Methi dal with Chilli Chicken

Dinner time...as usual I was searching for something different to make for dinner. I have made chilli chicken before but it was the wet variety. Today I made it dry and I made methi dal...and it was sooo delicious. My kids ate it without complaining. but I took crappy pictures (one of them, you can see here) so I am not posting it today

Methi Dal (Split peas with Fenugreek leaves)
Ingredients:

1. 1 cup yellow or green split peas/pigeon peas
2. 2 cups fresh fenugreek leaves stripped from the stems
3. 1 big or 2 small cloves of garlic
4. 1/2 tablespoon oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, asafoetida, salt, chilli powder and turmeric
6. 1 small lemon sized tamarind (optional)
7. few dried red chillies
8. few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker, cook the split peas and methi leaves for 4-5 whistles with 2 cups of water and turmeric. Let the steam escape. Soak the tamarind in 3 cups of water and add that water to the dal. If not using tamarind, just add water, salt, chilli powder and boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and add the cumin, mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves till they splutter. Add asafoetida and stir and add the tempering to the dal and boil for couple of more minutes. garnish with chopped cilantro if desired and serve with white rice.

Note: If serving with roti , just add 1 cup instead of 3 cups of water after the dal is cooked

Chilli chicken (Indo chinese spicy sour chicken)

Chilli Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
2. Oil for shallow frying
3. 1 medium onion cubed
4. 1 bell pepper (any color you like) cubed
5. 1 tablespoon oil
6. 1/2 tablespoon each of soy sauce, white vinegar, sambal chilli paste
7. 2 garlic pods chopped
8. 4-6 green chillies sliced
9. 
   

For marinate:

1. 3/4 teaspoon salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, ginger garlic paste, onion powder, garlic powder
2. 1 egg beaten
3. 1 heaped teaspoon corn starch, all purpose flour

marinate the chicken with ingredients in "1" for 2-4 hours. Add corn starch and all purpose and mix well. Add egg and mix well and set aside for 30 more minutes.

Heat oil in a pan for shallow frying (or if you like...deep frying) and fry the chicken till they turn golden brown. Drain and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the onions for 3-4 minutes. Add slit chillies, bell pepper and garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add chicken stir well. Reduce the heat add soy sauce, vinegar and chilli paste and mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve

Indo Chinese Chili Chicken and Sambar Powder

Its been quite a while that I made chicken. And on top of it I have been only making Chicken with bones lately. So today was a day to make something with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I finally made the most yummiest wet chili chicken I had ever tasted. And here is the recipe
                  And I served it with plain white rice and sambar made with Butternut Squash. And this sambar is special because the sambar powder is home made and the recipe follows

Indo Chinese Chili Chicken (Boneless chicken in a hot and spicy gravy)

Wet chili chicken

Ingredients:

1. 3 chicken breasts (skinless, boneless) cut into 1 inch cubes
2. 1-11/2 cup cubed bell pepper of your favourite color
3. 1/2 cup chopped red onion
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1 teaspoon each of finely chopped garlic, green chilly, red chilly paste, white vinegar
6. 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, corn starch
7. 2 cups chicken broth
8. Oil for deep frying

Ingredients for marinade:

1. 2 tablespoons corn flour
2. 1 egg
3. 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, white vinegar
4. 1/2 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
5. 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in the marinade and stir the egg. Add it to the chicken pieces and marinade for 1-2 hours. Deep fry the chicken pieces until golden brown. Drain and set aside

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the onions for a couple of minutes. Add the bell pepper and fry for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add a little oil to the pan is there is no oil and add the garlic and chili to the pan and fry for a minute. Mix the soy sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, corn starch and chicken broth and add it to the pan and cook on a medium low heat for a few minutes. Add the chicken and the bell peppers and stir to combine. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. garnish with cilantro and/or green onions and serve hot with rice or fried rice

Homemade Sambar Powder 

Home made Sambar Powder

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chana dal
2. 2 tablespoons coriander powder
3. 6-8 dried red chilli
4. 1 teaspoon cumin
5. 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Dry roast the ingredients separately except for coriander powder. Cool to room temperature. Grind to powder. Store in an air tight container. Use 1-2 teaspoons in sambar