Grilled Chicken Breast with Red Pepper Rice and Veggies

On November 28th , we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It had to be special and the only way to make it speacial for my husband is to have chicken on the plate :) That is his only grouse, that I don't cook enough of it! Well, in my defense, I have been a vegetarian for the most part of my life, the first 20 odd years but now I eat almost anything as long as it doesn't make me squirmish ;) Once I started eating, I started cooking too and over the years I think I can say I cook decent meat!

This was a special day so I took the effort to make a whole meal and I must say both my son (two and half years) and husband loved it!

Let's start with the Grilled Chicken Breast with a spicy red sauce. I buy frozen meat, I still can't handle fresh from the butcher!

Also I think mine was a tad overcooked. So I am slightly modifying the cooking time here.

For this you will need -

2 nos - Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Marinade -

1 tspn - Dried Thyme
1 tspn - Dried Rosemary
1 tspn - Dried Basil
2 tspn - Red Chilli Flakes
2 tspn - Red Chilli Powder
1 tspn - Black Pepper Powder
Salt as per your taste

Method -

Make a few slits on the breast and rub the marinade all over it. Let it refridgerate for about an hour or two. Then grease the pan in which you will cook with olive oil. Add 1 tspn olive oil on each breast piece and cook at 200 deg C for 3 minutes. Then grill it for 2 minutes on each side.

In the meantime, you can make the sauce -

2 tbspn - Ketchup
1 tbspn - Chilli garlic sauce (You can use only chilli sauce and add chopped garlic)
2 tspn - Brown Sugar

Mix the above ingredients well and warm it so the sugar melts.

Pour this over the hot grilled chicken and serve!

 

For the Red Pepper Rice -

 

1 Cup - Cooked Basmati Rice ( Cooked with Cinnamon and Star Anise)

1 Small - Red Pepper

1 Tbspn - Butter

1 tspn - Salt

2 tspns - Pepper

1 Tbspn - Olive Oil

1/2 tspn - Sugar

Method -

Heat the oil and butter in a vessel and add the chopped red pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the sugar, this will help retain the red colour. Now add the infused rice (infused with the aromas of cinnamon and star anise) and give it a good stir. Finally add salt and pepper.

For the Stir Fried Veggies -

1/2 cup - Choppen Beans
1/2 Cup - Chopped Carrots
1/2 Cup - Chopped Cauliflower
1 tbspn - Olive Oil
1 tbspn - Butter
6 pods - Garlic crushed
Salt as per your taste
1 tspn - Black pepper powder
1 tspn - Sugar

Method -

Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Add the crushed garlic and saute. Then add the veggies cut into bite sized pieces. Stir well and add the sugar. Now add the salt and pepper. Cook for 7-8 minutes and turn off the stove.

 

Finally for the crispy potato

 

3 nos - Whole boiled potatoes

Salt to taste

2 tspn - Black pepper powder

2 Tbspn - Oil

 

Method -

 

Mash the boiled potatoes when hot and add the salt and pepper. Mix it really well so there are no lumps. Shape it into patties and shallow fry in hot oit for 2-3 minutes on each side.

 

Voila, you have a great meal!

 

 

Sweet pumpkin pulusu

 

Today I am in the mood for some simple food from the villages of this wonderful state I live in currently, Andhra Pradesh ! The cuisine of Andhra Pradesh is very varied and is most famous for its degree of hotness. Can't blame them as they are the capital chilly growers of India. Also, every region has specialities just like any other state in India, which makes this country possess one of the most complex food histories in the world! Every few hundred kms the style of cooking and the taste of food varies which makes a food lover like me go crazy :)

 

This sweet pumpkin pulusu is like a hot, sweet sour liquid with big chunks of pumpkin in it. Ideal accompaniment to rice.

