Easy Peacy Chicken Curry

I suck at making Indian food. I have taken this liking towards conti cooking and baking and the sauces and filling options available here make it even better. When it comes to making Indian dishes, I'm a big flop. I cant even make a normal chicken curry taste good, and I have no clue where i go wrong. This is the recipe i stick to when i have a craving for chicken curry. Whatever new recipes i try, it all ends up looking and tasting the same to me. I didn't bother posting this till now, because i keep forgetting what to add or how much to add and end up with pathetic results. The last time i made this curry, it turned out good and i decided i had to note it down somewhere, and hence this post (curry) in a hurry :)

Chicken- 1 kg, with bone (I used thighs)

To marinate:

Kashmiri chilli powder- 3tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Dark Soy Sauce- 1 tbsp

Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tbsp

Cinnamon- 1, 1" piece

Cloves-5

Cardamom- 4

Coriander leaves- a handful

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Pepper powder- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Onions- 1 large, roughly chopped

Tomato- 1, roughly sliced

Curry leaves- a sprig

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Oil- 2 tbsp

Grind all the above mentioned ingredients together and marinate the cleaned chicken pieces for a minimum of 2 hours. Make slashes on the chicken pieces so that the marinade seeps through and the flavours are absorbed.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and splutter mustard seeds.

Throw in the curry leaves and onions and sautee till soft.

Add the tomato and sautee well on medium fire till the oil starts separating.

Add the marinated chicken and stir fry on high heat for a couple of minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the left over marinade, if any, mix well and pour about 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook till the third whistle.

Remove from fire and wait for the pressure to release on its own. Open the lid and check salt, spice etc. and add if required. If the gravy is not thick, you can put it back on the hob top and boil till u get a thick gravy. I usually avoid this.

If you need a roast-like prep, in a frying pan heat some more oil and sautee the chicken slices with the gravy till they become semi-gravy like, and coated with the masala.

Serve with rice, roti or even bread.

This is another chicken-roast recipe, a favourite of mine.

Notes: The cooking time was half an hour and i love the pressure cooker for making this easy. You can also do the same in a Kadai, just that cooking time will be more. I'm sure it yields the same result.

Snickerdoodles

Doesn't it sound so adorable? Like, if i have a poodle id name him/ her snickerdoodle :) or maybe even Ro. After I came across this name, I've been calling him snickerdoodle, and have managed to irritate him to an extent.

I came across this cookie recipe on the joy of baking website and couldn't wait to try it. I finally did so a couple of days back when a friend was visiting for tea and it was over in a matter of minutes. Its incredibly easy and yummy.

I have halved the measurements because i didn't want 6 dozen doodles:)

I also made a slight change to the last bit of rolling it in cinnamon and sugar since we are not huge fans of cinnamon in general.

All purpose flour- 180gms

Baking powder- 1 tsp

Unsalted butter-1/2 cup

Granulated white sugar- 150gms

Egg- 1

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon powder- to dust

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking pwd and salt.

In another larger bowl, using a hand beater, whisk together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add the egg and whisk again to combine well.

Pour the vanilla extract and the flour mixture and beat well till you have smooth dough.

Preheat oven to 190C

Place a baking sheet on a tray and roll the dough into small balls and place them a few cms apart

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, or till they are golden brown around the edges.

Remove and cool on a wire rack. Dust with cinnamon powder before serving

Once cool, store in an air tight container.

Notes: The original recipe asks you to roll the dough balls in a cinnamon and sugar mix and then bake it. I decided to powder the baked doodle instead.

My dough was soft and so it was difficult to roll it into balls. So i refrigerated it for about 2 hours and still it was a wee bit difficult.

Make sure you leave enough space between the dough balls on the tray, because my first batch, some of them just joined together.

If you need it crisp, keep them a little longer in the oven, but doodles are supposed to be chewy and soft i guess.

Dinner and drinks @ Wahaca, Canary Wharf

For those of you outside London, this is gonna be a boring, insignificant post. But i love doing restaurant reviews as it keeps me in touch with the job i miss terribly..I used to do restaurant, club, pub, hotel, boutique reviews for a living back in Chennai.

