Chicken Seekh Kabab

Seekh kababs are the most popular type of kababs (atleast to my knowledge). I have tasted mutton seekh kababs before in some Indian restaurants but where I live, we get minced chicken very easily and so I thought I will try making seekh kababs using minced chicken.

One can surely try making lamb/mutton seekh kabab but the cooking time may vary as mutton/lamb take long time to cook. The chicken kababs were very juicy and tender and we finished all of it in few minutes. Let me know if you like the taste of it!

Ingredients:

Minced Chkn - 1LB

Onion - 1/2, finely chopped and sauteed

Cilantro - handful, finely chopped

Green Chillies - 1 small, finey chopped

Dhania Powder - 2 1/2 tspn

Garam Masala - 2 tspn

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tspn

Ginger - Garlic Paste - 1 tspn

Mint Leaves - 1 - 2 tspns, finely chopped

Bread Crumbs - 2 - 3 tbspns

Salt-  as per taste

Oil for frying (if not baking/broiling)

Procedure:

1.       Mix all ingredients given above, other than oil. Check to see if the mixture is thick enough and can hold up a sheek kabab shape (Cylindrical). If it doesn't, then add some more bread crumbs to it till it becomes easy to shape.

2.       Now make cylindrical shaped kababs by either rolling them around the skewers (make sure wooden skewers are soaked in water for atleast 30mins before using them) and bake/shallow fry in a pan for 10-12mins or until done (or broil for 5mins on each side).

3.       I did not use any skewers but just shaped them in cylindrical shape and shallow fried them in a pan with 1 tspn oil. I also BBQed these kababs and they turned out awesome!

4.       Serve/Eat this with mint chutney mixed in greek yogurt and some sliced onions with lemon squeezed on top. YUMMMM!!!!

Conclusion:

I made these for my hubby's Bday BBQ and I got rave reviews for them. It got over in no time!

Pesto Cream Cheese Filled Chicken Roll Ups

After a long long time, I am back to blogging. These days it is so difficult to find time to do anything due to the adorable little darling who is 1 year old already!

We also visited our family and friends in India in Dec 2013. This was Neil's first trip to India and he did pretty well. Everyone enjoyed his company a lot especially Neil's cousins and grand parents.

We had bought a house in India and we got the possession of it, so we did a small Housewarming Ceremony.

All in all, it was a great month long vacation!

Alright, coming to the point - I found the pictures of this dish on Pinterest and just decided I will wing it as per my taste. So I added some cream cheese and pesto and rolled up the chicken. Next I am going to try it with mushrooms stuffed inside and some sauce on top of the chicken. For now, let's enjoy what we have :)

Ingredients: 
Chicken Breast, Pounded - 2
Basil Pesto - 4 tbspns
Cream Cheese - 2 tbspns
Salt
Pepper
Bread Crumbs - 1/2 cup
Toothpicks

Procedure: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. In the mean time, take the pounded chicken breasts and cut each piece into 3 parts lengthwise
3. Now spread the cheese and then the basil pesto on it. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of the pesto and roll the chicken breast like a swiss roll
4. Now tuck some toothpicks inside the roll to keep it rolled and cover it in breadcrumbs and bake for 35-40 mins (or till chicken is cooked)
5. Last but not the least, relish every bite of the juicy chicken roll ups with some cajun spiced asparagus and squash.

Variations: 
There are plenty of variations to this recipe. I also added some sauteed asparagus with tomato paste, basil pesto, and mozzarella cheese and rolled it up. It tasted really delicious too!

Conclusion:
Add whatever filling you want, roll it up and roll it into your mouth....yummm!! My mouth is watering now. I better go and have a bite of the leftover chicken roll ups.

