Chicken Pakora

These days we have a steady influx of guest who come visiting us as we settle down in our new home. Since it is Winter and sun sets by 4:30 p.m. we are mostly indoors sipping on hot coffee and battling the cold off. The perfect accompaniment to hot Americano is desi Chicken Pakora.

Even if you are not in a cold place and prefer soda over coffee, the pakoras go great with it. In the picture above I have used Pepsi Throwback, this lesser known beverage contains real sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and tastes way better. If you are in the US or even otherwise have access to it,  go give it a try. I have also been told that Mexico doesn’t allow HFCS and hence all drinks across the border tastes better .

Ingredients For Marinade

• 1lb. chicken cut into small pieces on bone
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. green chili paste
• 2 lime squeezed into juice
• 2 tsp. vinegar
• Salt to taste

Ingredients For Batter

• 5 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 5 tbsp.corn starch
• 5 tbsp. rice flour
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure

Take clean chicken pieces and pat them dry. In a bowl mix chicken pieces with all ingredients for marinade and mix well. Keep them marinated in a refrigerator for 2- 3 hrs.

In another bowl combine flour, cornstarch, rice flour, salt. Whisk them well. add one egg to it and mix well so that the batter stays lump free. Pour little water at a time to make a smooth thick batter.

Heat oil for deep frying and pour a tablespoon of hot oil to the batter. Mix once again. This makes the pakoras crispier.

Take each chicken pieces, dip in the batter and gently release them one by one in the hot oil. Turn the heat to medium and fry them till you see the outer coating starts changing the color. Crank up the heat to high and fry the pakoras for few more minutes till the coating turns golden brown and becomes crispier.

Serve with your favorite ketchup and onion rings.

Pati-Shapta

Today folks back home in Kolkata is celebrating Makar Sankranti a festival of harvest. The houses fill with the smell of guur (jaggery), fresh grated coconuts and rice. They also contend it is very cold there (ahem 55F is not cold it’s summer temp). I wanted to recreate the same magic and made some pithes. Among all the varieties I make this is our families favorite. I had posted the recipe before, but let me consolidate it here with better pictures and video steps.

Ingredients For Filling / Pur

• 1 lb. grated coconut
• 1 lb. khoya/concentrated milk solids (an alternative to khoya is a cup of milk powder)
• 3/4th cup khejur gur (date palm jaggery)

Procedure Of making Pur

In a large mixing bowl mix all the above ingredients thoroughly and check the sweetness. Adjust according to your taste. In a pan, cook the coconut mixture on a low flame till the mixture comes together and leaves the sides of the pan. You need to stir continuously to avoid the mixture from sticking to the base of the pan. Allow the mixture to cool down. Your filling is ready to use.

Ingredients For Crêpe

• 2 cups Maida / all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 2,3 tbsp. of powdered sugar
• 3-4 cups of cold milk
• Ghee (clarified butter) for later use during frying

Make The Batter

Mix all dry ingredients together and slowly add milk to make an uniform batter. Mix well and make sure that no lump is formed. The batter will be little thinner than pancake batter.

Getting it all together

Heat a non-stick skillet or tawa and evenly spread a teaspoon of ghee/clarified butter. Sprinkle some water over it and when the water starts to sizzle, wipe off the ghee with a kitchen towel. You need to repeat this step before making each patishapta but use just few drops of ghee instead of a spoon full.

Pour a ladle full of batter on the tawa and with the back of the ladle spread it in a circle like making dosa. Cook it on low flame for 2-3 minutes. Put a spoon full of filling on one side and then roll it like a crepe. Step by step guide is below, click to enlarge.

 

You can have it, as it is, or spread 1 or 2 spoon of sweet condensed milk or liquid jaggery over it. Serve it hot.

Dudh Puli

 

Makar (Poush) Sankranti is just around the corner. This is when pithe is made in Bong homes. This weekend we had decided to stay at home and just relax. So I took the opportunity to make a variety of pithe. Since last time I received some feedback that the steps seemed complex, I recorded a video. Hope you enjoy that. Also I have decided to make videos for recipes which have nuances around how they are made. I am still working out the quirks so my first attempt has a bit of jaundice (see the video you will get it). My tech-support tells me it’s something to do with bad white balance, but trust me, we will get this right the next time around. Check out the video below, the detailed steps and process follows in this blog.

