Grill chicken & lettuce salad

Preparation Time : 45 minutes | Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Ingredients
Skinless/boneless chicken breast halves - 2

Marinade
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp 
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Salad
Iceberg Lettuce -washed, rinsed and torn in small pieces.
Salad cucumber - 1
Green/red/yellow peppers - 1/2 each
Onion - 1
Dressing
Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tsp
White pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method 
Marinate the chicken with the ingredients mentioned above and keep it aside for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C & cook the chicken on the grill until juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through approximately 10-15 mins. Set the chicken aside. Once it is cool, slice it into thin pieces.


Make the salad dressing with the ingredients listed. Dice the peppers, onion & cucmber. Add the lettuce and the dressing and mix well.  Place the salad in a serving bowl, put the chicken pieces on them and serve immediately.

Pineapple Chilli Crab Stick Salad

Preparation Time : 10 minutes | Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Ingredients
Pineapple peeled - 1 medium
Fresh red chillies - 2
Crab sticks - 6
Roasted peanuts - 2 tbsp
Garlic cloves - 8-10
Ginger chopped -1 tsp
Salt to taste
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Green capsicums - 1/4
Cucumber - 1 medium
Spring onions with greens - 3
Sliced onions 2 tbsp
A few iceberg lettuce leaves

Method
To make dressing
Pound garlic cloves, ginger, fresh red chillies and salt in a mortar with a pestle and put into a bowl. Add soya sauce, sugar and lemon juice and mix well.

Dice green capsicum. Slice unpeeled cucumber. Diagonally slice spring onions with little greens and put everything into another bowl. Quarter the pineapple, add to the second bowl. Diagonally slice crab sticks and add. Add sliced onions and the dressing and mix well. Add roasted peanuts and mix.

Roughly tear iceberg lettuce leaves and place them in a serving bowl. Put the salad on them and serve immediately.

Courtesy: Sanjeev Kapoor

Crunchy coriander fish with peanut yogurt dip

Preparation Time : 30 minutes | Cooking Time : 45 minutes

Ingredients
Fish fillets - medium sized (2)
White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tbsp
Pepper corns - 8 to 10
Red chilies (whole) - 3 to 4
Thyme - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup
Maida (refined flower) - 4 tbsp
Corn starch - 1 tbsp
Oil for frying
Salt as per taste.

Method
Cut the fillet into 8 pieces, marinate it with salt, pepper powder, lemon juice for half an hour. Dry roast the coriander seeds, pepper corns & red chilies. Grind to a coarse powder. Add thyme to this.
In a bowl mix the spice powder, finely chopped coriander leaves, corn starch & the refined flour.
Now coat the marinated fillets in this mixture and shallow fry until crisp.

You can chose an appropriate dip to go along with the fish. I chose the peanut yogurt dip which went well with the fish and the salad.

Peanut yogurt dip
Ingredients
Yogurt- 2 cups
Peanuts(roasted) -1/4 cup
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) -2 tbsp
Red chilies - 2
Cream - 1/4 cup
Salt as per taste

Method
Hang yogurt overnight in a muslin cloth, keep in the refrigerator (it should not be sour). Crush peanuts coarsely, remove the stem and crush the red chilies.  Take yogurt in a bowl, whisk well, season with salt. Add crushed red chilies, peanuts, chopped coriander leaves. Whisk in the cream and mix well.

Koonthal pirallan (Squid stir fry)

Preparation Time : 60 minutes | Cooking Time : 45 minutes

Ingredients
Koonthal (squid)- 1 kg
Shallots - 15 or 1 big onion
Chopped garlic - 2 tsp
Chopped ginger - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2tsp
Turperic powder - 1/2tsp
Coconut pieces - 2 tbsp
Coconut oil or Veg oil - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste

Method
Clean the squid nicely and cut them into rings.Roast all the dry masalas together until the raw smell goes away. Add this to the squid along with salt & coconut pieces. Pressure cook it for about 15 mins or 3 to 4 whistles.

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped ginger, garlic, onions and curry leaves. Saute for about 5 mins until onions are translucent. Now add the squid along with the stock and cook on low flame until semi-dry. It would take about 10 mins.

Serve hot with plain rice. It goes will with curd rice also.

Vegetable Nizami seekh

Preparation Time : 45 minutes | Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients
Potato,boiled and mashed - 1 medium
Carrot,boiled and chopped - 1 medium
Green peas,boiled and mashed - 1/2 cup
Butter - 3 tablespoons
Ginger paste - 2 teaspoons
Garlic paste - 2 teaspoons
Caraway seeds (shahi jeera) - a pinch
Salt to taste
Rock salt (sendha namak) - a pinch
Red chilli powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Green cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Black cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Clove powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Cashewnut paste - 2 tablespoons
Fresh cream - 1 tablespoon
Processed cheese,grated - 3 1/2 tablespoons
Roasted chana dal powder - 3 tablespoons

Method

Heat one tablespoon butter in a pan. Add carrot, green peas, ginger and garlic pastes and sauté. Place the mashed potatoes in a bowl. Add the sautéed vegetables, caraway seeds, salt, rock salt, red chilli powder, cumin powder, green cardamom powder, black cardamom powder, clove powder, cashewnut paste and cream and mix well. Add cheese and mix. Add roasted chana powder and mix well.

Grease your palms. Take a small portion of the mixture and dab it around a skewer. Press well and shape into a seekh kabab. Similarly make more kababs and keep them in the refrigerator for about fifteen minutes before cooking them. Heat the remaining butter in a pan, place the skewers and cook till the kababs are evenly golden. Serve hot.

Recipe courtesy: Sanjeev Kapoor

Vegetable Samosa

Preparation Time : 30 minutes | Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 packet of spring roll pastry
Large potatoes-3
Green peas-3/4 cup
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Onion -1(chopped)
Chilli powder-1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp( chopped )
Lemon juice-2 tbsp
Flour-2 tbsp
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Make the Samosas Filling

Pour water into a small bowl with flour, and mix well until it has a thin, glue-like consistency.


Boil the potatoes and chop into small bite-sized pieces. Put them in a medium bowl, then add  boiled peas, chopped onions, spices, coriander, and lemon juice. Mix everything together. Samosa filling is ready.

Place your pastry sheet on the cutting board. Lift one corner of half of the pastry sheet towards the center. Apply the flour glue.Lift the other edge of half and lay over the previous. Press to seal. Now, you have formed a dough cone.Hold the cone in your hand, and take about a tablespoon of filling and stuff the samosa. Seal the open lip with sealer. Fold the edge over. Press and seal.

Heat the oil in a deep pan on medium heat. Put in the samosas, and fry them on one side until they are golden brown. Then turn them over and fry on the other side.

Take them out of the pan on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. You can serve them hot with sauce or chutney.

Eggless Chocolate Brownies with Yogurt

Christmas is just around the corner and the right time for baking. My boys are very fond of brownies, thought I'd start this festive season with brownies. I came across this recipe on the internet and prepared it today.

Click here for the recipe Eggless Chocolate Brownies with Yogurt

Thanks Aarathi for the recipe. You put in step by step pictures that made it all the more easier to prepare this dessert. Thank you once again. My family especially the kids loved the brownies.