Butter Chicken/Murgh Makhani

I have been away from my blog for more than 3 months and here I am back to blogging again. I tried to find some time from the Diwali Celebrations, shopping for India, packing - unpacking from the visit to India and 3 not-so-long weeks in India and finally managed to write a post today!
So the visit to India was just 3 weeks long and I was going to my home country after 2 years. I really missed my family and friends in those 2 years and most of all, I missed my 2 year old nephew - Arnav! He is the cutest thing on earth and I had a grrrrreat time with him. I felt like I was back in my childhood where I played all day and there were no worries in life. Although Arnav has a big worry - his Dad's car. He loves cars and is very possessive about his Dad's car. His possession goes to the extent that he sleeps with the car keys in hand so that no one else can take it. I can go on and on about him. I love him and miss him a lot!

Anyways, I had butter chicken a couple of times in India and I desperately wanted to make it. I tried making butter chicken before but it never turned like the usual butter chicken because I didn't have fresh cream on hand or I had the cluster tomatoes which are a little sour in taste. This time I made sure I bought all the ingredients to make butter chicken and guess what, it was a success!!


Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts, cut into pieces - 3
Onions paste/finely chopped - 1 medium
Tomatoes, pureed - 4 medium
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
Fresh Cream/Whip cream - 1/2 cup
Ginger - Garlic Paste - 1+1/2 Tbspn
Cashew nut Paste/Powder - 2 tbspn
Butter - 1.5 Tbspn

Garam Masala:
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2-3
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch
Coriander Seeds - 1 Tbspn
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tspn
Methi Seeds - 1/4 tspn

Procedure:

1. Marinate chicken with 1/2 Tbspn ginger-garlic paste and keep aside.
2. Roast the items listed under garam masala and grind it and keep it aside.
3. Sautee onion paste and remaining ginger-garlic paste in the butter till the paste becomes golden. Add tomato puree to it and cook it till oil starts to separate and it turns a little darker and thicker. Now add the garam masala  (I made it fresh but you can use ready made), red chilli powder and cashew nut powder and cook for another 5 mins.
4. Now add the chicken and keep the gas on medium till the chicken is cooked. 
5. Once the chicken is cooked, add fresh cream to it and mix well. Serve with Naan or Jeera rice.

Variations: 
You can use half & half if you don't have fresh cream at home. Also, you can use yogurt to marinate the chicken and while cooking to make it tender.

Conclusion:
The third attempt at Butter Chicken turned really good. Fresh cream makes a difference for sure!

Orange Chicken Salad - Revealing Secrets

An Irish proverb says "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book" but I would correct it to "A good laugh, a healthy diet, a long walk and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." We need not keep on worrying about our health all the time because that is more dangerous than eating unhealthy food. One must enjoy the good health they have rather than worrying about it.



























Eating right and eating at the right time is the trick. 
You need not eat salad everyday to be healthy, you need not starve to reduce your weight, you need not eat bad tasting food to be on diet! All you need to do is, eat right and eat at the right time.


Know what you eat.
To eat right, you must know what you are eating. So wear your apron and get started in the kitchen. You can start with small things at a time. Even if you eat out, make sure you know the ingredients and opt for healthy choices like wheat bread instead of white, grilled chicken instead of fried chicken etc.


Refresh your mind and body.
Exercise refreshes your mind and body. Just 30-60mins of exercise/day is enough for a healthy mind and body. It doesn't matter if you walk to the grocery store or you run on a treadmill in the gym. The important thing is to exercise and be happy. 


Don't Be a Couch Potato.
Go out, make some friends, eat out, drink some beer, go for a comedy show but remember to exercise and stay worry-free. 

Ingredients (1 serving): 
Raw Items:
Spring Mix - 1/8 LB
Red and Orange Bell Pepper - 1/2 cup
Garbanzo Beans, canned/cooked - 1/2 cup
Mandarines - 1/2 cup
Toasted Sesame - 1/2 tspn
Chicken Tenders - 1/2LB

Dressing:
Soy Sauce - 3Tbspn
Lime Juice - 2Tbspn
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 2Tbspn
Brown Sugar - 2tbspn
Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt - a pinch full
Garlic, minced - 1tspn
Oil/Butter for frying garlic
Orange Juice - 1/8 cup

Procedure:

1. Mix all the ingredients for dressing other than garlic and oil for frying.
2. Now, heat a small pan and add oil to it. Fry garlic till they are golden and add to the above mentioned dressing mixture.
3. Now grill/broil/cook the chicken tender with some salt and pepper 
4. Add 1/2 of the prepared dressing to the chicken and let it sit aside.
5. Add orange juice to the remaining 1/2 of the dressing and mix it well.
6. Now mix all the raw ingredients and put the orange dressing on top of it. Add the chicken on top and garnish with some toasted sesame.

