Cheat’s Guide to Chicken Ghee Roast

Before I write anything about the recipe, I want to say that it’s been more than a couple of years now since I’ve posted any recipes. My son is a little big boy now and I can manage to find some time to blog again! So here I am back with a recipe. 

Chicken Ghee Roast is another popular dish from my hometown Mangalore. And I must tell you, a Sunday Afternoon lunch with Chicken Ghee Roast and Neer Dosa or even plain Steamed Rice is just divine! So here’s my version of Chicken Ghee Roast- the Cheat’s way. 

Traditionally it is made by dry roasting whole spices and then blending it into a paste. Here’s my version where I use powdered spices which saves a lot of time, however the end result tastes exactly the same. Here’s my recipe for Chicken Ghee Roast: 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Lime
• 1 Sprig Curry Leaves 
• 1/2 Cup Curd
• A Pinch of Turmeric Powder 
• 2 tsp Paprika or Kashmiri Chilli Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder 
• 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder 
• Salt to Taste
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1-2 tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
• 350gms Chicken 
• 1 medium size Onion chopped 

Method:

In a mixing bowl add the Curd, Lime Juice, Turmeric Powder, Paparika (Kashmiri Chilli Powder), Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt and Ginger Garlic Paste. Mix well. 

Now Add the Chicken and allow it to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a pan and add the Ghee ( Clarified Butter) and add the chopped onion. Sauté on medium heat until they turn slight golden. 

Now add the marinated Chicken and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Lower the heat after 10 minutes and cook on low heat for 10 more minutes. 

Now add the Curry Leaves and cook for 5 more minutes or until the chicken is well cooked. 

Stir-Fried Honey Ginger Chili Chicken

I love how well ginger and chicken work together. They just taste perfect and a dash of honey can make it taste even better. The honey helps to caramelize the chicken. Any food tastes great when it has a perfect balance and this recipe will make you achieve that perfection. The dish doesn’t take much time to cook and tastes brilliant. 

Ingredients:

• 500 gms Boneless Chicken cut into bite size pieces
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Chili Flakes
• ½ tsp. Red Chili Powder
• 1 ½ tbsp. Honey
• Juice of 1 Lime
• Salt for seasoning
• ½ Cup finely Chopped Onion
• 1 inch Ginger finely chopped
• ½ tsp. Ginger Paste

Method:

• Heat oil in a Pan.
• Add chopped Ginger and cook for a minute.
• Add the chopped Onion and sauté for a minute.
• Add the Ginger Paste and the Chicken pieces and stir-fry.
• Add the Honey, Chili Fakes and Red Chili Powder and mix well.
• Add salt according to your taste and then keep stir-frying until the chicken is cooked.
• Finally add the lime juice and mix well.
• Serve Hot. 

Stir-fried Crispy Corn

Every time I go to Barbeque Nation with my husband and order their buffet lunch or dinner, they serve this amazing Stir-fried Crispy Corn. We are not lucky enough for we don’t have Barbeque Nation here in Kutch. It’s only when we go to Ahmedabad we end up going there. But I crave for their Stir-fried crispy corn so often. So I decided to give it a try. It was an experiment. But it turned out to be a hit in the very first try. It tasted exactly the same. So here’s the recipe for my version of stir-fried crispy Corn.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup thawed Frozen Corn
•   Egg Yolk
• ½ cup Cornflour
• Salt for Seasoning
• Pepper for Seasoning
• ½ cup finely chopped Onion
• 1 Green Chili finely chopped
• ½ tbsp. finely chopped Ginger
• ½ tbsp. finely chopped Garlic
• ½ tbsp. Oil
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Heat Oil for deep-frying.
• Transfer the Egg Yolk into a bowl and add a pinch of salt.
• Add the Corn and mix well.
• Spread the Cornflour on a plate.
• Roll the egg yolk coated Corn over the cornflour.
• When the Oil is heated, deep fry the Corn.
• Fry the corn till they turn crispy.
• Place the fried corns on a kitchen towel to soak the excess oil.
• Now in a pan, heat ½ tsp. Oil.
• Add the Ginger, Garlic and green chili and sauté for half a minute.
• Add the Onions and stir-fry them.
• Now add the fried corn and toss.
• Season with salt and pepper and toss again.
• Serve immediately.

Banana Walnut Loaf

If you have some overripe bananas, this is the best recipe that you can use. All you have to do is prepare the mixture, transfer it into a loaf tin and forget about it for an hour. After an hour, you’ll end up with a beautiful banana loaf and eating it along with a cup of hot coffee will make the experience breathtaking. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to make it taste even better. Here’s the recipe for Banana Walnut Loaf.

Ingredients:

• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 1¾ cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• ½ cup Softened Butter
• 1¼ cup Powered Sugar
• A pinch of Salt
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Essence
• 1 cup chopped Walnuts

Method:

• Pre-heat oven at 175°C
• Mash the Bananas using a potato masher.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and Butter and mix well using a whisk.
• Add the eggs into the bowl and mix it using a spatula.
• Add the Salt and Vanilla Essence and mix with the spatula.
• Add the mashed Bananas and mix again.
• Now add the flour and mix gently with the spatula. (Make sure you don’t mix too much).
• Now add the Walnuts and fold it in gently.
• Grease a loaf tin and then transfer the loaf mixture into the tin.
• Transfer the tin into the Oven and bake for 1 hour or till it’s baked.

