LEMON GINGER CHICKEN

2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
1 c. lemon juice
4 cloves minced garlic
6 tbsp. ground ginger
1 c. flour
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. chicken broth
4 tbsp. brown sugar
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Vegetable oil

Combine lemon juice, garlic, and 4 teaspoons ginger. Marinade chicken in mixture for 2 hours. Combine 2 teaspoons ginger, flour, paprika, and pepper. Remove chicken from marinade and coat with flour mixture. Fry in small amount of vegetable oil until golden (about 5-7 minutes). Place chicken in baking dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange lemon slices on top and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Baste every 15 minutes. Serve immediately over cooked rice, if desired.

COOKING TIPS

Tips On Cutting & Peeling :

* Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water soluble vitamins.
* Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.
* Soak potatoes and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.
* If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.
* To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay and look fresh for a longer time.
* Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time.
* Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.
* After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.
* Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes .The skin will peel off easily.
* Chopping vegetables can be done in different ways using a sharp knife and a wooden chopping board. Cutting on a marble slab will blunt your knives.
* Remove the outer leaves and husks from the corn (bhutta). Holding the corn upright with the flat end firmly in a board, take a sharp knife and run it down between the kernels and the cob to strip them away.
* Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.
* Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them.

Tips On Frying :

* Heat the oil thoroughly before adding seasonings or vegetables.
* Fry the seasonings until they change color, to get full flavour of seasonings.
* If masala sticks to the pan that shows quantity of fat included is not enough.
* Add some hot oil and 1/2 tsp of baking soda in batter while making pakodas.
* When coconut is used in grinding masala, do not fry for a longer time.
* If you are making patties or tikkis of potatoes, always make sure that the potatoes are boiled well in advance and cooled before you use them. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time. This helps the starch in the potatoes to settle down and the tikkis will not be gooey.
* Smoke Mustard oil first before using for preparing vegetables etc.. by heating to a point till light white smoke emerges from it. This would remove the potency from the oil.
* Poori can be rolled and place between well-rinsed wet muslin cloth at least an hour ahead and can be Fried before serving.
* To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour to the wheat flour while kneading.
* Pakodas will turn out crisper if a little corn flour is added to the gram flour (besan) while preparing the batter.
* Heat a non-stick pan and add a little more butter than usual. Now beat the egg and stir briskly (even while frying) with a fork. This way more air goes in your omelet, making it light and fluffy. Fry till done and serve hot.
* Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.
* When browning meat in fat, choose a large, deep pan. This will enable you to fry quickly, without splashing the stove with fat and meat juices.

Tips For Gravies:

* Always use ghee or vanaspathi with or instead of oil, which gives a good flavour to the gravy. If oil alone is used, it does not get separated easily from the ground mixture, as ghee separates from it.
* Fry the ground masala in reduced flame, so that it retains its colour and taste.
* Little plain sugar or caramelised sugar added to the gravy makes it tasty.
* When tomatoes are not in season, tomato ketchup or sauce can be successfully used in the gravies.
* To retain colour in the gravy always use ripe red tomatoes. Discard green portions if any.
* Good variety chillies and chilli powder also gives colour to the gravy. As far as pos sible try to use long variety red chillies. Dry it under sun for few days and powder coarsely at home. Always the coarse powder gives good taste in gravies and pickles.
* While using ginger and garlic paste in curries, always use garlic at 60% ratio and ginger at 40% as ginger is very strong and may make your dish sharp and pungent.

