Chili Chicken

Chili chicken is probably more Indian than Chinese, we have owned it. My first tryst with chili chicken was at my hometown, Agartala. Chinese was not a rage like it is now; and Abhishek  restaurant  was probably the first so called ‘modern’ restaurant of Agartala. Until then, I was exposed only to the classic Bengali Chicken Curry with potatoes. Similar to many other Indians, chili chicken was first ‘International cuisine’ for me. A plate of chili chicken and fried rice… it’s heavenly. My search for the perfect chili chicken has taken me from Abhishek to Hatari, from Mainland China to Tangra .I have had experienced cuisines from different parts of the world, but chili chicken still holds a special place in my heart… So, Let’s get started.

 

Ingredients:
1. Boneless and skinless chicken cut in to small pieces (I have used 500 grams)
2. Soy Sauce (1 tablespoon or to taste)
3. Chili Sauce (2 tablespoon or to taste)
4. Tomato ketchup (1 tablespoon or to taste)
5. White Vinegar (1 tablespoon)
6. Red, Yellow and Green Bell Pepper (1/2 cup each, seeds removed and cut into cubes)
7. Salt to taste
8. Black pepper to taste
9. Corn-starch (1.5 tablespoon)
10. Oil (3 tablespoon)
11. Ginger Paste (1 teaspoon)
12. Garlic (2 teaspoon)
13. Green Chilies (3, slit)
14. Onion (2, medium size, 1 chopped and other cut into cubes)
15. Dry red chili (Optional)

Method:
1. Take the chicken pieces in a bowl; add a pinch of salt, soy sauce and half a teaspoon of corn-starch. Mix everything well and keep aside for 10 minutes
2. In a pan heat 2 tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken pieces from all sides and make sure the pieces don’t stick together.
3. Lower the flame and, let the chicken pieces cook properly. To be sure, cut a chicken piece into half and check the color of the broken pieces. If they white inside, they are properly cooked.
4. Remove the chicken pieces from the flame; place them on a tissue paper to soak the excess oil.
5. In the same pan add one tbsp of oil; let it warm up and add the dry red chili, garlic and cook them for 20 seconds
6. Add the ginger paste and chopped onions; fry them for one minute
7. Add the bell pepper and cubed onions. Give it a good mix it and let it cook for another 2 minutes
8. In a cup, mix all the sauces as per your taste and pour the sauce mix into the hot pan
9. Add the vinegar, green chilies and a bit of salt. Be careful about the salt because soy sauce already contains salt
10. Add black pepper powder
11. To make the gravy thick, mix the rest of the corn-starch with a 1/2 cup of water and add this mixture to the gravy
12. Check the salt and adjust accordingly
13. Add the fried chicken pieces
14. Mix everything and make sure the sauce coats the chicken pieces and the veggies
15. Once done turn off the flame

Enjoy this with noodles or fried rice.

Mo

Chicken in coriander leaves gravy

Bengali’s are known for their love for fish, but that doesn’t mean that they have any less love for chicken. There are thousands of variations of chicken curry found in different parts of Bengal. Every household has a different formula for their perfect chicken curry. Today I am going to tell you about a not so common chicken recipe, the “Dhone-Pata-Chicken” (Chicken curry in coriander leaves gravy). This extremely tasty chicken curry has a distinctive green color. Although it may seem that this green colors comes from the coriander leaves, but it actually comes from the secret ingredient spinach. Lets get started.

Ingredients:
1. Chicken (500 grams, cut into small or medium pieces)
2. Coriander leaves (100 grams, roughly chopped)
3. Garlic (1 tsp paste and 4 whole cloves)
4. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
5. Green chilies (2 whole green chili and 2 sliced)
6. Red dry chili (1)
7. Spinach (Boiled for 1 minute, 400 grams)
8. Turmeric  powder (1 teaspoon)
9. Coriander powder (1.5 tablespoon)
10. Red chili Powder (1 teaspoon)
11. Oil (3 tablespoon)
12. Salt to taste
13. Panch phoron (1 tsp)
14. Ginger  paste (1 tsp)

Method:
1. Before we start cooking, we need to marinade the chicken, for marination add 1 tsp oil, ginger and garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Mix them well and keep aside for 30 minutes at least.
2. In a blender, add the coriander leaves, boiled spinach, 2 green chilies and 4 garlic cloves; make a smooth paste.
3. Take a heated pan add 2 tbsp of oil, let the oil heat up.
4. Add the dry red chili and panch phoron mix. Let them splutter.
5. Add the onions, fry them till they become translucent
6. Add salt to taste
7. Add the marinated chicken and give it a good mix. Cook it for 7 minutes in high flame
8. Add water; mix the water and put the lid on; cook it until the chicken becomes soft
9. Add the sliced green chilies
10. As soon as the chicken pieces become soft, add the coriander and spinach paste. If it becomes too thick, add water as per your preference
11. Cook it for another 6-7 minutes
12. Before switching off the flame check the salt

Note: 
1. Do not put the lid when you are boiling the spinach
2. For this recipe you can use any type of cooking oil
3. Coriander leaves and spinach are the most important ingredients. Make sure they are fresh.
4. You can cook this recipe less then 3 tbsp of oil, if required
5. You can add little bit of vinegar during marination in case you want to remove the raw smell of chicken

*Panch-Phoron is an authentic Bengali spice mix used in most of the Bengali vegetarian dishes. It includes Cumin seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel Seeds, mustard seeds. All of these are mixed together together to make panch-phoron mix.

