One of my favorite chicken dishes…

I’m so glad it’s Friday. Isn’t Fridays always magical? It’s been a very hectic days lately, finally I am done writing my research report and I’ve submitted to my committee members.. Looking forward to defend my work next week and it certainly calls for heck a lot of preparations. Even though it’s frustrating at times, I am absolutely enjoying every bit of it as I’ve learned to embrace every opportunity that comes along.

Yesterday, we celebrated one of my friends birthday at the Sushi restaurant. We, a bunch of sushi freaks ate like crazy and went into an amazing sushi coma. It is in deed a lot of fun with friends who share the same level of craziness and weirdness.

Well, talking about this recipe, this is one of my favorite chicken dishes that I tend to make often. I do a few things to make it both healthy and delicious. Instead of deep frying the chicken, I first cook the marinated chicken till it has cooked well. Then, I add a few tablespoons of oil and stir fry till the chicken gets browned. This way chicken gets the fried taste even without deep frying it. While cooking the onions, I cook till it starts to caramelize , then add tomatoes and tomato paste which makes this dish flavorful, healthy and delicious.

Tomato Chicken

Ingredients

For marination:

• Chicken, boneless or bone-in- 1 lb
• Chilly powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala- 1 tsp
• Ground Pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Salt- to taste

For stir frying chicken:

• Coconut oil or vegetable oil, for stir frying chicken- 3 tbsp

For cooking:

• Coconut oil or vegetable oil- 1 tbsp
• Red onions or white onions, cut thin lengthwise- 3 large
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Curry leaves- 2 sprig
• Tomato, chopped- 2 no’s
• Tomato paste- 4 tbsp
• Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

1. Marinate the chicken with the above mentioned ‘for marination ingredients’, keep aside for 15 to 30 minutes.
2. Cook the chicken in a pan covered with its lid without adding water.
3. While cooking water will ooze out of the chicken, cook till all the water has dried off and chicken has turned tender.
4. Drizzle 3 tbsp of oil over the chicken and stir fry till it gets browned on the sides. Keep aside.
5. Place a large pan over medium heat, add oil, add onion, curry leaves and little salt, cook till onions start to turn caramelized.
6. Add ginger-garlic paste and combine well, cook for a minute.
7. Add tomatoes, cook till it gets mashed up.
8. Now, add the fried chicken and combine well.
9. Add tomato paste, combine well.
10. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
11. Have a taste and add more salt if needed.
12. Towards the end drizzle lemon juice over the cooked chicken, combine well and cook for a couple more minutes.
13. Remove from the heat and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Tips:

• If you prefer you could deep fry the chicken.
• Adjust spice leve according to your needs.
• This is more of a dry dish without any gravy.

Yes I am bragging, this butter chicken tastes better than the restaurant ones…

Butter chicken is one such dish that needs no introduction as even the non Indians are familiar with this. One of my co-workers is a die hard fan of this and she brings this for lunch quite often. I don’t think there would be any Indian restaurants without butter chicken being served. Butter chicken is a North Indian dish and it originated from Punjab. So if you dine at an authentic South Indian restaurants the chances are they might not have this on their menu. While in India, I used to order this every time I dine out. But now I make this quite often in my kitchen. I’ve tried butter chicken at several Indian restaurants around the world. Last year on my way back from India, we had a transit at Frankfurt airport. I was literally starving and was extremely excited to see butter chicken on the menu at a restaurant in the airport. I didn’t think much and walked straight into the restaurant and enjoyed the lunch with butter chicken and basmati rice.

Lately, I had tried a few variations of butter chicken. Butter chicken pizza and butter chicken french fries. I absolutely loved the pizza, I’ll be soon trying that and will share the recipe.

I’ve to admit after trying this recipe, none of the restaurant style butter chicken could possibly impress my taste buds. In this, both the fried chicken and the sauce are flavorful, when they are combined the butter chicken got unbelievably scrumptious. And the good thing is you could adjust the amount of butter and cream accordingly. I’ve even tried this without adding the cream and it still tasted delicious. So even health watchers can try this without compromising on taste.

So get ready to butter up someone with this butter chicken!!!

