Chicken with Yogurt and Semolina

Weekday evenings I always crave for tasty food, but I also prefer if it is home cooked and easy to cook! A lot of conditions! 😀 Well…if you think the same way as I do, then you will definitely love this recipe. Easy and yummmm! 🙂

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Preparation Time – 10 minutes

Cooking Time – around 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required

Chicken breast and thighs – around 750 g

Plain Yogurt – 300 ml

Semolina – around 2 to 3 tbsp

Cornflour – 2 tbsp

Onion – 2 medium, chopped

Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves, chopped

Paprika – as desired

Red chili (fresh) – 2 chopped

Fresh parsley or parsley flakes – 1 tbsp

Dried chili (ground or finely chopped) – 1 tbsp

Salt – as required

Step 1: Mix the semolina, yogurt, paprika and little salt. Add the mixture to the chicken and mix well.

Step 2: Heat oil in a pan. Shallow fry the chicken pieces until they are golden brown. Keep aside.

Step 3: Add little more oil in the pan. Add the onions and sauté till light brown. Add the garlic and red chili. Cook for another few minutes. Add the dried chili and parsley.

Step 4: Now add the chicken and mix well. Add salt to taste. Cook for few more minutes until all the ingredients are mixed well.

Step 5: Serve hot as a standalone dish or with bread.

To print this recipe click here: Chicken with yogurt and semolina

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Chocolate Cereal Bars

Last two weeks of 2015 has been great! I took time to rest, eat good food, and do stuff… felt very relaxed after a very long time! I didn’t do much cooking during this period but made a few desserts 🙂 Hope you too had a great time during Christmas and New Year with your family and friends 🙂

Today I made these chocolate cereal bars and while I prepared these I told myself “I must share these!” These are super easy to make and hardly takes any time, plus if you are looking for something sweet yet not a calorie bomb, this is the stuff you are looking for! The recipe is quite flexible so even if you don’t have the exact ingredients, it should be fine.

Go ahead and try these, you will love it! 🙂

Preparation Time: 30 minutes (excluding the time required for the bars to set)

Makes: 12 chocolate cereal bars

Ingredients:

Chocolate, dark couverture – 200 g

Chocolate Milk – 1/4 cup

Cereal – 100 g, I used unprocessed muesli for this recipe.

Orange flavor – 1 to 2 tsp

For the caramel:

Water – 2 to 3 tbsp

Sugar – 2 tbsp

Special Accessories:

Baking Paper

Small Tray

Cling Film (optional)

Step 1: Heat the chocolate in microwave in bursts of 30 seconds until it has fully melted. Add the milk and mix well.

Step 2: Add the Cereal and orange flavor and mix well.

Step 3: Take a small tray and place the baking paper so that it covers the base and sides of the tray. Transfer the ingredients to the tray and spread it evenly. Cover the tray with the cling film (optional) and put it inside the fridge for some time until it sets.

Step 4: Once the chocolate has set, take it out and cut it into bars (you can cut it into shapes and sizes as per your preference). Place the bars into another plate or tray and keep aside.

Step 5: To make the caramel, take the water in a microwave friendly bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. Now heat it in the microwave in bursts of a minute and mix well until it gets thicker. Once the mixture has turned golden brown in color, take the bowl out and use a spoon to spread the caramel on the bars. Leave it to set and cool down for few minutes.

Step 6: Your delicious chocolate cereal bars are ready to eat! 🙂

A few tips:

Create variation of these bars by using white chocolate.
You can add different flavors like vanilla, mint etc.
Add berries and nuts as you wish.

To print this recipe click here: Chocolate Cereal Bars

Egg Tomatina

A quick and delicious egg recipe to satisfy sudden cravings! I prepared this few weeks ago and was absolutely delighted after cooking this. I am always craving for good food and this is one of the things which inspire me to play around with different ingredients in the kitchen.

I haven’t been experimental with eggs all this while, so this one was something interesting and different for my taste buds. If you happen to try out some unique egg recipes, do let me know. I would love to try them out 🙂

Enjoy your evening 🙂

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required

Eggs – 8, boiled

Juice of 1 lemon

Tomato – 2, cut into halves

Tomato juice – 1.5 cups

Green Pepper – 1, cut into small cubes

Onion – 1, chopped

Carrot – 1, cut into thin discs

Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves, crushed

Fresh or dried parsley leaves – as desired

Pickled Chili – as desired

Red Chili flakes – 1 to 2 tsp

Salt – as required

Step 1: Boil the eggs and cut them into halves. Place them on the serving dish and keep aside.

