Trial and error (8): Paalak murg or Spinach chicken

Continuing with my effort to cheer myself up I tried this simple recipe of Paalak Murg (Spinach Chicken) gravy. Living abroad I have often found the lamb meat does not taste as nice as back home. As a result I mostly cook chicken or sometimes prawns. So I thought that I should try something new using chicken.

How I did it?
I have been following Mehan's Kitchen blog for some time now. Previously I have made broccoli cutlets using a recipe from the blog. This time I chose Chicken and Spinach Curry recipe there. The one minor addition that I made was using two diced tomatoes to make the gravy along with the onion. As I did not have garam masala, I substituted it with biryani masala.

Notes on cooking technique.
I have to admit that for once I did not come across any difficulties while cooking Paalak Murg. In the future too I don't see any reason to deviate from the methodology.

My verdict.
It was totally yummy and I enjoyed eating Paalak Murg with chapatis. Here are is a picture for you to see:

Paalak murg or Spinach chicken gravy

Trial and error (7): Broccoli quiche

Last week I was feeling a bit low. So I thought of changing things a bit over the weekend by trying out a couple of new and of course easy recipes. :) Yesterday evening I gave making Broccoli Quiche a try.

How I did it?
I followed the video for the above dish on allrecipes.com (see here). I used shredded cheddar cheese and a store bought readymade pie crust which made the cooking very simple. The other small difference was that instead of using broccoli heads as it is, I chopped them into smaller pieces.

Notes on cooking technique.
As the pie crust was not pre-baked in the oven before placing all the filling over it, the base remains soft. The next time I will probably try to make it crispy and brown by baking it first initially for 10 min with weights and then without them for another 15 min. I did set the oven to 350 F but after 20 min when I did not find the filling to solidify and set, I increased the temperature 400 F and baked for another 10 min.

My verdict.
I definitely enjoyed the end result. As the broccoli quiche was made for dinner time I served it with pasta. One could also have salad on the side as a more healthy option.

Here are the photos of my effort:

Home made broccoli quiche

Trial and error (6): Chicken meat ball curry

I have to admit that during Christmas vacations I took it real easy. There was more ordering in of food and little of proper cooking. The snow storms that struck the city, also struck my enthusiasm. But with the new year not being so new any more and my birthday a week away I seem to be getting my drive back. So I thought of trying my hand at something I had made a long time back: Chicken meat ball curry.

There are two reasons that I have shied away from this one up until now: (1) the first time that I did make it I remember the meat balls broke when cooking and (2) the high standards that my husband holds with respect to this dish. He has grown up eating this delicious lamb meat ball curry which his aunts make. But the recipe is really intricate. So as a start I decided as usual to find an easier route.

How I did it?
I have been following Bong Mom's CookBook blog for a while. To be honest I love her writing, the stories that precede the recipes. Plus, the photos of the dishes do give confidence that she is good at what she does. Searching through her repertoire I found this post: http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/kofta-curry-and-then.html and followed the instructions without deviating much. As I did not have cashew nuts and yoghurt I left them out.

Notes on cooking technique.
What is interesting is that Bong Mom's Cookbook tells that you can do the koftas (meat balls) three ways. You can fry them and serve as a starter, make them into a curry or use to make a pulao. I tried the first two and in both cases the meat balls came out nice and soft. In the meat balls mix along with coriander leaves I also added some mint leaves to give it a tangy taste. Though it wasn't mentioned I used 1 egg for binding. I have to admit that I added less salt in the meat balls. This was worked as far as the curry was concerned because the meat balls absorb the saltiness from the gravy when left standing. But it did leave the plain fried koftas wanting.
       
       I first made the meat ball mix and refrigerated it. While it was in there I began working on making the gravy. As the onions, tomatoes and ginger-garlic need to be cooked and cooled first before blending into a paste, by the time I was done 45 min had gone which was the more than the minimum time (30 min) for the meat balls mix to marinate.

My verdict.
Given that it was rather cold in the evening when I made this recipe it did not take me too long to cook it. I do intend to make it again with one variation of adding coconut milk. I think it will make it tastier.

