Pineapple Fried Rice

This next dish is the by-product of my obsession with fried rice. In this experiment I have tossed in some fresh pineapples, few veggies and some toppings in addition the usual fried rice ingredients. All in all it should take only around 30 minutes to have this fried rice all set. If you don’t have fresh pineapple, you can always go for the canned ones. I have replaced carrots & corn with cooked & chopped eggs. You can also add a non-veg flair to this dish with the addition of some cooked chicken – I have stuck with veg version over here.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. veg oil
• 1 tbsp. garlic crushed/minced
• ½ cup carrots finely sliced
• ½ cup green peas cooked
• ½ cup corn (Optional)
• ½ cup red bell peppers (optional)
• ½ cup spring onions chopped
• 2 cups pineapple titbits
• 1 ½ tbsp.. tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp. vinegar
• 7 cups cooked basmati rice
• Salt, pepper and coriander leaves for seasoning & garnishing. 

Heat veg oil in a non-stick pan and add garlic. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add carrots, peas, corn and red bell peppers. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add spring onions, ketchup, vinegar, salt, pepper and pineapple. Stir for a while and add rice. Cook for about 3-5 minutes stirring constantly. 

Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves….. Enjoyyyy!!!!

Grilled Quesadillas

I had tortilla in my pantry and so I was in mood for some warps. However since that would have meant the plenty of seasoning & stuffing, I decided to settle down for something quite simple & that’s how I ended up with these quesadillas. It only takes around 30 minutes for cooking these & they can double up either as an appetizer or even as one of those mid-meal snacks!!.

Ingredients

• 4 tortillas
• 2 cheese slices divided
• 2 chicken breast
• 4-5 tbsp. Barbeque sauce
• 1 onion medium julienned
• ¼ cup chilli vinegar
• 3 tsp. sugar
• Few coriander leaves

In a bowl add onion, vinegar and sugar and keep it for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Take a non-stick pan, add 1 tbsp. veg oil and add chicken pieces; brush bbq sauce on to the top and cook until done. (You can also grill the chicken as well).Transfer them into your chopping board and cut them into strips.

Heat your grilling pan, brush a tad of oil onto the grill. Take the tortilla and top with onions, chicken, coriander leaves and half of cheese slice. Grill them for about 2-3 minutes on each sides or until cheese is melted.

Homemade Burger

My husband has been such a burger-holic & has been taunting me forever for not ever making a burger for him. So naturally I had to make this at some time. Since I had this recipe to make a bun I went ahead with the same & have listed out the same below. But otherwise any burger bun that is available in the stores would also do well. Finally when the burger was served & devoured my husband was at peace & I just hope there will be an increment in my pocket allowanceJ!!

Ingredients

For the bun

• 2 Cups of plain flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. instant  yeast
• 1 tbsp. butter softened
• 2 tbsp. Warm milk + warm water required to knead the dough
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• Sesame seeds to sprinkle

For the Burger patty

• 3 bread slices
• 250 gms minced meat
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. pepper powder
• ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded(or any cheese))
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tbsp. garlic salt
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. mayo
• Few lettuce leaves

For the Bun: In a standing mixer, add milk, water, yeast and sugar. Add egg until incorporated. Add flour and mix completely and then add the butter. (You can add more warm water if you feel the dough is thick. But do not add more flour; this will make your bun tough)

 Knead everything into dough and keep it to rise for about 2-3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the bun on a baking sheet and brush with egg whites on top and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

For the patty: Coarsely grind the bread slices and add 1/3 cup of water and mix nicely. Add 1 egg, minced meat, minced garlic, pepper powder. Shape into thin disc like patties. Put some mozzarella cheese onto the middle of the disc and take another patty and put it on top of the other. Seal the edges using fingers.

Dip the patties, in the egg and then in the flour mixture and keep them in the freezer for 20-25 minutes. Take them out and again dip them in the egg and flour mixture and deep fry until golden on both sides.

Divide the bun and spread some mayo on both sides of the burger. Put some grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce and juicy patty and enjoooyyyyyyyyyy the bliss!!!!!

Creamy Zucchini and Asparagus Pasta

There is a pasta routine at my place & this next variant was the end product of one such routine. While I try out most of the sauces, white sauce happens to be my all-time favourite. In this pasta, I have added cream cheese, veggies & topped it with seasoning to experiment with the flavour.

