Happy Thanksgiving

Hi All,

Have a happy thanksgiving with great food,family and friends.Meet you all after the great weekend .

Pics:courtesy googling

Dinner ... Chilli Chicken and Chapati

Inspired by Asha .. Foodie's Hope brunch ideas,i tried chilli chicken.Did a little bit of alteration according to our palate.

A quick whip up dish for dinner.But yet a classic one.

Ingredients

• Chicken .. 1/2 pound boneless skinless breasts cut into bite size pieces
• Onion .. 1 medium cut lengthwise
• Tomato .. 1 medium cubed
  
• Capsicum/green bell pepper .. 1/2 cut into long stripes
• Green chilli .. 3 silted
  
• Powders .. 1/2 tsp turmeric,1/4 tbsp red chilli,1/2 tsp meat/chicken pwd,1/2 tsp black pepper,1 pinch red color(optional),salt
• Cilantro/Corriander leaves .. 3 or 4 stripes finely chopped
  
• Oil
  

Method

Heat oil in a kadai,add onions,green chilli's,capsicum/bell pepper saute till all are little fried say for 3 to 4 mins.Add chicken,all pwds,coat all the masala well with the chicken.Cook for 2 minutes then add tomatoes and cook covered at medium high for 8 to 10 minutes.By this time chicken will be cooked well(since it is boneless skinless,chicken cooks fast). If not cook for more time.Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Pics : Chapati with Chilli Chicken

Dishes From Fellow Samayalites -- Shredded Chicken/Chicken Chuka

Last week fully has been a try out week with dishes from fellow samayalites. This dish was from Inji Pennu.I call this Chuka because it has dry,fried consistency.I made this as a side for fried rice.Awesome combo.

Try Out Procedure

• Chicken .. 1 pound boneless,skinless chicken breast cut into 2 inch cubes
• Acid .. 2 tspn Vinegar/lime juice to cook chicken
  
• Onion .. 2 medium,finely chopped
• Green Chillis .. 7 to 8 ,chopped (add more if you need it hot)
• Black pepper pwd .. 1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt
  
• Tempering(thalika) .. oil,mustard,curry leaves

Cook the chicken in water with any acid(i used lime juice) and salt until the pieces turn white which indicates it is fully cooked.Drain the excess water and Cool it.Shred the chicken with your hands.It is very easy to do.
Heat oil in kadai,do tempering,add chillis ,onions saute for 3 mins.Add the shredded chicken,salt,pepper.Saute until the chicken turn fried,crispy.It may take upto 10 mins or so.
Goes well as a starter for wine.

Pic : shredded chicken/chicken chukka

Dishes From Fellow Samayalites -- Bittergourd Chips/Pavakai chips

Bittergourd/Pavakai(tamil) : I like to have it any form.Normally we do subji(saute with lot of onions until it is cooked).I followed Indira of Mahanadi's bittergourd preparation.As it was baking rather than frying,it requires less oil.

My Try Out Procudure :

Thinly slice the bittergourd into circular sizes,toss with little EVOO(EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL) or any oil,red chilli pwd,salt,turmeric and leave to marinate for about 10 minutes.By the time,preheat oven to 375° F and bake for about 20 minutes(depends on oven).If doing for first time,you kinda need to babysit it and check now and then.

Pic : chips baking at 375° F for about 20 minutes

To make extra crispy,my broiler took about 3 minutes

Pic : chips,ready to eat after broiling

Serve as a side for rice and sambar.I had it with turnip/mulangi sambar.It was a nice combo.Didn't take the picture of the combo.Will try to take it next time and update.

what is my name?

I have decided to go healthy by adding greens/keerai thrice in a week.Bought this greens/keerai from Farmers Market this week(thinking that it is AARA keerai(tamil).Obviously it is not).I dont know the name of this one.But i made subji.It tastes good.Next time if i know the name and its properties,i will enjoy the dish more.

So can anyone please give me its name?

PIC - What is my name in English/Tamil ?

Dishes From Fellow Samayalites-Vegetable Puffs

This has been a long pending post.I made it about a month ago, i guess.Following the links from fellow samayalites Raji-TastyCooks , Sudha-Samayal , Archana-Spicyana i tried my version and succeeded.

My memory about puffs dates long back to my primary school days.The name of the bakery is Greatest Bakery.Vegetable puffs,butter bun are some of my favourite items.It was right behind my school compound.I even remember the aroma of the baked bread,puffs ... which made me more hungry.I tried to get some pictures of my favourite bakery.This is the newest look of it.

pic courtesy :http://www.radermail.net/gallery/india/ajs

Pics : Vegetable puffs-my version front view,side view,lateral view :)

Parings with Cocktail - Kadalai Masal(Peanut Masal)

Parings with Cocktail - Kadalai Masal(Peanut Masal) :- This is a easy,simple paring with beer,wine or any cocktail.

Ingrediants

• As shown in the picture(onion,tomato,cilantro,lime,peanuts)
• Red chilli powder - 2 pinches
• Salt - 1/2 pinches
  

Method

Finely chop the onion,tomatoes(make sure tomatoes are not so juicy),cilantro.In a serving bowl add all the chopped items.If the peanuts/kadalai is salted then rinse in water twice/thrice,dry in paper towel add it to the bowl.Add chili pwd,salt,three squeezes of lime juice,mix well and serve.

Pic : kadalai / peanut masal

Pic : paring with chilled beer / red wine

Restaurant style Chicken Chettinad

Whenever we go to restaurant,we order this Chicken Chettinad dish.M likes it.I have made a list of Chicken dishes to try at home.Here goes the list - chicken chettinad,madras chicken,butter chicken,pepper chicken,chilli chicken and goes on ... .I have got recipes for few of them.But the right time hasn't yet arrived.
After lot of self-encouragement,self-enthusiasm,i decided to try Chicken Chettinad.It was a hit.M gave two thumbs up for this home made dish.I am glad to share it with you all.

Ingrediants

• Chicken - with bones 1/2 or 1 pound cut into medium sized pieces
• Onion - 2 medium sized chopped
• Tomato - 2 large chopped
• Powders - 1 tsp each of red chilli and turmeric
• Lime juice - 2 tsp or about 1/2 lime
  
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Water - 2 cups
  
• Salt - to taste
• Curry leaves - 8 to 10 Stripes
• Coriander/Cilantro leaves - finely chopped for garnishing

For the Paste

• Poppy seeds (khus khus) - 2 tsp
• Whole red chillies - 6
  
• Coconut - grated 6 tblspn
  
• Seeds - 1 tspn each of coriander, cumin, fennel and black pepper
• Cinnamon -1" piece broken
• Cloves,Green cardamoms - 2 each
• Ginger,Garlic - 2 tsp each,chopped

Method

In a kadai,heat little oil, roast all the ingredients for the paste except for ginger and garlic. Allow to cool and grind to a paste along with ginger and garlic.

Pic : roasted ingredinats for the paste

Heat the rest oil in a kadai and fry the onions till they are golden brown. Add the curry leaves, the ground paste , turmeric and red chilli powders. Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and fry for about another 2 minutes.At this stage,the oil starts leaving the sides of the pan.If not fry for more time.Then add the chicken and mix well. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.Add the lemon juice and water.Add salt and mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or till the chicken is fully cooked.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Pic : Chicken Chettinad

Serve hot with white rice/Chapati/Naan.

Variations

• Adding more curry leaves give a distinct flavor
• Can make it little dry or gravy depending on your taste (for dry,allow the chicken to cook for more than 20 minutes during the last stage).

Recipe Source www.syvum.com