Chinese Fried Rice

Chinese fried rice is a colorful one which looks very charming, especially to the little ones.  This is one of the favourites of my lil champ. 

You will need...
Basmati rice - 2 cups
Bell Pepper (Red, Green, Yellow, Orange) - 1 each sliced thin
Carrots - 1 big or 2 medium cut into thin stripes
Spring onions - chopped (whites and greens seperated)
Mushrooms - 200 gms sliced
Cabbage - 100 gmscut into thin stripes
Celery - 1 stick chopped
Chicken - 1 cup cooked and shredded
Eggs - 6
Milk - 2-3 tbsp
Cocktail prawns - 200gms
White pepper powder - 1 tsp
Msg(Ajinomotto) - a pinch(optional) I did'nt use.
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - as needed
Sesame Oil

Wash and soak rice in water for 20-30 mts.  Cook with salt, few drops of oil and plenty of water until 3/4 done.  Drain and spread on a tray to prevent from getting cooked further. In a wok add oil, stir fry the veggies other than celery and spring onions in batches.  If all of them are stir fried together, there is a chance for them to get overcooked and loose the crispiness. Beat eggs in a bowl with milk and salt.  Scramble fry them in the same wok. Keep aside.  Add some more oil in the wok and add spring onion whites, ginger paste, garlic paste and stir fry for few minutes.  Now add prawns and fry until all the water disappears.  Add all the stir fried vegetables, celery and chicken. Stir fry for few minutes.  Add white pepper powder,msg, vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce and stir fry for a minute.  Finally add rice and spring onion greens.  Mix well. Check for salt and add if needed.  Serve hot with any chinese/cantonese accompaniments.

Have a nice weekend!!!

Sweet and Sour Pork

During the first few weeks of our marriage, we were on a marathon race, visting a long list of houses chosen by our parents!!!  It really was an ordeal when, like all newly weds, we too wanted to be alone and with ourselves.  But excuses were not granted.  Off we went racing, me wearing a five kilo heavy brocade saree which pricked me all over and another five kilo of ornaments which gave my body complete shelter from the sun!!! And as a newly wed, you need to be extremely polite and for that, consuming whatever offered to eat or drink is mandatory!!!   After a couple of visits I had my bladder bombarding with a melange of juice, squash, wine, tea/coffee and what not!!!

And for us, the marathon race continues ever after!!!  Since we visit Cochin only once in a year, our parents work as a unit, making sure that we visit 101 houses and get enough excersice and lot of fluids to drink!!!  A healthy homeland visit indeed!!!

You might be thinking why I'm talking about a totaly different topic under the heading 'Sweet and Sour Pork'!!!  Its because this dish reminds me of my newly wed days!!!  It was at one such visit that we got to eat an extremely delicious sweet and sour pork,  prepared by one of my aunts. I hogged on it like a teenager, unthoughtfull of all the prep talks given by mom on being polite and graceful.  Aunt gave me the recipe and here it is with slight changes. Hope you will enjoy this as much we did...

You will need...

Pork belly strips - 500gm diced
Green bell pepper - 1/2 cut into squares
Red bell pepper - 1/2 cut itno squares
Onion - 1 cut itno squares
Cabbage - 1/2 cup cut into squares
Carrots - 1/2 cup sliced into round disks
Pineapple chunks - 1/2 cup
Dark Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Tomatto ketchup - 1 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
White pepper powder - 1 tsp
Chilly flakes - 1 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1-2 tsp
Ajinomotto(Monosodium Glutamate) - a pinch(optional)
Salt - to taste
Oil - as needed. (preferably sesame oil)

For the batter:
Cornflour - 1/4 cup
Plain flour - 1/4 cup
Eggs - 1
Salt - to taste
Sugar - to taste or 2 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Mix all the ingredients to form a thick batter, adding lukewarm water if needed.

