaked for 3 hours)
• 1 coconut (to remove milk)
• 1 cup Jaggery (adjust to taste)
• 2 tsp Cardamom Powder
• water
• One pinch salt
• Ghee to grease the pan

Method

1. Remove Coconut milk. Try to get about 4 cups of  coconut milk(thick and thin).Keep this aside.
2. Grease a 10 inch plate with ghee and keep aside.
3. Grind rice to a fine paste using water, mix the ground rice and coconut milk,add jaggery. The batter must be almost water like consistency (like neer dosa batter).You can add more water if the batter is thick.
4.  Place this vessel on medium low flame.Its important to stir the batter non stop at least in the beginning. This will avoid forming of lumps (which is a complete no no for Manni)
5. The batter will thicken eventually, but you have to keep stirring for almost 45 minutes to 1 hour, or the pudding won't set. There are ways to know if the pudding is done: - Wet your hands and touch the pudding, if it does not stick to your hands then the pudding is done. One more tip is to drop  1 tsp of batter into little water in a plate, if the pudding holds shape then its done, if it disintegrates you will have to stir longer.
6. Somewhere around 30 minutes of stirring ,add cardamom powder.
7. Once the pudding is done pour it on to the greased plate and spread it evenly.Pour 2 tbsp ghee on top of the pudding and spread it around.
8. Let the pudding cool in room temperature, refrigerate till the pudding sets.
9. Cut to diamond shape, you can sprinkle some roasted cashew nuts on top which is optionally.

Note: Instead of removing coconut milk you can also grind coconut with rice and add lot of water.

Ghenda da adde / Nesel Adde / Cucumber Cake

I know , doesn't look appetizing for those who don't know what it is.....but for those who do.....its a delicacy..

Nesel adde  also know as Ghenda da Adde is a very famous sweet dish for us Mangaloreans. Ghenda   in Tulu means coal and before(in those days) this sweet cake was cooked on low flame with coal on top which gave it an unique taste...but nowadays in the city is more convenient to use the gas stove....its so funny...I actually wanted to use coal....but mom refused...she did not want to go through all the trouble ...looks like times are changing :)

Nesel adde / Ghenda da adde taste best when its cooked on very low flame for 1 hour or little more..I love it when the Adde browns nicely outside. I have also put up a video just to guide you through the process. This can also be baked in an oven.

Ingredients

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• 2 cup rice (dosa rice)
• 1 medium cucumber(skinned and chopped)
• 1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 jaggery (adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 medium onion( chopped)
• 1/2 cup ghee
• 2 tbsp cahew
• 2 tbsp raisin

Method

1. Soak rice and methi in water for 3 hours.
2. Grind rice, methi , jaggery, coconut and cucmber to a slightly coarse batter  adding little water(dosa batter consistency). Check sweetness, add more jaggery if you like it sweet.
3. Place a pressure cooker on medium flame , when hot add ghee,swirl the cooker around to grease the side of the cooker with ghee(by doing this you will be able to remove the whole adde out of the cooker easily), when ghee is hot add chopped onion and fry till they turn dark brown. Now add cashew nuts and raisins an stir for few seconds.
4. Add the batter and mix, add 1/2 cup water. mix well and lower the flame. Cover the cooker. Do not use the pressure weight, place a steel tumbler on the spout from where the steam escapes, By doing this the moisture is retained.
5. Cook the Adde on very low flame for 1 hour.
6. Check after 45 minutes to see if the Adde is done by piercing with a wet knife. If any batter sticks to the knife ,cover a cook again for few more minutes. 
7. once the Adde is done, let it cool down for few minutes, loosen the sides and and remove it from the cooker, cut to desires shape and serve (you can also warm the Adde in the microwave)

Ratna aunty's biryani- guest post

In the month of April, I had put up a post about the World Cup Final.I had also put up few pictures of the biryani my aunt had made that day.I did not put up the recipe(I wanted to try it out myself first),after few months I moved back to India from Bahrain, and I never got the chance to try out Ratna aunty's biryani.Everyone in  my house loves my mom's biryani ,I did not have the nerve to try something new, I knew I would have to hear the comparison.

