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.

A fried, puffed up yogurt flatbread treat…

This was one of the flatbreads my mom used to make as a special treat when I was young. Also, when I had visited my cousin last year this was served along with the Spicy Chicken curry and thus caught my special attention. Since then making this was on my “must to do in my kitchen” list. I added fresh and thick yogurt to knead the dough. The fried bhatura came out puffed up and tasted really rich and delish. It was easy to prepare and the dough can be made ahead of time. The warm homemade bhaturas will become the center of attraction of all foodies at any party.

Bhatura or Fried Yogurt Flatbread

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour or Maida- 2 1/4 cups
• Thick yogurt- 1 cup
• Egg- 1
• Baking soda- a pinch
• Salt- to taste
• Sesame seeds, black or white (optional)- 1 tbsp
• Vegetable oil- enough for frying

Preparation:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt
• Break an egg to this and mix well.

• Now, add thick yogurt little by little and knead the flour for few minutes until soft.

• The dough is supposed to be sticky, so avoid adding more flour while kneading to make it a hard tough dough.
• Cover the dough with a wet paper towel and keep aside for 2-3 hrs.
• After 2-3 hrs, add sesame seeds to the dough and combine well.
• Make medium sized balls out of the dough.
• The dough will be sticky, while rolling the dough we will add flour to make it easy to roll.
• Sprinkle flour on a wooden board or on a clean counter top for rolling the dough, place a dough ball on it.
• Sprinkle little flour on the dough and roll the dough using a rolling pin.

• This dough cannot be rolled thin just like chapatis, so roll to an inch thick small round shape or oval shape.

• Roll all the dough balls and keep aside for frying them.

• Heat a deep fryer or a skillet over medium heat, add oil.
• When the oil has turned hot, place the rolled dough into the oil and fry both sides until golden brown and puffed up.

• Transfer the fried bhatura to a platter lined with paper towel.
• Fry all the bhaturas and serve hot with chicken curry or lamb curry or vegetable korma.

Tips:

• Bhatura should be served hot, cold bhaturas will turn hard and tough.
• You could knead the dough ahead of time, but fry the bhaturas just before serving them.