Pepper 'n Spice

 The building blocks of the steak... Chicken breasts - 500g Salt Apple cider vinegar Pepper (whole) Black pepper powder Chili powder Ginger garlic paste Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Wash chicken well under running water. Cut each breast into two halves lengthwise. Slash it on top many times. This is so that when it is heated, the insides will be cooked thoroughly.  Marinate with salt, vinegar, whole pepper, pepper powder, chili powder and ginger garlic paste. Store in fridge overnight.  In a nonstick pan, dribble oil. Place the steak pieces gently. Cook on low heat, turning often; for half an hour or until nicely browned on both sides. Savor as such or as a sandwich with tomato and spinach leaves. Recipe adapted from here  .

 Chicken hashed and cooked with vegetables is a great side dish to rice and bread.     Ingredients are...  For marination, Chicken breasts - 500g Salt - 3/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Water - for pressure cooking chicken   For masala, Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Shallots - 10 to 12 Onion - 1  Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 2 cloves Green chili - 2 Water - for cooking onion Nutritional yeast - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Chili powder - a pinch Garam masala - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a smidgeon Tomato - 2 Carrot - 2 Drumstick - 4 Water - for boiling carrots and drumstick     Equipments required...  Cutting board  Mixie Steel pan Rubber spatula      The method... Wash chicken well in different changes of water. Chop into 1 inch bits and rub in salt and turmeric powder. Set aside for half an hour. Meanwhile, peel shallots, onion, garlic and ginger. Cleave shallots and onion into small pieces. Mince ginger, garlic and g...

An uncomplicated and straightforward biriyani for you.. :-) The innards of the scrumptious biriyani.. Basmati rice - 2 cups For marination, Chicken, curry cut - 1 kg Yogurt - 1 cup Kashmiri chili powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Salt - 1/4 tsp Pepper, freshly crushed - a tad Lemon - 1/2 Coconut oil - 3 Tbsp Cardamom, green - 2 Cloves - 2 Aniseed - 2 petals Cinnamon - 1 small stick Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - 3 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 3 cloves Green chili - 2 Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a smidgeon Coriander powder - 1 tsp  Meat masala - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves - a few The mechanism... Clean chicken pieces well. Sous with the marinating ingredients and refrigerate overnight. Submerse rice in water for an hour. Clean rice and drain water. Keep the chicken out, on the counter. Cut up onion into thin, long slices. Hash chili, ginger and garlic. Heat a deep bottomed saucepan and mizzle oil. Cast in cardamom, cloves, aniseed and cinnamon. A...

Lasagna consists of flat, thin pasta sheets. There are also lasagna sheets with ridged surfaces. Between these sheets, ground meat in tomato sauce, vegetables and cheese are stuffed. The minced meat in tomato sauce is called ragu. Usually there are three to four layers of pasta sheet in the dish. Al forno means that it is baked in a oven. Traditionally, this is a wood-fired oven. In our sought-after Italian restaurant in Stockholm, all dishes would be placed on a wooden board with a long handle and placed in the center of a brick oven. All pizzas from the eatery Forno Romano used to have that awesome charred flavor.     The ingredients required to knock up a delish lasagna..   Lasagna sheets - 4 Water Chicken, boneless - 300g Green bell peppers - 1 Olive oil - 2 tsp Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp Onions - 2 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 4 cloves Green chili - 1 Tomato - 2 Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Freshly ground pepper - 1/4 tsp Oregano - 1 tsp Shredded mozarella - 5 Tbsp...

Pan roasted chicken is scrummy! The marinated chicken is cooked in coconut milk and when it becomes tender, it is fried in a tad bit of coconut oil. The gravy for the roast is concocted separately. The fixings for the marination.. Chicken (curry cut pieces) - 500g Salt - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - a tad Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp The required ingredients for frying.. Coconut milk - 1/4 cup Coconut oil - 2 tsp The constituents for the succulent gravy... Coconut oil - 2 Tbsp Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Onion - 3 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 5 cloves Green chili - 3 Tomato - 2 small Salt - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - a speck Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Meat Masala - 1 tsp Water - a splash The mechanism.. Clean chicken well and souse with salt, turmeric powder and chili powder. Refrigerate overnight. Warm up a saucepan. Add in chicken, coconut milk and cover with a lid. Cook on low flame for half an hour, stirring oft. When the chicken is cook...

 The Mughals started ruling Upper India in 1526 when Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi in the first battle of Panipat. The empire achieved maximum geographical extent in 1720 during the rule of the last major emperor, Aurangzeb. Soon in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the empire was dissolved by the British Raj. But the influence of the Mughlai cuisine is still felt. The dishes range in flavor from mild to spicy, but very rich with the addition of milk, butter, cream, nuts, dried fruits and whole or crushed spices. Korma or Qorma (in Urdu) traces its roots to the Mughal court kitchens. It is a type of cooking in which meat or vegetables are fried lightly and then stewed in yogurt or cream. This scrumptious platter is braised with yogurt. The different elements of the qorma ... Chicken, boneless - 500g Yogurt - 5 Tbsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Olive oil, extra virgin - 2 tsp Cloves - 2 Peppercorn -2 Green cardamom - 1 Star anise - a small piece Cinnamon - a small stick Onion - 1 Ginger - 1 inch...

