Gurkhali Chicken - Nepali Cuisine

There a great Nepali restaurant near my house. We often go out there to eat. The cuisine is amazing. I thought of trying out a few recipes at home. So, I started with this amazing chicken. It turned out very well (I know I am not being modest).

Ingredients :
Chicken : 500 grams
Dry Whole Red Peppers : 3
Garlic : 1 tsp minced
Ginger : 1 tsp finely grated
Green Chillies : 2 minced
Onions : 1 finely chopped
Tomatoes : 1 cup chopped
Red bell pepper : 1 cup chopped
Freshly Ground Black Pepper : 1 tsp
Cumin Powder : 1 tsp
Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp
Turmeric : 1 tsp
Green Onion : 1 cup cut in 1 inch length
Salt to taste
Mustard Oil : 2 tbsp

Marinade:
Yogurt : 1 cup
Lemon Juice : 2 tbsp
Onions : 1 cup roughly chopped
Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp
Pepper Corn : 1 tsp
Green Chillies : 2
Mustard Oil : 2 tbsp
Salt : To Taste



Recipe :
Take all the marinating ingredients together in a blender. Puree it into a smooth thick paste. Take chicken in a large bowl. Pour the marinade over it. Cover and let it marinate for around 4-5 hours. Preheat oven at 190C and grill the chicken till its golden brown and cooked. Remove and keep aside.

Heat Mustard oil in a pan. Add red whole chillies and fry till they are dark (Keep kids in another room for few minutes. My kid was coughing mildly even in other room). Add the turmeric and stir well. Now add the onions. Saute till onions are golden brown. Add garlic, ginger, red chilies, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and salt. Stir well. Add tomatoes and red bell pepper and water as per required(you can also add chicken broth). Stir well. Lower flame and cook till it thickens. Add the grilled chicken and stir well. Make sure all chicken is coated with sauce. Cook for another 5-10 minutes. Garnish with the chopped green onions.

Serve Hot.

A New Giveaway - Healing foods Eggplant

I am really glad and proud to announce that there is an additional giveaway for the event Healing Foods - Eggplant. This giveaway is also a brilliant idea of Siri and she has graciously let me choose the winner.

The giveaway is a Rs.1500 voucher from an India based non-profit organisation called Rang De. They are literally changing a lot of lives, making them self sufficient by giving them micro-loans. Unlike many other such institutions, Rang De is different, its very humane and the testimony is so many success stories. Every step is trackable - they have extensive field trips, collaborated with genuine field partners and perform monthly surprise visits, just to make sure the money is well-spent.

You can know about this organisation and follow them if you want on Rang De Wiki, Rang De Facebook and Rang de Twitter.

The winner of the voucher will be selected at random by me. The voucher enables you to invest in any of the borrowers. Once the winner is selected, I will be forwarding your details to Siri, who in turn will update you about the remaining details.

Looking forward to a great participation from you all. In case of any doubts, do feel free to drop me a comment on this post and I will answer it asap.

Eggplant Stuffed

Sending this for my Event Healing Foods - Eggplant originated by Siri of Cooking With Siri.



Ingredients :
Small Eggplant : 4
Onion : 1 Finely Chopped
Garlic : 3-4 Cloves Finely Chopped
Fennel Powder : 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder : 1 tbsp
Aamchur Powder : 1 tsp
Kalonji Powder : 1 tbsp
Salt : To Taste
Oil

Recipe :
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the garlic. When it turns golden brown, add onions. Saute them till light brown. Add all the powders and salt. Stir well. Remove from flame and cool.



Wash and pat dry the eggplants. Don't remove the stems. Make a slit from 1 end to the other end. Make 1 more slit from another 2 ends.



Now fill the onion mix in the eggplants.




Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a wide mouthed pan. Shallow fry the eggplants till they are cooked on all sides.
Alternatively, brush the eggplants with oil. Grill them at 190C for 25-30 min, till they are cooked.

