Diced Chicken With Cashew Nuts

Ever since we had this dish from Lerk Thai we became a fan of this. Till this time we only had it in restaurants. Then I thought it is high time we try it at home. Mmmm and my hubby took charge of this. And wow... it came really wonderful!!!

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast - 500 gm (Cut in to 1.5 cm cubes)
Button Mushrooms - 5 (Discard stem and cut in to 4)
Carrot - 1 (Cut in to 1 cm cubes)
Onion - 1 (Cut in to 1 cm cubes)
Ginger - 1 inch piece (Slice in to thin long pieces)
Baby Corn - 2-3 (Chop in to 1 cm pieces)
Capsicum - 1 (Chop in to 1.5 cm cubes)
Spring Onion - 5 (Chop in to 1 inch length)
Cashew Nuts - 10-15 Roasted
Light Soy Sauce - 1.5 t spoon
Oyster Sauce - 2 t spoon
Corn Flour - 1 t spoon
Salt - 1.5 t spoon
Coriander Leaves - 1-2 sprig for garnishing
Oil - 3 table spoon

Preparation:

1. Put chicken cubes, corn flour and 1 t spoon salt in a bowl, mix well & set aside for around 30 mins
2. Heat 1 table spoon oil in a wok. Stir-fry mushrooms & carrots for 1 min & dish out
3. To heated wok, add seasoned chicken & stir-fry until cooked. Dish out and wash wok
4. Heat 2 table spoon oil in the wok & fry onion pcs until transparent
5. Return fried chicken, mushrooms & carrots to the wok, then add young corn, ginger, remaining salt & stir-fry for 1 – 2 mins
6. Add green capsicums, spring onions, roasted cashew nuts, soy & oyster sauce and stir well

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot (I ran out of coriander, so used capsicum for garnishing ;))

Thanks Beena for remembering and sharing it with me. Sorry for publishing it too late..

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Black Pepper Chicken Varattiyathu

Few days back, one of my friend just rang me during her lunch break and was having a casual talk. In b/w she asked me "Do you make chicken fry in Thalassery (Kannur district, Kerala state) style"? Even though being from kannur, I never made such chicken fry. I have to say I never knew such sort of fry. The reason she asked me is because she was having the same for lunch. I was curious & just asked her the ingredients & preparation method. Got a quick summary & here comes the dish in my style. The most peculiar thing of this dish is that its absolutely non spicy & comes with crispy coconut slices.

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1/2 kg (Chopped to medium sized pieces)
Black Pepper - 2 1/2 t spoon (Coarsely powdered) (1 1/2 t spoon for marination)
Turmeric Powder - 1 t spoon
Salt - To taste
Coconut Slices - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon Stick - 1/2 inch
Clove - 5 nos
Bay Leaf - 2 nos
Garlic - 5 cloves (Chopped into fine pieces)
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch (Chopped into medium sized pieces)
Onion - 3 nos (Sliced half length wise)
Curry Leaves - 2 sprig
Coriander Leaves - 2 sprig
Oil - 2 1/2 table spoon

Marination:
Marinate the chicken pieces with turmeric powder, 1 1/2 t spoon of black pepper powder and salt and keep aside for 20 minutes.

Preparation:

1. Heat a sause pan with oil.
2. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf and saute till fragrant.
3. Add coconut slices and saute till it becomes firm.
4. Add ginger and garlic and saute well.
5. Add the sliced onions and saute well till onions become translucent.
6. Then add the marinated chicken, mix well. Cover the sauce pan with the lid and cook over medium flame till the chicken is almost cooked.
7. Add the remaining pepper powder, curry leaves and mix well and cook it completely.
8. Transfer it to a bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

Varutharacha Kozhi Curry (Chicken Curry)

I rarely cook varutharacha kozhi curry, mostly because I am lazy to roast and grind the ingredients. So I mostly make chicken masala, stew or fries, which is much easier to make. But last weekend I decided to go for it as my hubby was home and was ready to help me :). I really love this with traditional kerala rice.

