Prawn rice with Dragon Chicken

by Deerga // January 4, 2015 // No Comments

I wanted to post something special for the first post of this new year. So for the past few days, I have been contemplating about trying a different cuisine than the usual south Indian or the occasional north Indian varieties. So me and my HB, after much deliberation, decided on chinese cuisine. As for the actual dishes, we decided on Prawn rice and Dragon chicken.

Prawn rice is similar to fried rice except that in fried rice we add soy sauce. Also in fried rice, we cook the rice separately, then add other ingredients along with the cooked rice in a wok and cook them further. In Prawn rice we cook everything separately, i.e.., rice and prawn and then mix them together. Dragon chicken is an indo-chinese dish which is very easy to make. Guess the ‘Dragon’ came from the fiery red color of the dish. It is a dry and spicy dish that goes well with rice, chappati, fried rice or rotis.
Do try these dishes in your home and let me know your experience 🙂
BTW, a very happy & prosperous 2015!!! 🙂

Prawn rice with Dragon Chicken

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For Prawn Rice

To marinate:

Prawn – 1 lb, 50 count
Chicken 65 masala powder – 1 ½ tbsp (I used shakthi brand)
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – as required
Ajinamotto – ½ tsp (optional)
Corn flour – 1 tbsp
Water – 1 tbsp

For the rice:

Basmati rice – 1 cup
Ajinamotto – a pinch (optional)
Salt as required.

Other ingredients:

Oil – 2 tbsp
Scallions or spring onions – 3 tbsp, divided
Onion, slits, medium – 1 no
Green bell pepper, finely chopped – 3 tbsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Scrambled eggs – 1 cup
Salt if needed
Green chilli sauce – ½ tsp
Cilantro leaves – 2 tbsp
Garlic, minced – ½ tbsp

For Dragon Chicken

To marinate :

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Crushed pepper - ½ tbsp
Egg whites - from 1 egg
Corn starch - ¼ cup
Soy sauce - ½ tbsp
Boneless Chicken thighs (cubed) - 500g

other ingredients:

Ginger - ½ tbsp, finely chopped
Garlic - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Red chilli flakes - 1½ tbsp
Tomato sauce - 1½ cups
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Cilantro - 1 handlful, chopped
Spring onions - 1 stalk, chopped
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Instructions

Clean and marinate the prawns. Leave it for at least an hour and shallow fry them.
Cook rice separately. I cooked the rice using boiling method to get fluffy separate grains.
Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water. Boil enough water in a medium sized sauce pan and add the rice. Cook until the rice grains starts to sputter. Always stay close while cooking the rice by boiling method. Because rice cooks really quick in this method.
Heat oil in a skillet and add scallions and onions. Sauté till they turn translucent. Add bell peppers and sauté for a minute. Add them to the rice.
Sauté garlic separately.
Transfer the rice to a wide open mixing bowl or a wok and add the sauce, scrambled eggs, sautéed garlic and fried prawns. Mix them very carefully without breaking the rice. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

For Dragon Chicken:

Marinate the cut chicken cubes with the marination ingredients mentioned above and set aside for like 15 minutes.
Deep fry the marinated chicken until the cubes turn golden brown.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and pour a tbsp of oil (you can reuse the oil used for deep frying)
Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic, garlic and saute until the raw smell goes away
Add in the chill flakes and saute for a little while.
Add in the tomato sauce and stir well.
Then add soy sauce and leave it until the broth comes to a boil
Add the fried chicken cubes to the broth and cook until everything is combined well (by now the mixture should have dried down i.e., not like a gravy anymore)
Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped spring onion
Server hot with Prawn rice.

Notes

If you don’t have green chilli sauce at home, chop few green chillies finely and add them to a half cup of water. Allow them to soak for an hour and just use the water (2 tbsp) to the rice.

Cauliflower fry

by Deerga // November 18, 2014 // No Comments

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables that is not often found in South Indian palate (especially Tamilnadu). It is a low fat, low in carbohydrates but rich in fiber vegetable. Cauliflower fry is one of the many varieties prepared using this vegetable. I came across this recipe when searching for a supplement to our diet (and yes we start a diet system many times a year, but sticking to one is a different story 🙂 )

The main specialty about this Cauliflower fry is the way it is cooked. Though it is called a fry, I actually use a conventional oven to cook. It is a very tasty dish, trust me. When you are uncertain about what side dish to prepare for Chappati or Naan etc remember this wonderful Cauliflower fry.

