Chilli Chicken : Pan fried fritters

Chicken, hmmmmppphhhhh ??!!!! : Honestly, that is always my reaction when my husband ( who is a die-hard lover of meat) says he wants to eat chicken!!! I have made Palak Chicken( Recipe uploaded earlier ) and 1-2 gravies with chicken before, but i always get nervous when cooking meat... One, as i can never taste it( Being a vegetarian ) and two, as i don't know the recipes well.
I have learnt the marinating part well now... But i always end up thinking, what different should i make now??

So one such weekday, i decided to surprise my hubby by cooking chicken, as there were already some chicken pieces in the freezer. I was browsing through some food channels earlier , to see if they are showing any easy-to-cook chicken recipe... Didn't find any... Then i searched on the internet and found a terrific recipe by my favourite MasterChef Sanjeev Kapoor. This one is dedicated to him. 

I didn't have all the ingredients he mentioned there, so i did a few modifications and it turned out great ( according to hubby dearest )...:)


So, i really love this Mantra " Try and you will always succeed " :).... The fear of not cooking it right gets you nowhere, unless you try, make mistakes, improve on them and try again... And well, it's all worth it to get that contempt look on hubby's face:)))

Ingredients :

( Adjust the quantities according to the chicken pieces you have )

Chicken pieces - 6 small ( Preferred boneless, but i took what i had, so these are with bones )

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Garlic - 3-4 cloves

Salt - to taste

Rice - 1 tbsp

Whole dry red chillies - 6 ( or according to taste )

Curry leaves - 5-6

Oil - 2 tbsp

Yogurt - 3 tbsp

Maida or cornflour - to roll the pieces

Corriander leaves - a few chopped finely and pepper ( to garnish)

Recipe :

Wash the Chicken pieces thoroughly and make slits all over in the pieces ( not too deep ).

Apply salt and 1 tbsp of lemon to the pieces and set aside.

Make a smooth paste of ginger, garlic, curry leaves, red chillies, rice and remaining lemon juice in a grinder.

Add this paste to the yogurt and mix very well.

Apply this yogurt mixture to all the chicken pieces , so it's coated properly.

Now, leave this for marination as long as you can in the fridge. I kept it for 3 hours, but you can even keep it for 4-5 hours.

Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before you are about to cook them.

Heat oil in a pan. Take the maida or cornflour in a plate.

Roll the chicken pieces in maida or cornflour ( so it's coated properly on all sides ) and put them in the pan.

Shallow fry for a minute, roll the pieces over and fry for 7-8 minutes, turning them frequently, so they are browned ( cooked ) on both sides.

Now add a tbsp of water ( or just sprinkle a few drops on top), cover with a tight lid, and cook on low flame till chicken is cooked completely ,(Takes about 4-5 minutes, keep sprinkling water if needed )

Garnish with corriander leaves and don't forget to sprinkle some pepper on top!!! Serve with tomato ketchup or green chutney :) Or they taste great just plain too :)

Happy Cooking :)

Vada Paav : Amchi Mumbai Street Food

Bollywood Fever : "Bollywood runs in your veins" That's how i am known as!!!:) Just as life is always shown as a fairy-tale in the movies, i take life as the same ! Its fun, when u sing and dance to a situation, rather than just think and crib about it ! Life is bollywood, you have all the emotions - humour, happiness, joy, thrill, fear- the list goes on !! After all, movies are inspired from real life and situations, right?

I always love to associate a situation with a song. Like just when i think of vada paav, what comes to my mind is the funniest song and dance Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dikshit danced to, in the film Hifazat. "Bata-ta Va-da"... Thats the song!!! I am sure not many know of the song, but its hilarious watching both the actors ( now superstars) dancing some real funny steps in some real funny costumes, and i wonder how they associated Batata Vada with romancing. As the lyrics go, " Dil nahi dena tha, Dena pada....Pyaar nahi karna tha, karna pada "... A must watch !!! Here is the link....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CgAiQiT9N4

Batata Vada is a popular snack in Maharashtra. In south of India, it is is also called Potato Bonda. Batata means Potato in Maharashtrian language spoken across Maharashtra. The stuffing varies from place to place, and the vada tastes different even in different parts of Maharashtra. 

 Is it "The Indian Burger" :  Vada paav is commonly known as "The Indian Burger",but i don't like to associate Vada Paav with the burger. I feel, both taste very different. And being a true mumbaiite, i am biased towards "Vada Paav". It has such a distinct flavour, taste, and colour. It nowhere matches the burger! A few differences to state :

First and foremost, the paav and the burger buns taste so different. I think, that's what makes it unique. The stuffing is different too. Vadas have a distinct flavour of potatoes and ginger/garlic, while burgers taste more like a "patty" or a cutlet. 

The outer covering is different too. Potatoes dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried gives them a thick covering, while in burgers, the patty is shallow fried or sometimes even baked/grilled and doesn't have any extra coating.

I truly vote for not calling it "The Indian Burger". How about you?