Ingredients

• 8 oz . Pipe pasta
• 1 zucchini cubed
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1cup button mushroom chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped or grated1
• 1 tbsp. plain flour
• ¼ tsp dried basil leaves and crushed red pepper
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 4oz Cream Cheese cubed
• 1 slice of cheddar cheese

Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt.

In a non-stick pan, heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add zucchini, mushrooms and garlic; cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Add flour and seasonings; cook and stir for about 1 minute till flour is properly cooked. Stir in chicken stock. (You can add 1 ½ chicken stock cube to 1 cup of water as an alternative for chicken stock).

Cook for 4 minutes on a medium flame until thickened. Add cream cheese and mix nicely until melted.

Drain the pasta and mix into the sauce mixture. Mix completely. Transfer to a microwavable dish and grate cheddar cheese on top and microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese melts.

Creamy gooey hot pasta..Yuummmm J

Crispy Chicken Bites

It’s kind of mandatory that there should be snacks served alongside the evening tea. While I do give this ritual the occasional pass, there are days that I try to come up with something & this next dish was the offspring of one such day. This is an altered version of a regular chicken samosa. All you need is some samosa sheets, the following ingredients and some time to get these snacks ready. These crispy bites goes pretty well both as a tea time snack and as an appetizer.

Ingredients

• 1 Chicken breast finely chopped or shredded
• 2-3 tsp. Soya sauce
• 1 tsp. Chilli garlic sauce
• 1-2 tsp. Pepper powder
• 2 tsp. Tomato sauce
• Coriander leaves a handful
• 2 Potatoes medium boiled
• 1 egg white beaten
• 1 tbsp. veg oil
• Samosa sheets

In a non-stick pan, add oil and fry chicken pieces until thoroughly cooked. This will take for about 5 minutes. Add soya sauce, chilli garlic sauce and tomato sauce and stir nicely. Add pepper powder and sauté for a while. Add more pepper if you require. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, mash the potatoes nicely with fork/hands or masher. Add the chicken mixture to it and coriander leaves and mix well.

Take the samosa sheets and put a tbsp. of mixture with a spoon; brush the sides with egg whites and roll the sheets into your desired shapes and seal the edges with the egg white.

In a pan, heat 2-3 tbsp. veg oil on a medium flame. Add the rolls and fry until brown patches on both sides. Transfer to a paper towel.

Serve with ketchup /tomato chilli sauce or sour and sweet sauce and Enjoyy!!!!

Breaded Chicken With Spinach & Garlic

This next chicken variety was picked up during our stay at the US. Being a baked dish this one is quite the light one & hardly takes that much time in cooking. When paired with some spinach & garlic as sides, this breaded chicken does turn into a yummy main course!!!

Ingredients

• 2  chicken breasts 
• Seasoned Coating Mix (1/2 packet)
• 4 tbsp. parmesan Cheese
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups  baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 250°C.

Place the chicken breast in a Zip lock bag and pound them to ¼ inch thickness.

Coat them in the seasoned mix. Line a baking tray with foil and bake the chicken for 15 minutes. Take from the oven and sprinkle some cheese on top and bake for 5 minutes till cheese is melted.

In a non- stick pan, add oil and sauté garlic for about a minute or two. Add the spinach leaves and cook until wilted.

Transfer the spinach and garlic to a serving plate with chicken and enjoy!!!!

Chicken Fry

There are several variants of this next dish. The following variant of the chicken fry was introduced to me by Deepa Aunty (Sis in law’s mother). An awesome cook herself, she was more than willing & generous to share the recipe with me. I had trying frying chicken with corn flour & plain flour. However this was the first time I was making it with only rice flour. As with all fried chicken, this one too happens to be crispy on the exterior & at the same time juicy in the interior. This is ideally a side dish & can also come in handy for your hubby’s round of drinks. Once again a load of thanks to Deepa aunty for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 tsp. Ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp. Soy sauce
• A pinch of salt
• 2-3 tbsp. Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tbsp. chilli powder
• 3-4 chicken drumsticks
• ¾ cupRice flour
• 1 Egg
• 4 tbsp. Veg oil

Grind ginger garlic paste, soy sauce and chilli and kasmiri chilli powder together. Marinate the chicken with this for half an hour or more (I kept it for 2 hour).

Dip the drumsticks in the egg and then in the flour. Heat the oil in a non- stick pan. Fry till golden brown on both sides.

Yuummmmmmyyyyyyy is the only word for this dish!!!! Thank you so much Deepa Aunty J