I have to tell you that I have not tried out this recipe, I was just a spectator when Ratna Aunty was making this delicious biryani and I wrote down the whole recipe then and there. I would have waited for months  to try this recipe and post it,but one of my viewers Sunita wanted to make this biryani. This one is for Sunita :)

I would like to thank Ratna aunty for sharing this recipe, I have learnt so much from her, she is like a mother to me and also an amazing friend.I miss you Ratna aunty:)

ingredients
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• 1 kg chicken
• 3 medium onion (sliced)
• 7 tbsp oil
• 4 tbsp yogurt
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt to taste
• 5 tbsp coriander leaves (chopped)
• 1/4 cup water add few strands of saffron
• 1/4 cup water add pinch of red color (optional)

for masala

• 1 cardamom
• 4 cloves
• 2 inch cinnamon
• 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 pinch methi seeds/fenugreek
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp saunf
• 8 long chillies (kashmiri)

for rice

• 4tbsp ghee
• 2 onion finely sliced
• 4 green chillies
• whole spices- 2 cardamom, 4 peppercorn, 1 bay leaf, 3 cloves,1/2 inch cinnamon, 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cups basmati rice (washed,soaked and drained)
• 5 1/2 cup water
• salt to taste

method

1. Grind all the ingredients under masala into a fine powder. Keep this aside.
2. In a pan add 4 tbsp oil ,when hot fry 3 sliced onion till they turn crisp and golden brown,Drain and keep aside.
3. To the same oil add chicken and salt and cook for 10 minutes.Transfer the chicken to a vessel and add 4 tbsp yogurt, turmeric powder and 1/2 of the fried onions.Keep this aside.
4. Add 3 tbsp oil into the pan (the same pan the chicken was cooked in ) , when oil is hot add chopped tomatoes and ginger garlic paste, fry for 3 minutes.Now add the ground masala powder and lemon juice.Add few tablespoons of water if its dry.Fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Now add chicken(mixed with yogurt, turmeric and fried onions).Cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
5. The chicken masala for biryani is ready.
6. Prepare rice--- In a thick bottom pan or rice cooker melt ghee and add sliced onion, when onion turns slight golden brown add whole spice.Fry for few seconds.Add basmati rice and fry till moisture evaporates now add 5 1/2 cups of water and add salt. Cover and cook on very low flame for about 11 to 12 minutes, or till the rice is cooked and water dried out.

How to assemble

1. Divide rice to 3 parts, to one part of rice sprinkle the saffron water (don't use the whole1/4 cup, just enough to get desired color)
2. To the other part of rice sprinkle red color. and leave the 3 rd part rice plain.
3. In a big vessel layer the rice , chicken, fried onion and coriander leaves.
4. Serve with raita.

one pot prawn biryani

This prawn biryani is exactly like chicken biryani,the difference -its a one pot dish and spicier. I have used my electric rice cooker,you can use any vessel .I find rice cooker very convenient.

 Ingredients
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• 600 grms prawn (shell removed and de veined)
• 3 small onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 1/2 inch cinnamon
• 5 cloves
• 4 cardamom
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 6 tbsp coriander leaves(chop 3 tbsp finely and keep aside)
• 4 tbsp mint leaves(chop 2 tbsp finely and keep aside)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 green chillies
• 10 to 12 cashew nuts
• 2 small tomatoes (chopped finely)
•  10 green chillies (slit slightly in the top)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup ghee or more (be very generous)
• 2 small onion finely sliced
• 2 1/2 cup basmati rice (washed and soaked)
• salt to taste
• 4 cups water

Method
1.Grind onion, turmeric ,ginger,garlic,1 inch cinnamon,3cloves,cashew nuts,4 green chillies,3 tbsp coriander leaves and 2tbsp mint leaves into very fine paste .
2. Place a vessel on medium high flame, add ghee,when ghee is hot add 1/2 inch cinnamon,2 cloves,cardamom and bay leaves.

 3.When it start sizzling add sliced onion and fry till it turns light brown.

 4.Now add chopped tomatoes and slit green chillies and little salt.Fry for 2 minutes.

 5.Now add the ground masala paste and fry till the raw smell disappears and ghee leaves the sides of the masala.

 6.Add prawns and mix well.Cook for 3 minutes.

 7.Now add basmati rice and mix well.Cover and cook for 3 minutes.

