Wednesday 2 June 2010

Thai stir fried chicken with peanuts

The other day i was so jobless and going through my blog posts to realize that I completed one year of blogging this month..well 29th to be precise.  I mean I honestly didn't think id make it into a year. I thought, like everything else, I would lose interest within a couple of months..well good for me, and lucky for you... i didn't and here I am completing one year of food blogging...yaaaaay!
Took this as a good enough reason for me to start cleaning up the mess...tags, pictures etc etc. and boy was it a task. A few friends did mention about the labels, which I realized was pretty tedious since i had been very careless in tagging my posts from the beginning. I have now somehow managed to sort it out and have put it up on the side bar under 'select a recipe,' so navigation is easier. I do want to create a separate page for the recipe index (which will do me good, more than anything else) but its not priority at the moment. I have also de-cluttered my home page and have added a separate 'about me' section where I have rambled on and on. So its not in your face and you are not obliged to read. Have taken off Food Buzz and the weird Petit Chef cos they weren't really doing me any good.  I am working on my header and have changed my font colours, yet again. I think variety is the spice of life and get easily bored with repetition. The other day I even told Ro I was getting bored of how predictable he has become...to which he replied, ' I'm getting a bit worried about how fat you've become.' That was totally unnecessary right? 
Now coming to the recipe. I finally managed to get to the Thai store over the long weekend and it was a treasure trove..two levels of Asian food, live sea food and a plethora of options. Picked up quite a bit of junk and was full enthu to finally make some food at home on Monday night after the entire weekend was spent eating out, binge drinking and ordering junk food, most of it to do with the Hampton Court Foodies Festival in Surrey (update coming soon). 
This is a very authentic Thai dish I must say, and we loved it to the last bit. 

Boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets- 450 gms, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces

To marinate:
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Garlic paste- 1 tbsp (fresh would be ideal)
Green chillies- 3 to 4 depending on your taste, crushed
Lime juice- 1 tsp
Salt- to taste

For the sauce:
Fish sauce- 1 tbsp
Dark soy sauce- 1 tbsp
Oyster sauce- 1 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 tsp
Chicken stock- 1/2 cup
Salt- only add if necessary

Dry red chillies- 3, de-seeded
Unsalted peanuts- 1/2 cup
Red pepper- 1, roughly chopped
Onion- 1 sliced lengthwise
Garlic- 4 cloves, crushed and roughly chopped
Spring onions- 4 to 5 stalks, green and white part chopped into long strips + some for garnishing 
Oil- 1 tbsp

Mix the chicken with all the ingredients in the 'to marinate' section and keep aside for a minimum of 1 hr.
Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients listed.
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the peanuts till light brown in colour. Make sure you don't burn it. Keep stirring continuously. Remove and drain on kitchen towels.
In the same oil fry the dry red chillies till they slightly change colour. Drain and keep aside.
Cover and cook the marinated chicken pieces in oil till they turn a light golden colour and all the water has drained off. Add more oil if there isn't enough. Remove from pan and keep aside
In the left over gravy and oil, sauté the garlic till fragrant.
Add the onions and red pepper and sauté till the onions become transparent and the red pepper begins to loose its crunchiness...say about 6 to 8 minutes on medium heat.
Add the fried peanuts, dry red chillies and chicken and toss everything together for about a minute or so. 
Increase the heat and add the sauce. Stir fry for a few minutes, making sure the ingredients are all coated evenly.
Add the spring onions and give a final toss..stir fry for one more minute
Take it off the fire, garnish with spring onions (if any) and serve hot with rice or noodles or anything you please.
We had it with some instant noodles...and it was heavenly.


Notes: I picked up a sachet of the garlic and chilli sauce for meat and poultry at the Thai store and used that as the marinade along with pepper and lime juice. I have given you the ingredients mentioned on the cover, with approximate measurements. Do adjust according to your taste.
Please be careful while adding salt since the sauces and stock will have enough and sometimes more. If it happens, you can mellow it down with corn flour...i guess.
The chicken thigh fillets can be replaced with chicken breasts and the peanuts with cashew nuts if you please.
You can easily do a veggie prep using potatoes, egg plant, beans etc. A seafood version might also be interesting.