Tips On Cooking :

* To make 1 cup of dal, add atleast 2-3 cups of water, depending on the type of dal.
* Soak whole pulses overnight and other dals for one hour before cooking.
* Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance the taste.
* Add 1 Tbsp of hot oil to the dough for making Kachories or Kulchas.
* Always use heavy bottomed vessels to make desserts, in order to avoid burning.
* Make desserts with full cream milk, to get thick creamy texture.
* Whenever curd is to be added to the masala, it should be beaten well and add gradually.
* Chop some extra vegetables, for next day stir fry.
* Use the leftover dal water to make rasam or sambar.
* Never discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam or kolumbu.
* Onions and masala are fried in the cooker body itself, raw vegetables are added to that with enough salt and water. Cook under pressure according to the cooking time of the vegetable. This method helps us minimise our cooking time, use of utensils and nutrients are also preserved.
* If poppy seeds are used in grinding, soak it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, if you are grinding it in a mixie.
* While boiling milk, always add a little water at the base of the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking at the bottom.
* Add a tsp. of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chili, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher.
* Store raisins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for much longer. Pour very hot water over them if they had harden, after that drain them immediately, and spread on a paper towel to dry. You can also leave a spoon in the vessel in which the milk is being boiled at low heat so that it does not get burnt at the bottom
* Add a few drops of lemon a tsp of oil to rice before boiling to separate each grain.
* Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.
* Put tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with boiling water Leave it for about 5 minutes. Take out one by one, piercing them with a sharp knife, the skin will peel off easily.
* Immediately after boiling noodles put them in normal cold water to separate them each.
* If you forget to soak chana/Rajma overnight. Just soak the chana/Rajma in the boiling water for an hour before cooking.
* Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator.
* Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes will bake more rapidly.
* Roasting is a dry heat method of cooking - it does not use water. The flavors roasting draws forth result from the process of browning. As the surface of the meat browns, and its juices and fats drip down and brown on the surface of the hot roasting pan, it adds to the flavour of the meat.

Tips On Leftover Food:

* If you are making pasta or rice, cook some extra and store in refrigerator for the next meal.
* Keep some boiled potatoes in fridge, to make quick sandwiches for breakfast.
* Use left over rice for next day meal, use your imagination and cook something new.
* Keep some extra dough in fridge to make chapatis for breakfast.
* Use leftover sukhi dal to make stuffed paratha.

General Tips For Cooking Non-Vegetarian:

* When you cook chicken or meat, you should first cook over high heat to seal juices and then lower the heat and cook till tender
* If you want to store fish for more than a day, first clean it, rub it with salt, turmeric and maybe, a dash of vinegar, and then freeze. It will stay fresh.
* Don't salt meat before you cook it. The salt forces the juices out and impedes browning. Instead, salt meat halfway through cooking, then taste when the meat is done and adjust the salt as needed.
* Meat that is partially frozen is much easier to cut or slice.
* Cooking of hamburgers may take hell of a long time. To cook them a little faster, you could poke a hole in the middle of the hamburger patties while shaping them. This helps them cook faster and the holes disappear once the burgers are done.
* Allow meat to stand at room temperature 1 hour before cooking: It will cook more quickly, brown more evenly, and stick less when pan-fried.
* To help keep meats moist during a long grill or barbecue, add a pan of water close to the fire, but away from the meat.
* To coat chicken evenly, you can place the seasonings or crumbs in a plastic bag, and then add a few pieces at a time and shake them well.
* For golden-brown fried chicken, roll in powdered milk instead of flour before frying.
* To prevent bacon from curling, dip the strips in cold water before cooking.
* Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.
* To ensure that sausages keep their shape, put them into cold water, bring to a boil and then drain immediately and grill or fry in a saucepan.
* When you cook chicken or meat, you should first cook over high heat to seal juices and then lower the heat and cook till tender.
* To avoid kebabs from becoming hard and chewy, marinate them for a longer time and avoid over cooking them.
* To get rid of the smell of prawns, apply salt and lemon juice to the prawns before cooking. Leave for 15-20 minutes, then wash off and proceed with the recipe. This is usually done with prawns, fish and al kinds of seafood.
* For better results, mutton should be of a younger animal. It looks pink and not red and texture should be firm. If it is red and looks 'wrinkled', it will be tough.
* Softening chicken for salads and sandwiches Chicken in salads and sandwhiches is usually poached. What poaching does is surrounds the chicken with liquid, so no moisture is lost and cooks the chicken gently, as opposed to grilling or pan frying.
* How can you tell that steaks are done? Color can be a good indicator of doneness. This is because myoglobin which gives meat its color, changes from red to pink to brown as meat cooks. A rare steak is bright red. A medium-rare steak is dark pink with some red present; a medium steak is very light pink in color and of course, well-done is brown.