Butter Chicken

Ingredients:

For marinating chicken:

• Chicken, boneless breast or thighs- 1 lb
• Ginger-garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

For frying

• Oil- enough to shallow fry chicken

For making puree:

• Oil, used for frying chicken- 3 tbsp
• Onion, chopped- 2, large
• Tomatoes, chopped- 2, large
• Salt- little

For making sauce:

• Butter- 2 tbsp
• Green chilly, chopped- 1
• Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Garam masala- 1 tsp
• Tomato ketchup- 4 tbsp (must add)
• Half and half cream (optional)- 1/3 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful

Preparation:

1. Marinate the chicken with the above mentioned ingredients ‘for marinating chicken’ for 15 minutes.
2. Shallow fry the chicken in oil till it turns golden in color, keep aside on a paper towel.
3. Place a large non-stick pan over medium heat, add 3 tbsp oil used for frying chicken.
4. Add onions, green chilly to the oil and salt, saute till onions turns tender.
5. Add tomatoes and cook till it gets mashed up.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, let cool down a bit.
7. Puree the onion-mixture in a blender to a smooth paste.
8. In the same pan, melt the butter.
9. Pour the onion-tomato puree to the butter, saute for a couple of minutes.
10. Be careful as the puree will splatter, keep the heat to low medium.
11. Add cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala to it, cook for a minute.
12. Add water to thin down the sauce.
13. Add tomato ketchup and combine well.
14. Add the fried chicken to the sauce.
15. Now, add the cream and combine well, cook for 2 minutes.
16. This dish should have a thick constituency.
17. Have a taste and add salt if needed.
18. Garnish with cilantro and remove the pan from the heat.
19. Serve with basmati rice or naan.

5 simple ingredients and a delicious chicken dish…

Many a times I’ve realized that dishes made with simple ingredients taste better than those made with over the top ingredients. I often fall head over heels for fresh and easily available ingredients. When I come across recipes that call for complex ingredients, even if it’s created by the most famous chef I would be tempted to flip the page and continue my search for an easier version.

Last weekend, I created this whole pepper cumin chicken. Just four basic ingredients for making the paste and when I tasted this dish I asked myself whether I accidentally added more spices. It tasted delicious!

Whole Pepper Cumin Chicken

• Serves: 4 people
• Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

For making paste:

• Garlic, chopped (fresh)- 4 cloves
• Ginger, chopped (fresh)- 3 inch slice
• Whole black pepper corns- 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1/2 tbsp
• Salt- to taste
• Water- 3 tbsp

Other ingredients:

• Oil- 2 tbsp
• Chicken, boneless cubed-  1 lb
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Curry leaves (optional)- 1 sprig

Preparation:

1. In a blender, grind all the above mentioned ingredients “for making paste” into a smooth paste constituency.
2. Heat a wok over medium heat, pour the oil into it.
3. Pour the ground paste into the oil, rinse the blender with little water and add that to the wok.
4. Saute the paste in oil for a couple of minutes.
5. Now, add the chicken and combine well.
6. Let the ground paste coat all over the chicken.
7. Add curry leaves to the chicken.
8. Cook the chicken till it is no longer pink.
9. Stir fry the chicken and let it brown a bit.
10. Have a taste, add salt and if you need more spice add more of the ground pepper if needed.
11. Sprinkle cilantro and stir fry for a minute.
12. Serve on a plate and serve with rice or roti.

Yeah, I am bragging! I usually find some kind of faults after tasting most of my dishes, even after being approved by the panel of judges. I would always be left with the feeling that I could have done better. But this time after tasting this biryani I was seen bragging non-stop about how delicious and phenomenal this biryani tasted. My taste buds failed terribly in finding even one single fault, everything was so perfect – the whole chicken, the rice and the entire biryani.

Last Saturday, was my husband’s birthday and I was determined enough to surprise him with the best dishes possible. He is one person whom I admire the most in this whole universe and he always astonishes me in all ways possible. For such a person, I definitely wanted to give the best on his special day. I knew already finding such dishes would be little difficult and my search started a few days ahead of his birthday. None of the dishes I came across seemed to steal my heart, I had to think little more harder. I finally came up with my own recipe for making a biryani which I had not tried or tasted before. Also, I made his favorite Tiramisu cake, which turned out to be great as well.

