Thai Green Curry Chicken

I was planning to cook this from the time when I had had it for first time in a Thai restaurant, and finally got the opportunity to make it today. The Thai Green Curry Paste I had got was also lying in the shelf for months. Finally I got all the ingredients and tried making it today. I used the curry paste from the market as it I was not getting all the ingredients for the paste easily, and wished to not make my own substitution, keeping it more authentic. After looking at the many recipes online that had different ingredients cooking method, I decided to use pepper and cherry tomatoes along with chicken. But while shopping I saw a can of bamboo shoots in water and decided to put that in too. However, I couldn’t find lemon grass and simply used the lemon grass powder for the flavor. Served with jasmine rice, it turned out like I remember from the restaurant. It was a perfect blend of the spicy curry paste and coconut milk, with the lime giving it a pleasant refreshing flavor. I have more curry paste left and will be glad to cook it again soon, maybe even for guests!

INGREDIENTS:

700gm chicken breast
400ml coconut milk
140gm bamboo shoot
1 big red pepper
10-15 cherry tomatoes
1 shoot of lemon grass (I used 2tbsp lemon grass powder)
1 small onion
1inch ginger
6tbsp green Thai curry paste
6-8 Kaffir lime leaves
1 lime
Salt
1sp oil

METHOD:

1. Chop the onion and cut the pepper in thin slices.
2. Drain the bamboo shoot pieces and keep aside if you are using it from a can.
3. Chop the lemon grass.
4. Finely grate the ginger or make a paste.
5. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.
6. In a wok, heat 1sp of oil.
7. When heated, add the sliced onion and vegetables.
8. Let it fry for 2-3min on medium heat. Stir from time to time so it doesn’t turn brown.
9. Add the Thai green curry paste, ginger and lemon grass. Let it cook for a couple of minutes until the
10. Fragrance of the spices come out.
11. Add the coconut milk, and on medium heat let it come to boil.
12. Add the chicken, lime leaves and cherry tomatoes.
13. Let it cook for around 15mins, until the chicken is tender and there is the subtle fragrance of lime and coconut.
14. When done, add salt if needed.
15. Stir in the juice of 1 lime and let it cook for 1 more min.
16. Garnish with lime leaves, lemon grass and serve hot with rice (Thai or Jasmine rice).

NOTE:
If you are using Thai green curry paste from a store, it may have salt added, so check it before adding salt in the gravy.

Chicken with Mangold

It is Sunday, and the morning saw me waking up without a mood for doing anything at all. It was lazy, and I was lazy to cook even. I was even thinking of ordering a pizza for lunch. But somehow with even less than half the wish, I decided to cook the lunch. There was only mangold (Chard or Spinach Beet) and some chicken breasts to cook. Yesterday I somehow thought I will cook the chicken into some sauce and make mangold separately. But today I was too lazy to think of what kind of preparations to make and was rather wishing for a short cut. So, the easiest way was to cook the chicken with mangold in some sauce. And I put in it randomly some spices I got hold of, both Indian and European. I didn’t much think of how it will turn out, but the end result was quite satisfying. It had an interesting and unusual taste, some kind of spices saltiness, which I liked. And it was quite good with hot Basmati. I am really pleased and happy with how it turned out. And it lifted up my mood too. At the end, on a day when I had no mood for cooking, I cooked something that was good, something that I will like to cook again, and even for guests!!!