Directions:

Pressure cook the pork with little salt, pepper and 1 tsp soya sauce.  Drain out the pieces and reserve the stock.  Dip the pieces in the prepared batter and deep fry in batches.  Keep aside. Add soya sauce, cornflour, vinegar, sugar, tomatto sauce, chilli sauce, white pepper powder, chilli flakes and salt into the pork stock and mix well.  In a thick bottomed pan or wok stir fry all the vegetables in sesame oil for about 5 minutes(the vegetables should remain crisp like in all chinese preparations) or until done in high heat. Add the prepared sauce and ajinomotto into it and let it boil.  Add the fried pork pieces and continue cooking for two more minutes or until few minutes to the consistancy you need.  Serve hot with chowmein or chinese fried rice.  Can be served as an appetizer as well.

Note: 

The consistancy of the gravy gets thicker upon standing.  So can take it off heat a few minutes before reaching the desired consistancy.

Chicken Pepper Stir Fry

One of my couch potato days and wanted to cook up something in a jiffy.  This recipe is an easy one when you are not having the patience to deep fry or wait until the oil leaves to the sides  :))

You will need...

Boneless chicken - 500gm
Sugar - 1 tsp
Bell peppers/Capsicum(red or green) - 1 sliced
Onion - 1 big sliced
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 5 chopped
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Sesame oil

To marinate...
Egg - 1
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Soya sauce- 1 tsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tbsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Mix chicken with all these ingredients and keep aside.

Directions:

Heat oil in a wok/non stick pan. Add sugar, when it turns brown add chicken and stir fry until well cooked. Add onions, bell peppers, ginger and garlic pastes. Fry until just cooked. Add chilli sauce, soya sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper powder and green chillies. Stir fry until chicken pieces turn golden. Serve hot.

Baby Corn Bullets

Few years back in Bangalore, I was turning the pages of a note book that I borrowed from my dear friend Anju, to see the caption "Baby corn bullets"!!!  When I realised what I saw and the curiosity crept over me, I had gone several pages further. Frantically turning back the pages I saw it again and hence was discovered the recipe of 'Baby corn bullets'!!!  Anju is blessed with infinite number of Aunts, each one qualifying in a couple of  delicacies, handicrafts and what not!!!  That way we were never short of innovative recipes, with fancy names like this which were trusted and tested. The recipe was duely copied and tried by me!!! Here is the outcome with few modifications...

You will need...

Baby corns - 300gm

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp(optional)

Green chillies - 5-6 chopped

Chilli flakes - 1 tsp

Spring onions - 3-4 chopped, greens and whites seperated

Onions - 2 chopped

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic - 5 cloves finely chopped

Ajinomotto - a pinch(optional)

Corn flour - 1 tsp

Sesame oil

Oil - for deep frying

Water

Salt

For the batter...

Corn flour - 2 tbsp

Plain flour - 1/2 cup

Ajinomotto - a pinch(optional)

Egg - 1

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Water

Mix all these to form a smooth batter and keep aside.

Directions:

Cut baby corns into two lengthwise. Keep it immersed in boiled water for 2 minutes.  Drain and dip each one in batter and deep fry in batches until golden brown.  Take care not to overcrowd the frying pan.  In a non stick/thick bottomed pan, in high flame add sesame oil and saute onions, garlic, ginger paste, and spring onion whites until onions turn translucent. Reduce heat to meduim, add all the sauces, green chillies, ajinomotto and chilli flakes.  Pour 1/2 cup of water mixed with cornflour and let it boil.  When it thickens and gets glacy, add the fried babycorns into it and mix well. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot. Can be served as an appetizer as well as a side dish for fried rice/chowmein.

Mixed Vegetable and Egg Chowmein

Maggie noodles!!! - it came into the market when I was 6yrs old. I used to literally drool seeing those tempting ads of kids 'vaccuming in' the yummy threads, with their lips. I still remember my Mom cooking it for the first time, as if it came from an alien land and suggested that 'idiyappam' would have been better :-). She still does'nt like noodles/chowmein. Lol. But it is one of my favourites and when no one is watching, I still do the 'vaccuming in'!! :D

You will need...