I felt biryani would make a good dish and if it’s made in a totally different way it would be a hit. In biryanis, mostly cut chicken or other cut meat is used and I didn’t want to do it. Instead, I used whole chicken to make this biryani.

I had to first fry the marinated whole chicken till it was fried well throughout, it took about an hour or so. It was totally worth the long frying time. I then made a masala and cooked the fried whole chicken in it further so that it would turn juicy and flavorful. Then I layered the rice and aromatic herbs over the cooked whole chicken along with the masala and did the final slow cooking for 15 minutes. The whole house started to smell so good and when I opened the pan after the final cooking, I stood still seduced by the aroma that came out of the biryani. For the first time, I was doubtless that this biryani was going to to be a winner.

My husband was totally moved and appreciated my effort in making this. At the dining table, I asked him to rate it on a scale of 1-10, there I was talking to a brick wall, he was too busy eating and enjoying the biryani. After a minute, he replied that on a scale of 1-10 this biryani was a 11 and complimented that this was the best biryani hands down. I felt like a winner!

Whole Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:

• Whole Chicken- 3.3 lb or 1.5 Kg
• Oil, for frying- 1/3 cup
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig

For making marinade:

• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tbsp
• Chilly powder- 2 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Lemon juice- 2 tsp

For making Biryani Masala:

• Oil, used for frying chicken- 6 tbsp (you could also add 2 tbsp coconut oil)
• Red onions, cut thin long- 5-6 no’s
• Tomatoes, chopped- 3 no’s
• Marination used to marinade the chicken- combined with 1/4 cup water
• Yogurt- 3 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

To grind:

• Ginger, chopped- 3 inch slice
• Garlic, chopped- 6 cloves
• Whole cardamom- 4 no’s
• Whole Cloves- 2 no’s
• Cinnamon- 2 inch slice
• Green chillies, chopped- 3 no’s

For cooking rice:

• Basmati rice- 2 1/2 cups (I used Dawat brand)
• Garam masala- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Bay leaves- 2 no’s
• Ghee- 2 tbsp
• Salt- to taste
• Water- 2 1/2 cups

For garnishing:

• Fried onions- 1/2 cup  (fry fresh red onions cut thin long 2 no’s in oil)
• Mint leaves, chopped- 1/3 cup or 20 leaves (this is a must to add ingredient)
• Cilantro leaves, chopped- 1/3 cup
• Saffron strands- 2 pinch, soaked in 1 tbsp milk
• Ghee roasted cashew nuts- 1/3 cup (optional)
• Ghee roasted raisins- 3 tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

• Remove any internal organs from the whole chicken and remove the skin from it, rinse under running water.
• You could even pour some lemon juice over the chicken while rinsing it, it will take away any smell from it.
• Pat dry with paper towel and put gashes or lines on the breast and legs, keep aside.
• In a blender grind the above mentioned ingredients to “make the marinade”, with very little water to make a smooth paste.
• Make sure you don’t add too much water, it should be a thick paste.
• Spread the marinade evenly over the whole chicken and inside of it, place it in a large bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate it for an hour or longer.
• You could even marinate the chicken overnight.

Cooking rice:

• I used rice cooker to cook the rice, if you don’t have one you could use a saucepan.
• Soak the rice in water for 15 minutes, drain the water through a strainer.
• Combine the rice along with all  the above mentioned ingredients “for cooking rice” and water in the pot.
• Cook the rice till it has cooked well.
• By using 1:1 ratio of rice and water, the rice would be perfectly cooked and it wouldn’t turn mushy.
• If cooking in a saucepan, after the water dries off, check whether the rice has cooked. If not add little more water and cook accordingly.
• Keep aside the cooked rice.