8.Add lemon juice,salt and chopped coriander and mint leaves.Pour 4 cups of water (don't add more water,because prawn will release a lot of water)
9.Cover and cook on low flame till all the water dries up -10 to 12 minutes.
10.Serve with raita 

idli- steamed rice cakes

If its Sunday,then idli for breakfast without fail.Soft and fluffy idlis.If mom makes idli on a Thursday,then I will definitely think its a Sunday.
Don't mistake this for sannas,sannas are usually made using yeast or toddy (kali).We don't like the overpowering smell of yeast in idlis, we use yeast only for bread and appam (recipe coming up next week).
These are just plain simple idlis,the leftover batter is used to make dosa the next day and if we are unlucky the third day too:)

Ingredients
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• 1 cup urad dal
• 2 1/2 cups rice (idli rice )
• 1/4 cup puffed rice or hard beaten rice
• water
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Wash urad dal 3 to 4 times,till the water runs clear.soak it in water for 5 hrs or overnight.
2. Wash idli rice and soak it in water for 5 hrs or overnight.
3. Grind the urad dal to fine and thick batter using little water,pour into a big vessel.
4. Grind rice and puffed rice into a fine batter using water.Pour onto the urad dal batter and mix well.Whisk the batter with your hand to incorporate air.
5. Cover the vessel with a cloth tightly,place a plate on top and keep in a warm place overnight to ferment.
6. Next day ,the batter would have risen,mix well add salt and water to adjust consistency.The batter should be thicker that  dosa batter.
7. Pour water into the idli steamer cover and bring the water to boil.
8. Meanwhile oil idli bowls,we also use small steel tumblers (lota).Pour the batter into the steel bowls and place inside the idli steamer.
9. Steam on medium low flame for 15 to 20 minutes.
10. Serve with sambhar and chutney.

mom's chicken biryani

Or should I say Shakila aunty's biryani.

soum this one is for you,stop haunting me in my dreams:)

Ingredients
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• 1 kg chicken (with bone cut to medium pieces)
• ghee rice
• 3 medium onion (roughly chopped)
• 2 inch cinnamon
• 5 cloves
• 25 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 inch ginger
• 6 tbsp coriander leaves(chop 3 tbsp finely and keep aside)
• 4 tbsp mint leaves(chop 2 tbsp finely and keep aside)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 4 green chillies
• 10 to 12 cashew nuts
• 2 tomatoes (chopped finely)
• 25 to 30 green chillies (slit slighty in the top)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 ghee or more (be very generous)
• salt to taste

Method

1. Grind onion, turmeric ,ginger,garlic,cinnamon,cloves,cashewnuts,4 green chillies,3 tbsp coriander leaves and 2tbsp mint leaves into very fine paste (do not use water)
2. Place a big vessel on medium high flame, add ghee,when hot add tomatoes and little salt,fry the tomatoes till its melted,now add the slit green chillies.Stir for a minute.
3. Now add the ground masala and fry till the raw smell dissappears and ghee leaves the sides.
4. Add chicken ,salt,chopped coriander and mint leaves.Cover and cook (add 1/2 cup water or less if required)
5. When chicken is almost done add lemon juice and mix,adjust salt to taste.
6. Good sign for a good gravy is when the ghee is floating on the top,
7. Prepare ghee rice

To assemble

Take a big vessel apply little ghee to the bottom of the vessel,put one layer of ghee rice and a layer of chicken masala.Continue the layering till you are done with the chicken and rice.
Place a flat pan on low flame and place the biryani vessel on top of the flame and cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Mix carefully and serve with raita

masala dosa

Ok my Mother in law makes the ultimate masala dosa,trust me she does.

I have no  words to explain her dosa,its just perfect and you will want more,I can have 4 dosas in one shot.I myself don't know how I managed to take these pictures,I just took two clicks and pounced on it.

My MIL puts her heart and soul into each dosa she makes,its so crispy and light and she roasts the dosa a little longer for me,coz I love my dosas crispy.

There are few things to follow ,my mother in law uses only cast iron tawa

the flame matters a lot

she adds maize flour ,semolina and wheat flour and

lots of love .

 Ingredients
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• 3 cups rice
• 1 cup urad dal
• 1/2 cup beaten rice (the harder one)
• 2 tsp fenugreek seeds or 1/2 tsp roasted fenugreek powder (put this to the batter)
• 5 tbsp semolina
• 2 tbsp maize flour
• 2 tbsp wheat flour
• ghee
• salt to taste
• potato bhajji

Method

1. Wash and soak rice and fenugreek seeds in water,in another vessel soak urad dal for 3 hours or more.
2. Grind the urad dal using little water into a smooth and thick paste,pour the batter into a big vessel.
3. Grind rice along with fenugreek seeds to a coarse paste.Combine the urad dal batter and the rice batter and mix well,Beat with your hand,till fluffy.
4. Cover and place the vessel in a warm place and let it ferment overnight.
5. Before making the dosa add water to the batter if its too thick,adjust consistency.
6. Add semolina,maize flour,wheat flour and salt and mix.
7. Now pour a big ladle of batter onto a hot tawa (see video)
8. Spread some oil or ghee,place  potato bhajji on the dosa and fold.
9. Serve with chutney or sambhar.