Here is the final photo after much of the meat balls had been devoured:

Meat balls in curry and as an appetizer

Trial and error (5): Fried chicken and French fries

Early this month my aunt came home visiting us for a few days. During that time my husband and I together cooked her some tasty South Indian food that we eat regularly. Of course we also took her around the neighbourhood and at the excuse of treating a guest we ourselves got to eat in our favourite restaurants.

When it comes to fast food we haven't been able to find the popular brands in our immediate vicinity. So knowing my husband's liking I set out to try KFC Fried Chicken and McDonald's French Fries in my very own kitchen as a weekend dinner.

How I did it?
I searched over blogs and youtube to find the right recipes for the two dishes. Some even claimed to reveal the hidden secret. Eventually I mixed up a couple of versions in tandem with the ingredients I had with me. So the following are the steps to follow:

For McDonald's French Fries

1. Peel the skins from 3 long (Russet) potatoes and cut them lengthwise, like typical shapes of fries. Soak them in water for 5 minutes to remove the starch.
2. In a deep dish bring water to boil and then blanch the potatoes in it for 5 min.
3. Drain the water and cool the potatoes in ice water to stop the cooking process.
4. Next dry the potatoes either on a paper napkins or a towel.
5. Place the potatoes in a dish, cover it and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
6. Bring them out just at the time of cooking. You do not need them to come to room temperature.
7. When the oil heats nicely deep fry the potatoes for a few minutes till they becomes slightly yellow in colour. Drain on paper towels to remove the excess oil.
8. For serving season with salt.

KFC Fried Chicken

1. Wash the skinned chicken (I used 9 drumsticks), drain the water and pat dry. Marinate in 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste for 30 minutes.
2. To prepare bread crumbs dry 3 bread slices in an oven at 300 F for 15 minutes (if bread is fresh), turning them over every 5 minutes. Allow them to cool and blend in a mixer/processor to a coarse texture. Keep aside.
3. In a large flat dish mix together 1 cup all-purpose flour (maida in India), 2 tsp chilli powder, 2 tsp pepper powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 2 tsp salt. Then add the prepared bread crumbs to it and give it a mix.
4. In another large bowl whisk 1 egg and add 1/2 cup milk to it.
5. At the time of cooking first put the oil to heat.
6. While the oil heats, start coating the chicken legs by first dipping in the egg and milk mixture and then rolling it around in the dry flour-bread crumb mixture. Keep them aside in a plate.
7. To know the oil is ready add a little wet flour and see if it immediately rises to the top. When this happens fry the coated chicken pieces in batches. If they are not completely covered in oil then you will need to turn them around to let them cook from all sides.
8. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes to get the (slightly dark) brown colour (but not burnt) on the outside. 
9. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
10. Serve with French fries on the side.

Notes on cooking technique.
Regarding the French fries, I think I blanched the potatoes for nearly 7-8 minutes and so they became softer than needed. So the 5 minutes time in the above recipe is just correct. Ideally one is supposed to pack the potatoes in air tight bags and freeze them to make them crunchier. But as I didn't have such bags and the right containers, I refrigerated them instead. Further, I only fried the potatoes for about 2 minutes as they were already quite cooked and so they didn't get that yellow. As an alternative one could perhaps add turmeric powder to bring out that colour.

      In my "research" I saw two types on recipes for fried chicken. One in which the skin was removed from the chicken and another in which it was kept intact. I happened to have both types of chicken legs. What I found was that keeping the skin on made the fried chicken more crunchier. For making the dry mixture I used 2 cups of all-purpose flour but with the same measure of spices as in the above recipe. As a result I needed to season the fried chicken with some extra salt on the top. Further, even after coating all the 9 chicken pieces I had half of the flour mixture remaining. So, the 1 cup of flour that I have mentioned in the steps is the right quantity to take.

      Though I made bread crumbs by myself, it was because I had forgotten to buy it from the supermarket. You could very well use the ready made ones and save some time. From what I have read if one were to also mix in some corn flakes along with the bread crumbs, it would make the fried chicken still crunchier. I definitely plan to make that addition in my next trial. Most recipes add garlic and onion powders into the flour. But as I didn't have either of the two I instead marinated the chicken in ginger-garlic paste. You could also add herbs like oregano and sage leaves if you have them in your kitchen cabinet.