Frying the whole chicken:

• Place a large deep non-stick pan over medium low heat, add 1/3 cup oil and curry leaves to it.
• Be sure to use non-stick pan.
• I first tied the legs and wings of the chicken and I found that the under side of the legs and wings are not getting fried, so I untied it.
• Don’t tie the legs and wings of the chicken.
• Place the marinated whole chicken breast side down over the oil and let fry for 10  minutes.
• After you take out the marinated whole chicken from the bowl, there will be some marinade left in the bowl.
• Combine 1/4 cup water to that marinade and keep it in a bowl, we will be adding this while cooking the masala.
• After 10 minutes, turn it over and fry it for another 10 minutes.
• Using two spatulas, turn it to sidewise and fry it for 10 minutes, then turn to the other side and fry it for 10 minutes.
• Again, keep flipping it over and let all the sides of the whole chicken turn golden brown.
• This would take about an hour or an hour and 15 minutes.
• Make sure the heat is medium low, at high heat the inside of the chicken wouldn’t be cooked well.
• Using two wide spatulas gently take the fried chicken out of the oil and keep aside on a platter.
• Use the same pan used for frying the chicken, use about 6 tbsp of fried oil and 2 tbsp of coconut oil(optional).
• Keep the heat at medium, add onions to the oil along with salt and saute the onions till translucent.
• In a blender, grind – ginger, garlic, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and green chillies into a coarse paste.
• Add this to the onion and saute till the raw smell goes away and the onions starts to turn caramelized.
• Add tomatoes, cook till gets mashed up.
• Now, add the chicken marinade that is combined with water to the cooked onion mixture.
• Combine well and cook for 2 minutes.
• Taste and if you need more spice add some more chilly powder.
• Add more salt if needed.
• Add yogurt to it, combine well and cook for a minute.
• Place the fried whole chicken breast side down over this masala and cover the pan with its lid.
• Let cook in medium low heat for 10 minutes.
• Open the lid, turn the chicken to the other side, spread some onion masala over the chicken and cook covered for another 10 minutes.
• Next, turn the chicken to one of its sides and again cook covered for 5 minutes.
• Turn to the next side and cook covered for 5 more minutes.
• By this time the chicken would be cooked well inside and out.
• Uncover the pan, if the masala is too watery cook for a few more minutes till it dries off a bit.
• There should be little water left in the masala.

Final cooking:

• In a frying pan with enough oil, fry the onions till golden brown, transfer to a paper towel.
• Roast cashew nuts and raisins in 2 tbsp of ghee, keep aside.
• Spread the masala evenly as the bottom layer and keep the whole chicken at the center of the pan.
• Layer half of the cooked rice as the first layer around the whole chicken.
• Sprinkle half of the saffron over the rice.
• Garnish with half of the fried onions, half of the chopped cilantro, half of the mint, half of the roasted cashews and raisins over the rice.
• Layer the rest of the cooked rice around the whole chicken.
• Garnish with rest of the saffron, fried onions, cilantro, mint, cashews and raisins.
• Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and close it with its lid.
• Place the pan over low heat and cook for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, remove from the heat and keep covered for another 15 minutes.
• While serving: gently take the whole chicken from the pan and place it at the center of a platter.
• Combine the rice along with the onion masala and spread it around the chicken.
• For a nice presentation, you could place cut tomatoes and lemon on the corners of the platter.
• Before having this biryani, you could carve the chicken using a carving knife or a sharp knife.
• Place the chicken pieces on a plate and serve rice combined with masala along with it.
• Serve along with Raita, Dates Pickle etc.

Before I start raving about the recipe, let me first rave about the World cup cricket final. Today was the 2011 World cup cricket final, between India and Srilanka. It was an exciting match which made me sit on the edge of the couch each and every moment, oh wait I couldn’t even sit. I experienced  a few hours of ultimate adrenaline rush towards the end of the match. India won the world cup and made us all proud. Congratulations India and Srilanka for such a wonderful match, well played by both the teams. A day of celebration for Indians all over the world. I’ll be celebrating this much awaited victory by making cakes, sweets etc and will be  sharing it with my friends and co-workers on Monday.

Now, back to today’s recipe. I always make sure I have taco sauce in my refrigerator, as it always come in handy. I love to spread the sauce on tortilla and to use as a seasoning in salads. I love the spicy and the smoky flavor of it. The other day I tried pan roasting the chicken breasts after marinating it with taco sauce. Yes, I was too lazy to make a marinade from scratch. The chicken tasted wonderful, also I baked parsnips seasoned with taco sauce. Made caramelized and aromatic onions, served the chicken on a bed of onions along with baked parsnips. What more do you need to make it a complete meal?