You can pair this healthy chicken recipe with steamed rice, chapati, naan-bread or paratha.

Enjoy
Mo.

Phish-Phash

The British ruled India for two centuries, how much India gained from them and how much they took away from us is topic of debate. But, among the things it has given us one of the most beautiful thing is Anglo-Indian cuisine. It is the cuisine that developed during the British rule in India, as the British wives interacted with their Indian cooks. It has had its share of Portuguese influence too. One of the lesser known but really tasty and healthy Anglo-Indian dish is Phish-Phash. It is a combination of chicken and rice infused with exotic spices. You can also cook the same dish with mutton.

Ingredients:
1. Any fragrant rice (1 cup)
2. Chicken (500 grams, cut into small or medium pieces)
3. Onions (One medium size, cut in to cubes and another one sliced)
4. Ginger and Garlic paste (1 tea spoon each)
5. Green chilies ( Make paste of 3 chilies and slit 3 chilies into halves. You can adjust the number of chilies as per your preference)
6. Cashew nuts (10)
7. Raisins (7-8)
8. Salt  to taste
9. Milk (1/2 cup)
10. Cinnamon (1 stick)
11. Cardamom (3-4)
12. Cloves (3-4)
13. Black pepper (2-3)
14. Red lentils or Masoor dal (1 table spoon)
15. Butter (2 table spoons)
16. Oil (1 teaspoon)
17. Bay Leaf (1)

You can cook this either in pressure cooker or in a heavy bottom pan. I have used pressure cooker here for quicker results. If you don’t have pressure cooker, you can cook in low flame with lid on for 20 minutes.

Method:
1. In a heated pressure cooker pan, add 1 tbsp butter and let it melt
3. Add all the whole spices; let the butter absorb the aroma of the spices
4. Add the chicken; flip them over a few times so that the chicken pieces are covered by butter on all sides.
5. Add ginger, garlic and green chili paste
7.Add the lentils and rice. Give it a good mix. Don’t worry about the chicken pieces getting broken. It’s exactly what you want.
6. Add the cubed onions and slit green chilies
8. Add salt as per your taste
9. Add the milk and the rest of the butter and give it a gentle mix
10. Add water; make sure everything is covered in water and nothing is left out
11. Cook it 3 whistles and your Phish-Phash is ready. (You may need to cook for 4-5 whistles in case you are using mutton)
12. Take a hot pan add the oil and fry the sliced onions till they become slightly brown. Use the fried onions for garnishing.

Enjoy.

Mo

Paneer Butter Masala..

Paneer butter masala or cottage cheese in butter gravy is a North Indian vegetarian delicacy. The name itself carries lot of baggage, but its rather easy to cook. Lets get started.

Ingredients:
1. Paneer/cottage cheese (200grm, cut in to cube pieces )
2. Butter (2 tablespoon)
3. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
4. Ginger & Garlic paste (1 teaspoon each)
5. Cashew nuts (10-12)
6. Tomato (1 medium size, chopped)
7. Bay leaf (1)
8. Clove (3-4)
9. Cinnamon stick (1 )
10. Turmeric powder (1 tsp)
11. Red chili powder (1 -2 tsp as per the spice you want)
12. Coriander powder (1 tsp)
13. Cumin powder (1/2 tsp)
14. Salt to taste
15. Cream (2 Teaspoon)
16. Garam masala (1-1/2 tsp)
17. Roasted dry fenugreek leaves (1/3 tsp)

Method:
Part 1. Prepare the Masala
1. Take a  hot pan add 1 table spoon of butter , let it melt.
2. Add  sliced onions and fry  them for 1 minuet
3. Add ginger garlic paste to this and keep frying
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, cashew nuts; give a good mix and cook it  for 1 minuet
5. Remove it form flame and let the masala cool down
6. Blend the masala and make a smooth paste; if  it is too thick you can add a little bit of water.

Part 2: Get cooking the gravy
1. Heat up a pan (you may use the same pan) and add one table-spoon of butter and let the butter melt
2. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves
3. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt
4. Add the masala paste we prepared in step 1 and give it a good mix. Put the lid on and cook this for 5-7 minutes in low flame.
5. Add coriander, cumin powder
6. Add 2 teaspoon of cooking cream and mix the cream well with the gravy
7. Add the paneer cubes and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on.
8. Add garam masala powder and roasted dry fenugreek leaves; let it cook uncovered for 1 minute and turn off the flame

Your Paneer Butter Masala is ready. Serve it with roti, paratha ,naan.

