Butter Chicken!

          ‘You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe!’ Rightly said for the delicious BUTTER CHICKEN we all dread to make in our very own kitchen. Am one among those who relish on their butter chicken only in the restaurants. With the pandemic lockdown in the beginning of the year 2020, not only sitting in a restaurant wasn’t an option but also ordering in. When the entire universe was crying for help, I was thankful for the safe cocoon that I was wrapped around in and silently crying for my share of butter chicken.

          Thanking my wonderful go-to people and the million videos on YouTube, for now I have my butter chicken in my very own kitchen! As much as I would love to go out and sit alongside the beautiful ocean hearing the soothing waves and relish on the best butter chicken curry ever with my dear ones, I now will satisfy my small world within my walls till it is safe for us all. Hope you make your world happy with this butter chicken!

          Here I am after 7years, Back to writing about what I love doing the most. In my kitchen! Spreading joy! #JANKITCHEN

 Ingredients for Onion Tomato Paste

170g Onion

200g Tomato

5 clove Garlic

1 inch Ginger

6 Cloves

5 Cardamom 

2 Dried Red Chilli 

10 Cashew

Few Coriander stem 

1/4tsp Turmeric Powder

1/4tsp Cumin Powder

1/2tsp Coriander Powder

1/2tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/4tsp Kasuri Methi

1/4tsp Garam Masala

1/2tsp Sugar

Salt to Taste

Method for Onion Tomato Paste

Heat 2Tbsp oil. Add chopped garlic, ginger and dried red chillies. Add onions. Add the tomatoes and cashew when the onions being to brown. Add all the spices along with few coriander stems. Cover and cook till the tomato is mushy and oil separates. Grind it into a smooth paste once cooled. Sieve it for a silky smooth texture. At this stage you could refrigerate the mixture in an air tight box and use it within a week. 

 

Ingredients for Chicken Marination

500g Boneless thigh chicken 

2Tbsp Curds

2Tsp Chilli Powder

2Tsp GingerGarlic Paste

1/2Tsp Tandoori Masala(Works just fine without it)

Salt To Taste

Method for Chicken Marination

Marinate the chicken for 4hrs or overnight. Fry them in a grill pan or bake them at 200deg C. 

Ingredients For the Gravy

50g - 100g Butter

Onion Tomato Paste

2Tbsp Cream

1Tsp Roasted Kasuri Methi

1Tbsp Coriander Leaves

1/4Tsp Garam Masala

1Tsp Honey

Salt to taste

Method for the Gravy

Heat 2Tbsp oil with 50g butter. Add the onion tomato paste. Cook till oil begins to seperate. Adjust the consistency by adding water. Add cream, roasted and crushed kasuri methi, Garam masala and coriander leaves. Add the pan fried chicken. Switch off flame and add honey and some butter. Close the pan and let it rest. Serve hot. Yummy in the tummy!

Jam Drops!

                'What do I cook??'  It's a question I ask my husband dear every single day! Am sure I must be haunting him with this question even in his dreams. Haha! So the last morning when I asked him the same, I laughed at his reply. ' Make Biscuits ' he said and off he drove for work. Smiling at his reply as I went back inside the house, I thought why not really bake biscuits? 

                What coincidence can it be! The bakers guild I follow regularly had a contest going on which had plenty of cookie recipes. This inspired me more! The husband dear likes more of the butter jam combination with which I decided to go with jam drops. Was a little short of jam so used some choco chips for the rest. Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com. My home smelled delicious and the jam cookies put a smile on his face! 

Ingredients 

3/4cup and 2 tbsp All-purpose flour

 1/4cup White Sugar 

1 Egg Yolk

1/4cup and 2tbsp Butter, Softened 

1/4tsp Vanilla Essence

1/4tsp Baking Powder

1/4 cup Jam, any flavour

Method 

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Cream together the butter, white sugar and egg yolk in a bowl. Mix in flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms. If the dough is a little dry add some milk and knead. If dough is too soft, refrigerate for 15 minutes. Make small balls of the dough and flatten them a little. Use your finger or a bottle cap to create a well like impression. Fill the hole with jam. Keep them on cookie trays and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom. Let the cookies cool down and then serve. It's yummy in the tummy! 

Egg Curry!

               The most simple thing I have cooked is this yummy egg curry! Before I got married I would even refuse to taste most of the traditional South Indian gravies or an egg gravy. I learnt the taste of such gravies only after I started cooking my own. Am sure all mothers cook their best dishes to impress their son in laws at the beginning.
               On one such occasion, my aunt made an egg curry which simply satisfied my husband's taste buds! He would always want me to replicate the super delicious egg curry. So finally, I decided to give it a try on our 'first meeting day' anniversary. I added his favourite egg curry to the menu to surprise him and yeah he happily enjoyed the meal! My aunt's original recipe calls for making fresh paste of the spices and adding it. I used readily available spice powders at home which just works fine. Happy day or a sad day, this egg curry on the menu brightens his day!

Ingredients 

4 Boiled Egg

250g Small Onions Chopped

1tsp Red Chilli Powder

1tbsp Coriander Powder

2tsp Cumin Powder

A Pinch of Garam Masala

1/4tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2cup Coconut Milk

2tbsp Oil

Salt to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt and garam masala. Add little hot water and fry till the raw smell goes off and oil separates from the gravy. Add the coconut milk and let it simmer. Add more water if the gravy turns too thick. Make slits in the boiled egg and add to the boiling gravy. Serve hot with rotis or rice. It's yummy in the tummy!

Crumb Fried Paneer!