Step 2: Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Saute for few minutes.

Step 3: Add the tomatoes, green pepper, carrots, parsley and cook for few more minutes until cooked.

Step 4: Once the ingredients are cooked, add the tomato juice and cook for some more time until you have the desired consistency. Add the pickled chili followed by salt for taste.

Step 5: Pour the mixture on the boiled eggs. Serve hot with the bread of your choice. I served it with herbed rice 🙂

A few tips:

Feel free to add some raisins or honey for a mix of flavor.
You can also serve the sauce separately along with the boiled egg if you prefer it that way.
You can use butter instead of oil if you want to give a rich flavor to the sauce.

To print this recipe click here: Egg Tomatina

Lime Chicken

Sundays are usually the days I like to prepare some special dish (well… not all Sundays though….haha). Today I prepared a very simple yet delicious recipe. I used lime as the main flavor imparting ingredient for this dish. The dish takes only about half an hour to prepare. So you won’t miss out on your favorite Sunday movies, and yet be able to prepare a lovely meal for your family.

It’s summer and a tangy flavor is something I prefer during this season. Do you? 🙂

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required

Chicken – around 800 g

Dried Oregano – 3 tsp

Garlic – 5 cloves, crushed

Onion – 1 medium, chopped

Red Pepper – ½, chopped

Garlic Chili Sauce – 2 tbsp

Red Chili – 2 small, sliced

Lime – juice of 2 limes

Salt – as required

Step 1: Add the chili garlic sauce, oregano and salt (add very little amount of the salt) to the chicken. Mix well and marinate for 10 minutes or so.

Step 2: Heat oil in a pan. Lightly fry the chicken and keep it aside.

Step 3: Heat 1 tbsp of oil in another pan. Add the crushed garlic, followed by the onion, red pepper and chili. Add the lemon juice and mix well. Add salt as required. Cook or another 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 4: Serve hot with freshly baked bread or as a standalone dish.

To print this recipe click here:

Chicken Fried Rice with Salsa

I was bored with having steamed rice for some time. That’s when I decided one day to spice it up a little. I had some chicken in stock and few vegetables, but the main ingredient was the salsa. I wasn’t sure of this dish at all until I tasted it and it turned out exactly the way I had expected it to. This is a very quick preparation and you can cook it even when you have very less time in hand.

Hope you enjoy cooking this as much as I did 🙂

I have not specified any specific amount for all the ingredients as there isn’t. Just use the amount you desire 🙂

Preparation Time – 10 minutes (excluding the time needed to cook the rice)

Cooking Time – 25 minutes

Serves: 2 to 3

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required

Rice – 1 cup, cooked

Chicken – around 250g, minced

Green beans – as required

Corn – as required

Onion – 1 medium, chopped

Garlic – 2 to 3 tsp, chopped

Green Peas – as required

Salsa – 3 to 4 tbsp, I used the ready made salsa. If you don’t have salsa, you can prepare it at home as well by mixing chopped tomatoes, chopped green bell pepper, fresh cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, ground cumin, kosher salt and ground black pepper.

Salt – as required

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add the chicken. Cook until lightly browned. Keep aside.

Step 2: Heat some more oil in the pan. Add the chopped onions and garlic and saute for few minutes. Add all the green beans and cook for few minutes. Follow by adding the corn and green peas.

Step 3: Add the chicken followed by the salsa and the cooked rice. Mix well. Add salt as required. Cook for few more minutes.

Step 4: Serve hot with some delectable salad and chips 🙂

To print this recipe click here: Chicken Fried Rice with salsa

Fried Pomfret with Tangy Tomato Sauce

As I said earlier, I’m not a big fish eater but Pomfret is something I can rarely say no to. This is one recipe I prepared some time ago and really loved the way it turned out. For any fried ingredient, the sauce is the one that makes a difference and adds in to the flavor…and if it is home-made, even better!! Healthy and delicious as well!