My husband's verdict.
He loved the look of the fried chicken. Though he had the KFC taste in mind, he still liked it. He felt it would be nicer to have it during evenings instead of as a large dinner meal. As long as he thought it was a decent attempt it is encouraging enough to try it again.

Here is the photo resulting from all that frying heat:

Fried chicken and French fries

   

Trial and error (4): Potato cup frittata

I have to admit that though I have learnt to make quite a few dishes for the daily meals, I have been afraid to go beyond that. This is mainly because while the eating part is quick, cooking generally takes much longer. So when trying something new a build up is created which can be misleading like an expected blockbuster film which turns out to have gone all wrong. There have been quite a few occasions when this is exactly what has happened to me. The fact that I am an emotional cook makes it worse. If my pooris don't rise, chapatis are not soft or biryani is not perfect you will find tears dripping down my face.

The good thing about living in Providence is that unlike Uppsala in Sweden, we can get food home delivered. So there is something to fall back on. Not that being forced to do this will make me feel any better. So with a little trepidation I decided to step out of the snack zone to dinner service. However, as always I chose a recipe that would be easy to deliver and would have an appearance and a taste that I could recognize to know for sure of its success or failure.

For the Christmas lunch one of the dishes that my landlady had made was the frittata. In the first Masterchef USA mystery box challenge the contestants were asked to cook something stunning using an egg. A frittata made it to the top three. As I searched over the internet I found that this is really an Italian omelette which makes use of all kinds of filling ingredients like potatoes, spinach, broccoli, zuchini, bacon and ham but obviously not all at the same time. It may be cooked on the stove or in the oven. You can serve it as a breakfast, lunch or dinner along with a salad.

How I did it?
I was all set to make a traditional frittata (like a big pizza circle) on Saturday night when I found a different way of cooking it inside small potato cups as shown by Averagebetty (click to see recipe). I used sautéed onions and green capsicum with coriander leaves but avoided the dressing up with the baby tomatoes. I also refrained from adding cumin powder and fresh cream.

        Finally I served the frittats with a classic salad in drizzled with vinegar and a cheesy pasta. The latter was bought from the market as I was not sure if the frittatas on their own would be filling for tummies used to heavy Indian dinners.

Notes on cooking technique.
Though I drained the potato shreds of water I found that still some remained at the end. I am not sure if this caused any adverse affect. I spread them around the muffin cups with fingers more easily than a spoon. I perhaps used more shreds than were necessary as the base seemed to remain soft.

         The video showed a green chilli paste being added to the egg mix. I used two chillies to make a paste but as it did not become as fine as I wanted, I added some water to get the chilliness into it. I then drained off the chilli bits and used the water to spice up the egg mix.

          When filling the potato cups with the egg mix it looked like there were too many veggies and little of the egg itself. But on baking the frittatas rose and the combination came out right. For removing the frittatas I slid a knife around in a circle. But because the muffin tray was not non-stick some of the potato shreds on the base did not come out. At the same time it wasn't much of a struggle or cause for frustration.

My husband's verdict.
He was very happy with the end result so much so that he made me give some to the other two residents of our building, one of them being our landlady who was the inspiration behind trying the frittata recipe in the first place.

Here is the photo of the dinner plate. Enjoy!

Potato cup frittatas for dinner

Trial and error (3): Crispy rice balls

Quite a few months back we had bought some rice flour to make idiyappams at home. In simple words these are steamed rice noodles. When in Chennai we normally have them with chicken kurma which has a coconut gravy as a base. Unfortunately in our maiden attempt both the batter and the instrument for pressing out the noodles gave us trouble. After this colossal failure the rice flour was relegated to a not easily visible corner.

Now that I am back on my cooking track, I thought of looking for recipes that put to use rice flour and Crispy rice balls came to my rescue.

How I did it?
I simply followed Tarla Dalal's directions given on the link. I used 1/2 cup water for about 2 cups of rice. I did not double the quantity of rice flour from 1/2 to 1 cup as it was a bit coarse in texture. I added about 1/2 tsp of chilli powder though it wasn't mentioned in the recipe.