 

Ingredients For Shell

• 2 cups rice flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. ghee (Clarified Butter)
• 4 cups water

Ingredients For Stuffing

• 1 cup grated coconut (Fresh or Frozen)
• 1/2 cup fresh cream
• 4 tbsp. milk powder
• 4 tbsp. date palm jaggery

1. 6 cups full cream milk for cooking pulis
2. !/2 cup date palm jaggery

How To Prepare Stuffing

Take all the ingredients listed under stuffing in a pan.

Heat the mixture in a pan. Cook it on low flame till everything comes together and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove and allow it to cool. Your stuffing for puli is ready.

How To Prepare The Shell

In a pan take water along with sugar and ghee. Put on the heat and let it come to a boil. When the water starts boiling add rice flour slowly and keep mixing. Once you have added the entire rice flour keep stirring till the mixture turn into a dough. Cover the pan and turn the heat to its lowest mark. Allow the dough to sit for 2-3 minutes.

let the dough cool down a bit. When it is safe to handle take a lemon sized ball from it and roll it with very gentle pressure into a disc of 1.5 inch diameter. You can use regular dry all purpose flour to roll them.

Put a tea spoon full of coconut mixture at the center of the disc. Apply water at the edges. Fold the two edges and give it a shape of half moon. Press them tightly so that  they don't open while boiling. This is called the puli.

Take 6 cups of milk in a heavy bottom pan. Boil it on high heat while stirring continuously.Cook till t reduces to its half. Now add jaggery to it and mix well. Wait till it again comes to a boil. Gently slide each stuffed puli into the milk. Let them get cooked in the milk for 2-3 minutes. turn off the heat and allow them to cool before you serve.

Christmas Fruit Cake

One of my friends invited me to her home for Christmas and I planned to bake a cake for everyone. I generally make Christmas cake by soaking dry fruits in Rum. Since there were a few kids around I decided to make the cake alcohol free. Also this recipe doesn't need you to soak the dry fruits in advance and therefore doesn’t need prior planning. Bake it, when you need it!

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cup roughly chopped dry fruits (plum, black raisins, apricot, cherries, orange zest, almonds)
• 250 ml. of orange juice
• 250 ml. apple juice
• 3 tsp. rum flavor
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 100 gm. butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. spice powder ( 1 tiny piece of cinnamon, 2 cloves and 1tiny piece nutmeg ground to a fine powder)

Procedure

In a sauce pan mix half of orange and apple juice and stir well. Add chopped dry fruit mixture to it and simmer them in a low flame till all the juices are dried up. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool. Now add 1tsp. of rum flavor to it and mix well.

Take out two table-spoons of fruit mixture and smear them with a spoon of dry all purpose flour.

In a separate bowl sift  all dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder and spice powder) together.

Now in a big mixing bowl cream butter with sugar till fluffy. Now add egg one by one and continue to beat until completely integrated. Pour the rest of the apple juice and 1 tsp. rum flavor to it and mix once again. Now add dry flour and dry fruit mixture to this batter and gently fold into it.

Grease a 10 inch nonstick loaf pan and spoon the cake mixture. Sprinkle the dry fruits that you have separated out on top.

Bake it for an hour in a preheated oven at 375F.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack. In a cup mix rest of the orange juice with 1 tsp. rum flavor. Baste the top with this mixture and allow to cool completely before you turn it over. 

Store the cake in an airtight container or eat fresh.

Chicken Manchurian (Hyderabad Style)

Old Hyderabad is littered with small bakeries that along with cakes and biscuits serve this mind blowingly spicy, yet yummy Chicken and Gobi “manchuri” (as they call it). I am sure they have nothing to do with real manchurian or the similar named region in China.

One of the places we used to visit was in Ameerpet close to Jayadurga furnishing which was one of my favorite hang outs. They were served in small plastic cups and a toothpick to pick them up. I have tried to recreate them to help combat the freezing weather here. The only difference is I have refrained from using food colors (which unfortunately is copiously used in Hyderabad).