Taco Chicken on a bed of Caramelized Onion with Baked Parsnips:

For making Taco chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts, boneless- 4 no’s (each cut into half)
• Taco sauce- 3 tbsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Salt- little
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp

For making Baked Parsnips:

• Parsnips, cut round- 3 no’s
• Taco sauce- 3 tbsp
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Cooking spray

For making Caramelized onions:

• Onions, cut thin and long- 3 no’s
• Rosemary- 2 sprigs
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken breasts with taco sauce, ground pepper and salt, keep aside for 10 minutes.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.
• Place the marinated chicken breasts, cover the pan and cook till the chicken turns brown on both sides.
• Remove from the pan and keep aside.

Baking parsnips:

• Peel the outer skin of parsnips, cut into 1 inch round shape.
• Season the parsnips with taco sauce and ground pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Spread the parsnips on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and greased with cooking spray.
• Bake for 20 minutes, till the parsnips turn golden brown in color.

Making Caramelized Onions:

• In the same skillet used for roasting chicken (as it has all the chicken drippings and oil) add the onions, rosemary, ground pepper and salt.
• Cover the skillet with its lid and let the onion turn really tender.
• Once the onions turn tender, uncover the skillet and let the onion turn caramelized, stir it frequently to avoid sticking to the skillet.

Plating:

• Make a bed of caramelized onions on a plate, place the chicken breasts and top it with baked parsnips.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know by now how much I adore easy breezy recipes. Who wouldn’t ??? Many times I have felt that you don’t have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen nor you need a pile of ingredients to make some tasty food. Just a few ingredients can do real wonders. I believe the saying “life is simple, we just make it complicated” can be applied to cooking as well. Sometimes, we make a big deal out of cooking and we miss out all the fun.

So, guys take it easy and be creative in your kitchen. Before you know, your taste buds will admire you and embrace you.

The other day, when I had to cook drumsticks, I had only one intention and that was to not repeat any of the dishes that I had already made. It was quite a tough call, but I accepted it whole-heartedly. I ended up making baked parmesan chicken drumsticks which was not only easy to make but also tasted delicious.

Don’t hesitate to try out new dishes, your inner self will appreciate you and you’ll feel happy.

Baked Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients

• Chicken Drumsticks- 12 no’s
• Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp
• Bread crumbs- 1/4 cup
• Parmesan Cheese, grated- 1/4 cup
• Chilly powder or Paprika- 1/2 tsp
• Dried Oregano- 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste ( don’t add too much as parmesan cheese has salt in it)
• Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation

1. Clean the chicken drumstick under running water, you could use skin on or remove the skin according to your preference.
2. In a large bowl, combine ground pepper, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, chilly powder, dried oregano and salt.
3. Put the cheese mixture into a ziploc bag.
4. Put the chicken drumsticks into the bag and shake it for sometime till the drumsticks are evenly coated with the cheese mix.
5. If you don’t have a ziploc bag, you could just roll each chicken drumstick on the cheese mix and coat it evenly.
6. Let it stand for 1o minutes.
7. Pre heat the oven to 400 F or 204 degree Celsius.
8. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
9. Place the drumsticks without crowding them.
10. Spray each drumsticks with non-stick cooking spray.
11. Bake for total 30 minutes or until drumsticks turn golden brown in color.
12. After the initial 15 minutes of baking, flip over the drumsticks to the other side and if needed spray some more oil on it.
13. And then, bake for the remaining 15 more minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce or salad on the side.

Tips:

• You could use boneless chicken breasts instead of drumsticks.

One fruit which got along with me so well over the years is Mandarin orange. I often stack my pantry with canned mandarin oranges and I don’t seem to get over with its delicate and sweet flavor. My two favorite ways of enjoying them are by having them just like that and by garnishing them on fruit salads. Even without much transformation, it tastes so good and hence I never quite thought about making something else out of it. However, recently I was somehow hit by the idea of combining mandarin oranges with chicken. With chicken in my freezer and canned mandarin in the pantry, I thought I might as well experiment in my kitchen. As usual, I searched Google for some recipe ideas and stumbled into a quick and easy recipe at My recipes.com. My search came to an end and I tried it after making a few changes to the original recipe.