Ingredients:
Chicken - 800 gm (Chopped into medium cubes)
Coconut - 1 1/2 cup
Potato - 2 nos small (Chopped into cubes)
Onion - 2 medium (Sliced into half length wise)
Green Chilly - 2 nos (Split into half)
Tomato - 1 medium (Chopped into square shape)
Ginger - 1 inch (chopped into fine pieces)
Garlic - 3 cloves
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 t spoon
Red Chilly Powder - 1 1/2 t spoon (1/2 t spoon for roasting & 1 t spoon for marinating)
Coriander Powder - 1 t spoon
Chicken Masala - 1 t spoon
Dried Red Chilly - 2 nos
Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander Leaves - 2-3 sprigs
Salt - To taste
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch broken into pieces
Clove - 4nos.
Cardamom - 3 nos
Oil - 2 table spoon

Preparation:

1. Heat a pan and roast the coconut till light brown. Then add the dried red chillies, coriander powder, chicken masala and 1/2 t spoon of red chilly powder and fry for 5 mins. Keep it aside and let it cool.
2. Grind the roasted mix by adding a little water and make a smooth paste.
3. Marinate chicken with 1/2 t spoon of turmeric, salt, 1 t spoon of chilly powder and keep aside for 20 mins.
4. Heat a Chatti (Earthen Pot) & add oil. Add onion, green chillies and saute well.
5. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 5-10 seconds.
6. Add salt, turmeric and mix well.
7. Add potatoes and stir continuously.
8. Then add marinated chicken pieces together with the chopped tomatoes and mix well.
9. Cover the chatti with a lid and allow the chicken to cook over medium flame for about 10 minutes. In between open the lid and stir well.
10. Once the chicken is cooked, add the grinded paste, 3/4 cup of water and mix well and allow to cook for another 5 minutes with the lid open.
11. Add spices (Cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom), curry leaves and switch off the flame.
12. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Delicious varutharacha kozhi curry is ready. It is a great combination with rice, chappathi or porotta. This will be enough to serve 6 persons.

There are two ingredients missing here as I ran out of stock. Shallots and coconut slices.
Usually shallots will be sauted along with the onions and for tempering we use coconut slices.

Ginger Chicken And Awards

Ingredients:
Chicken : 250 gm boneless, chopped into small pieces.
Light Soy Sauce : 1 1/2 t spoon
Vinegar : 1 t spoon
Corn Flour : 1 t spoon
Cooking Oil : 1 1/2 table spoon
Onion : 1 medium
Green Chilly : 2 nos
Coriander Leaves : 4 sprigs (Cut off the stem portion)
Curry Leaves : 1 sprig
Ginger Garlic Paste : 1 t spoon
Ginger : 1 1/2 inch (Finely sliced length wise (3/4 inch))
Black Pepper Powder : 1 t spoon
Salt : To taste

Preparation:

1. Marinate the chopped chicken pieces with vinegar, soy sauce, corn flour and a little salt and keep it for 20 minutes.
2. Grind chopped onions, coriander leaves, curry leaves and green chillies and make a paste and keep it aside.
3. Heat a pan with oil and shallow fry both sides of the marinated chicken pieces till it becomes firm and dry.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste and mix it.
5. Add the chopped ginger and stir well.
6. Add the grinded paste and mix well and heat for around 8 minutes. Stir occasionally.
7. Sprinkle salt if required.
8. Sprinkle the black pepper powder and mix well.

Delicious ginger chicken is ready to serve for 2 person. You can garnish it with coriander leaves.
Courtesy: Sanjay Thumma

Awards
Last week had been so exciting because lots of my friends remembered me!!!

Thanks a lot to Jisha, Sarah and Devi for sharing me the below award.

Thanks a lot to Sarah for sharing me the below award.

Thanks a lot to Devi and Sara's Corner for sharing me the below award.
Wow... 200 posts. What a great achievement. Congrats Sara.

I would like to share the above 3 awards with Sara's Corner, Nithya, Faiza Ali, Priya, Remya, Cicily, Fathima, LadyChef, Priya and Neetz. Please collect it and post it in your blog. Keep blogging. Njoy!!!

Thanks a lot to Neetz for sharing the below 3 awards with me.

I would like to share the above 3 awards with all my blogger friends. Please feel free to accept this and post it in your blogs. Keep rocking!!!!!!!