Notes on the cooking technique.
As I read the method for making the rice balls I realized that my mother used to make something similar except it was with only onions, using soaked bread slices instead of rice flour, making cylindrical shapes and not balls and shallow frying versus deep frying. But as the whole point was to use rice flour I decided to follow Tarla Dalal.

       From my end I kneaded the mixture well so that the rice grains were no longer separate but got meshed. I found that deep frying allowed the rice balls to be evenly browned from all around. According to a reviewer of the recipe it is the rice flour which gives the crispiness.

My husband's verdict.
To my great relief he liked them. It tickled me when my husband thought that they were made from potatoes. What delighted me more was when he was willing to have them again with tea.

Here is the photo of the Crispy rice balls. 

Crispy rice balls made at home

Trial and error (2): Broccoli cutlets

I started the year with the aim of learning a new dish every month (see post). But one early February morning I cut my finger with a knife quite badly and ended up getting a couple of stitches. So that kept me out of the kitchen for a while. Then since my recovery my husband and I have been having friends over at home for lunches or dinners rather frequently. As a result I never went beyond my first attempt. However, watching the new season of Master Chef USA got me excited enough to look at recipes.

For me one of the most daunting tasks is to find some nice thing to munch with our evening tea. All you find in the food stores in Providence are cookies, potato chips and under salted nuts. The shop where we get all the Indian goodies is really far from home and so we go there once a month. The chivdas that we buy however, get consumed within a week to a fortnight. Then there are times when one is in a mood for hot stuff and I end up making onion bhajjis or pakoras. Looking for another alternative I came across the recipe of Broccoli fritters cutlets.

How I did it?
Yesterday evening I tried the one outlined by  Mehan's Kitchen. You can find from the link that cooking them requires very few ingredients and the process is also really easy. Like the author I used besan or chick pea flour, but instead of cheddar cheese I added mozzarella cheese.

Notes on cooking technique.
I found that the final mixture was not dry and somewhat wet. So I used a tablespoon to spread the batter directly on the hot pan as making the cutlets beforehand would have been messy. The good part is the cheese did not melt and spill out.

My husband's verdict.
He thought that the Broccoli cutlets came out well. They were crispy from the outside and soft from the inside.

In all Broccoli cutlets can be considered as a good tea time snack which do not require much cooking time or effort. Hope the photo below entices you to give them a try:

Snacking on Broccoli cutlets

Trial and error (1): Pan-fried lamb chops

One of the promises that I have listed to keep this year is to try out new recipes [Refer post 2]. To add a seriousness to it I have decided that on a minimum I will make one such attempt per month. Clearly I am no Julie Powell who completed the challenge of cooking all the 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". While I admit I haven't read Julie Powell's book nor her famous blog where she wrote about her trials and errors, based on the movie Julie & Julia it looks like when she undertook the Julie/Julia Project she loved cooking and already had some skills in the kitchen. As I am not as much of a cooking enthusiast the low cap that I have self imposed can be forgiven. At the same time for having already begun on this journey so soon my determination should be applauded.

Wanting to start with an uncomplicated yet delicious recipe requiring little expertise, I chose Grilled Pan-fried lamb chops.

How I did it?
I followed Giada De Laurentis' recipe from foodnetwork.com but substituting thyme with mint leaves and adding juice of half of a lemon when making the marinade. For pan frying I used a little canola oil letting a tablespoon of butter melt into it before placing the lamb chops. I used shoulder lamb chops which are a bit harder. Since I wanted them well done, I cooked both sides of the chops for 10 min each. I served the chops with based potatoes and boiled peas with a dash of butter.

Notes on cooking technique.
My first comment on the final outcome is that I should have made either more portions of the chops or served an appetizer before, as one piece was not filling enough. Secondly, it turned out that in my first attempt I had employed a cooking time of 15 min on each side which was more than necessary and made the meat slightly firm. When I remade this dish a couple of days ago, based on directions given on ehow.com I first fried each side for 5-6 min. But I found that the meat remained undercooked. Frying each side additionally for 5 min on high flame made it just right. The meat was cooked through as well as slightly tender.

My husband's verdict.
His rating for the dish: 7/10 which for me equals "not bad". He was happy though I made an effort.

This is how the Pan-fried lamb chops came out looking:

Pan-fried lamb chops for dinner