Malaysian mango chicken

We (actually me, who always wants new/good food for every occasion) wanted to have something good (again celebrations!). However, my evening was a bit pre-occupied and I did not want to order food from the restaurant. Hence, I requested Blaž to cook, or at least start cooking the dinner, and I would help him after coming back home. We chose ‘Malaysian mango chicken’, a simple and yummy dish celebrating Asian flavors. I wrote the recipe and all other associated instructions in details for him, and convinced Blaž, who was a bit hesitant, that he would manage it. The next day when I came home, he had just finished chopping the veggies. ‘I did not know it would take so much time’. The chicken was marinating and the ingredients for the sauce were in a bowl nicely mixed. Although home, I told Blaž to carry on with the cooking. With Blaž asking a few questions in between and me giving it a couple of stirs, he cooked it perfectly. We loved the awesome blend of sweet, sour, salt and the stickiness from the mango and its juices. As we devoured it with fragrant rice, Blaž added one more item in his ‘what I can cook’ list!

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 2)

400g chicken pieces (skinless and boneless)
1 small red onion
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium green bell pepper
1 medium ripe green mango

Oil

Marinade:

1sp  sugar
1/2sp salt
1/2sp black pepper
3sp cornstarch

1sp chili powder

Sauce:

5tbsp fresh tomato puree
2tbsp oyster sauce
2sp honey
4-5tbsp mango juice
2sp balsamic vinegar

1sp sugar

METHOD:

1. Dice the onion. Cut the red and green pepper into big chunks. Peel and pit the mango, cut it into strips.
2. Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and marinate for around 20 minutes. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add the onion and peppers. Stir-fry the onions until they are translucent and the peppers are a bit soft. Let the vegetables char a bit. Remove from the wok and keep aside.
4. Heat a bit more oil in the same wok. Add the marinated chicken pieces along with the marinade. Add the mango strips. Cook on medium-high heat, with frequent stirring, until the chicken slightly browns and the mango becomes soft and sticky. The oil will start coming out.
5. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes on low-medium heat to let the oil and juices out.
6. Add the sauce and stir well to coat the chicken with the sauce. Cook on medium heat until the chicken is well cooked.
7. Add the stir-fried peppers and onion. Give a good toss to mix everything well. Check the seasoning and serve with steaming rice.

Coca cola chicken wings

Sometimes the Facebook status updates can give interesting ideas. I read about coca cola chicken for the first time when she updated about how she was enjoying those. A quick search on the internet revealed it to be chicken marinated in coca cola and other Chinese sauces and then pan-fired, while the coca cola is reduced to a glaze. It sounded like an interesting idea and I decided to try it. I got some chicken wings. And even though the skin adds to the ‘unhealthy-ness’ of the dish, it adds to the taste. I kept it simple. Coca cola, soy sauces, rice wine, that was all for the marinade. The coca cola when reduced caramelized into this nice sweetish glaze for the succulent chicken wings. It was one of those foods when I love to not only use my fingers to eat but also actually get messy while doing so!

 

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

  

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 2)

6 chicken wings

200ml coca cola

1tbsp dark soy sauce

1tbsp light soy sauce

1sp of Chinese rice wine

1tbsp sesame oil

1sp Chinese five spices

1sp chili flakes

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

METHOD:

1.      Clean and pat dry the chicken wings.

2.      Marinate the chicken wings in coca cola, soy sauce, sesame oil, five spice and chili flakes, for 30 minutes.

3.      Grease a pan and fry the chicken wings to get a nice golden sear, around 3 minutes each side.

4.      Add the marinade liquid and bring to boil. Simmer the wings on low heat for around 10 minutes covered; and then around 10 minutes uncovered until the liquid is reduced to a glaze.

5.      Sprinkle freshly ground black pepper (optional) and serve hot.

Hing tamatar murgh (Chicken with asafetida and tomato)

A couple of Sundays, I cooked this chicken for my weekly lunch box. However, for Sunday lunch, it was only a very mild and light preparation of different pumpkins and root vegetables. Blaž got to taste the chicken, and later at the lunch commented, ‘All the good food goes and I just have to eat vegetables’! :) He requested that I cook it again soon, and I obliged to the request and cooked it last Sunday. I had created this recipe on a whim. The usual onion, garlic, tomatoes, aromatics were first on list of ingredients. However, while taking the tomatoes out I remembered about the homemade tomato sauce and decided to use that instead. The sweet-sour taste and the interesting blend of flavors in the tomato sauce was the backbone of this dish and carried it to another level. Complimenting and harmonizing the flavors together was a background hint of asafetida. We both have loved this chicken so much that now I must make my homemade tomato sauce again to be able to prepare this new favorite chicken again!

