Life 'n' Such

Chicken 65, is my new best bud, I mean for my taste buds.

It is soooooo delicious, and spicy and so flavorful, people really wont be able to tell you used a box of spices to make it. To make this you need very few ingredients (cilantro and curry leaves, lots of them and couple eggs), and the box of Bane Nawab’s Chicken 65 masala. I got it from a Indian grocery store. Just follow the recipe to the letter, and newbies I promise you it will be perfect!

I ate it first at dear Falak bhabi’s house, you know the one who stays in Michigan with all the super spoilt, and adorably amazing kids, yeah, that bhabi. Why do all our bhabi’s have super cute kids? I dont know, I guess so I can be busy spoiling them all

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I think I am really mean just putting up pictures of the wonderful simple food I am eating, and leaving you all with no recipes.

Since this wonderful meal really just took a few minutes to make, I am quickly going to write how you could have it tonight and share it with your friends and family.

Today’s Menu:

Salmon (Pan fried),
Baked potato wedges,
Charred mini sweet colored peppers

Ingredients:

For Salmon:
salt, black pepper, garlic powder, good oil couple tbsp for frying (I used Olive Oil)

For Potatoes:
potatoes, washed, cut into wedges, salt, little black pepper, little red chilli powder, lots of oil, bread crumbs,

For Mini red peppers:
salt, oil, black pepper

Method:

Did you all notice, the ingredients, salt, pepper and oil are the base of all 3 dishes, so can you all imagine, how quickly you can put all this together? Also, less time for cleanup!

I started with the potatoes first, since they take the longest to cook.
Pre heat the oven to 400deg F, and then in a tray, put the potato wedges, and throw in all the ingredients, give it a nice toss and bake for about 30 minutes, pull out the tray, flip the wedges over, and bake another 10 minutes. Done.

Next, pull out the potatoes from the oven, drizzle the oil, salt, pepper over the peppers, and this time, put the oven on Broil (in certain ovens there is only temp setting, mine has 3 ie low, medium, and high, I put it on broil Med till the skin got charred a little bit)
Pull out the peppers, Done.

This technique is guaranteed to make your salmon perfect, that is crispy on the outside, and super soft and flaky on the inside.

Heat your pan on Med flame. Till then, on one side of the salmon, put salt, pepper and little garlic powder if you like. Put some oil in the pan, and when the oil is hot, gently put the salmon pieces in it, seasoning side down.
I recommend watching it while cooking, the color from the bottom is going to start turning lighter pink in color, when it reaches the middle of the piece, gently turn the pieces over. Again as the color from the bottom starts turning pink, and raises up, stop when it almost reaches the middle. Turn off the pan!
Its going to cook even if you take it off the pan. This will ensure a flaky interior not chewy Promise!

Enjoy a hot yummy simple meal, which seriously takes less than half an hour, hey Rachael Ray, aren’t you proud?

Note: I love drizzling lemon on fish before eating, it just tastes extra good!

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Okay, not exactly today again, but more like yesterday. But you all know how much I love this “look what I ate today” title

Shrimp biryani, yummy!

I have the recipe here: http://www.lifensuch.com/shrimp-and-vegetable-biryani.htm

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I just realized that most of my recipes start with ‘super’, ‘simple’, ‘quick’, and/or ‘easy’ in the title!!!

Well this recipe is all of the above, super, simple, quick and easy!

Ingredients:

Boiled eggs (1 per person)
Mayonnaise
Mustard sauce (if you like the flavor only then use it)
Salad leaves (optional, but it gives the sandwich a nice crunch)
Salt, pepper as per taste
Any whole grain bread slices (2 per person)
Butter (optional)

Method:

Peel the boiled eggs and almost mince them, add the mayo(enough to make a smooth mixture), mustard sauce (use sparingly, it has a strong flavor), taste and add salt and pepper as per your taste.

Butter the bread slices, spread some egg mix on the slice, top with a couple salad leaves and close the top with the other bread slice.

Done!

Now what was I saying earlier….easy peas-y? Oops I forgot to mention the source; dear Mumtaz aunty who was visiting recently with Qam uncle taught me new things, I always learn something new from her!

No Comments | In: Appetizer/Snack, Food, Other, Recipes | tags: easy, Egg, salad, sandwich. | #

Hello Hello! Long time huh? I know I keep pulling Houdini on you guys.

But I am back with a sweet one this time.

Sevai, I know all of you will be going… ‘another sevai recipe’. But promise, this is by far the simplest, that tastiest, in short.. the best recipe I have ever made for sevai.

I almost followed dear Mumtaz aunty (from Canada) recipe, except the proportion of sugar. I added way less, and I added ‘mawa/khoya’ at the end.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter or about 5 tbsp ghee
raisins and chopped nuts (optional)
sevai 1 packet, roasted vermicilli
water 2 cups,
2 pinches saffron,
4 cardamoms whole,
sugar ( I used a scooper, I am going to measure in a cup in sometime and update the recipe)

Method:

I did not have ghee, so I used 1 stick unsalted butter (about 8 tbsp). Boiled it, then added the roasted sevai, and on medium high, roasted till the sevai changed color (reddish). (If adding nuts and raisins, roast in the ghee before the sevai)

Then in another pan, I made sugar syrup with the sugar, water, cardamoms and saffron. Boil till the sugar dissolves.