Ghee Rice with Grilled Chicken Legs (Ney Chor & Kozhikkalu Porichathu) And Awards

Ghee Rice (Ney Chor)

Last week I was in great mood to make something special. Suddenly thought of Ghee Rice and Egg Masala. And my hubby volunteered to make some nice Grilled Chicken Legs which he is always so fond of. He was insisting "Not too much ghee in ghee rice and egg masala should not be too spicy.". He really don't like too much oily and spicy. So I made the ghee rice less oily and the egg masala a bit spciy!!! But my hubby made the grilled chicken super spicy!!! :)

Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 2 cups (Washed and drained)
Ghee (Ney) - 3 1/2 table spoon
Onion - 1 medium (sliced lengthwise)

Fennel Seeds - 1/4 t spoon

Cashew Nuts - 5 nos
Raisins - 5 nos
Cardamom - 3 nos
Cloves - 5 nos
Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch (Break into pieces)
Aniseed (Flower) - 1 no
Water - 3 cups (boiled)
Salt - To taste

Preparation:

1. Heat a deep sauce pan and add 1 1/2 table spoon of ghee. Add cloves, cinnamon, cashew nuts, raisins aniseed and fennel seeds and heat till fragrant. Transfer to a bowl and keep it aside.
2. Add sliced onions to the same pan and saute well till golden brown. Transfer this also to the bowl.
3. Add remaining 2 table spoon ghee to the pan and add the drained rice and fry it till it becomes firm and start breaking.
4. Add 3 cups boiled water and salt to taste and cover it with the lid and cook over low flame.
5. When water is almost over you will see bubbles and holes appearing in rice. At that moment turn off the flame, but don't open the lid and keep it aside for 15 minutes, until the rice is completely cooked.
6. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with the fried onion and spices.
7. Delicious neychor is ready to serve with Chicken, mutton, egg or any other varutharacha curries and also with fried items.

My combination with ghee rice was Egg masala and Grilled chicken legs (Given below).

Grilled Chicken Legs

Ingredients:
Chicken Legs : 4 nos
Chilli Powder : 2 t spoon
Turmeric Powder : 1/4 t spoon
Black Pepper Powder : 1 t spoon
Salt - To taste

Preparation:

1. Slit the chicken legs with knife so that it will absorb the masala well.
2. Mix all the above ingredients with very little water and apply uniquely over the chicken legs and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven in fan assisted mode for about 5 minutes at 220 C.
4. Keep the oven rack in 3rd level from below and place the chicken at the center and grill for 35-40 minutes in fan assisted grill mode.

Awards

Many thanks to Cicily Antony, Nithu Bala and Sowmya for presenting me these awards. I feel so excited.

I would like to share these with my following friends.
Priya (Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes)
Rachana (Veggi Fare)
Supriya (My Kook Book)
Nithya (Fourth Sense Samayal!)
Sushma (Authentic Food Delights)
Siddhi (Cooked Dil Se...!!!)
Viki (Viki's Kitchen)

Malabar Kozhi Biriyani (Chicken Biriyani)

Ingredients:
For Marinating Chicken:
Turmeric -1 t spoon
Red chilly - 1/2 t spoon
Salt - To taste

For Chicken Masala:
Chicken - 6-7 big pieces (Preferably leg, thighs or breast)
Onions - 4 medium (Sliced lengthwise)
Tomato - 3 medium (Chopped lengthwise)
Cooking oil - 2 table spoon
Chicken Masala - 2 t spoon
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Yoghurt - 1 table spoon
Fennel seed - 1/2 t spoon
Garlic - 5 clove
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
Green Chilly - 3 nos
Cardamom - 3
Mint leaf - 10
Coriander leaf - 1

For Rice:
Rice - 3 cups
Ghee - 1 table spoon
Water - 6 cups

For Garnishing
Cashew - 15
Raisin - 15
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch (Break it into small pieces)
Onion - 1 small (Chop it lengthwise)
Flower spice -3
Bay leaf - 3 (Cut into pieces)
Oil - 1 table spoon
Ghee - 2 table spoon

Marination:
Mix salt, turmeric and red chilly powder with very little water. Apply it evenly on the chicken pieces and keep aside for 15-20 minutes

Preparation:
For Chicken:

1. Grind fennel seed, garlic and ginger in mixer.
2. Heat oil in a deep sauce pan.
3. Add onion and saute until it becomes soft.
4. Add chicken masala and stir well for 15-20 seconds.
5. Add tomato and one t spoon of the paste prepared in step 1 and stir for another 20-30 seconds.
6. Add the marinated chicken and rest of the paste and mix well.
7. Add yoghurt (Or lime juice), mix well and close the lid. Cook over medium flame
8. Once chicken is almost cooked add cardamom, mint leaf, curry leaf and coriander leaf
9. Chicken masala is now ready. Keep it aside for mixing it later with rice.

For Garnishing:
We will first prepare the garnishing item as we can use the same oil and ghee for frying the rice.