Exotic Chicken Masala (Truly Indian)

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
* 1 small onion - finely chopped
* 1.5 inch piece cassia bark (or cinnamon)
* 2 green cardamon pods
* 4 whole cloves
* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
* 1 inch piece fresh ginger - very finely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic - very finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
* 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
* 3/4 teaspoon good chilli powder
* 5 tablespoons Greek-style full cream yoghurt (3/4 of a 150 gm tub)
* 1 teaspoon (or a little more) concentrated tomato puree
* salt to taste
* 2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1 inch pieces
* 1 tablespoon chopped up pieces from a block of creamed coconut
* chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro) to garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan then add the chopped onion and stir for a few minutes with the heat on high
2. Add the cassia, cardamons, cloves and fennel seeds and stir a little then turn the heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes
3. Add the ginger and garlic, stir and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat stirring now and again to make sure nothing browns or burns
4. Add the turmeric, coriander and chilli powder and fry gently for a minute
5. Add 1 tablespoon of yoghurt, stir round and turn the heat up so the yoghurt sizzles in the oil (don't worry, it won't split if you've used full cream yoghurt)
6. When the yoghurt has lost a lot of it's moisture add another tablespoon. Stir and fry as before.
7. Repeat until all the yoghurt is incorporated (the last tablespoons won't sizzle but it doesn't matter)
8. Add the tomato purée and stir in. The colour of the dish should now be similar to the background color of the recipe list page - a rich orangy yellow with red flecks if you've turned the graphics off.
9. Stir in lots of hot water - enough to make the mixture very fluid
10. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes
11. Add salt to taste
12. Heat a little oil in a large heavy frying pan and stir-fry the chicken pieces over a moderate heat until they are sealed and have turned white
13. Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer gently for another 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir from time to time. If the sauce gets too dry add a little hot water
14. 10 minutes from the end add the creamed cocunut pieces and stir to melt them. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with some hot water as the creamed cocnut will thicken the sauce
15. At the end of the cooking you should have a fairly thick, creamy sauce with little patches of oil appearing at the top. Remove the cassia and cardamons (if you can find them! Don't worry about the cloves)
16. Serve, garnished with chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro)

KADHI RECIPE

Ingredients

1 cup Gram flour
1/4 cup Chopped onion
1/4 cup Chopped potato
1 tsp Ajwain
1 tsp Red chili powder
1 tsp Chopped ginger
1/2 tsp Baking powder
Oil for deep frying Salt As per taste
1 cup Kadhi Curd (yogurt)
1/4 cup Gram flour
2 Dry red chili whole
1 tsp Turmeric powder
A pinch Asafetida
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp Oil. Salt As per taste

Preparation

Mix all pakora ingredients except oil and add about ½ cup of water. Mix well.
Heat oil in a Kadhai and deep fry vegetable and gram flour mixture after making into small balls.
Fry till pakoras are golden brown.
Beat Curd/Yogurt and mix gram flour in it. Blend thoroughly so as to ensure that there are no lumps.
Add turmeric powder, salt and 3 cups of water.
Heat oil in a Kadhai. Add fenugreek seeds and dry red chili.
Stir fry for half minute.
Add Gram flour and Yogurt mixture. Bring it to a boil and simmer on a slow fire for about 15 minutes.
Stir occasionally. Add red chili powder and fried pakoras and again simmer the punjabi kadi for about 5 minutes. Serve punjabi kadhi hot with steamed rice.

