DRUMSTICK TANDOORI CHICKEN

by Deerga // May 4, 2014 // No Comments

There are certain events that happen very rarely in your life and my HB cooking is certainly one of those. And boy does he cook! The other day he tried his hand in the kitchen and the end product was a delicious tandoori chicken!
Tandoori chicken is a very famous chicken dish from north India. All restaurants in the US have tandoori chicken in their menu and is well known among Americans.
In fact, there are so many tandoori chicken recipes out there posted by Americans in the internet. Tandoori chicken is one of the healthiest chicken recipes since it does not involve too much oil (oil is added only at the end of preparation).
My HB’s recipe is an adaption of VareVah chef’s recipe. It is very simple and easy to make. One main advantage of this recipe is that you don’t have to marinate the chicken for hours like in other chicken recipes. Do try it in your home and let me know your experiences 🙂

DRUMSTICK TANDOORI CHICKEN

Recipe type: Lunch

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Drumstick chicken – 2
Red chilli powder – 1 to 2 tbsp
Salt as required
Lemon juice – 4 tbsp
Curd - 2 tbsp
Ginger garlic paste - tbsp
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Dry fenugreek leaves (kasthoori methi) – 1 tbsp
Cooking oil/ spray

Instructions

Wash the drumstick chicken thoroughly in running water and dab it with tissue/towel. Make few gashes in the chicken
Mix a tbsp of red chilli powder, a tsp of salt and lemon juice and make it in to a paste. Rub this paste on chicken and make sure it is well applied on the cuts that had made on the chicken.
Preheat the oven to 420 °F.
Mix yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, half a tsp each of salt, pepper powder , kasthoori methi leaves(crushed with your palms), garam masala, turmeric powder, cumin powder, a tbsp of coriander powder and 2 tbsp of lime juice and make a thick paste without any lumps. Add red color to the marination (always mix food color with little water and add to your dish).
Place the marinated chicken on the tandoori pan, spray cooking oil on top of the chicken and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the pan, turn over the chicken and brush them with little oil on top. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Notes

Try to use thick yogurt for marination in order to get thick marinade.

CHANNA MASALA / CHANNA / CHOLE

by Deerga // April 13, 2014 // No Comments

Channa or Channa Masala is a very popular north Indian dish made from chick peas. You can find Channa Masala in almost all Indian restaurants, north Indian or south Indian. Channa is a very good source of protein and when cooked as a gravy it tastes yummy. In fact, it is one of my HB’s favorite dishes. We never fail to make Channa Masala at least once every two weeks.
The main step in preparing Channa Masala is the amount of time that you soak the chick peas in water before cooking. The more it is soaked, the faster it gets cooked. As I said above, it is a good source of protein and I heard from my HB that back in India, he and his friends used leave Channa soaked in water overnight and have a handful before hitting the gym, sort of like an energy booster. There is also a black chickpea called as Kondaikadalai in my native tongue that can be cooked similar to Channa Masala. I have given the recipe for that here . There are days when we cook Channa without any masala, i.e., not in a gravy form and have it for dinner. This type is called a Sundal in Tamil. It is a popular Prashadam dish in temples back home.
Channa Masala is a very good side dish for Chappati, Bhature (Channa Bhature is another popular north Indian dish), Poori and rice as well. And here is the recipe for Channa Masala. Try it in your home and as always comment on your experience and thoughts 🙂