Since the mandarin oranges are mildly sweet, I made sure to add some spicy touch to the chicken with dry red chilly and ground pepper which compensated the sweetness. The chicken tasted very delicious and I served it over salad greens.

Mandarin Chicken

Ingredients:

• Chicken, boneless, cubed or use fillet- 1 pound
• Ground pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Mandarin orange, canned, drained- 1 can
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Whole dry red chilly- 2 no’s
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Garlic, minced- 1 tsp
• Green onions, chopped- 2 stalks
• Chicken stock, low sodium- 1/2 cup ( use chilled chicken stock)
• Soy sauce, low sodium- 2 tbsp
• Corn starch- 1/2 tbsp

Preparation:

• Combine chicken along with ground pepper, ginger-garlic paste and salt.
• Cook the chicken in a saucepan after covering the pan with its lid.
• When the chicken turns tender and the water has dried up, remove from the heat.
• In a small bowl, combine chicken stock, soy sauce and corn starch. Dissolve the corn starch in the chilled chicken stock, keep aside.
• In the same sauce pan, add olive oil, put dry red chilly, minced ginger and garlic into the oil, saute till it starts to turn light golden in color.
• Add the green onions and saute for a minute.
• Put the cooked chicken into the pan, stir fry it for a few minutes till it turns light golden brown in color.
• Add the mandarin orange and gently combine it to the chicken.
• Pour the chicken stock mixture and let the sauce start to thicken.
• You could have the orange mashed up or if you prefer to have it like segments, then avoid cooking it for too long.
• If you want you could add little more ground pepper.
• Serve this Mandarin chicken along with rice or on top of  your favorite salad greens.

Tips:

• You could use the chicken fillet instead of diced chicken.
• Prepare the sauce separately and pour it over the cooked chicken fillet.

I seldom shy away from salad that is loaded with browned pepper chicken. This is one dish that I often make when I feel lazy, when I am out of cooking ideas or simply when I get the craving to eat pepper chicken. Whenever I take a bite of this browned pepper chicken, I get the feeling that I don’t have to add heck a lot of ingredients to make a dish flavorful. For making this pepper chicken I used very simple ingredients that are always found in our pantry, yet it tasted great.

Also, you could make couple more dishes with this same pepper chicken. If you want burger or sandwich, then go ahead and place this chicken in between the breads or burger buns. If you want salad, load the veggies with this chicken. Or you could even place the chicken on a bed of rice along with baked potatoes or steamed veggies.

One recipe and you get to serve in three ways.

Making Pepper Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast, boneless- 3 fillets full or halved

To marinate:

• Ground Cumin- 2 tsp
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

While Cooking:

• Butter- 2 tbsp
• Ground pepper- 1+1 tsp
• Lemon juice- 3 tbsp

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken breast with ground cumin, ginger-garlic paste and salt. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

• Place a non-stick pan over medium heat.
• Melt the butter in the pan, sprinkle 1 tsp of ground pepper over the melted butter in the pan.
• Place the chicken fillets on it.
• Sprinkle 1 tsp more of ground pepper over the chicken.
• Pour the lemon juice over the chicken.
• Cover the pan with its lid and let the chicken cook through.
• After a few minutes, flip the chicken to the other side and continue to cook.
• When all the water has evaporated, open the lid and let the chicken get browned on both sides.
• Remove from the pan and keep aside.
• If  you are making a salad: Shred the chicken, top the veggies with this chicken and serve with your choice of dressing.
• If you are making a burger, half the cooked chicken breast and place it in between the burger buns.
• Or, you could place the cooked chicken breast over rice pilaf and serve with baked potatoes or steamed veggies.

My salad veggies:

• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Tomato
• Avocado
• Pomegranate: For a nice red color add some pomegranate seeds, it tasted great as well.
• And I served with Ranch dressing. You could even use yogurt dressing.

Lately, after a few cooking triumphs, my husband has developed a love for cooking. The truth is he always had the desire for cooking. It was I who always dominated the kitchen and never gave him a chance to experiment in the kitchen. I wanted to be in control of the kitchen. As years went by, my attitude made him loose interest in cooking. It was recently that I realized I was totally wrong and I tried hard to change my attitude. I finally let him cook.