Serve hot.



Also sending it to the Event DSNW - E by Akhila of Learning to Cook.

Event - Healing Foods - Eggplant

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. May your year be filled of Joy & Prosperity !!!!

Healing Foods is a Brain Child of Siri. Cooking With Siri is a lovely domain featuring some amazing healthy recipes.

Heartiest Congratulations Siri on making your own domain.

Now about the event. In Siri's words (literally), You are, what you eat'.. Food that we take everyday has the power to protect & heal us and they are our first line of defense to fight off our illness. Surprising as it may sound, following a simple diet & skin regime - just by making sure you have 'certain foods' in your daily diet-in-take can make a lot of difference and they become key contributors for a very healthy well-being.

The theme for this month is Eggplant. Eggplant has lot of healing properties. I am mentioning few of them below :

1) Diuretic: It has lots of water and fewer calories. Its an antioxidant and it is highly advisable to use in a low-calorie diet.

2) Lowers cholesterol and helps circulatory problems.

3) Mashed eggplant relieves burns.

4) Eggplant oil is excellent for rheumatism. It is prepared by removing the skin and frying them in oil for 2 hours at a low speed. Then strain it. Store it in an airtight container.

5) Eggplant substances, called glyco-alkaloids are made into a topical cream
medication and have been used to treat skin cancers.





Here are some basic rules of participation -

1. Create a veg / non-veg (no pork or beef) dish, based on Eggplant and post the same in your blog. Non-Bloggers can send their recipes with the details mentioned below to the same email address.

2. Please link this announcement and Siri's Healing Food announcement page in your posts. Usage of the logo is appreciated.

3. Multiple entries are more than welcome - more the merrier !!!!

4. Send your details - Name, Recipe URL and Photo to spoonfuls.of.love@gmail.com till 31st Jan 2011.

4. You can send previously blogged entries, provided they are re-posted!

5. A randomly selected winner will be chosen from the participants for a $25 Amazon gift card. The winner will be selected by Siri.

6. A Rs.1500 voucher from Rang De will also be given as a giveaway. The winner for this will be randomly selected by me. Further details on this are available in my post New Giveaway

Non-bloggers can also send your yummy recipes to me at spoonfuls.of.love@gmail.com.

So lets have a healthy start to this New Year 2011 !!!!!!

Coffee Cake With Chocolate Ganache Icing - Merry Xmas

I have been trying for last few months to bake a good cake, but in vain. I have been altogether scared of baking. Sometimes my cake would burn and sometimes it just wouldn't get cooked and be all wet. It was dampening my confidence too. However, after the recent success of Orange Muffins and Braided Bread, I decided to give the cake another shot. I wanted to start with a very easy and basic recipe considering my past record. So after lot of courage and prayers, I finally started to make a cake. I cant tell you how happy I felt when the knife came out all clear from the cake. I actually did a bit of the JIG. My daughter also joined in. Her happiness was more concentrated on eating the cake thou.

So here it goes.

Ingredients For Cake :
All Purpose Flour : 1 1/2 Cup
Egg : 1
Melted Butter : 1/2 Cup
Sugar : 1/2 Cup
Baking Powder : 1 1/2 tsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Milk : 1/4 Cup
Coffee : 4 tsp
Vanilla Extract : 1 tsp

Ingredients For the Ganache :
Cream : 200 grams
Dark Chocolate : 100 grams
Sugar : 1 tsp
Vanilla Extract : 1 tsp
Party Sprinkles : For Decor
Glitter Writing Icing : For Decor

Recipe For Cake :
Preheat oven to 170C for 15 minutes.

Take a large bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in it. Sift from a height to give it an airing.

Take another bowl. Beat the egg in it lightly.

Take a cup and add the coffee powder. Add just 1 tsp of milk in it. Beat the coffee till no granules are left. Add the remaining milk and mix it well. Add this to the egg. Beat for another 10-15 seconds.