 

For this you will need -

200 gms - Sweet pumpkin, diced into big chunks
1 - Big Onion (chopped finely)
2-3 - Green chillies slit (up or down the number depending on your spice threshold)
1 tspn - Red chilli powder
1 tspn - Tamarind concentrate
10 gms - Jaggery

For the seasoning -

1tspn - Bengal gram (Chana dal)
1tspn - Black mustard seeds
1/2 tspn - Fenugreek seeds ( Methi)
1/2 tspn - Cumin (Jeera)
2-3 - Whole dried red chillies
5-8 - Curry leaves
4-5 pods - Garlic (crushed)

Method -

Take a big pot and chuck the sweet pumpkin, onions, green chillies and the red chillipowder in it. Add water so that the pumpkin pieces are just submerged and put it on heat for 15 - 20 mins. Let it be cooked with a lid on top, so it cooks faster and the flavours remian intact. Keep it on simmer all the time. Once the pumpkin is soft, add the tamarind and the jaggery. Give it a good stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
Now heat oil in a kadai and add the mustard and cumin. Wait for it to splutter and then add the bengal gram. Fry this till it turns golden, then add the garlic, chillies, fenugreek and fry for a minute. Finally add the curry leaves and switch it off. Pour this onto the pulusu and serve hot!

 

Banana Muffins

I made these long back but forgot to post the recipe! These were made with the bananas that we bought from road side sellers who had just got it off the farm! So yummy and delicious :)

For this you will need -

230 gms - Flour
150 gms - Powdered Sugar
113 gms - Butter (Salted is what I used)
1 tspn - Baking Powder
1/4 tspn - Baking Soda
1 tspn - Ground Cinnamon
2 Eggs
400 gms of ripe mashed bananas
1 tson - Vanilla Extract

Method -

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

In one bowl, sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Beat the eggs and keep aside.
In another bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Now fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients till you get a uniformly mixed batter that is sticky and thick. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, making sure to fill only two thirds or less and bake for about 20- 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean to ensure your muffin is ready.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE - Make sure to use over ripe squishy bananas. Anything less will not yield the desired result.

 

Eggless Vanilla Cake with Pink Frosting

Yet another classic recipe passed on from mum. Easy-peezy and yummy yummy !

For the cake you will need -

Cup - Any cup that you desire, I generally use a regualr sized tea cup
7 inch round cake tin
An electric beater

1 cup - Sugar (powdered)
1/2 cup - Refined Oil ( Any oil that has no strong odour or flavour)
1 cup - Curd (if thick like yoghurt or "dahi", thin it with water and then measure)
1 1/2 cups - Flour
1/2 tspn  - Baking Soda
1/2 tspn - Baking Powder
1 tspn - Vanilla Extract
A pinch of Salt

For the Frosting -

50 gm - Cream (Approx.) ( I don't measure!)
Pink Food Colour - 3-4 drops
1/2 tspn - Vanilla Extract
10 - 15 - Dark Choco Chips
Coloured Sugar Sprinkles - As much as you want for decoration!

Method -

Bring all the ingredients to room temperature before starting. Pre heat the oven to 160 deg C. Take your cake tin and grease with butter or oil and then put a spoon of flour and spread evenly. Keep aside. This will help you take the cake out of the tin easily, once baked.
In a bowl take the curd and add the baking soda to it and give it a good mix with a spoon. After a minute or two it will start to froth, so you know the soda has begun it's action.
In a second bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder and salt and keep aside.
Take a larger third bowl ( large enough to hold all the ingredients) and first  put the oil, vanilla extract and the sugar. Beat well. Now, alternatingly add the curd mixture and the flour mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture and beat till you get a uniform batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake at 160 deg C for 25-30 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool and then you can do the frosting.
Beat the cream with the vanilla extract and the pink colour till you get stiff peaks, this will take anywhere between 15-20 mins. Only then will you be able to spread the icing on the cake, else it will run all over and become really messy!
Note - All the creams that I have bought here already have sugar, so I don't add extra. But taste before hand and if you want, you can add a tablespoon or two of castor sugar or icing sugar.

Once you have the stiff peaks, spread evenly all over the cake. I made an extra tear drop in the centre. Sprinkle the color sprinkles all over and a few choco chips in the centre and voila, you have a birthday cake :)