Thai Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

This was an accompaniment to the Spicy Chicken Satay I made last week. It is a very tropical fried rice with sweet n' sour taste. The taste of pineapple is the dominant of all.

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice - 2 cups
Pineapple, 1/2inch pieces - 1 cup
Fish sauce - 1Tbspn
Shrimp, healess & deveined - 12-15
Bell Peppers - 1/2 cup
Shrimp Paste - 1/2 tspn (Optional)
Garlic cloves, finely chopped - 3
Soy Sauce - 1 Tbspn
Chilli Sauce - 3tspn
Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
Green Chillies, slit - 2
Sugar - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure: 

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add chopped garlic, slit green chillies and sautee it for 1 min. Then add bell peppers, shrimp paste and pineapple and sautee for 2-3mins. (This stinks a lot)
2. Now add fish sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce, chilli powder and rice to the pan and mix it well. After mixing it well, add the srimps and salt and cook for 3-5mins, or till the shrimps are cooked.
3. Garnish with some cilantro and serve when hot.

Variations: 
Do not use fish oil and shrimp paste if you cannot bear the smell of it. It really smells a lot but definitely enhances the taste of the fried rice.

Conclusion:
It was a spicy fried rice with some sweet pineapple taste. Something new for the taste buds.

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.

My Birthday Celebrations

June- my birthday month. My in-laws and the husband gave me loads of surprises on my birthday. They all made my day by getting a cake to cut at midnight, a balloon, some roses and chocolates. Then they planned to take me out to see the sunset and a beach-side dinner at Redondo Beach.

This was the birthday cake cut at midnight on June 7th. It was a jumbo Chocolate Cupcake with chocolate mousse.

That was not all! My husband threw a surprise birthday party for me by inviting all our friends for a Hawaiian BBQ party over the weekend. The theme was Hawaiian and almost all of them turned up in a Hawaiian attire. He had ordered for Biryani, got some Veggie Patties and Sausages, Pineapples to grill etc. We played flip cups and the girl's team won!

This was the Tropical Fruit Cheesecake for the Hawaiian themed birthday party.

The Hawaiian people!

While playing flip cups in which you gulp the beer from the cup and flip the cup. Once the cup is flipped, the next person from the same team will start. It is kind of a relay. The team whose last player flips the cup, wins! The boys were the losers! 

The Hawaiian Couple

Thanks to those who wished me on my birthday and who made it to the party and special thanks to my Husband - Ram, for throwing such a great party!

Shrimp Stir Fry

Every time I make shrimp I remember 'Bubba' from Forrest Gump. His love towards shrimp and how he spoke about them all the time. I remember that Bubba suggests the shrimping business and Forrest pursues the idea after Bubba's death.
The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company started as an idea between Bubba and Forrest during their war duty in Vietnam. There Bubba proposes the idea of starting a shrimping business and Forrest agress and promises to be his partner after the service is over. But Bubba dies in the war and Forrest is left alone to go into that business. Forrest then goes to plays in the All America Ping Pong team and after his tour, he earns $25,000 enough to buy a boat. He buys a boat and names it 'Jenny'. This is how he starts the shrimping business and Lt. Dan Taylor joins him as his mate on the boat.
It is a pretty nice movie and Tom Hanks has acted really well and so has 'Bubba.' I think pretty soon, I will be called 'Bubba.'

Ingredients: 
Uncooked Shrimp, deveined - 1 LB
Soy Sauce - 2 tbspn
Tomato Ketchup - 4 tbspn
Water- 5tbspn
Red Chilli Flakes - 1 tspn
Ginger Paste - 1/2 tspn
Garlic, Minced - 2 + 4 cloves
Honey - 2 tspn
Cornstarch - 2 tspn
Green Onions - 1/4 + 1/4 cup
Bell Peppers - 1 cup
Brocolli - 1 cup
Mushroom - 1/4 cup
Oil

Procedure: 

1. Mix all the sauces, water, honey, red chilli flakes, 2 garlic cloves, cornstarch and ginger paste and keep it aside.
2. Now heat a skillet on med-high heat and put a tbspn oil on it. Then add garlic and all the vegetables and green onions to it and cook it for 2 mins. Then add the sauce to it and cook for 3-4 mins or till the sauce begins to boil.
3. Now add the shrimp and cook till the shrimp is cooked.