               Being a chicketarian thinking of a substitute was real hard! If asked what vegetable I would prefer, I would ask is paneer a vegetable? Haha! Those days when I have to be a pure vegetarian all that would come in mind is panner! Every vegetarian place I go to my eyes directly go in search of paneer in the menu. On one such occasion, tasted this super soft paneer which just melted the moment I put it in my mouth.
               The typical husband who would ask to replicate the yummy delicacies he has in some party, wanted me to make something as delicious as the super soft paneer he ate! Going through different blogs and trying out recipes from our super chefs across the country, here I come up with my version of Crumb Fried Paneer. It been melting away in the mouth of my loved ones at home!
               

 Ingredients for stuffing

10 Dry Red Chillies, seeds removed

12 Cloves Garlic

2tsp Lemon Juice

1tsp Roasted Cumin Powder

Sea salt to taste

Method for Stuffing

Soak Red chillies in water for half and hour. Drain and grind with garlic, lemon juice, salt and cumin powder. Add little water to make into a smooth paste. You may also substitute the filling with chilli garlic sauce.

Ingredients for Coating

1 1/2cup Cornflakes 

3tbsp Maida

1tbsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2tsp Dry Mango Powder

1 Green Cardamom 

Method for Coating

Grind cornflakes with maida, chilli powder, dry mango powder and cardamom.

Ingredients

200g Paneer

3/4 cup Curd

2tbsp maida
1tbsp ginger garlic paste

Salt to taste

Chaat Masala

Method

Whisk together curd, maida and salt and set aside. Cut panner into inch cubes and slit in the centre. Boil water in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the paneer pieces in boiling water for few seconds and strain it. Dilute ginger garlic paste in half cup water and pour over the paneer. Stuff the paneer with the chilli garlic chutney and dip it in the curd mixture. Coat the paneer dipped in curd mixture with the cornflakes mixture. Deep fry the paneer pieces till golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle some chaat masala and serve hot. It's yummy in the tummy! 

DSP chicken!

                     Chicken! Chicken! Chicken! All I knew was to eat it! Would wonder how mom actually does the whole process from cleaning it to serving us a delicious meal. Who knew one day even I would touch raw meat! Marinate, fry and sauté. That's all this chicken needs! Sounds simple right? But the story behind the recipe is not that short!
                      Newly engaged, with all the conversations with my fiancé, got to know he can cook. Wow! Now that's great, isn't it? But he would say the sauces in India just won't work! Determined to eat what a man can cook, brought the sauce all the way from abroad. One fine day he agreed to give it a go. The happiness in eating what he cooked is just a bliss! He reminisced his college days eating the chicken. He calls it Indo-Chinese but I named it after my husband ' DSP chicken'. DSP is a short name my cousins use for his super long name. From that day I have been making it for him regularly and making him happy. So now your turn to make your loved one happy!

Ingredients 

250g Boneless Chicken

4tbsp Corn Flour

1/4tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt to taste 

Oil for deep frying

Method

Marinate the chicken with turmeric, salt and coat the chicken well with cornflour. Refrigerate it at least for an hour. Deep fry the chicken pieces.

Ingredients to Sauté 

2tsp oil

1/2tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

1tsp Soy Sauce

Maggi hot and sweet ketchup 

1 Dried chilli crushed

Red chilli powder

Method

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the ginger-garlic paste till the raw smell leaves. Add the fried chicken pieces and a pinch of chilli powder. Add soy sauce, Maggi hot and sweet ketchup and coat the chicken well with the sauce. Don't worry, Our very own Maggi sauce works! No need of the fancy sauce from abroad. Sprinkle the crushed chillies and sauté for a few minutes. Serve hot! My husband loves it with curd rice. Weird but a must try. It's quite tasty. It's yummy in the tummy!

Pizza Cups!

                          Trust me! Writing a blog is as difficult as getting the right recipe! Not even in my dreams did I imagine I would be asked for my recipe in a public forum. That's pretty cool I must say! My sister introduced me to home chef's guild  a few days back and from then am super impressed by  it. Being an amateur, when great home chefs asked me for my recipe I was wondering if I should even share mine.
                           I always loved pizza cups from college days as they were the only tasty thing available anytime near by. So last year when my sisters baked pizza for me I was super excited and asked them for the recipe and ingredients. Ever since those ingredients lie in the fridge rotten! A few days back was thinking what to cook for a cousins meet I got reminded of Pizza. Not being perfect enough to even make a round roti is when I thought of cupcake trays. Nothing could have made my work as simple as that! My first attempt, cousins loved it. So I am sure even you should give it a try sometime.

Ingredients

150g Maida

1tsp Yeast

1tsp Sugar

2tsp Butter

Salt to taste 

Water as required

Method

Mix all the ingredients and prepare a soft dough, massaging it for 10 minutes. Cover it with the damp cloth and let it prove for 40 minutes. When dough is double in size, coat it with little butter or olive oil. Make small balls and spread it in cupcake moulds. Make holes with fork and brush it with butter or olive oil. Let it prove for 5 to 10 minutes. Bake in a pre heated oven at 200 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Ingredients for filling

Chicken

Chopped onions

Sweet corn

Chopped capsicum

Oregano

Chilli flakes

Shredded cheese

Maggi tomato ketchup

Method

Marinate the chicken with ginger garlic paste, salt and chilli powder. Pan fry the chicken till soft and roasted. Take out the pizza cups and spread maggi ketchup. Add a little spicy sauce if you like it spicy. Fill in with chicken, sweet corn, chopped onions and capsicum. Sprinkle some chilli flakes, oregano and lots of cheese if you like it cheesy! Put it back in the oven till the cheese melts and serve hot. It's yummy in the tummy!