Variations: 
It can be made veg by taking off the chicken and adding Tofu/Soy chunks.

Conclusion:
Today I got up early so that I can pack this for lunch and blog about it in the spare time. I am going for Dodger's baseball game tonight (just to hog on the garlic fries and chug some beer as I do not understand the game :) ). So I am compensating for all the junk food I will be eating tonight with the salad.

Stuffed Chicken Marsala

I think of Olive Garden whenever I think of Chicken Marsala. I wanted to try making something new and different - I was bored with Indian cooking and eating- and Olive Garden is pretty far from my place. Guess what?!? I decided to make Chicken Marsala at home and got Marsala Wine and chicken breasts from Farmer's Market (which is my favorite place - If you have a Farmer's market nearby, I would recommend you to buy fresh produce from there to help the local farmers and to eat better quality food).
After I came home from Farmer's Market, I asked my husband, "What is the stuffing made up of in Stuffed Chicken Marsala at Olive Garden (because he orders that every time)?" He said, "Cheese, Breadcrumbs and some seasoning." I decided to make Stuffed Chicken Marsala instead of just Chicken Marsala! It takes a long time for the marsala wine to cook, but its worth all the effort at a very low cost and then writing (boasting) about it on your blog!! :D

Cooked Stuffed Chicken

Stuffed Chicken Marsala Ready to be Devoured

Ingredients: 
Stuffing - 
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
Shredded Pepper Jack - 1/2 cup
Any other Cheese (I used 4 cheese blend) - 1/3 cup
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Sour Cream/Yogurt - 3 Tbspn
Cream Cheese - 2Tbspn
Sal - as per taste
Pepper - 1/2tspn
Garlic - 1Tbspn
Oregano/Italian Herb - 1/2 tspn
Cajun Seasoning (Optional) - 1tspn
Crushed Red Pepper - 1tspn


Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - 3 pieces, halved and pounded
All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Sal & Pepper - to season the flour
Butter - 2tbspn

Sauce:
Marsala Wine - 2.5 cups
Heavy Cream - 1/2 pint or 8ounces
Mushrooms (I used  Portabella), sliced - 4cups
 Onion - 1/2 cup, finley chopped
Garlic - 1/2 tspn, finely chopped

Procedure: 

1. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and keep it aside.
2. Mix all purpose flour with salt and pepper and keep it aside.
3.  Take a heated pot and add some butter and onions and garlic to it.
4. After onions turn translucent, add sliced mushrooms to it. Now add the marsala wine and let it boil for 15-20mins on medium heat. 
5. In the meantime, take pounded chicken pieces and evenly distribute the stuffing on one piece and put another halved chicken piece on top of it.

Stuffed Raw Chicken

1. Put some butter on a heated pan and add some garlic to it.
2. Now coat the stuffed chicken pieces on both sides with the flour mixture and place it on the heated pan. Cook it on both sides till it turns light brown, adding butter whenever needed.
3. Now place the chicken pieces in a pre-heated oven for 10-15mins at 250degrees F.
4. By now the marsala wine must have been reduced to half of what it was. Now add the heavy cream and let it all boil on low heat till all the sauce is reduced to half/desired consistency.
5. When the desired consistency is achieved and chicken is done in the oven, pour the sauce and mushrooms over the chicken pieces and it serve it with some baguette and wine. You can also serve mashed potatoes with it.

Variations: 
If you want to use a non-alcoholic substitute for marsala, I would suggest using grape juice, although I am not too sure if it will taste the same. You can also substitute the heavy cream with half n half in case you don't have it handy.