Chicken Biryani

When I lived in Mangalore, I remember eating Chicken Biryani from a Restaurant called ‘Royal Darbar’ on every special occasion. I have never eaten biryani like that anywhere else. I’ve spent years to replicate a biryani like that and have managed to come pretty close. Chicken Biryani is done using various methods; this is my way of doing it. This is the best you can do at home with minimum complications. Well, this is the least I could do to make it less complicated. I bet this has turned out to be the lengthiest recipe I’ve ever posted. But that’s how Biryani is. I guess that’s the reason why it is cooked only on special occasions. So here’s the recipe for Chicken Biryani.

Ingredients for the Marinade:

• 1 kg. Chicken cut into pieces
• 4 Green Chilies
• ½ cup chopped Coriander Leaves
• ½ cup chopped Mint Leaves
• 2 inch Ginger Piece
• 5 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 cup Yogurt
• Salt to Taste
• ½ tbsp. Garam Masala Powder
• ½ tbsp. Coriander Powder
• ½ tsp. Red Chili Powder
• ½ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• ½ tbsp. Saffron Essence
• 3 pods of Green Cardamom
• 1 stick of Cinnamon
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2 pieces of Mace
• 2 Onions sliced and deep fried till Brown
• 1 tbsp. Ghee or Clarified Butter

Method:

• Take the Green Chilies, Coriander Leaves, Mint Leaves, Ginger and Garlic and blend into a fine paste.
• Take a large nonstick Pot. (The marinating has to done in the same vessel in which you will cook later).
• Add the Paste Mixture, Chicken, and all the other Ingredients except the Fried Onions and allow it to marinate for at least half an hour.
• After half an hour, add the Fried Onions and mix well.
• Now Place the pot on the stove and cook the Chicken on low heat with the lid on until the chicken is 80% cooked. (Make sure you cook the chicken without lid for 2 minutes on High Flame. This will help to dry out the excess gravy).

Meanwhile prepare the Rice to make the Biryani.

Ingredients for the Biryani Rice:

• 2 cups of uncooked long Grain Basmati Rice.
• 1 tbsp. Salt
• 10 cups Water
• A small Piece of Muslin Cloth
• 2 sticks of Cinnamon
• 5 Pods of green Cardamom
• 4 Cloves
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 tbsp. Rose Water
• 1 tsp. Saffron Essence
• 1 tsp. Saffron
• 2 tbsp. Clarified Butter (Ghee)
• 3-4 drops of Yellow Food Color

Method:

• Wash the Basmati Rice and keep aside.
• Place the Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves and Star Anise in the Muslin Cloth and Tie it into a Knot. (This is the Spice Bag).
• Add the water into a large non-stick Pot along with the Salt and the Spice Bag.
• Bring the water to a boil and then add the Rice.
• Cook the Rice until it’s 80% done.
• Use a large sieve or a colander and drain water from the rice.
• Once all the water is drained, transfer the rice into a Large Bowl and Add the Rose water, Saffron Essence and Clarified Butter and mix gently using your hand. (Be very gentle, not break the strands of rice while mixing. Also if possible use gloves as the rice would be still hot and you will also have to mix the food color).
• Now add the food color and again, mix gently. Make sure you don’t coat all the rice with the color. Allow some of the Rice to remain white. (You can skip the food color part; it’s just to add that extra color).
• Take the saffron in a small cup and add about 4 tbsps. of hot water. (This will help the saffron release it’s color and aroma. We will be using this saffron water after the final layering.

Final Layering:

• The chicken should be 80% cooked by now. Layer the Rice on top of the Chicken.
• Spread the Rice evenly and then pour the Saffron Water on top along with the strands of Saffron. If you have some bits of the fried onions left, garnish the top with it.
• Cover the Pot with a tin foil and then put on the lid. This will allow all the steam to remain inside.
• Now place a flat pan below the Pot and cook on low flame for 15-18 minutes.
• Chicken Biryani done! (While you serve the biryani, make sure you don’t mix the rice with the chicken, Dig deep and grab some chicken and then serve some rice from the top).

Mocha Walnut Fudge

If you are a chocoholic like me, and would like to treat yourself with chocolate every now and then, this is one of the simplest chocolate recipes. All you have to do is melt the chocolate with the other ingredients in the microwave, mix the coffee and walnuts and it’s ready to go in the fridge. I have photographed the fudge using bigger pieces, but I always make sure I cut the fudge and make it into tiny bits because I end up eating a lot when they are cut into larger pieces. The best part about this recipe is it hardly takes 10 minutes to get it all done. The only time consuming part is the wait for the fudge to set. So if you want a nice treat done in under 10 minutes, go ahead and check out the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 200 gms. Dark Sweetened Chocolate
• 1 cup Condensed Milk
• 1 tbsp. Butter
• 1 tsp. of Cornflour Mixed in 2 tsp. water
• 2 tsp. Instant Coffee Powder
• ½ cup chopped Walnuts
• ¼ cup Chopped Walnuts for garnish

Method:

• Add the Dark Sweetened Chocolate, Condensed Milk, Cornflour Mix and Butter in a microwavable bowl and microwave it on high for 2- 3 minutes.
• Take it out and mix well and see that it’s totally smooth.
• Add the Instant Coffee Powder and Chopped Walnuts and mix well.
• Make sure you mix everything quickly and the chocolate mixture is still hot.
• Layer a square baking tin with butter Paper and then pour the Chocolate fudge mixture. Sprinkle the remaining chopped walnuts on top.
• Allow the fudge to cool down and then keep the tin in the fridge. The fudge will be set in 2-3 hours.
• Once it’s set, get the fudge out of the baking tin and cut it into square pieces.