Chow mein is Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat or tofu. Chow means fried and mein means noodles. The sauce is made from sesame oil, oyster sauce and soy sauce. It has been westernized and indianized to suit the local flavor so much so that in some places the noodles is fried and in others it is boiled. Chow mein is believed to have been introduced in India by the Chinese inhabitants of Calcutta. Well, my chow mein has been nuanced to the taste buds of my home denizens and to the availability of resources. The different fragments... Veg hakka noodles - 75g Olive oil, extra virgin - 2 tsp Chicken, boneless - 1/2 cup Pepper, freshly crushed - a pinch Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves Cabbage - 3/4 cup Red capsicum - 1 Dark soy sauce - 2 Tbsp Red chili sauce - 1 Tbsp Salt - 1/4 tsp The way forward... Shred chicken and marinate with pepper, little salt and a tsp of soy sauce. Let it sit for 30 minutes. In a shallow saucepan, boil water with a drop of oil and a pinch of salt. When it...

 Chicken cooked in coconut milk is a delicacy because of the luxuriating effect of coconut milk on the palate. It's almost a celestial dish because it also has a tomato onion base. In malayalam, this specialty is called kozhi thengapalil vattichathu . It means that the chicken is cooked in coconut broth until all the water evaporates and all the masala sticks to the tender chicken chunks. So there will no liquid part of the curry remaining. It's almost dry, but with a soft texture. The miracle of coconut milk is that you need just add a little, mix and cook covered. It takes care of the rest. I have also noticed that the amount of salt to be added is marginally reduced.  The elements of the ethereal dish are.. Chicken, boneless - 500g Turmeric powder - a pinch Pepper, freshly ground - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Olive oil, extra virgin - 1 Tbsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Onion - 2 medium Green chili - 1/2 Ginger - 1 inch Garlic - 6 or 7 cloves Turmeric powder - a pinch Kashmiri chili po...

 Simple delights of the day; a pasta with lots of veggies and chicken as an add-on. I used leftover chicken from my previous stir fry for a pasta bliss ;-) With an aha moment after reading a recipe from a food blogging site , I proceeded henceforth... The factors that contributed to the pasta are.. Penne pasta - 3 cups Water Olive oil, extra virgin - 3 tsps Garlic - 3 or 5 cloves Green chili - 1/2 Cabbage, shredded - 1 and 1/2 cup Green capsicum, diced - 1 Broad beans, diced - 50g Chicken, boneless (cooked) - 100g Celery, chopped - 2 stalks with leaves Garlic powder - 1 tsp Oregano - 1 tsp Rosemary, dried - 1 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp The course of action.. In a deep bottomed saucepan, heat enough water to immerse the pasta. Add pasta, a pinch of salt and a drop of oil, Bring to boil. Cook until pasta has soaked in water and has cooked through and through. Drain excess water. Heat oil in a shallow saucepan. Add minced garlic and chili. Sautee for 2 or 3 minutes. Add cabba...

A super easy chicken dish with an Asian piquancy.  The different aspects of the dish... Chicken, boneless - 500g Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Pearl onion - 15 Curry leaves - a handful Ginger - 1/2 inch Green chili - 1 Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp  Celery - 1 stalk with leaves Lemon - 1 Warm up a shallow saucepan and add oil. When the oil heats up, add carom seeds. Then add curry leaves, minced onions, ginger and chili. Sautee for 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and spices. Add chicken, chopped into small bite size. Sautee for 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Add minced celery stalk and leaves. Squeeze juice of lemon and stir well. Savor the stir fry with hot steaming basmati rice. During my evening walk, I saw this cute kitten with its mother in our neighbor's home... :-)

 I cooked chicken rice, in a slightly different style. Of course. it had my favorite vegetable of the week, namely, pumpkin. There was also green capsicum, cabbage, corn, peas, carrot and celery. I remember I had the best chicken rice in Singapore; it was just chicken and rice. I guess they cook in the chicken broth, which makes it super tasty. The mystical constituents are.. Brown rice - 1 cup Water - 1 and 1/2 cup Olive oil - 2 tsps Green chili - 1 Ginger - 1" Chicken, boneless - 100g Peas, frozen - 1/2 cup Corn, frozen - 1/4 cup Green capsicum - 1 Carrot - 2 Cabbage - 1/4 cup Pumpkin - 1/2 cup Celery - 3 stalks with leaves Salt - 1 tsp Pepper - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Chicken masala - 1 tsp Soak rice in water for half an hour. Wash rice and drain water. Pressure cook with water, a pinch of salt and a drop of olive oil. Keep aside. Warm up a saucepan and add oil. When it gets hot, add minced chili and ginger. Sautee for a minute. Add thinly sliced chicken pieces....