27 comments:

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Congrats on completing a year of blogging. You have posted some wonderful mouthwatering recipes with awesome write-ups. I would be very upset if you lose interest and give it all up. Lovely Thai chicken recipe by the way. It looks fabulous!

tasteofbeirut said...

Thai chicken is one of my favorites! I love your blog and i hope to continue reading it and enjoying it!

divya said...

Congrats on completing a year of blogging.healthy n delicious looking chicken...nice pics..thanks for sharing this!

PJ said...

Congrats on turning 1! Wishing you many many more such blogversaries to come. Thai chicken looks delicious.. its one of my favorite chicken preparations!

AdukalaVishesham said...

Thai Chicken looks great.. yummy... its dinner time here and i am yet to figure out what to make.. your pic is making me hungry...

And big Congrats on your anniversary.... We always enjoyed reading your write-ups filled with bits from your life in UK.... you have an amazing blog and keep up the good work

Sushma Mallya said...

Too tempting & delicious..very beautiful clicks too ...

Unknown said...

Congrats Nisha! I love to read your posts :) Thai chicken looks amazing.

Cheers
Maria

Priya Suresh said...

Congrats on ur blog anniversary..U always come up with beautiful and tempting dishes..Thai chicken stir fry with peanuts makes me drool..

Reflections said...

The dish looks totally sumptious!!!

1 yr and 130+ posts is quite an achievement. U know u got a good thing going here and thts the reason u havent lost interest.......................................................................................................yet;-D

Reflections said...

Just read the I me myself and it was sweet....just sooo you;-)

Suja Manoj said...

Congrats on completing one year of blogging..enjoy reading your blog..
Chicken looks real yummy..love this one.

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

love to see many more blog anni of urs....congrats for teh milestone.......dish looks so inviting..

My cooking experiments said...

Happy birthday to ur blog!Can relate u when u talk about the clean up of the blog!I am in the same boat but really have to check out if its a year since i started rambling!Good luck!keep blogging!

Vineetha Sush said...

oh.. I too went to Hamton court this weekend..we went there on sunday....waiting for ur updates.
In btw ur Thai preparation looks delicious.

Vineetha Sush said...

Just to let u knw one more thing...If u fancy to buy fresh fish coming staight from kerala ..u can get it from croydon on saturday morning.

Unknown said...

Thai chicken looks amazing! Thats such a tempting pic..Congrats on your blog anniversary!! Loved reading about you, Nisha :)

the blogger formerly known as sansmerci said...

congratsss nish!! pls don lose int in this ur doin an awesomeeeee job!!

Shabs.. said...

congrats da......I loved the way u prepared this one...would love to taste it..:~)...i think ur header looks great.....i keep changing bits and pieceds everytime....and still iam confused about the colours and all

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow, love Thai cuisine, this looks absolutely taste...good presentation.:)

Nitha said...

Congrats on your anniversary... Love the way you present things in ur blog.. The Thai chicken looks really delicious..

arthi said...

love thai food.Thai chicken looks delicious.
you can send any summer themed recipes and food photographs for our contest.It is our pleasure if you could participate in our Sizzling Summer Contest.You could win one of the two $50 prizes.

Fathima said...

Congrats on ur blog anniversary.. The Thai stir fried chicken looks delish.. and colorful... very nice clicks...

Suji said...

Hey first time here..you have a great space here..

Chicken with peanuts looks yummy..

Love
Kairali sisters

Unknown said...

Color and creamy curry....looks tempting!

Vrinda said...

This is my hubby's fav..looks too good

FoodLovers said...

wow gorgeous pics

Sunitha said...

Reading about how you lose interest quickly I kept nodding my head till I thought It will drop off my neck. I am so like that too. Congratulations on completing a year and may you have many more successful blogging years.