CHANNA / CHOLE

Recipe type: Lunch|Dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Cooking or vegetable oil – 1 tbs
Cinnamon stick – 1 (2 inch)
Cardamom – 3
Cloves – 2
Bay leaf – 1
Cumin seeds – 1 tbs
Onion – 1
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Ginger & Garlic paste – 1 tbs
Green chillies, finely chopped – 1 no
Channa masala – 1 ½ tbs
Channa or chickpeas – 1 cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbs
Salt as required
Coriander leaves – for garnishing

to make puree

Tomato - 1 no
green chilli - 1 no

Instructions

Soak the channa/chickpeas overnight or for 8 hours.
Pressure cook the channa with little water and a tsp of salt for 3 whistles - It should be cooked in such a way that you could smash the channa by your thumb and index fingers.
Make a puree of tomato and green chilli in a blender and set aside.
Heat a wide pan with a tbs of oil, add the whole spices mentioned above followed by cumin seeds.
When cumin seeds start to splutter, add chopped onion and fry till they are softened and become translucent.
Add turmeric powder and ginger-garlic paste. Sauté until the raw aroma of ginger-garlic disappears.
Add the tomato puree and chopped green chilli. Saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring in between.
Add channa masala powder and little salt . Mix well and saute until oil seperates.
Add the cooked masala into boiled channa, mix well and pressure cook for another 2 whistles.
Sprinkle few drops of lemon juice on top and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot channa masala with pooris, chapattis or steamed rice accompanied with lemon & onion slices.

ADAI

by Deerga // April 13, 2014 // No Comments

Adai is a dosa like dish synonymous to Tamilnadu (specifically from Chettinad cuisine, I believe) and is made using different varieties of Dal (Moong, Urad and Channa). It is a very healthy dish and usually eaten for breakfast and sometimes for dinner. I started making Adai mainly as an alternative to dosa. For dosa, as you know, the main ingredient to make the batter is rice and rice is rich in carbohydrates which in turn is one of the contributing factors in weight gain (if the intake is often, of course).
My HB is very health conscious (and that has rubbed off on me as well, sometimes ;)) and so I started my search for a healthy and easy alternative for the usual fares that we have at our home. Then I came across this Adai from the web and found it to be the perfect alternative. Making the Adai batter does not involve fermentation. So the entire process of preparing the batter to cooking Adai is very quick. Also, you don’t need a grinder to prepare the batter. A blender will suffice.
In our home, we normally have Adai with coconut chutney but by making the batter a little bit spicy (described in the cooking instructions below), you can have Adai without a side dish (how awesome is that!). In restaurants, Adai is often served with butter and Avial (another south Indian dish for which I will post the recipe sometime soon).
So try this very healthy and easy to make Adai in your home and let me know your comments.

ADAI

Recipe type: Breakfast/Dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 2 mins

Total time: 7 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Toor dal - ¼cup
Moong dal -1/4 cup
Urad dal - ½ cup
Idli Rice or Raw Rice - ½ cup
Whole Red chillies - 6
Salt-as per taste
Shallots(small onions) – 2 (chopped)
Hing - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbs
Chopped Coriander leaves – ¼ cup
Water as required
Oil required to smear around adais

Instructions

Wash and soak urad dal, moong dal, toor dal and rice together in water for 4 hours.
Grind the soaked dals and rice, along with half a tsp cumin seeds, whole red chilli, salt and hing together until smooth. - like dosa batter.
To the ground adai batter add chopped shallots, coriander leaves and little water.
Mix well the batter, the consistency should be similar to dosa batter. Set aside the adai batter to rest for atleast 30 mins.
Heat a dosa tawa, add a ladle full of adai batter to the center of tawa and start spreading the batter from center in circular motion like making dosa or pancakes.
Smear 1 tsp oil around adai and cook on medium heat until both sides of adai are golden brown and crisp.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2 to 3

KONDAIKADALAI KURMA

by Deerga // April 13, 2014 // No Comments

Channa dal is one of the most protein rich gram varieties out there. And black channa is the best among them. It is called as kondaikadalai (kondai – bun, similar to bun hairstyle, kadalai- dal/gram) in my native tongue, Tamil. Usually this black channa gravy (kondaikadalai kurma) is had with white rice and rasam but is also good side dish for chappati and dosa. People who are in a diet or planning to go on a diet can include this item in their menu.
One main step in preparing this dish is to leave the kondaikadalai soaked in water overnight. So a certain degree of pre -planning is required. Once this is done, you can prepare this black channa gravy in no time. Also, I prefer this version over the white channa (white garbanzo beans) version any day. 🙂