For those who don’t have an oven, you can cook this dish using a stove as well. Try this simple, delicious and healthy dish in your kitchen and tell me your experience. 🙂

Cauliflower fry

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

To bake:

Cauliflower florets – 2 to 3 cups
Olive oil – 5 tbsp
Tomato paste or puree, thick – 4 tbsp (I used hunt’s)
Garlic cloves, minced – 1 tbsp
Kashmiri red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala - ½ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp

For the seasoning:

Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – a sprig
Green chilli, slits – 4 nos
Ginger, julienned – 1 tbsp
Onion, big, slits – 1 no
Kashmiri red chilli powder – ½ tbsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp (optional)
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Dry fenugreek leaves or kasthoori methi, crushed – 1 tbsp
Spring onions or scallions – 1 to 2 tbsp

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and mix all the above ingredients in a large aluminium pan given under 'To bake'. Place it inside the oven and cook for 30 to 45 minutes until the cauliflowers are crunchy (stirring in between). For those who do not have conventional oven, just fry it in a pan on the stove until they are nicely done.
Meanwhile heat oil in a flat pan and season with mustard, urad dal, curry leaves and green chillies. When they start to splutter add onions and sauté until they turn translucent.
Add julienned ginger.
Add all the powders (coriander, chilli, salt, turmeric) and kasthoori methi. Add oven baked or stove cooked cauliflower. Sauté well and cook for 10 minutes.
Garnish with scallions and cilantro.

Notes

!To make tomato puree at home:
Roughly chop the tomatoes and sauté with little onion until they leave oil. Blend them to make a thick paste.

INDO-CHINESE FRIED RICE

by Deerga // March 5, 2014 // 2 Comments

Though fried rice is a Chinese delicacy, it is very popular in India as well. It is a popular street food there. Fried rice in India is a fusion of Indian spices and Chinese method of preparation, aptly named as Indo-Chinese fried rice. Indo-Chinese fried rice has become so popular that I have seen them as a menu item in some Chinese restaurants here!My inspiration for indo-chinese egg fried rice is my uncle. He is a very good cook and one of his specialties is egg fried rice. Whenever we visit them (Toronto, Canada), we can see it in the menu on one of the days.
The recipe that I have given below is a tried and tested Indo-Chinese version.
Note:- Fried rice prepared in restaurants has ajinomoto as one of the ingredients but I personally don’t prefer using it and it is not healthy as well (read somewhere that it has carcinogenic properties). Also, the one time I used it, I did not notice any difference in the taste.Delicious, right?

5.0 from 1 reviews

Egg Fried Rice (Indo – Chinese)

Recipe type: Lunch/Dinner

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2

Indo-Chinese fried rice is a variation of regular chinese fried rice with indian spices. Check out the easy to prepare instructions and enjoy hot fried rice, Indian style!

Ingredients

Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
Green Onion (thinly sliced, green & white separated) - ¼ cup
Garlic, minced - 1 tbsp
Ginger, minced - 1 tbsp
Red Bell Pepper - ¼ cup
Green peas - ½ cup
Carrots -1/4 cup
Cabbage - ¼ cup (optional)
Egg - 1
Cooked basmati rice (or any long grained variety) - 1 cup
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp or to taste
White pepper – 1 tsp
Chilli garlic sauce – 1 tsp (I used sriracha)

Instructions

Cook the rice and set aside to cool naturally or refrigerate it for at least 3 hours – Drizzle in few drops of gingely oil and mix the rice carefully until grains are easily separated. Do this once before it goes into the refrigerator.
Make sure to keep all the ingredients ready before proceeding.
Heat a wok or any deep frying pan (I would prefer non-stick) in high heat with gingely oil. Add in green onions(only white), ginger and garlic. Stir for 5-6 seconds or until the aroma aroma spreads.
Add rest of the vegetables. Make sure nothing burns given that you are cooking in high flame. And you want the vegetables to be cooked but still crunchy (that’s the reason we chopped them into smaller and uniform pieces). Keep stirring for 40 - 50 seconds.
Now it is time to add the eggs to the sides of the vegetables. Sauté the eggs until well cooked and scrambled (In restaurants they used to add the eggs once after the rice is added. But I prefer this way).
Next add the cooked (refrigerated) rice. Stir until all the vegetables and eggs are combined.
Next add the soy sauce, chilli sauce and white pepper. Stir for the flavors to combine. Make sure you don't stir it too much because that might make the rice mushy.
Garnish with scallion greens. Serve hot with chilli chicken or butter chicken or any sides of your choice.

Notes

1. soak basmati rice in water for 20 minutes before boiling. For 1 cup of rice add 11/2 cups of water.
2. Refrigerate the cooked rice so that you can retain its texture while making fried rice.
3. Chinese foods are mostly (or as far as i know) cooked in high flame. so make sure you keep all the ingredients ready well before starting.
4. Non Vegetarian lovers could also add cooked minced meat right after the eggs are scrambled and before the rice is added. Vegetarians can skip this entire sequence.