INGREDIENTS:

300gm chicken breasts (2-3 pieces)
200gm mangold leaf
1 small onion
2 big cloves of garlic
1 bayleaf
1sp whole black pepper
1sp Mediterranean spice mix
1/2sp ground black pepper
1/2sp ground coriander
1/2sp ground Indian cumin
Sea salt
Salt
Sugar
Oil

METHOD:
1. Wash and coarsely chop the mangold leaves (I didn’t use the stem).
2. Pat dry the chicken breasts and fork them lightly. Rub each with Mediterranean spice mix, ground black pepper and sea salt.
3. Chop the small onion and crush the garlic cloves.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan. And when it is hot, add the whole pepper and bayleaf.
5. When it crackles, add the onion and garlic.
6. Wait until they turn pinkish brown and add the coriander and cumin. Stir for half a minute.
7. Add the chicken breasts. Put it to medium heating/flame.
8. Fry them until both sides turn golden brown and the meat turns soft.
9. Next add the chopped mangold leaves. Stir, and cook it covered for around 10-12mins on medium heat/flame.
10. When the leaves wilt and the chicken is tender, uncover and cook for another minute to evaporate a bit of the water that the mangold had left.
11. Serve hot with plain rice.

NOTE:
One can use spinach or any other similar leaves instead of mangold.
The Mediterranean spice mix had the usual thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, pepper, salt etc. One can also use some spice mixes for grill/tandoor to have similar effect and taste.

Methi Palak Prawn

I made this dish first time for the Durga Puja this year. I planned to cook prawn. It is a fish available here easily, and also simple to cook. Moreover, I really like prawns. My wish was to cook a not common preparation of prawn, and was thinking of making up something on my own. Spinach I thought was a good choice to make the gravy with, something similar to palak (spinach) paneer, a popular Indian dish. However I did not like the idea of using the usual whole cumin seeds. Though I like the flavor of cumin very much and like to put it in almost everything possible, it was puja and I was in mood of trying some new flavors and combinations. Therefore, I decided for fenugreek seeds. It is a seed used in Bengali vegetarian cuisine sometimes along with a few other whole spices or alone. I don’t use it too often and so thought why not give it a try with prawns. I must admit the result was quite surprising. The rich aroma of fenugreek seeds blended perfectly well with the taste of prawns and spinach. A lot of fenugreek and a bunch of spinach worked wonders with the prawns!! It turned out as some unconventional dish that can be cooked when guests are invited.

INGREDIENTS:
500gm prawn
1 bunch spinach (palak) - coarsely chopped
2tbsp fenugreek seeds
1 big tomato - chopped
Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Oil

METHOD:
1. Heat oil in pan, enough for both frying prawns and cooking.
2. Fry the prawns until they turn gentle golden, and set aside.
3. In the same oil put fenugreek seeds. When they turn black, take them out.
4. Now in the oil put tomato and spinach together.
5. Add salt, sugar and pepper.
6. Cook in low heat for 5-10 mins so the tomato and spinach get cooked and form gravy like consistency. No water is required.
7. Now add the prawns, mix well and add a few table spoons of water. Cook for another couple of minutes.


NOTE:
This preparation goes well with rice.
Fry the prawns and cook in the same oil, this will give the flavor of the prawn in the preparation.
The fenugreek seeds are taken out after frying, as if left behind it will give a bitter taste when chewed. If you take the seeds out, it gave the flavor without the bitterness, and you can use it in large quantity.
You can add a bunch of fresh fenugreek leaves along with spinch.

Upma

Upma is a common breakfast dish you will find cooked in South Indian household. It is tasty, healthy, and above all very easy to cook. It is colorful with different vegetables and leaves. I also many times cook it for dinner or a brunch, or as some simple evening snack. However, the original recipe has few ingredients not so easily available to me here, and I like to call this particular recipe as “my version”. Like, I don’t get curry leaves here, a main ingredient of upma. Also there I cook it in a slightly different procedure. Anyway, the simplicity of this dish makes it so interesting to me, and I don’t mind a few modifications. Also I like adding more vegetables than the flour, such that the flour will roughly coat the vegetables. Sometimes I even add a small diced tomato. I like to add many different kinds of vegetables in it, and like the subtle flavor of mustard. And finally I love to have it with a generous amount of tomato ketchup.