Wahaca in Canary Wharf (SE London), owned by 2005 Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers, aims at promoting Mexican street market eating. Like i have mentioned a zillion times before, i am a total sucker for Mexican grub and was pretty excited to try out this new restaurant so close to our place and secretly hoped it would be kick-ass and then i could quench my quesadilla cravings by just hopping over. There is a 'no reservations' policy at Wahaca because apparently in markets in Mexico, you can eat whenever you want and at whatever time of the day. You also are told that you will be served as and when the food is ready...there is no deal of starters first, followed by mains etc.

We walked in at about 7.30pm and didn't have to wait at all to be seated (The place was relatively empty). The interiors are quite swanky, although i didn't really get the market feel or anything, and spacious. Its more like communal dining with strangers sitting right next to you and sharing a huge wooden table made of recycled wood and laid with hand blown glass, a very familiar practise I've noticed in a lot of Thai, Japanese and Chinese restaurants...the communal dining that is!

After we were seated (I wouldn't say comfortable...since the seating was hard and there was no back rest which made it difficult to relax), our stewardess explained what the sauces were and the menu in general. There is a drinks and nibbles section, street food, mains and the desserts. We were told if we were just gonna go for the street food alone, it would be like tapas dishes, in small portions and would have to do at least 3 per person. After scrutinising the cocktail menu,Ro went for the Bloody Maria which was spicy and awesome and i had The Barragan- aMojito-ish drink, but really diluted. I didn't get the taste of tequila at all...and they went on and on about how they used the best tequila and all that jazz on the menu.

The Barragan and Bloody Maria

We picked the Pork Pibil- slow cooked Pork in a Yucatecan (a Mexican state) marinade served on a soft tortilla- for starters. The pork was brilliant, just melting in your mouth..extremely oily, i must add. I am not sure what the Yucatecan flavour was..i got very Indian flavours instead. The Chipotle chicken Quesadilla was average, i think i make better ones at home. Ordered a second round of cocktails. This time i went for the Tamarind Margarita...only to be disappointed again..It didn't have any hint of Tamarind which i thoroughly like and was actually looking forward to. Ro ordered the 'Day of the Dead' cocktail and it tasted like Sangria. Nothing out-of-this-world there as well.

Mains were even more disappointing. I am not that much of a seafood fan and since nothing else seemed to excite me, I opted for the Classic Enchillada and Ro went ahead with the Chicken Burrito. Accompanied/ stuffed with the same green rice, both were below average. The experience so far...not so great. I decided to give dessert a last chance and they let me down there as well. Churros...seriously..how can anyone go wrong with churros? They were not sweet and crispy and hot and the chocolate dip was the only thing worth having. I think Taco Bell in the US serves better Mexican fast food than this for sure, but Wahaca...definitely not the best place to have authentic Mexican grub.

The only thing worth commenting was the service which was impeccable. The bill came up to a little over 45 quid which was pretty high, i would say, for something very average like this. I may be wrong about the food and it probably would be better the next time...but the question is...'Will there be a next time?' I'm not so sure. I'm a little put off at the moment.

Wholemeal Blueberry Muffins

We went for the 'Europe' Concert on Saturday night and came back home at 3 in the morning after a night out with friends and the long trek back home because we obviously missed the last tube train. Woke up really really late on Sunday and was not at all in the mood to cook. So these blueberry muffins which i made the previous day came in extremely handy. A couple of muffins with a tall glass of orange juice did the trick for me. Remember i was talking about buying the wrong flour for the cake and didn't know what to do with it? Well now that i can make moist muffins with wholemeal flour, its going to stay and not be thrown out. I have also convinced Ro this is a healthier option and so he now has them for breakfast too.

This is a Gordon Ramsay recipe, which i tweaked according to my requirements. It makes about 15 muffins.

Wholemeal flour- 2 cups

Baking powder- 1 tbsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon powder- a pinch

Nutmeg- a pinch

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Eggs- 2

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Castor Sugar- 1 cup

Oil- 1/2 cup

Vanilla extract- 1 1/2 tsp

Fresh blueberries- 1 3/4 cup (washed & cleaned)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and keep 15 muffin cases ready.