Ingredients

• 1lb. boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• Salt
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Few curry leaves
• 1 tsp. corn starch
• Oil

Procedure

In a mixing bowl mix chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, chili powder, lemon juice and salt. Marinade the mixture for half an hour. Now sprinkle all purpose flour and rice flour on it and mix well.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan and add chicken pieces into it. Fry till they turn crispy. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.

In a frying pan take two tbsp. oil and heat it up. Add minced garlic. fry on low heat for a minute and then add onion and bell pepper slices to it. Fry them on high heat  for a minute or two. Don’t over cook them as we want their crispy texture.

Now to this add fried chicken pieces and toss them well with fried onion and bell pepper. if required sprinkle salt now. Mix once again.

Dissolve corn starch into 2tbsp. water and sprinkle over the chicken mixture. Immediately remove the pan from heat. Add chopped green chilies, cilantro and curry leaves over it and toss them really well.

Serve them in small cups and enjoy. 

Tandoori Chicken Stuffed Potato Bun

 

This year winter is very different here in Pacific Northwest. It’s super cold and barely getting above freezing for weeks at a time, rainfall has been less than 50% of normal. The dry freeze is not being kind to my tropical being. However, nothing can be done against the weather, other than off course making something warm, yummy and feast on it. I made something “hatke”, a fusion of Indian tandoori chicken and western potato bun. Hope you like it my dear readers.

Ingredients For Stuffing

• 2 cups boneless chicken cut into tiny pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp. chicken tandoori masala
• 1 tsp. gram masala powder
• 1 tsp. finely chopped cilantro
• salt
• Oil
   

Ingredients For Bun

• 1 pkg. active yeast
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 cup boiled and mashed potato
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg for brushing 

Procedure

In a pan heat 2-3 tbsp. oil. Add chopped onion and fry it turns golden brown.

Add chicken pieces along with ginger garlic paste and salt. Sauté till the raw smell goes away.

Sprinkle chicken tandoori masala powder and garam masala powder and keep stirring on low heat till oil separates out. By this time chicken will be cooked. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and remove fro heat.

In a cup dissolve yeast in warm water and stir well.(The water should be around 40 C. Its better to use a food thermometer. If you don’t have try to feel it. You should be able to comfortably dip your finger in it till 10 count.) Keep them aside for five minutes.

In another mixing bowl mix milk with honey, butter and salt. Pour yeast water to it and stir well. Add flour and mashed potato to it. Mix well with a spatula till it forms a dough. Knead ten minutes. Apply oil over the entire surface and cover it with a kitchen towel. Let it rest for an hour in a warm place till it doubles its volume. I keep it inside my oven with the oven light on.

After one hour when the dough rises up punch it gently and divide it into equal 10 – 12 portions.

Make round ball with each of the portions. Flatten each ball and stuff it with 2tbsp. of chicken mixture. Cover the stuffing and again give it a round shape. Repeat this process with the rest of the balls.

Preheat oven at 375F.

Arrange the stuffed balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Beat the egg and brush the top surface of each bun with this egg wash. This will give the buns a rich golden color. sprinkle some chopped cilantro on it.

Bake it for 12 – 15 minutes or until they get a nice golden color. Take them out of the oven and brush them with butter to give a nice glossy look.

Tandoori Chicken Stuffed Potato bun is ready to be served.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vanilla Cookie

One of our dear friends gave us a customized “Basu families Jar of yumminess” as a present. It now occupies the central position of our drawing room. Unfortunately it sometimes disappoints the little ones as it remains empty. I thought of rectifying it for the holidays by filling them with simple Vanilla Cookies.

Ingredients

• 1and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 100gms. unsalted butter
• 100gms. powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 10 – 15 almonds and pistachio roughly chopped

Procedure

Heat oven to 375 F. In a mixing bowl the butter at room temperature and sugar. Cream it with a electric mixture. Add egg, vanilla extract and continue beating.

Fold the mixture in refined flour and mix well. Scrape the sides when required.

Put the mixture in a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe out cookies on it. Sprinkle chopped almond and pistachio.

You can give them a shape of your choice by using your hand as well.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool it off. Store it in an airtight jar.