Missing Mumbai : Every state/ region/ city have their own share of famous food and especially the street food. From the time i have shifted to New Delhi, i enjoy having the "Bunta" and the "Aloo tikki chaat", "Moong daal vada plate served with green chutney and onions ", The "MOMOS served with spicy red chutney". Each of it sounds yummyliscious...But i still miss our mumbai street food of "Paav Bhaaji", "Vada Paav" and "Daabeli". Getting vada paav in Delhi is quite rare. To add to that, the paav taste like sweet buns! Paav taste just the way they are, only in western India. So, during my visit to mumbai twice in a year, the first thing i did when i landed was to have a vada paav :)

And then, I had a chance to have it in Delhi !!! Recently, i became a member of a Food Forum and a friend from there travelling back home to Delhi from Mumbai, got me some "paav". So i decided to make "Batata vadas" right away and enjoy our Mumbai street food right here at our Delhi home :)

So, here's a special thanks to my friend Rajiv Iyer and also to hubby dearest who went and picked "The Laadi Paav" from Rajiv :)))

Ingredients :

Potatoes - 2 medium ( Boiled )

Ginger  - 1 /2 inch chopped
Garlic - 4 cloves

Green chillies - 2 (chopped finely)

Oil - 1 tsp + for frying

Salt - to taste

Curry leaves - a few

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp (optional)
Urad daal - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp ( Batter)

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Besan ( Gram flour) - 3/4 cup

Recipe :

Skin the boiled potatoes and mash them.

Pound the chopped green chilli, ginger and garlic using a mortar and pestle.

Add 1 tsp oil to a pan, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida and curry leaves. Add the urad daal and saute for a minute till it becomes brown.

Then add chilli-ginger-garlic paste and saute for another minute.

Add the mashed potatoes, 1/4 tsp turmeric powder and salt.

Mix it all well, and cook till the mixture becomes a thick ball.

Let it cool. Apply little oil on your palms and make 4 round balls of the mixture.

Meanwhile, combine the Besan , 1/4 tsp turmeric, salt (to taste) and add water to make it a smooth thick mixture. Make sure the mixture doesn't get too thin, so add water little by little. The mixture should be thick enough to form a nice coating to the potato balls.

Heat oil in a kadhai for deep frying the vadas. Dip the potato balls into the batter and fry them in the kadhai till light brown.

Slice a paav into half and you can add any chutney of your liking to the paav. ( Green corriander mint chutney, dry garlic chutney, coconut chutney, tomato sauce...) Place the vada in between like a sandwich.

Enjoy the vada paav along with fried green chillies for a super spicy combination.

Happy Cooking :)

Potato Fritters with a dash of Pepper

Wikipedia says Fritter is a name applied to a wide variety of fried foods, usually consisting of a portion of batter or breading which has been filled with bits of meat, seafood, fruit, or other ingredients. The other ingredients include vegetables too which Wikipedia forgot to mention :) So what we make in India - Bhajji or Bhaiya as they are called, are also Fritters!

Well, i wanted to make an accompaniment as a dry potato sabzi to daal and rice that i had made for dinner ! And thought to make something different than the usual sabzi ( the puri-bhaji one that we make ). My mother used to cut thin slices of potatoes and fry them with jeera( cumin seeds ) and oil. In our language, we call it "Batatyachya Kaachrya". But i decided to add a twist to it!

I had rice powder with me. Rice powder/Rice flour packets are readily available in market these days, but its easy to make it at home too. So you can always make some and store in airtight container. You can even grind it in bulk in a mill and store. It really lasts long.
Wash the rice and soak it in water for as long as you can (2-3 hours, but minimum 1 hour).
Then drain the water completely and spread the rice on a towel for half n hour or till dry. Little moisture is okay. Grind the rice in parts in a mixer and sieve it.
Dry roast the sieved flour until you see steam coming out of the flour.
Let it cool completely and then store in an air tight container.

If you dont have rice flour or dont want to make one, you can use wheat flour too. You can even use maida or a mix of maida and wheat flour but it doesnt get crispier then. Add a tsp of rawa for crispiness.

Ingredients :

Potatoes - ( 2 large ). Peel or not to peel the cover is personal choice.

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp

Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp ( optional )

A pinch of hing 

Rice flour - To coat.

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil to shallow fry.

Recipe :

Wash the potatoes and slice them into medium sized circles ( as you make for sandwiches ).Dont cut too thin and too small as they tend to become dark and hard while frying.

Now you can make this recipe in 2 ways:

A. Either mix the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, hing and salt with rice powder and dip the potato slices in it ( coat it well ) and shallow fry till potatoes are cooked.

OR

B. Put hing, turmeric powder and red chilli powder over potatoes. Mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes to marinate. The potatoes absorb all the flavours of the spices. You can add salt here but the surface of the potatoes get moist and the rice flour doesn't stick well later on. So better add salt just before coating in rice flour or mix salt in the flour. You can even add lemon juice for marination or on top after frying( gives a tangy taste to the potatoes ). 

After 10 mins( Don't leave for long to marinate as it tends to get watery and salt gets washed off), heat a pan with 2 tsp oil and dip each of the marinated potato slice in rice flour( take the flour in a plate ) and add to the pan. Make sure it's nicely coated with rice powder. Cook both sides on low flame for around 5 mins each.

And don't forget to sprinkle pepper powder on top ( Ahhh, my favourite pepper :)))

You can serve these as snacks or as a starter too!

Happy Cooking :)