Conclusion:
Happy tummy and happy wallet and not to mention happy husband :)

Spicy Chicken Satay

LA has plenty of Asians and Asian restaurants. I love Thai food (who doesn't, duh!?) and I love cooking so I thought I will try making some Thai curry/Fried Rice/Chicken Satay. Yessss... Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Thai Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice, it is!

Ingredients: 
Chicken thigh pieces (Bonelesss) - 1.5LB
Yogurt - 1tspn
Ginger root - 1 inch
Turmeric - 1/2 tspn
Curry Powder - 1.5tspn
Coriander Powder - 1/2 tspn
Lemon Grass - 1 stalk
Fish Sauce - 1tspn
Garlic - 2 cloves
Chilli Pwder - 1 tspn
Soy Sauce - 1tspn
Salt to taste
Bamboo Skewers - 8-10


Procedure: 
Grind all the ingredients (other than chicken and bamboo skewers) together and marinate the chicken for atleast 2 hours. Now soak the skewers in water for 1 hour so that they don't burn.
Now thread the marinated chicken pieces on the skewers and grill it for 4-7 minutes each side. Use some oil to baste it.
Serve it with Spicy Peanut Sauce.


Variations: 
You can add coconut milk instead of the yogurt.


Conclusion:
Yummy chicken satay - just like the ones you get at Thai restaurants.

Indonesian Chicken Rendang Curry

So if you have read the My Birthday Celebration post, you will know what I am talking about in the next few lines.

I wanted to thank my hubby for making my birthday a fabulous one and so I thought of making an Indonesian style chicken curry and chicken satay with peanut sauce! Near our apartment complex, we have a mall named 'The Grove' and a Farmer's Market next to it. The Farmer's market has variety of food booths, right from Brazilian BBQ to Japanese Sushis and South-East Asian Curries. We are frequent visitors to the Farmer's Market for buying produce or poultry or the hand-made ice cream... yummm!

Few weeks ago, we visited the Banana Leaf booth for Malaysian/Indonesian/Indian cuisine. It smelled very good and tasted better. I took the chicken rendang curry and the taste of that curry still lingers in my mouth. It has a special taste and aroma of coconut and star anise. They are so dominant, that it won't taste the same without those ingredients. So I decided to try making it by looking up few recipes online for beef rendang. People in Indonesia usually eat this curry with beef but because I do not eat beef, I used chicken.

Ingredients: 
Chicken - 2LB
Desiccated coconut - 1 cup
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 3
Cinnamon - 2 inch long
Star Anise - 3 flowers
Lemon Grass - 2, Pounded
Coconut Milk/Cream - 1.5 cups / 1cup
Tamarind Pulp - 2 tspn
Kaffir Lime Leaves - 6 (I used Lemon zest instead)
Sugar - 1tspn
Salt to taste

Paste:
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Ginger - 2 inch
Garlic - 6 cloves
Lemon Grass - 1 stalk
Frozen Coconut - 2 tbspn
Dry Red Chillies - 10-12

Procedure: 

1. Roast the desiccated coconut till it is brownish in color.
2. Now add some oil to another pan and add the cloves, star anise, and cinnamon and fry for 30-60 secs. Now add the paste and stir-fry for 4-5mins (till oil starts separating).
3. Add the chopped and pounded lemon grass and chicken and stir-fry till meat is rarely cooked.
4. Now add the coconut milk and sugar and let it cook for 10mins. Once the curry starts getting thicker, add 1/2 cup of water and kaffir lime leaves, desiccated coconut and tamarind juice. 
5. Now let the chicken cook in the curry for 1.5 hours and let the curry dry up/thicken so that you get the right consistency. 
6. Serve the curry with naan/roti kanai or steaming hot rice.

Variations: 
If you do not find star anise in the market, you can use fennel seeds although there would be a difference in taste.

Conclusion:
the chicken rendang curry was a big hit and we ate it for 2 days. It just got better with time.