Below is my version of masala dosa,the batter and potato bhajji recipe are the same.My sister Niriksha akka gave me this idea of using pav bhajji masala (I know weird right,that's what I thought too,but trust me it tastes good.)
*Pour a ladle of dosa batter on the tawa and spread it around.

 *Rub  butter on the dosa,the batter won't stick to the butter,the heat will just melt the butter.

 *Sprinkle pav bhajji masala

 * place potato bhajji on the dosa and fold.

neer dosa -video

This is the full video of neer dosa,I have posted one video last month,but that was incomplete.

Ingredients for neer dosa:
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• 1 cup rice
• 2tbsp grated coconut(optional
• salt to taste

Method

1.Wash and soak rice in water for 3 hours.
 2.Grind rice with coconut till smooth, the consistency of the batter should be like water hence the name neer dosa(water dosa). You will know that the batter has the right consistency when it does not form a thick layer on the back of the spoon(look at the picture below)

peas puloa

Just simple peas pilaf,no masala powder to over power the natural taste of basmati rice.

Ingredients

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• 2 cups basmati rice
• 3 medium onion (finely sliced)
• 1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic (fresh crushed to a coarse paste)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 tbsp ghee(be generous)
• 4 cardamon
• 3 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• small piece cinnamon
• 1 cup peas(fresh or frozen)
• 3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
• 4 green chillies (slit)
• 3 1/2 cup water
• salt to taste

Method

1. Wash rice and soak in water for 15 minutes.
2. In a thick bottom pan or rice cooker add ghee,when little hot add cardamom,cloves,cinnamon and bay leaves,stir for a minute.Now add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute then add the sliced onion and fry till the onion turn light golden brown.
3. Now add green chillies and peas stir for few seconds (if using fresh peas cover and cook for few minutes),add the basmati rice and fry till moisture in the rice evaporates.
4. Now add water ,salt and chopped coriander and mint leaves.
5. cover and cook till done.
6. serve with raita

vegetable pulao

ingredients

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 1 medium carrot chopped
• 15 french beans chopped
• 1 potato diced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1  large tomato chopped
• 5 green chillies slit
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chilli pwd
• 1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
• 1 tsp garam masala pwd
• 4 cloves
• 4 cardamoms
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 4 tbsp chopped mint leaves
• 4 cups water salt to taste
• 4 tbsp ghee

for seasoning

• 1 onion sliced
• 3 tsp ghee

method

1. In a thick bottom vessel,on medium flame add ghee, when hot add cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and the sliced onions, fry till the onion turns pink. Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell is gone, now add red chilli pwd, turmeric pwd and garam masala, stit in the tomatoes and vegetables.cover and cook till the vegetable are half done.
2. add rice and fry till the moisture evaporates, now add water, coriander leaves, mint leaves ,green chillies, salt and squeeze of lemon(Optional).
3. cover and cook on low heat till the rice is done , about 15 minutes.
4. for seasoning- in a small pan heat ghee and add onion, fry till onion turns dark brown .mix into rice.
5. serve pulao with raita

lemon rice

there are different version of lemon rice,this is how we make it.I would like to thank Kamala,my maid who taught me to make this:)(my mom would so be happy if she knew that I thanked her maid,ever felt how most of the Indian ladies have this special attachment with their maids. If I asked my mom to choose between me and her maid, she would choose her maid in blink of an eye)

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon urad dal
• 1 tablespoons chana dal
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 red whole red chili
• 1 medium sized onion chopped finely(optional)
• 4 green chili slit
• 10 to 15 fresh curry leaves
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
•  salt adjust to taste
• 3 tbsp  lemon juice
• 2 cups cooked rice( for 1 cup raw rice add 1 3/4 cup water)

method
* Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. when oil is little hot add mustard seed, urad dal, channa dal and peanuts. fry till mustard start to pop and the urad and channa dal turns light brown.add curry leaves,red chillies and green chillies and fry for few seconds. Add chopped onions and fry till translucent. Now add turmeric powder and salt and fry for 30 seconds. Pour in the lemon juice( At this point you can cool the mixture and refrigerate it till further use, this can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks)


*After adding the lemon juice mix in the rice and stir till well combined.


*Lemon rice is ready to be served with potato chips.