Mix together the first set of ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Keep aside.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, add the buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla and mix till well combined.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Fold all the ingredients together till just incorporated. Add the blueberries and give a final stir.

Place one large scoop of batter into each muffin case and bake or about 25-30 minutes or till skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack once its taken out and store in an air tight container.

Notes: The nutmeg was a tad too over powering for our liking, in spite of just adding a pinch, and I'm pretty sure i wont include it the next time.

I did not have a muffin tin and so i placed the muffin cases on a baking tray and hence the weird shape of the muffins.

If you can, while you scoop out the batter into the cases, try and spread out the blueberries evenly.

You can replace the white sugar with brown sugar, but use a little less in that case.

Chorizo stuffed Calzone

Friday is pizza day for us...which means Dominos home delivery or pick up a pizza from the super market and jazz it up a bit. Last Friday i thought i should do something different and decided to make a Calzone instead.

I suck at getting the dough consistency..the same reason why i still buy frozen chapati's...and so bought a Pizza base mix where the correct water measure was mentioned and i just had to follow instructions..now that, i can do! So the dough part was taken care of, though I still struggled with the kneading and the flattening due to lack of patience and proper utensils. This is what i did for the filling:

Chorizo- 1 cup (cut into small bit size cubes)

Spring onions- 4 sprigs, whites and greens roughly chopped

Tomato puree- 1/4 cup (or more..i don't really like too much of tomato)

Grated Mozzarella Cheese- 1/2 cup

Pepper powder- to taste

Chilli sauce- 1 tbsp (optional)

Grated Cheddar Cheese- to sprinkle

Butter- 1/2 tsp

Cook the chorizo slices lightly, remove from pan and discard rest of the oil keeping behind just about 1 tsp. Sautee the spring onions in the same oil for about two minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook till you see bubbles. Add the chorizo, pepper pwd and chilli sauce and mix it all together. Take it off the flame.

Assembling:

In a baking tray spread out the pizza dough.

Place the filling on one half of the flattened dough. Top with mozzarella cheese and if you want some of the cheddar as well.

Carefully fold the other half of the pizza over the filling and seal the edges well with a fork.

Cook in a pre-heated oven (200C) for 15 minutes. Take the tray out and brush the melted butter on the calzone and place it back in the oven for another 5 to 6 minutes. Once done, cool on a rack for 5 minutes and then slice into two. Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar and serve hot.

Notes: You can use any filling of your choice...veg or non-veg.

Spring onions can be replaced with red onions or shallots even, and the purée can be replaced with lightly mashed tomato.

The calzone was pretty huge, and it was like a meal on its own. I'd halve the recipe if i need smaller portions

Carrot Cake anyone?

So i turned a year older and whole of Monday i was sitting and brooding about it. Not only did i brood, I also called up Ro at noon and bawled my eyes out. Oh yes, I did! Now why would you sulk on your birthday? I'll tell you. I was getting a year older and had absolutely no clue as to what i wanted to do in life, 2, this woman I've been working for over a year, and who hadn't paid me as yet, decided to not respond to mails and calls for over 3 months, but exactly on my birthday she decides to reply accusing me of not understanding the situation..what situation? I don't know..she hasn't mentioned that still. So then we start this thread on gmail and that left me angry, helpless and irritated at not being able to do anything from here. I don't get paid and have to bear the brunt too? Ridiculous! And then, it happened to be that wretched time of the month and I was in pain. Altogether it just turned out to be a horrible day. Come evening and i decided to take a hot water bath, slumbered for about an hour and was all fresh and ready to partay...yup Ro and myself decided to try out the new Mexican restaurant Wahaca and then had after dinner cocktails at Smollenskys. I'll review it later, but for now here's a carrot cake- mom's special- which i was craving for and wanted to bake on my birthday, but as you can imagine, circumstances didn't agree with me. So i made it the next day.

Ro hates carrot cake (Its more like a mental block i guess...that carrots in a cake wont taste good). So I thought I'll trick him into eating saying it was an apple and cinnamon cake. He was too smart and noticed the grated carrots from afar and refused to touch it. No issues, i can eat the whole thing on my own...in a matter of days. This cake is super super moist and, i must add, is the only carrot cake i have ever liked. I hate the ones we get here. I have halved the measurements because i knew i would be the only one gorging on it.