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 3)

400g chicken

1 onion

4-5 garlic cloves

4tbsp homemade tomato sauce

1sp coriander powder

1/2sp cumin powder

1/2sp turmeric powder

1 tad asafetida powder (a few asafetida granules)

Salt, sugar, oil

Dry spices:

2 dry red chilies

2-4 cloves

2 black cardamom

1 stick cinnamon

5-6 black pepper

METHOD:

1.      Gently roast the dry spices. Grind the spices and the asafetida granules into a fine powder.

2.      Finely chop the onion and grate the garlic.

3.      Heat oil in a wok. Add the onion and fry until soft and golden.

4.      Add the garlic and fry until it leaves aroma.

5.      Add the chicken pieces. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric powder. Stir well and cook on moderate heat for around 10 minutes.

6.      Add the ground dry spices and tomato sauce. Add salt and a pinch of sugar. Mix well.

7.      Cook until the chicken is done and leaves oil on sides.

8.      Serve with long grain rice.

Sindhi chicken

I had read some chicken recipe a while ago in the supplementary pages of a famous Bengali daily. What had caught my attention were the use of shahi jeera (Bunium persicum or also called black cumin) and generous use of green cardamom. The idea of blending the rustic earthy flavors of shahi jeera with the intense aroma and flavors seemed like very interesting idea to me and I had noted in my mind to try those flavors sometime. And the other day I had the chance to experiment with it. I decided to use the shahi jeera both in the marinade and for tempering the oil. To highlight the aroma and intense flavors of green cardamom, the other usual aromatic spices that constitute the garam-masala was omitted. I only added a bit of black cardamom to give this hint of smoky flavor. The whole flavor profile worked wonderfully well. And made Blaž say that I should write down the recipe and not forget like the one I did a few years ago when I was not having a proper record of all the recipes and ideas.

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 4)

600g chicken

1sp garlic paste

1tbsp ginger paste

6-8 green chilies

1 cup yogurt

2 big onions

2 tomatoes

2tbsp tomato puree

1sp shahi jeera (Bunium persicum or also called black cumin)

Oil, salt, sugar

Dry spices:

1 black cardamom

4-5 green cardamom

2-3 dry red chili

For tempering:

1sp shahi jeera (Bunium persicum or also called black cumin)

1 black cardamom

4-5 green cardamom

2 bay leaves

METHOD:
 

1.      Roast the dry spices and crush them roughly.

2.      Marinate the chicken with yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, finely chopped green chilies, shahi jeera, and roasted ground dry spices.

3.      Finely chop the onions. Dice the tomatoes into cubes.

4.      Coarsely grind the cardamoms for tempering the oil. Heat oil in a wok. Temper the oil with shahi jeera, ground cardamom and bay leaves.

5.      Add the onion and fry until golden.

6.      Add the chopped tomato and tomato puree. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy and leaves oil on sides.

7.      Add the chicken with the marinade. Fry on moderate heat until it starts getting golden color.

8.      Add a sprinkle of water. Season well. On low-moderate heat cook until the chicken is done and the spices start leaving the oil on sides.

9.      Serve with steaming rice or hot Indian flatbreads.

Chicken tangri kebab

Kebabs form an important part of the North Indian cuisine. And the most basic kebabs are quite versatile and easy to cook. Therefore, it was a perfect item for a mini ‘Indian cooking class’. And as always my aim was to show something with ingredients easily available. I used the traditional yogurt with ginger and garlic paste as marinade. The dry spices and the mint created the beautiful blend of flavors and aromas. It is always fun to cook or be in the kitchen with aunt Mojca, and enjoy her simple, rustic and flavorful food. Therefore, it was such a pleasure to use with her some aromatics and spices that are not really used in Slovenia and let her enjoy the flavors of those. She was pleasantly surprised with the result. And the best compliment was from uncle Janez, ‘it is a tad bit spicy but it is soo delicious’ he said as we indulged in the succulent aromatic chicken legs.

You can print the recipe for your kitchen here: PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

(Serves 8)

16 pieces of chicken leg

1.5 cup yogurt

1/2cup chopped mint leaves

1tbsp Kashmiri chili powder

3tbsp ginger-garlic paste

Salt, sugar, oil

Dry spices

1tbsp cumin

1inch cinnamon stick

5-6 cloves

2-3 black cardamom

2-3 dry red chilies

8-10 black pepper

METHOD:

1. Roast the dry spices and coarsely grind the spices.
2. Clean and pat dry the chicken legs. Rub the legs with ground dry spices, salt, 1sp of sugar, 2tbsp oil, kashmiri chili powder. When all the chicken legs are nicely coated with the dry spices, add the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, and mint leaves. Mix well such that all the legs are coated with the marinade. Marinate the chicken legs for at least 2 hours. 
3.  Line the chicken legs in a baking tray. Bake covered at 200°C for 30 minutes with turning the pieces once in between.
4. Uncover them and bake for around 10 more minutes until the chicken legs get the brownish color. Serve with raita and other condiments.