Good and tasty food is something which really makes my day. I’m sure this recipe will make yours too. So go ahead and try it out without any second thoughts 🙂

Enjoy 🙂

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required for frying the fish

Pomfret – 2 or 3 fish cut into pieces

Paprika – 3 tsp

Turmeric – 3 tsp

Salt – as required

For the sauce:

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Tomato – 1 large, finely chopped

Spring onion – a small bunch, chopped

Garlic – 3 cloves, chopped

Lemon – juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon

Coriander leaves – a handful

Salt – as required

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and saute for few seconds. Follow by adding the mustard seeds and tomato. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 2: Add the spring onion and mix well. Add the lemon juice and mix. Add some salt as required. Add the coriander leaves. Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl.

Step 3: Marinate the fish with paprika, turmeric and salt for around 10 minutes. Add oil to the pan. Shallow fry the fish on both sides so that they are lightly browned. Keep them aside.

Step 4: Serve the fish with the tangy tomato sauce and some freshly baked bread.

To print this recipe click here: Fried Pomfret wtih Tangy Tomato Sauce

Chicken liver with eggplant

Last few months have been crazy!! Work, travel, family visiting us… there was so much going on…. mostly good stuff though. The so not good stuff was that I hadn’t been keeping well. After a long time I have time today to work on the recipe I had prepared earlier.

I love chicken liver and I tried cooking this in a slightly different style this time. Hope you enjoy the recipe.

Have a good Sunday!

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: Around 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – 2 tbsp

Chicken liver – 330 g

Eggplant – 1 small, cut into small cubes

Onion – 2 medium, chopped

Turmeric – 2 tsp

Paprika – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – a handful

Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves

Ginger paste – 2 tsp

Green chili – 4, cut into halves

Cooking cream – 1/4 cup

Cumin powder – 1 to 2 tsp

Fennel powder – 1 tsp

Chili powder – 1 tsp

Curry powder – 3 tsp

Water – 1/4 cup

Salt – as required

Step 1: Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Saute the liver for few minutes and keep them aside.

Step 2: Heat the rest of the oil. Add the onion, garlic, turmeric and paprika and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger paste, cumin powder and chili powder.

Step 3: Add the green chili, eggplant and curry powder and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the eggplant is soft. Add the curry leaves.

Step 4: Add 1/4 cup water and mix well. Follow by adding the cooking cream. Cook for few minutes.

Step 5: Add the liver and cook for some time (preferably with the pan covered) until you have the desired consistency of the curry.

Step 6: Serve hot with steamed rice or freshly baked bread of your choice.

To print this recipe click here: Chicken Liver with Eggplant

Radish and Potatoes

This is my second post on radish. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of radish. So when I cook any radish recipe, I try to flavor it up with something other than the normal. I can’t remember the radish recipes which were cooked at home when I was a kid, but it was definitely not something I liked back then as well. I think it was mostly radish added to mixed vegetables or just normal radish curries (which were damn boring)! But I realized with the right spices and ingredients, radish is not that bad!

So I cooked this recipe few days ago on one of the weekdays. Weekdays are always tight in schedule, so I had to make something which was not so time-consuming. I had one radish in stock, so I decided to add in some potatoes to add volume to the dish.

Hope you enjoy cooking this the way I did 🙂

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: around 25 minutes

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – 1.5 tbsp

Radish – 1 large, cut into cubes

Potatoes – 2 medium, sliced

Onion – 1 medium, sliced into rings

Cumin seeds – 1 to 2 tsp

Garlic – 4 cloves, crushed

Cumin powder – 2 tsp

Mint flakes – dried, 1 to 2 tsp

Dried Chili – 1

Paprika – 2 to 3 tsp

Tutti frutti – around 1 tbsp

Water – around 1/2 to 1 cup

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – as required

Step 1: Heat oil in a non-stick U-shaped vessel or pan. Add the dried chili and cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add the potatoes. Follow by adding the paprika and mix well. Cook for around 2 minutes by stirring intermittently.

Step 2: Add the onion and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 3: Follow by adding the cubed radish, garlic and cumin powder. Mix well for around 1 to 2 minutes. Now add half to one cup water and cover the pan. Cook under low flame for around 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the pan and stir every once in a while. Add salt to taste.

Step 4: Once it is almost done, add the tutti frutti and sugar. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes or so.

Step 5: Serve hot with Indian or any other freshly baked of your choice.