BLACK CHANNA GRAVY |KONDAKADALAI KURMA

Recipe type: Lunch/Dinner

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Onion -1
Tomato – 1
Black channa – 1 cup
Oil – 1 tbs
Salt as required

To grind :

Grated coconut – 1 tbs
Garlic clove – 1
Fennel seeds – 1 /2 tbs
Sambar powder – 2 tbs

Instructions

Soak black channa or kondakadalai in water for 8 hours or overnight and pressure cook for 5 whistles.
Grind the ingredients given above to fine paste and keep it ready.
Heat oil in a pan, add onion and sauté until the color changes. Add tomato and saute until soft. Add cooked channa followed by the ground mixture and bring it to boil. Switch off the flame when the gravy thickens.
Serve it hot with chapathi or white rice with rasam. Enjoy!

CAULIFLOWER CRUST BREAD

by Deerga // April 10, 2014 // No Comments

Cauliflower Crust Bread, interestingly, this dish is not a bread as the name implies. It is more of a pizza like variety and it tastes yummy! This is one of those dishes that I came across in my eternal search for different dinner recipes.
Caulifower Crust Bread is an easy to make dish and is comparatively healthier than Pizza. It is a very mild dish and hence kids friendly. The first time I made Cauliflower Crust Bread, the quantity was very less since I had used just a quarter of the cauliflower (I am bit cautious when trying out new dishes ;)) and I realy felt sorry for not making enough. It is that good.
And here is the recipe for Cauliflower Crust Bread. It goes well with marinara sauce (home made or store bought, doesn’t matter). Do try this one in your home and let me know how it tastes 🙂

CAULIFLOWER CRUST BREAD

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Caulifower Crust Bread, interestingly, this dish is not a bread as the name implies. It is more of a pizza like variety and it tastes yummy!

Ingredients

Cauliflower (medium) -1
Cooking oil / olive oil - 2 tsp
Garlic cloves ( grated or minced) - 6
Eggs – 2 (lightly beaten)
Mozzarella cheese (low-fat cheese is fine) - 16 oz
Dried Italian herb seasoning - 1 tsp (freshly grated and divided)
salt and pepper - 3 pinch each
Cooking spray
Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F and line two 8" x 8" square cake pan with parchment paper so that the excess paper hangs over the sides; lightly spray the parchment paper with cooking spray (I used one 8" x 8" square cake pan and 9” x 9” loaf pan , cake pan crust was thin, whereas loaf pan’s crust was little thick).
Grate the cauliflower (you should have about ½ a bowl of riced cauliflower) and microwave (uncovered) until softened, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally (don’t add water); cool slightly.
While the cauliflower cooks, cook garlic in a small skillet (stir constantly) with little oil on a low flame until fragrant (about 30 seconds to 1 minute).cool slightly.
To the bowl with the softened cauliflower, add the garlic, egg, ¾ of the cheese (reserving ¼ for topping later), ¼ teaspoon of the dried Italian herb seasoning (reserving ¼ teaspoon for topping later), and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine and then spread in the prepared pans.
Bake until the loaf sides turn golden brown (for about 30 minutes). Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper; use the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the loaf pan and carefully flip it over onto the lined baking sheet (so the bottom is on top). Bake for another 10 minutes.
Preheat the broiler. Cut the loaf cross-wise into pieces. Slightly separate the pieces and sprinkle the cheese on top along with the remaining ¼ teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning. Broil a couple minutes until the cheese is melted and golden in spots. Take out of the oven. Let it cool for 10 minutes (so that the crust will harden a bit and makes it easier to hold like a thin-crust pizza) and enjoy!

Notes

You could also use this cauliflower crust recipe for making pizza base instead of all-purpose flour.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2 pieces