So, I have converted the  sourdough pizza recipe  to one with oats too (100g oats flour and 198g of all-purpose flour). And it turned out well. Hope you  like too as much as we loved it :-) The integrals of the toppings are carrot, pumpkin, cabbage, green capsicum, corn and chicken.

 Been thinking of making chicken in a different style today and found one for which I had almost all the ingredients in my refrigerator . And my daughter's pronouncement was that Ït's good amma." So, the mystifying innards of the dish are.. Chicken, boneless - 800g, sliced into 1 inch pieces Olive oil - 2 tsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - a handful Green chili - 2 Garlic - 5 or 6 Ginger - 1 and 1/2 inches Onion - 2, medium Salt - 2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp Chicken masala - 1 and 1/2 tsp Tomato - 2 Celery - 3 stalks with leaves Potato - 2 Water - 1/4 cup Coconut milk - 1/4 cup The unbelievable formula for the chicken bowl... Heat up a saucepan and sprinkle oil. Add carom seeds. Then add curry leaves, minced green chili, ginger, garlic and chopped onions. Sautee for 6 to 7 minutes until onions become soft. Add spices and salt. Stir for 2 minutes. Add roughly chopped tomato, celery stem and leaves. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes and keep away from heat to cool. Gr...

In an attempt to incorporate less of refined flour in our food, I googled for a recipe of chicken with oats . Quite an hands free recipe with most of the work done by the oven. To start off, marinate slices of boneless chicken in salt, pepper and lemon juice. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. For the batter you need.. Olive oil - 2 Tbsp Salt - a pinch Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Garlic powder - 1 tsp Ginger powder - 1 tsp Quaker oats - 1/2 cup In a shallow bowl, add oil, salt and spices. Mix. Add oats and combine well. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper. Dip chicken slices in the oats batter so that it is coated completely. Place them on the baking paper. Preheat oven to 190C and bake for 35 minutes. Shades of red in our garden. I took a click of them when I took a stroll to digest all the healthy oats ;-)

Chicken lollipop was always a take away order for my daughter. Now that I am cooking more ascompared to take away and eat outs, I knew I could brighten her day by making this. So I googled chicken lollipop recipe . I grilled the marinated drumsticks first and then rubbed the ground masala on the meat. The marinade included.. Salt - 2/4 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Pepper - 1/4 tsp Clean the drumsticks well and coat with the above marinade. Refrigerate for 1 or 2 hours. Now you need to drizzle some olive oil on a flat baking dish. Grill for 25 minutes, tossing the chicken gently once or twice in between so that all sides are evenly grilled. Keep aside. The next step is to prepare the masala. This requires.. Olive oil - 1 tsp Carom seeds - 1/4 tsp Onion - 1 Ginger - 1" Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves Green chili - 1 Tomato - 1 Salt - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves - a few You are probably familiar with the homemade masala steps by no...

An incredibly easy dish once you have prepared the marinade. The marinade is the usual basic tomato gravy that we add for aaloo mattar,  mattar paneer.. The marinade needs.. Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Carom seeds - 3/4 tsp Curry leaf - a handful Onion - 1 big, peeled Green chili - 1 Ginger - 1 and 1/2" Garlic - 4 or 5 Tomato - 2 small Coriander powder - 1 tsp Chicken masala - 1 tsp Salt - 3/4 tsp Heat a saucepan and add oil. Add carom seeds and curry leaves. Sautee for a minute. Add thinly sliced onion, minced chili, ginger and garlic. Stir for 6 or 7 minutes until onion becomes soft. Add chopped tomato. Stir for 2 minutes. Add spices and stir until the raw smell of masalas disappear. Allow to cool. Grind to an almost rough paste. Chicken drumsticks - 500 g or around 6 of them Potato - 3 medium, peeled and cubed Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Wash chicken well. Marinate chicken and potato together with the ground masala. Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 200C. Place chicken and potato mix...

This is a North Indian style chicken preparation. I took notes from another food blogger and changed the recipe to suit our needs (toning down the chili). Mainly I incorporated the spices and masalas that I had (without rushing to the store). Anyways, nowadays we don't step out too much and depend on Amazon and local fruit and vegetable deliveries at our doorstep.  The ingredients are... Chicken boneless - 500g, cubed Almonds - 2 Tbsp Carom seeds (ajwain) - 3/4 tsp Spring onions - 4 Ginger - 1" Garlic - 4 or 5 Green chili - 1 Tomato - 3 small Chicken masala - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 3/4 tsp Pink rock salt, crushed - 1 and 1/4 tsp Water - 1/2 cup Green capsicum - 1, medium Olive oil -2 Tbsp Soak almonds in hot water for 15 mins. Drain water. Grind into a paste with a little sprinkle of water. Keep aside. Heat a saucepan and add 1 Tbsp of oil. Add ajwain and roast for half a minute. Add chopped spring onions, minced garlic, ginger and chili. S...