Diet coke chicken

The search started for some Chinese chicken recipes and I was also looking to add some vegetables to the chicken. I ended up finding this recipe awesome recipe which called for Pepsi max and diet code. But all I had was the new #cokezerosugar . So I added my own little twist to the recipe and it was great


Coke Zero Chicken (Chicken cooked in coke zero)

Diet Coke Chicken

Ingredients

1. 1 lb chicken breast cut into bite size pieces
2. 1 can coke zero
3. 1 heaped teaspoon corn starch
4. 1 tablespoon each of low sodium soya sauce, rice vine vinegar
5. 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
6. 1 chicken bouillion
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic and ginger grated, white pepper and black pepper
9. 2 cups your fav vegetables (I used broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, sliced onions)

 Marinate the chicken with half of vinegar and soya sauce and the corn starch for 20 minutes.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the chicken for 7-8 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add a little bit of oil if needed and cook the vegetables for 6-7 minutes. Add ginger garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and coke and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken back to the pot and simmer till the gravy thickens to your liking (around 10-12 minutes). Garnish with fresh green onions and cilantro and enjoy over a bed of white rice or with Fried rice

Green beans and Shrimp Fry With Palak Dal

French Green beans are called "Fansi" in one of the Indian languages and I am scared of searching for any recipes with "Fansi" in it. Because is "death by hanging". Pretty gruesome and I do not want to see any un-intentional pictures.

Anyway, I have few recipes with green beans and shrimp which are curries with gravy, but I wanted to make something different. SO here is my dry Green bean curry with shrimp

Green beans and Shrimp Fry

Shrimp with Green beans

Ingredients

1. 12 oz shrimp pealed and deveined
2. 1/2 lb fresh green beans chopped into 1 cm pieces
3. 1 medium small onion about 1/2 cup chopped into small pieces
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, finely grated ginger, finely grated garlic
6. 1 teaspoon each of coriander powder
7. 2 dried red chillies broken
8. few curry leaves
9. coriander for garnish

In a pan heat the oil and add cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add green beans and onions and fry for 7-10 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and fry for a minute. Add shrimp and all the spices and mix well. Cook till the shrimp are all cooked through. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot rice and Palak Masoor dal or Spinach Toor dal

Palak Toor Dal (Spinach with Split Pigeon peas)

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup split pigeon peas or toor dal
2. 1 cup canned spinach squeezed well or a bunch of fresh spinach washed and chopped roughly
3. 2 cups juice from a lime sized tamarind
4. 2 teaspoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, hing, finely chopped garlic
6. few dried red chillies
7. few curry leaves

Pressure cook the dal with spinach for 5-6 whistles with 2 cups of water and turmeric. Let the steam escape and mash the dal and spinach mixture. Add the tamarind juice. In another pan heat the oil fry the cumin, mustard seeds, dried chillies and curry leaves. Fry till they start to splutter. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds and add hings and fry 30 more seconds. Add this to the dal and boil it for 10 minutes. Enjoy with hot rice

Tandoori Gobi

I looooooooooooooooooooove Cauliflower. And recently my family has also been gobbling up cauliflower when I roast them up. I have made the roasted cauliflower way too many time and I was ready for something different and here comes tandoori gobi.

Tandoori Gobi

Tandoori Gobi

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium cauliflower cut into florets
2. 1 cup whole milk yogurt squeezed out of excess water
3. 1 teaspoon each of ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, salt, tandoori mix (or ½ teaspoon each of coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel, mango amchur, ajwain)
4. 2 tablespoons besan
5. ½ tablespoon oil
6. 1 tablespoon kasoori methi
7. Pinch of red color if desired

Blanch the cauliflower florets for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside in a colander so that extra water drips.

In a cheese cloth hang the yogurt and sqeeze as much as water out as possible.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the ajwain and fennel seeds and on a low flame add the besan and keep frying for 5-7 minutes stirring continuously. Let it cool. Add all the ingredients to the yogurt and mix well. Add the cauliflowers florets and mix well. Set aside for atleast 30 minutes.

 Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a oven safe tray with cooking spray and spread the cauliflower florets in a single layer. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn and bake 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with chaat masala before serving if desired and enjoy

Egg plant ans shrimp in coconut gravy

Eggplant with Shrimp

Egg plant ans shrimp in coconut gravy

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 3-4 cups chopped eggplant (if using the big American eggplant, I usually peel it)
3. 1 medium small onion chopped
4. 1 teaspoon each of ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, chilli powder, turmeric
5. ½ teaspoon each of salt, cumin
6. 1 cup coconut milk
7. 2 tablespoon oil

Marinate the shrimp with turmeric and salt for 15 minutes

In a pan heat ½ of the oil and fry the shrimp till they become pink. Drain and set aside.

In the same pan add the remaining oil and add the onions and fry till they start becoming brown. Add the eggplant and all the spices and mix and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add shrimp and the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and taste test for salt. Adjust accordingly. Enjoy

Fish cakes

Fish cakes

Fish cakes

Ingredients:

1. 3 fillets white fish (I used swai)
2. ½ teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon each of garlic powder, onion powder
4. 1 large potato boiled and peeled and mashed
5. ½ teaspoon each of salt, coriander powder, cumin powder
6. 1 serrano chillie, seeded and chopped fine
7. 2 tablespoon all purpose flour
8. Handful of coriander chopped fine
9. 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
10. Oil for frying fish cakes

Sprinkle the fish fillets with salt and onion and garlic powder. Spray a frying pan with non stick spray and on medium low heat fry the fish fillets 4 minutes on each side or until barely cooked. Let cool.

Crumble the fish fillets and mix with mashed potato and all the other ingredients. Add some flour at a time till you can form dough balls. Divide into 8-10 portions and roll into balls and flatten into patties ½ inch thick. Patt them into a plat spread with bread crumbs and press so that the crumbs stick to the fish cake.

Heat oil in a frying pan and on medium heat fry the patties 4-5 minutes on each side. Serve as an appetizer or as a side dish with dal and rice

kakadi dal

Kakadi dal

Ingredients:

1. 1 cucumber melon, peeled and seeded and chopped
2. 1/3 cup toor dal
3. 1 tomato chopped
4. ½ teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, salt, chilli powder, turmeric, asafoetida
5. Few curry leaves
6. 2-3 dried red chillies broken
7. 1 tablespoon sliced onions
8. 2 garlic pods chopped fine
9. ½ tablespoon oil

In a pressure cooker, cook the dal along with cucumber melon and tomatoes for 5-6 whistles. Let all the steam escape, open the cooker and mash the dal.

In a small pan heat the oil and add the urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds along with curry leaves and red chillies and fry till they start to splutter. Add the onions and fry till they start becoming brown. Add garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add hing and cut the heat. Add the tempering oil to the dal mix and add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot steamed rice

Long beans with red beans

Long beans with red beans fry

Long beans with red beans fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch long beans cut into 1 cm long pieces
2. 1 cup canned red beans or black eyed peas drained and rinsed
3. ½ cup paneer cut into 1 cm pieces (optional)
4. ¼ cup dessicated coconut
5. ½ teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, coriander powder, salt, chilli powder
6. Few curry leaves
7. 2-3 dried red chillies broken
8. 1 table sppon oil

Heat oil in a pan and add the urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds along with curry leaves and red chillies and fry till they start to splutter. Add the long beans and cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add paneer if using and fry for a few minutes. Add red beans or black eyed peas and add all the spices and mix to combine. Fry for 5 more minutes. Add dried coconut and fry for 2 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with roti or steamed rice and kakadi dal