Egg noodles - 300gm
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Spring onions - 3-4 chopped (whites and greens seperated)

Onions - 1 big sliced

Green chillies - 3-4 chopped

Bell peppers(red, green, yellow) - 1 each sliced into thin stripes

Celery - 2 sticks chopped

Mushrooms - 100 gms sliced

Cabbage - 1/2 cup sliced(optional)

Bean sprouts - 1 cup

Scrambled eggs - 5

Ajinomotto - 1 pinch(optional)

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Chillie sauce - 1 tbsp

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Sesame oil - 2-3 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Cook noodles according to the packet instructions and keep aside. In a wok pan or non stick deep pot add oil and in full heat saute ginger garlic paste, green chillies, spring onion whites, and onions. Add all the other vegetables and stir fry. Once the water is gone add all the sauces, ajinomotto, salt, pepper powder, cooked noodles and scrambled eggs. Mix well. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

Note:

-Sometimes when the heat is not enough or when not using proper wok pan or if the vegetables give out lot of water, they get overcooked. So you can stir fry veggies in batches or each separately and then finally mix all of them together.

-Can add prawns, shredded meat or any veggies to suit your taste.

Chilly Chicken

ven though Chilly Chicken is not an authentic Cochin dish, it is one of the highly rated favourites. My hubby is a die hard fan of it. And whenever i have this dish, i think of my close friend Niranjana, who used to bring awesome home cooked chilly chicken, when she returned back to the hostel after breaks. And she is the one who taught me to make this dish after my endless unrewarding attempts. So here it goes...

You will need...

Boneless skinless chicken - 500gm(diced into small cubes)
Spring onions chopped (greens and whites seperated) - 4 sticks
Big onion - 1 (Chopped into meduim sized squares)
Green bell pepper - 1( Chopped into meduim sized squares)
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies chopped - 5( can adjust according to your spice level)
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Ginger paste - 1tsp
Garlic finely chopped - 1/2 pod
Ginger finely chopped - 1 inch
Celery stick - 1 finely chopped(optional)
Ajinomotto - a pinch
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Tomatto sauce- 1-2 tbsp
Sesame oil - 2-3 tbsp
Sunflower oil - as needed for frying
Chilli flakes - 1 tbsp (optional)
Salt - to taste

For marinade...
Eggs - 1
Cornflour - 25gm
Plain flour - 75gm
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Ajinomotto - a pinch
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Salt - 2 taste

Mix all these ingredients to make a thick smooth paste. Can add water if needed.
Note:- You can adjust the thickness according to your taste. Some people prefer the chicken pieces coated in a thick batter while others prefer it thin.

Step 1
Cook chicken pieces with little water, 1tbsp soya sauce, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tsp ginger garlic paste until the pieces are well cooked. Drain the chicken pieces out and restore the stock.

Step 2
Heat sunflower oil in a thick bottomed vessel. Dip the chicken pieces in the marinade and deep fry. Since the chicken pieces are already cooked this will take very less time since v need to get only the marinade cooked. Drain it into a vessel lined with kitchen tissue.
Note:-If u have left over batter mix it with the stock. If not add a tbsp of cornflour to the stock and mix well.

Step 3
In a non stick/thick bottomed vessel heat sesame oil(in full heat). Add chopped ginger, garlic and spring onion whites. Fry for two minutes. Now add chopped onions. Stir fry until the onions turn translucent. Add bell peppers and celery. When the bell peppers are half cooked, turn heat to low and add chilli powder, green chillies, soya sauce, tomatto sauce and ajinomotto. Stir well. Now add the chicken stock. Stir well and check the salt. Add if needed. Turn heat again to high, let it boil and now you can see that it turns into a thick glacy gravy. At this point you can adjust the consistancy of ur gravy by ading more water if you prefer to have it a bit runny. Add the fried chicken pieces into it. Simmer in meduim flame for 2-3 mins. Garnish with chopped spring onion greens. Serve hot with chowmein or fried rice. I like it even with chappathis or nans.