A few tips:

Add cream (1/4 to 1/2 cup as you desire) instead of water, if you want to give a thick and creamy texture to your dish.
Add some chili powder and ghee (clarified butter) if you want to spice up your dish and add extra flavor.
You can add raisins if you don’t have tutti frutti in stock.

To print this recipe click here: Radish and Potatoes

Chicken in Red Wine

It has rained almost everyday since the past few weeks. I’m just loving this weather! It’s pleasant and the best part is working on my laptop with a cup of coffee while it’s pouring outside 🙂

After a hectic week, yesterday we went to the Singapore Night Festival. It’s a festival organized by the National Museum of Singapore every year around this time of the year. There are more than 130 activities spread across 10 venues including light and sound shows and live performances. So yesterday we managed to make it on time and watch a few amazing performances…. the phoenix show, light and sound show, live performances etc. It was such a fun night! Here are some shots I took last night 🙂

The recipe I’m posting today is something different I tried…yes with red wine. I’ve never cooked any dish before with wine although wine is a common ingredient used. For this dish, I added the vegetables I had in stock to make it a whole some meal. I loved cooking this dish, especially the part where I poured the wine since I always found it visually enticing watching chefs pour wine when they prepared similar dishes! 🙂

No more talking, here you go with the recipe…enjoy 🙂

Preparation Time: 15 minutes (excluding marinating time)

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients:

Olive oil – 2 tbsp

Chicken – 900 g, fillet

Red Wine – 1/2 cup

Tomato – 1 medium, cut into discs

Red Pepper – 1, sliced

Carrot – 1, cut into thin discs

Big red chili – 2, a thin slit in the middle

Garlic – 2 tsp, finely chopped

Chicken stock – 1 cup

Dried Parsley – 1 tsp

Brown sugar – 1 to 2 tsp

Salt – as required

For the marinade:

Red wine – 1 to 2 tbsp

Vinegar – 2 tsp

Paprika – 2 tsp

Chili powder – 1/2 to 1 tsp

Seasoning – 3 tsp

Step 1: Mix the marinade ingredients and add it to the chicken. Marinate for around 1 to 2 hours.

Step 2: Heat the olive oil in a U-shaped vessel or pan (after the chicken has been marinated for at least 2 hours). Add the carrots and mix well. Cook for around 1 to 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add the garlic followed by the tomato. Saute for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the red pepper, red chili and mix well.

Step 4: Add the chicken and mix well. After 2 to 3 minutes, add the red wine and the parsley. Cook for few minutes.

Step 5: Add the chicken stock now along with the sugar and mix well. Lower the flame and cover the pan. Let the mixture cook until you have a very thick consistency. Add salt as required.

Step 6: Serve hot with freshly baked bread of your choice.

To print this recipe click here: Chicken in Red Wine

Spicy Limy Drumlets

Today is my day off! After such a long time I’ve taken leave on a work day …. it’s such an awesome feeling…no work and all play! There hasn’t been a day in the past two years (almost) when I’ve taken a leave to relax at home ….I was either traveling or busy with other chores. But knowing myself, I still found myself getting drawn to my office laptop today and ended up replying a few emails 😛 😀

Anyway, what better time could I find to work on my blog than today? There has been a couple of recipes lying in my notebook, so I guess I have to be more regular 😉

I have cooked quite a few appetizers lately, some really quick ones….mostly with chicken. So here’s another one. It’s the easiest recipe I’ve prepared till date with just four ingredients (including the chicken). This recipe is just perfect for a quick spice up at any time of the day 🙂

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

Preparation Time: 5 minutes (excluding marinating time)

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 1 to 2

Ingredients:

Cooking oil – as required

Chicken drumlets – 5

Lemon chili sauce – 1 to 1.5 tbsp

Paprika – 1 tsp

Sesame seeds (optional) – 2 tsp

Salt – as required

Step 1: Mix all the ingredients with the chicken (add some salt as required) and marinate for an hour or two (half n hour at least).

Step 2: Shallow or deep fry the drumlets one or two at a time on medium high flame until they are deep red brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate with kitchen napkins to soak off the excess oil.

Step 3: Serve hot with your favourite sauce and enjoy your favourite TV show 🙂

A few tips:

If you don’t have lemon chili sauce, just apply some lemon juice along with chili sauce to get a similar flavour.
You can mix chili and tomato sauce together as well to get a tomato based spicy flavour.

To print this recipe click here: Spicy Limy Drumlets