Tip: In paneer butter masala you can add panner directly but I prefer fried panner. You can fry the paneer cubes for 1-2 minutes (till the paneer cubes become golden brown on all sides) and put them in a bowl of mildly salted water. Keeping the paneer submerged in water will make it super soft and really tasty.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

 

Mango shake

Summer is almost here; we are already into the season of Mangoes, the king of  all fruits. The weather in Thailand is already very hot and humid and the mercury is soaring higher everyday. It’s extremely important to consume a lot of liquid throughout the day; water, fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, shakes and smoothies, you’ve got plenty of choice. Today we will make Mango Shake. It’s simple to make and really tasty. I am sure everybody  knows how to make it. There are many variations of this, but in my humble opinion, it’s all about letting the sweetness of mango to take the center stage ably aided by the rest of the ingredients. Let’s get started.

Ingredients :
1. Pulp of a big size mango
2. Milk
3. Saffron (optional)
4. Sugar(optional)
5. Ice cubes
6. Dry fruits(optional)

Method:
In a blender, put sliced mango pulps, ice cubes, milk, sugar (you can also make without sugar). Blend it till you don’t see any mango pulp floating around. Add dry fruits as per your preference. I have used 2-3 raisins and cashew nuts. Serve it in a tall glass. You can decorate it with a few saffron strands before serving.

Enjoy.
Mo

Palak paneer(Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy)

Palak Paneer or Cottage cheese in spinach gravy is delicious and surprisingly easy to cook. This is a traditional North Indian dish, variations of the recipe can be found all over the county and even outside of India. It’s one of the most recognized India dish and easily available in Indian restaurants in India and abroad. Its easy to make, very healthy and absolutely delightful.

Ingredients:
1. Spinach (4 cups, washed)
2. Paneer (250 grams)
3. Green Chilies (4 pieces)
4. Mustard oil (4 tbsp)
5. Cinnamon Stick  (1 inch piece)
6. Onions (2, medium size, sliced)
7. Ginger paste (½ tbsp)
8. Garlic paste (1 tbsp)
9. Tomatoes (1 , medium size, chopped)
10. Coriander Powder (2 teaspoons)
11. Cumin Powder (2 teaspoons)
12. Turmeric Powder (½ teaspoon)
13. Red Chili Powder (1 teaspoon)
14. Garam Masala (1 teaspoon)
15. Salt to taste
16. Dry Mango Powder (½ teaspoon)
17. Milk or Cooking Cream (1 cup)
18. Dried Fenugreek Leaves (1 teaspoon)

Method:

Step 1:
Boil the washed spinach leaves with 2 chilies without lid on top. It will take 2-3 minutes. Remove the spinach from heat, drain the excess water and allow it to cool down. We will blend this and make a thick paste which will be used for gravy. For that, we will blend this in pulse mode so that there is some solid pieces or bits of spinach in the gravy.

Step 2:
In a pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir fry the paneer cubes until they become light golden brown on all sides. While frying, I have added pinch of salt and turmeric to give it a yellowish color; this is absolutely optional skip this if you want our paneer to be pristine. Add half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl of water and throw in all the fried paneer cubes in it. Once the paneer cubes are fried, they become a bit harder and it adversely affects the texture of the dish; if we put the paneer cubes into water, they will stay soft when we will use them later.

Step 3:
Heat the pan. Add 3 tablespoons of oil. In the heated oil, add the cinnamon stick, onions and a teaspoon of salt. Cook until Onions become translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste. Fry this until they become a bit brownish. Add chopped tomatoes and keep stirring the mix and make sure it doesn’t burn. Sprinkle some water if required. Mix properly until the oil comes out from the mixture and the tomatoes get caramelized. Add all the dry spices (Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Turmeric Powder, Red Chili Powder, Garam Masala, Dry Mango Powder). Mix everything well; add salt as per your taste. Your masala is ready.

Step 4:
Since our masala is ready, now it’s time to add the goodness of spinach.  Add the blended spinach to the masala. If the gravy becomes very thick, add a bit of water as per your preference. Cook it for 2-3 mints without the lid. Add a cup of full fat milk. In restaurants  they use cream, but i have used full fat milk. Give it a good mix. Crusg some dried fenugreek leavesand add to the mix. And sliced green chilies. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Your gravy is ready.

Step 5:
Now it’s time to add the king of the dish, the paneer cubes. Add the fried paneer cubes and mix them gently with the gravy.

Palak paneer is ready. Serve it with hot chapati, roti or nan.

Enjoy.

Mo

Hello World!!!

Hi There!!! Welcome to TheOrangeBowls… you, me and good food.

I have been a foodie all my life, like most of the Bengali’s. I always wanted to share my love for food with everyone, the way I want. Blogging is not new to me, but most of my blogs haven’t moved further from being drafts in my blogging accounts. Some of them were about recipes, others about photography. I like photography as much as I like food; so this time the blog will be about both. I wish to be precise and to the point, no TLDRs.

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!!!

Mo