Variations: 
You can make it vegetarian by substituting shrimp with Tofu or Paneer/Cottage Cheese.

Conclusion:
The 'Always-Available-At-Home' ingredients makes it unbelievably awesome stir fry.

Mix vegetable Soup

Now a days I am eating more number of times in smaller portion only because I read in an article (and my mother always followed that rule) that eating in smaller portions is better that eating a lot at once. So I make one pot of soup for the whole week and refrigerate. I take a cup of soup everyday to work and reduce the portion of lunch. Also, reducing the quantity of carbs (Like roti, rice, bread) and increasing the portion of vegetables, poultry or seafood is advisable.
So here is an easy recipe for a mix vegetable soup in which you can add or substract the ingredients as per your taste. Always remember, playing a little bit with the ingredients is good for experimenting and knowing what you like more. So go ahead and experiment with this soup.


Ingredients: 
Vegetable Broth/Water - 3 cups
Spinach, chopped - 1/2 bunch
Squash, cubed - 2
Carrots, cubed - 2
Bell Peppers, cubed - 1
Green Chillies, slit - 2
Garlic, minced - 2 cloves
Black Beans - 1Can
Cooked Pasta - 1 cup (Optional)
Cooked Rice - 1/2 cup (Optional)
Oregano - 1 tspn
Ground Pepper - 1 tspn, or as per taste


Procedure: 

1. Add the broth in a pot and add spinach to it. Cook it for 10mins or so, then add everything other than pasta, rice and beans.
2. Let it cook with lid closed for 35-40 mins. Then add rice, pasta and beans and cook for another 5mins and the soup is ready.

Variations: 
This soup has been my favorite and I add whatever vegetables I have. I also add some cooked lentils, if I have them handy.


Conclusion:
The soup has been a Saviour as I serve this to my hubby whenever he comes home after work and then he doesn't demand for dinner immediately.

Fish Masala Curry (Hot n' Sour)

We get fish from the Chinese market nearby which is super crowded if you go after 10am. The line for cleaning and cutting the fish increases with time. Once I went early morning, and I got out within 15mins but if I go after 930am or so, I have to surely wait for an hour or more.
I always get Pompano to make fish curry. But I have seen humongous sized fish in the market the name of which I have never heard.
Today I wanted to try some different curry for the fish and I did some research online and saw this recipe which looked really yummy. I thought that version would be very spicy for my taste buds and hence I modified it as per my taste and it turned out really good.

Ingredients:
Fish (pompano) - 2LBs

Onion, Finely chopped - 1+1

Tomato, Finely chopped - 1

Green chillies, slit - 3

Garlic- 3 cloves

Ginger - 2 inch 

Red chilli powder - 3 tspn

Coriander powder - 2 tspn

Black pepper - 1 tspn

Garam masala - 1 tspn

Ajwain - a pinch

Methi seeds - a pinch

Yogurt - 2Tbspn

Tamarind pulp - 1 tspn

Lime Juice - 1 tspn

Salt

Oil
Cilantro to garnish

Procedure: 

1. Sautee one portion onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic together till the onions are golden brown.
2. When it is done, keep that aside and roast red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, pepper, methi seeds and ajwain together for 4-5 mins on med-low heat.
3. Grind the above two things together. Then saute remaining onions till they are golden brown.
4. Then add the ground masala and fry for a few minutes. 
5. Now add tomatoes, tamarind, salt and 1/2 cup of water.
6. Now add the fish pieces and cook for 7-10 mins turning the fish pieces over once.
7. Garnish it with cilantro and serve with hot dill rice or roti.

Variations: 
I couldn't think of any variation but you can reduce the sourness by using whole cream instead of yogurt.


Conclusion:
I made this without anything in mind. I was not sure how this would turn but it turned out pretty yummy. It had a distinct hot n' sour taste.