Add melted and cooled butter and the egg milk mix to the flour. Fold in the flour and cover from the edges as well. Cover all the flour and make a smooth mix.

Grease a cake tin or a cake dish mildly. Pour the batter in that dish.

Place it in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Pork a knife or fork in the centre of cake and it should come out clean. If it doesn't, cook for another 5-10 minutes. But keep checking it often. The cake should be an even brown colour on top.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool it completely.



Recipe for Ganache :
Break the chocolate into pieces and place it in a heat resistant bowl. Add vanilla extract to it. Heat half the cream (100 ml) along with sugar till it just starts to boil. Don't boil it. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Stir it well till all the chocolate dissolves. Cool this ganache and refrigerate it for 15 minutes.

I forgot to click the pics of the ganache. As I mentioned above, I was busy doing the Jig.

Icing the Cake :
Whip the remaining cream(100 ml) with a whisk or fork. You have to whip it till its light and fluffy. Don't over whip.



Cut the cake horizontally. Now you have 2 cakes.



Place the plain cream on lower half of the cake. Spread it evenly all over the top of the half.




Keep the top half back on the creamed lower half.



Now take the ganache and spread it on the whole cake. Start with the top. Smooth it with a spatula. Now spread it over the sides and smooth that also with a spatula. Always smooth in in 1 direction only. Cover the whole cake with the ganache.

Decorate it with the sprinkles and glitter as per your choice.





Sending this as my entry to following events :

1) Chocolate Extravaganza by Ria from the Monthly Mingle by Meeta.

2) Cookies & Cakes for Xmas by Dr. Sameena

Pasta Salad

An easy to make salad. Serves as starter or evening snack. I like to use varied shapes of pasta. However, you can make it with 1 particular shape also. Tastes juz yummyyyy ....

Ingredients :
Fusilli Pasta : 1 cup
Conchiglie Pasta : 1 cup
Red Onions : 1 Thinly Sliced
Capsicum : 1/4 Sliced
Corn : 3/4 Cup Boiled
Salt : To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper : 2 tsp
Sugar : 2 tsp
Vinegar : 2 tsp
Mayonnaise : 1 Cup



Recipe :
Take a bowl. Add the mayo. Add the vinegar and beat the mayo till its smooth. Add the
salt, black pepper and sugar. Mix it up well. Add the onions, capsicum and corn. Mix it up and keep in refrigerator.

Boil a pan full of water. Add salt. When the water starts boiling, add the pasta. Boil the pasta till its cooked. It should take approx 15-20 minutes. You can check with a fork or knife. Drain the pasta on a strainer. Add a tbsp spoon of oil an stir it up. Cool it completely.

Add the pasta into the mayo. Mix it well. Serve Chilled.

Sending it to Akheela's "Food Palette White"

Stuffed Green Chilli Pickle

I have a spicy tooth and in love with pickles. No meal is complete without pickle / chutney for me. This is an instant and easy to make pickle.

Ingredients :
Green Chilli : 10
Fennel Powder : 1 tsp
Kalonji (Onion Powder) : 1 tsp
Coriander Powder : 1tsp
Salt : To Taste
Aamchur (Dry Mango Powder) : 1 tsp
Oil



Recipe :
Take fennel powder, kalonji, coriander powder, salt and aamchur in a bowl. Add just enough oil to make a thick paste.




Keep the stem on of the chilli. Slit the green Chillies in the centre. Be careful that the chillies don't break. Now fill the paste in the chillies with a knife. Fill just enough to fit the sockets in the chilli. It shouldn't over flow.



Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a wide pan. Shallow fry the chillies. Each chilli should be kept separately in the pan. It shouldn't overlap. Fry till its golden brown. Turn sides and fry again till golden brown. Drain the chilli in a strainer and keep on a kitchen tissue to remove extra oil.

Cool the chillies. Keep preferably in a glass container and store in refrigerator. You can keep it for some days.