fried rice and shrimp baby corn

Feb 22nd Mockington Post: There is something about the greasiness of the items from Panda express that half of the people find disgusting and the other half irresistible. In my household I am the only one from the first half of the people.

But none-the-less for the sake of the people from the other group I tried mocking...sorry making a mock version of the Panda express's egg fried rice and yes, to be mocking it, I liked it...probably because it was not so very greasy. But the taste came out pretty close.

Mock Panda Express Fried rice

Panda express Egg Fried rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups cooked rice, cooled
2. 2 eggs beaten
3. 1 large or 2 small carrots cubed small
4. 1 cup cabbage sliced
5. 1/4 cup white onions diced
6. 2 tablespoons oil divided
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, white pepper
8. 1 tablespoon each of low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil
9. 1 large or 2 small garlic grated
10. 1/2 cup green peas

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and scramble the eggs. Drain and set aside. Heat the rest of the oil and add the vegetables and garlic and fry for 5 minutes covered. Add rice and eggs and all other ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve hot 

Sesame glazed Shrimp with baby Corn

Sesame glazed shrimp with baby corn

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz medium shrimp tails off, and deviened
2. 2 tablespoons oil
3. 1 can baby corn drained, halved length wise
4. 2 teaspoons each of hoisin suace, soy sauce, corn starch
5. 1 teaspoon each of corn starch, white vinegar, grated ginger, grated garlic, toasted sesame
6. 1/2 cup sliced scallions
7. 1 small-medium red or yellow bell pepper
8. salt and pepper to taste

Mix the baby corn with 1 teaspoon corn starch. Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the corn for 5 minutes or until they become crispy. Drain and set aside. Mix all the sauce ingredients and corn starch with 1/2 cup water and said aside.

Heat the remaining oil and fry the shrimp till they become pink. Drain and set aside. Add some more oil and add scallions and bell pepper and ginger and garlic and fry for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and baby corn back and salt and pepper and the sauce and stir well. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. add sesame seeds and cilantro and serve hot with steamed rice or fried rice

Andhra allam pachadi

One of my dad's cousin used to make this pickle and man oh man what deliciousness it used be. She have me this recipe a very long time ago but I never tried to make it because her recipe called for the ginger to be sun dried for 2 days .

But then I found this recipe recently which was exactly like my cousins' but no drying just frying ...which could be done if you live in the region with less sun, like I do presently.

So here you go . Make this yummy sweet and spicy ginger pickle and enjoy it with rice or idli or dosa or anything else you can think of

Sweet and spicy ginger pickle (South Indian pickle) 

Ingredients

1. 1 lb Chopped Ginger/Adark/Allam
2. 150-200 grms Tamarind
3. 1 tsp - Fenugreek Seeds/Methidana roasted and powdered
4. 1/2 lb  Jaggery
5. 1 teaspoon or more salt to taste
6. 2 tablespoons chilly powder ( my chilly powder is super spicy so I used only 1 tbsp)
7. 1 tablespoon oil

For tempering

1. 1/2 cup oil

2. 1 tablespoon chana daal soaked in water

3. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

4. Few dried red chillies

5. Few curry leaves

6. 3-6 garlic cloves 

In about 1/2 cup hot. Water soak the tamarind and when it gets cool enough to handle pick all the seeds and any other things from it and make it into nice pulp.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the ginger pieces on medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Let them cool

Grate the jaggery and set aside

Grind the ginger pieces into coarse paste . Add tamarind and grind again. Add salt and chilli powder and methi powder. Add jaggery and grind again

Heat oil for tempering and fry all till they start to splutter. Let it cool and add to the pickle. Store in a glass jar with air tight lid

Yakhni Murg

Yakhni Murgh (Chicken in Yogurt sauce)

chicken in yogurt sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 lbs chicken breasts cut into cubes
2. 2 cups plain yogurt beaten well
3. 1 teaspoon each of chilli powder, fennel powder, mustard powder, turmeric, garam masala, grated garlic
4. 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
5. 2 tablespoons oil

 Wash the chicken and drain off excess water. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add all the powders and fry for a minute. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Reduce heat to low and add the yogurt and heat slowly so that it dosn't cuddle. Add the chicken back and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Let it cool a bit before adding salt. Serve with white rice o fried rice

Kashmiri style lamb curry

I was looking for something new to cook because I have been getting bored by cooking the chicken and lamb in the same way. And I stumbled upon Kashmiri style dishes. Those dishes from Kashmir usually have apple and dry fruits as ingredients in them.

There is the dish Bom Chount Wangan which is eggplant and apples curry and I mixed in lamb in it and it is deeeeelicious. It tastes sweet and spicy at the same time. You need to eat it to believe it

Lamb with Eggplant and apple curry 

Lamb with eggplant and apples

Ingredients:

1. 2 green apples cubed into 1 inch cubes
2. 1 big american eggplant cut into 3 inch strips about 1 inch thick
3. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon each of red chilly powder, fennel powder, garam masala, cumin powder
5. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
6. 1/2-1 table spoon salt.
7. 2 tablespoons oil divided

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the eggplant and apple for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil and add all the powders. add ginger garlic paste and stir to combine and fry for a minute. Add the meat and stir and add 1 cup water and cover and cook for 30-45 minutes until the meat becomes soft. Add the eggplant and apples back to the pot and mix well and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with steamed rice

Tandoori paneer

Long time ago when we were in India we got a portable tandoor for Rs 2000 which was a big amount at that time. So a person from that company came to my house and showed me how to make some dishes using that tandoor. One of the items he made was tandoori paneer. It was yummy and super spicy

So finally after so many years I got back to that recipe and boy oh boy all the people in my household just devoured it. Since I did not have any red food color I added a little bit more turmeric and turned it really yellow and I served it with pink rice. It was nice to look at the plate too

Tandoori chicken (. Marinated grilled indian cottage cheese)

Tandoori paneer

Ingredients
1. 1 package paneer about 400gms cut into 1 inch cubes
2. 1/2 large yellow or red bell pepper
3. 1/2 cup red onion chopped big
For marinade
1. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
2. 1 heaped tablespoon plain yogurt
3. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, coriander powder and cumin powder

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and marinade the paneer pieces for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with Pam and lay the paneer pices in a single layer. Mix the onion and bell pepper in the remaining marinade in the dish and lay them in the baking dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Turn the paneer pieces and serve warm with  Pink rice

Here is another version of the Tandoori paneer