Then pour the syrup slowly over the roasted sevai. Cover the pan with a tight lid, and let it steam till the syrup disappears and the sevai are tender.

Add the mawa/khoya over this.

While serving, serve hot with a drizzle of cream or if you prefer more sweeter then a bit of condensed milk.

This is such a quick recipe. I would say I did not even take 20 minutes to make this.

1 Comment | In: Appetizer/Snack, Dessert, Food, Indian, Other, Recipes | | #

Here’s what I ate today… see see, look look… it was divine!!

Sauteed Baby bella mushrooms, chicken kebab, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, salad leaves, hmmm.. hmm…hmm..

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… actually more like Yesterday, because the next post, is what I ate today…

so here you go guys…

Chicken Shawarma (I have left it open to show u the inside), but then instead of rolling the pita, I just folded half pita over the chicken.

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Tehsin, You are the best, in case you didn’t know it already!

Chipotle is not too expensive, but homemade rocks any day right? You have control over the salt, oil, butter etc.

Also, especially if you have a large family or a group of friends over for dinner, its an awesome idea for build your own burrito, huh, that’s what is my next theme for a dinner party.

Till then, how about I break down Tehsin’s recipe for Make-your-own-burrito.

Ingredients:

For Tomato salsa: fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro, green hot peppers (optional grated garlic)
For Corn salsa: Frozen Corn (microwaved and ready to use), salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro
Black Kidney Beans (Use a ready to use can and heat it, or follow my recipe for making ‘raajma’, use black beans instead of red ones)
Chicken cut in cubes (Preferable grilled chicken, but if you dont have grill, no problem, follow my chicken Tandoori recipe)
Green Bell peppers and Red Onions, cut length wise
Sour cream or I like just plain whole fat Yogurt (‘dahi’)
Mozzarella cheese shredded (I just use the one from Kraft, which is already shredded)
For rice: Cooked white rice, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and a little bit oil
Tortilla (store-bought, or homemade using all purpose flour (‘maida’) – Optional

Method:

1) Mix all the ingredients to make the tomato salsa (If using the garlic, I would recommend following my salsa recipe, where you would just mix the ingredients and boil for a few minutes)
2) For the corn salsa, mix all the ingredients and keep in a bowl.
3) Please follow the recipe if you like to make your own beans too.
4) Chicken, keep it hot after its cooked.
5) First stir fry the onions then the green bell peppers. They should not lose their crunch, so do this on a high heat.
6) Mozzarella and Sour cream or Yogurt are ready to use
7) For the rice, make rice, and then quickly toss the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, salt and a little oil. (Oil prevents the rice from becoming sticky)

Just create an assembly line (like in a factory). We like to make burrito bowl, instead of rolling up in a tortilla, trust me, looks pretty too, see the picture.

Enjoy!

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Tehsin gave me this recipe earlier, but I had not taken it down. And yes, I do make kadhi, but it is never perfect, so this time I wrote it down. My son loves yogurt. So he likes to eat this kadhi with Moong khichdi.

Ingredients:

1 bowl yogurt,
2-3 tsp chickpea flour (besan),
turmeric,
corriander seeds (dhania) pdr,
cumin (jeera) pdr,
red chilli pdr,
salt,
oil for cooking,
fenugreek (methi) seeds,
cumin (jeera) or mustard (rai) seeds,
optional chopped tomatoes, curry leaves, chopped onion, fresh green hot peppers, fresh cilantro (dhania)

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients up to salt, and keep it ready in a bowl.

In oil, fry methi seeds, till brown, add rai or jeera, then onion chopped (optional), and cook till translucent.

Add curry leaves, and tomatoes(optional), green chilli.

Add yogurt mixture, add water, cook till done. Stir continuously.

Fresh cilantro or coriander for garnish.

Note: Once I did not have chickpea flour, and I used all purpose flour instead, and it worked fine.

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Okay, first I have a confession, I hated sprouts as a kid. Okay another confession, I ate two slices of coconut cream pie yesterday. Oh! why did I do that?

Back to the sprouts, I don’t remember whether its the taste, or how they looked, but I regret that now so much.

But, now since I know, that they are good for me and you, I make a big pan of it once a week. I add it to almost everything.

I added it last night to my bowl of pasta and spaghetti sauce, (it doesn’t have a loud flavor, so it does not change your original dish’s flavor, but you add more punch to your meal)

You can sprinkle some on your salad, or add it to your sandwich. You can add it to your rice and make it a pilaf. So so versatile.

This is the best way I discovered to get sprouts.

Wash the Mung beans a couple times. Then soak them in water for about 8-9 hours (in colder places, soak them in hot water , not boiling). Then drain off the water. And let them sit covered for another 8-9 hours, till you see the little tail-like sprouts.

You can wait, for a few more hours, if your want the sprouts longer. But this is how I like them.

Then I just give it a little boil say 5 minutes, (don’t over boil, or you will lose the crunch). Now they are ready to be used anyway you like it.

P.s. Now I am regretting the coconut pie so much! Bad bad thing to do, especially 2 slices, oh! No retribution though for this act of mine. Just self torture.

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