After a few trials, his cooking skills improved drastically and I had fallen head over heels for his food. I had already posted three of his recipes on my website. To encourage and support my husband’s cooking I have started a new tag called “Hubby’s Corner“. I cannot describe in words how much I am proud of him.

Here is yet another dish made by him. Of all the dishes he has made, this is my favorite and I have asked him to make this quite often.

This soup is creamy and loaded with flavor. It has chicken, yogurt and vegetables. He also added cream of chicken to make it thick and enhance the flavor.

He is not a big fan of taking pictures of the preparation steps, so here is the recipe without the visuals.

Chicken Yogurt Soup:

• Chicken, boneless breast, cubed- 1 pound
• Carrot, cubed-1
• Onion, diced, medium-2
• Green pepper, cubed-1
• Tomato, cubed-1
• Ginger, minced- 1 1/2 teaspoon
• Garlic, minced- 1 1/2 teaspoon
• Olive oil- 1tbsp
• Basil leaves (optional)- 2 leaves
• Yogurt, fat free- 2 cups
• Skim milk- 1/2 cup
• Coconut milk-1/2 cup
• Cream of Chicken, less sodium- 10 oz can
• Salt- to taste.

Preparation:

• Cook the cubed chicken in a large pan covered with the lid till the chicken is well cooked.
• Heat a non-stick cooking pan over medium heat, add olive oil.
• Add minced ginger and garlic, saute till aromatic.
• Add the other veggies: carrot, onions, green pepper, tomato along with basil leaves.
• Sauté the veggies till it turns tender.
• Keep the half of the sautéed veggies aside.
• Use a food processor to purée the other half of sautéed veggies along with yogurt, skim milk and coconut milk to smooth constituency.
• Add the cream of chicken over the cooked chicken and let come to a boil.
• Add the reserved sauteed veggies to the chicken and combine well.
• Now add the pureed veggies to the chicken, combine well.
• Cream of chicken already has salt in it, so taste the soup and add salt only if needed.
• Let the soup come to a boil, stirring frequently.
• Remove the pan from the stove and serve the soup in bowls.

Tips:

• If you don’t have cream of chicken, use 1/2 cup of chicken stock.

I woke up this morning so late at 12.30, okay that’s really afternoon Oh yes! I love to cuddle up as late as possible. Looking out of the window I was excited and refreshed to see the snow showers hitting the ground so heavily and beautifully. Oh yes! snow showers always put a smile on my face and makes me go crazy. Here is a picture of my backyard wrapped up with snow…

Woke up really hungry and the first thing I thought was to order lunch for delivery. Walking downstairs, it smelled really aromatic. As I entered the kitchen, to my surprise I found my hubby having some cooking fun. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!! He was giving the final touches to Thai Carrot Coconut Chicken. When he served it I felt like a princess and I couldn’t have done anything more than indulging in the Thai Carrot Coconut Chicken.

Thai Carrot Coconut Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Chicken, boneless breast, cubed- 1 pound
• Carrots, diced- 3 large
• Onion, chopped-1 large
• Garlic, minced-1 tsp
• Ground Cinnamon- 1 tsp
• Thai Red Curry Paste- 2 tablespoon
• Coconut milk- 3/4 cup
• Skim milk- 1 cup
• Water- 1 cup
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp for sautéing veggies
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Clean the boneless chicken breast and cube it into small pieces.
• Cook the chicken in a large pot covered with its lid.
• When the chicken has turned tender, remove from the heat and keep aside.
• Place a large non-stick cooking pan over medium heat and add 2 tbsp oil.
• Add the chopped onion and the diced carrots, add salt and cook till the veggies turn tender and slightly browned.
• Add the minced garlic and saute for a minute.
• Add the ground cinnamon and Thai red curry paste, combine well.
• Pour the coconut milk and skim milk, combine well and let it come to a slight boil.

• Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the mixture into a food processor and puree until smooth.
• Pour the puree back to the pan and place it over medium heat.
• Add the cooked chicken into the puree, add 1 cup water, mix everything together.

• Let it cook for about 3-4  minutes.
• Serve it in a bowl.

Tips:

• You can use Ground Cumin instead of Thai red curry paste.
• If you want to make this more like a soup, feel free to add more coconut milk, skim milk or water.
• We had this just like that, if you want you can have this along with Jasmine rice.