1. Heat cooking oil and ghee in a wok
2. Add sliced onion and saute it till deep golden brown
3. Then transfer it to a plate.
4. Add rest of the spices and heat it till fragrant
5. Transfer these to a plate.

For Rice:
Wash and drain the rice using a colander.
Heat 6 cups of water in a separate bowl and boil it.

1. Add one more table spoon of ghee to the wok after transferring the garnishing items out of the wok.
2. Once heated add the dried rice and fry it till rice becomes firm and rigid.
3. Add boiled water, salt and close the lid and cook over low flame.
4. When water is almost over, turn off the flame. But don't open the lid and keep it aside for 15 minutes, until the rice is completely cooked.

Layering:
For layering we need a vessel big enough to hold rice and chicken. Or you can use the wok itself.

1. Put rice and chicken in alternate layers starting with rice.
2. Add chopped coriander leaves while adding chicken
3. Garnish with initially prepared spices.
4. Cover the vessel with a well fitting lid (air tight) and heat over low flame for around 1 minute.
5. Keep the lid closed for another 10 minutes

Chicken biriyani is now ready to serve. I have just copied out my amma's way of cooking kozhi biriyani except that i didn't any colors. Last weekend i tried this & turned awesome.

Chicken Stew

Ingredients:
Chicken - 500gm (Half chicken cut into medium pieces)
Onion - 1 big (Sliced lengthwise)
Potato - 1 big (Chopped into square shape)
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup thick milk (100 ml)
Coconut milk - 1 cup thin milk (200 ml)
Green chillies - 2 nos. split into half
Ginger - 1" piece (Chopped into fine pieces & crushed)
Garlic - 3 big cloves (Chopped into fine pieces)
Pepper - 1 table spoon (Whole black pepper crushed into coarse powders)
Pepper powder - 1 1/2 t spoon
Cardamom - 3 no.s
Clove - 4 to 5 no.s
Cinnamon stick - 1" stick
Salt - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 1/2 table spoon
Curry leaves - 1 strip
Coriander leaves - 2 sprigs chopped

Preparation:

1. Marinate chicken pieces with salt & pepper and keep it aside for 15 minutes. 
2. Heat a deep sauce-pan and add cooking oil.
3. Add cardamom, cinnamon, clove and saute until its fragrant.
4. Add sliced onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and saute well until the raw smell goes off.
5. Add marinated chicken pieces and fry it well till the chicken pieces become firm.
6. Add chopped potatoes ,salt to taste and thin coconut milk, mix it well & cook over medium flame with lids closed.
7. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
8. Lower the flame and add thick coconut milk.
9. Keep it for 2 mins. Add curry leaves.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
11. It's now ready to serve with bread, vellappam or pallappam.

Chicken Masala

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 Kg (Sliced in medium pieces)
Onion - 3 medium (Sliced length wise)
Tomato - 3 medium (Sliced length wise)
Green chilly - 3 (Split lengthwise)
Ginger - 1 small (2" in length)(Sliced thin and long)
Garlic - 5 cloves (Sliced length wise)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspoon
Chilly powder - 1 1/2 table spoon for medium spicy. (If you want more spicy take more)
Coriander powder - 1 table spoon
Pepper powder - 1 table spoon
Chicken masala - 1/2 table spoon
Lime juice - 1 small lime
Cooking oil - 4 table spoon
Curry leaves - 2 strips
Fennel seeds -  1/2 tspoon

Clove - 5

Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon stick - 1 small (Split into pieces)

Marination:
Apply lime juice on the chopped chicken pieces & marinate with salt, turmeric, half the chilly powder, coriander powder & pepper powder specified above. Keep it aside for 20 to 30 mins.

Preparation:

1. Heat the cooking vessel and add the oil.
2. Once heated add the onions and cook it till it becomes tender.Add salt to taste.
3. Add the remaining chilly powder, coriander powder, pepper powder & chicken masala and stir well.
4. Add tomatoes, green chilly, ginger, garlic and fennel seeds and stir for around 20-30 secs.
5. Add the marinated chicken, close the lid and cook it over low flame. (There will be enough water coming from chicken and tomato. So don't add any water at all)
6. Check in between and stir to make sure that it doesn't stick to bottom.
7. Once chicken is cooked add curry leaves, clove, cardamom, cinnamon stick and close the lid for 2-3 minutes.
8. Now it is ready and transfer to a bowl and garnish with sliced carrots, sliced tomatoes and coriander leaves.