INGREDIENTS:
1 big bowl of different vegetables cubed (carrot, cauliflower, peppers, broccoli etc)
1 medium sized potato (peeled and cubed)
2/3cup of semolina flour
1tbsp of black mustard seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2tbsp oil
Water

METHODS:
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Put the mustard seeds and cover over low heat. Let them crackle.
3. When the crackling stops and one gets the aroma, put in all the cubed vegetables.
4. Cook in medium to low heat for some time, until the vegetables are almost cooked.
5. Add the semolina flour, mix well and cook for 1-2 min.
6. Now add water little by little, such that the semolina gets cooked but not overcooked and lumpy.
7. Cook covered for 1-2min over medium flame.
8. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

NOTE: Adding the right amount of water is a crucial step. Around 1/2-2/3 cup of water is generally enough, but it is advisable to add a little at a time and then add again if necessary. Also, sometimes roasting the semolina flour a bit before using it helps it making less sticky and lumpy.

Chocolate Potica

Potica is a traditional Slovene dessert. It is like a pastry. Sweet thin dough rolled with chocolate, nuts, or ham filling, baked, and then sliced crosswise. Traditionally a walnut filling or a chocolate filling is used. Sometimes also a filling of tarragon herb is used to get a sweet smelling potica. In the villages, a salty potica is also made by farmers with homemade ham, sausages etc. It is baked in any kind of occasion of festivity or celebration, or simply like that. And women take pride of baking the nicest looking potica. Though quite a long procedure, the recipe itself isn’t much complicated. Maybe it needs some practice to get the nice shape, but otherwise it tastes same good even if not looking so nice. It can be served both hot and cold; and sometimes with dry fruits, marmalades, hams, cheeses etc.
This was the first time I was making it for Christmas. It was more learning it under supervision, than actually making it. Though it doesn’t look the nicest, it tastes just as good.

INGREDIENTS:

For dough:
1/2lit milk
1sp sugar
1sp flour
20-30g yeast (not dry one)
760g flour
100g butter
2 tbsp sugar
10g vanilla sugar
1sp salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
– The first 4 ingredients are to make the yeast.

For chocolate filling:
100g butter
180g sugar
150g hazelnut powder
200g chocolate powder
10g vanilla sugar
4 egg whites
3 egg yolks

METHOD:

The dough:
1. Warm 50ml of milk with 1 spoon each of sugar and flour.
2. When the milk is lukewarm, remove it from heat and add the yeast.
3. Cover it and allow it to rise for 15min. The yeast must rise. If it doesn’t, you will have to repeat the whole thing again.
4. In next step, warm the rest of the milk and add butter. Let the butter melt.
5. Put into this milk 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.
6. In the flour, add 1 sp of salt.
7. Then add the yeast mixture, and the butter-milk-egg mixture.
8. Make smooth dough (5-10min if using the machine).
9. Set aside and let the dough rise for an hour.

The chocolate filling:
10. Take the hazelnut powder, add 3tbsp of sugar in it, and roast it to get the aroma. Set aside.
11. Beat the 4 egg whites until it is stiff, and put it in the refrigerator.
12. Now beat the butter to make it soft and creamy adding the vanilla sugar.
13. Next add 3 egg yolks, remaining sugar, chocolate powder one by one, and beat after each time to get the creamy texture.
14. In the end add the hazelnut powder mixture and beat until smooth and creamy.

The potica:
15. After an hour when the dough has risen, roll it into a thin big square.
16. Gently and evenly mix the beaten egg white with the chocolate filling and spread it gently on the dough.
17. Now roll it into a log. It will maybe be big for the baking tray, so cut into half.
18. Put it in baking tray lined with greased baking paper.
19. Leave again for half an hour so that it rises.
20. Now bake it in a preheated oven at 180°C for 1-1:15hr. It will nicely turn brown.
21. Put it in serving tray, brush the top side with butter and dust it with vanilla sugar powder.
22. Make crosswise slices and serve.

NOTE: The vanilla sugar is for flavor, and one can add vanilla essence, in case the sugar is not available.