Note
*you can double or triple the quantity of this mixture and refrigerate.Whenever you  want to make lemon rice, remove 3 tbsp of the lemon mixture, heat it in  pan and add cooked rice.
(I make this lemon mixture is large quantities before I leave to India so that my husband can make lemon rice whenever he wants to)

Ghee rice

I made this ghee rice in an electric rice cooker,I feel  rice cooker is a good investment. all I have to do is put the rice in along with water and close and it will tell me when the rice is done.you can go ahead and use a regular vessel, preferably a thick bottom vessel.

Ingredients

• 3 cups  basmati rice ( washed and soaked)
• 3 onion medium (finely sliced)
• 1/2 cup ghee
• 4   cardamom
• 4   cloves
• 1/2 inch   cinnamon
• 1   bay leaves
• 10  cashew nut
• salt to taste
• 5   cups water  

method
* In a pan add ghee (please don't be stingy with ghee,the dish is named 'GHEE rice' for a reason), when the ghee is hot add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. fry for few seconds,then add sliced onions and fry till slightly brown, now add cashew nuts and drained basmatic rice. Stir for 2 minutes. Add water and salt, I don't like the rice to be overcooked, so I put 5 cups of water to 3 cups rice(its your preference)

* cook on very low flame till the water has evaporated.

* serve ghee rice with any kind of curry.

mixed fried rice

every one has their own version of fried rice, this is mine. no matter how much I try i can never get the Chinese restaurant taste but close enough, and most important NO MSG

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 onion medium(finely chopped
• 1  carrot (finely chopped)
• 1cup beans (finely sliced)
• 1/3  cup peas( frozen)
• 1 green capsicum(finely chopped)
• 1/3 cup spring onion (finely chopped)
• 1/2 cup mushroon(sliced)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chicken (cooked and shredded)
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 2tsp vinegar
• salt /pepper to taste
• 2tbsp oil
• 6 cups  rice cooked (I fry the the rice in two batches in a hot wok with oil salt, pepper and soya for few seconds and then add to the stir fried vegetables, but you can skip this step)

Method

* In a wok or big pan add oil on high flame, when its hot add in garlic fry for few seconds then add in the onion, when the onion turns translucent add chopped carrot and beans(it should be finely chopped so that it can cook faster) , keep stirring for two minutes until they are 70% cooked , now add mushroom. capsicum and frozen peas(if you are using fresh peas, cook it separately ), now add cooked chicken, stir well add the soya sauce, vinegar , salt and pepper, stir fry for few seconds.

* push all the vegetables and chicken to one side of the pan, add little oil and break in two eggs and scramble them. After they are scrambled mix in the vegetables and chicken.

*Now add the cooked rice and fry for a minute at the end sprinkle spring onion. serve with chilli chicken .

note: the fried rice should be cooked on high flame throughout

if you are worried the carrots and beans won't cook through, you can always cook them separately and then add it to the rice. if you notice in all Chinese restaurants the vegetables are only 80% cooked. 

thai chicken green curry -instant

I was introduced to Thai food by Nalini aunty who has been here in Bahrain for more than 25 years now. She is a specialist in Thai and Chinese food,and the best host I have ever come across. I always tell my husband that  ' I wish I was as talented as Nalini aunty is '.
I love thai food and so does my daughter. Because of whats happening in Bahrain now, with all the unrest we are not able to go to the city where all the thai restaurants are. So I decided to make  some Thai green curry chicken.
In Thailand its said that , if a girl knows to hand grind green curry paste which consists of 14 odd ingredients, then she is ready to get married. Well I am already married and I don't want to hand grind 14 ingredients. So I am going to use Ready made Green curry paste.The taste is the same.

            Thai chicken green curry served with white rice


  

Ingredients 

1/2 cup green curry paste

1 tin coconut milk

2 chicken breasts (cut to strips)

1/2 green capsicum(chopped)

1/2 red capsicum(chopped)

1/2 onion (chopped)

1 carrot (chopped)

1/2 cup brinjal (chopped)

1/2 cup bamboo shoots(tinned/chopped)

2 cups water

2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1/2 cup fresh basil

2 tsp oil

Method

* In a pan add oil, on medium high flame, then add in the green curry paste and fry for a minute. Add in half tin of coconut milk(keep the rest for later). Bring the coconut milk to boil, then add 2 cups of water and all the vegetables except for the fresh basil.

* when the vegetables are half done add chicken(since its boneless it cooks fast).

* Let the chicken cook through then add in rest of the coconut milk, stir and add sugar and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.

* In the end add fresh basil. Stir and cook for a minute and turn off the heat.

* Thai chicken green curry is ready to be served with rice.( you can also have it with jasmine rice)

note: you can also add button mushroom along with the other vegetables.