Indian Egg Curry Recipe

Ingredients:


4 Eggs (hard boiled)
1 onion
1/2 tomato (pureed)
3-4 flakes of garlic
1/2-inch piece of ginger
1-2 green chilies
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
Salt To Taste
Red chili powder to taste
3/4th tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp garam masala
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil / ghee
1 cup green peas or 250 gms paneer

Preparation

Remove the shell of boiled eggs & keep aside. If using Paneer cut into cubes and fry till golden & set aside for later use.
Make a paste of onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies in a mixer or chopper.
Heat oil in a kadhi or wok and add onion-garlic paste and fry till golden brown.
Add all the spices (salt, turmeric, coriander & chili powder) except garam masala and fry for a minute and add tomato puree. Fry till it starts leaving oil.
Add a cup of water and cook till it dry's.
Now add the fried paneer cubes or green peas (which ever using) and boiled eggs.
Add 1 cup of water and bring to boil and reduce the flame.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Garnish egg curry with garam masala and coriander leaves and serve hot with paratha, roti or rice.

Wana cook Vegetable Khichdi (An Indian food)


Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1 cup 2 tblsp ghee
1/2 cup green gram divide (moong dal)
1/2 cup french beans chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup cauliflower florets
1/2 cup carrots chopped a pinch asafoetida
1 cup peas
4 cup water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

How to make vegetable khichdi

Wash rice and dal together.
Heat up the ghee in a vessel and mix in cumin seeds and asafoetida, when the seeds crackle mix in the vegetables and dal and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
Mix in rice and turmeric powder and continue to stir fry for 2 minutes.
Mix in 4 cup of boiling water and salt. Cover and stir fry on low heat up till done. Serve with pure ghee.

Fish Amritsari (North Indaian Food)

Named after the city where it originated, this easy fried fish dish is a great appetizer or side dish to complement the main course.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 kg fish (any fish with firm, white flesh) cut into medium-thick slices
• 3 tbsps ginger paste
• 3 tbsps garlic paste
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• Salt to taste
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 1/2 cups bengal gram flour
• Oil to shallow fry fish
• Lime wedges

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients except the fish and lime wedges, in a large, shallow dish. Form a thick paste.
• Gently fold the fish into this paste, making sure to coat each piece well. Allow to marinate for 1 hour.
• In a wide, flat pan, heat enough oil to shallow fry the fish till each piece is golden and crisp on both sides.
• Serve hot, arranged in a platter. Squeeze lemon juice over the pieces just before serving. Garnish with lime wedges.
  

Vegetarian Chili Recipe

You Need to Collect these:

1 small onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup dry red wine or water
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 (14.5-ounce) cans recipe-ready diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 teaspoons vegetable bouillon granules
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Sour cream for accompaniment (optional)

1. Combine onion, bell pepper, celery, wine and garlic in large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add tomatoes with juice, water, tomato paste, boullion, cilantro, chili powder and cumin; stir well. Stir in beans. Bring to a boil; cover. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

Makes 6 servings.

FOR FREEZE AHEAD:

1. Prepare as above; do not top with sour cream. Cool chili completely. Cover; freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.
2. Heat in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 35 minutes or until heated through. Serve with sour cream.

Kari Ayam or Chicken Curry(Malaysian Recipes)

You Need to Collect these:

• 1 whole chicken - cut into pieces, skin removed
• 2 large potatoes - peeled, cut into sixths
• 1/2 tin coconut milk
• 20 slice shallots
• 2 garlic cloves - crushed
• 2 cm piece ginger - crushed
• 1 lime
• 3 tsp curry powder (add a little water to form paste)
• 2 cloves and 1 *star anise
• 1 pot water

Follow the following steps to cook:

• Blend 10 shallots with ginger and garlic
• Rub chicken with ginger-shallot paste and set aside for 15-20 minutes
• Fry remaining onions, cinnamon, cloves and star anise until fragrant
• Add curry paste and fry until oil split from paste
• Add chicken and fry until flesh turns white
• Add 1/2 tin coconut milk and enough water to cover chicken
• Bring to boil and simmer until chicken is cook and curry thickens
• Add potatoes and allow to cook
• Squeeze 1 lime over curry and cover pot
• Serve best with rice or roti canai or roti jala