Grated carrot- 1 1/2 cups

All purpose flour- 1 cup

Powdered sugar- 1 cup + enough for dusting

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Egg- 1

Oil- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (Its a half of 1 1/4 cups)

Spice powder- 1/2 tsp (recipe follows)

Salt- a pinch

Spice powder: Grind to a fine powder, 1 cardamom pod, 1 clove and a pinch of cinnamon using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.

Preheat oven to 175C and butter an 8 inch cake tin.

Sieve the flour, spice pwd, baking pwd, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.

Beat the eggs, add powdered sugar and cream till light and fluffy.

Add the carrot and oil and beat on high for a few minutes.

Finally, add the flour mix and beat on low, just till they are all mixed well. Don't over do this.

Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Take it out of the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Insert onto a serving tray and dust some powdered sugar on it while its still hot. Serve with a dollop of cream or have it just as it is.

Notes: I was way too lazy and so i picked up grated carrots from the supermarket and used that directly. My mom actually grinds it to a purée form which i think gives a bright orange colour and mine lacked that. Also, if you don't like small carrot pieces, purée is a better option.

I made only a wee bit of spice powder, just enough for the cake. You can adjust ingredients according to you taste and make them in plenty and store in an air tight container

I baked the cake on 175C for about 30 minutes and then reduced it to 160 and baked for another 15 minutes. It all depends on the oven, so just keep an eye out to prevent it from burning.


UPDATE:

A lot of you guys out there tried out my moms version of the carrot cake and wrote back to me with some queries. Since it had been ages since I'd tried my moms version, I couldn't remember the logistics of it. So I made it again recently and  thought I'd update it with my current findings and pics of course. The cake is dense/ heavy because you use puréed carrots. If its the light version you are looking for, then replace the pureed carrots with finely grated carrots and you'd get the cake that you see in the pics above. The cake is rich on its own and its more of a dessert cake than a tea time speciality. I feel it would pair well with a scoop of ice cream or cream cheese (not frosted though) on the side.

Pureed carrot- 1 1/2 cups
Milk/ water- 2 tsp (optional)

All purpose flour- 1 cup

Powdered sugar- 1 cup + enough for dusting

Baking powder- 1/2 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Egg- 1

Oil- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (Its a half of 1 1/4 cups)

Spice powder- 1/2 tsp (Grind to a fine powder, 1 cardamom pod, 1 clove and two pinches of cinnamon  powder using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder.)

Salt- a pinch

(notice the colour difference)

Puree the carrot with 2 tsp of milk or water. Use milk only if you feel the carrots are not releasing enough water. If its watery avoid it. I usually dont add milk.

Preheat oven to 175C and butter an 8 inch cake tin.

Sieve the flour, spice pwd, baking pwd, baking soda and salt. Keep aside.

Beat the eggs, add powdered sugar and cream till light and fluffy.

Add the carrot and oil and beat on high for a few minutes.

Finally, add the flour mix and beat on low, just till they are all mixed well. Don't over do this.

Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Take it out of the oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Insert onto a serving tray and dust some powdered sugar on it while its still hot. Serve with a dollop of cream or have it just as it is.

I would also like to thank Cicily of Spices from the Queen of Arabian Sea for passing on a lovely award. Thanks a lot once again. I am supposed to tag 7 people and since I am new to the whole blogging scene, I shall avoid that. Anyone can pick it up...I follow a whole buncha awesome blogs and they are all exceptionally good:)

Now the 7 things about me...hmm..just 7? why just 7?

I am so bloody lazy and would stay in bed and watch movies all day, given a choice. Being sent to a foreign country was gods way of punishing me for my laziness...Now i have to get off my ass and do everything on my own (not really..i have an incredible husband who loves doing chores around the house, including cooking)

I am a movie-buff...and can watch a minimum of three at a stretch. I have the unlimited card at the cinemas here and so watch atleast 3 movies a week if i haven't seen the ones already released.

I love the gloomy, rainy weather UK is known for..I know everyone complains about it, but i think its awesome.

I am crazy about clothes and shoes and bags and shopping in general and don't want to reveal how many pairs of shoes i have. Being in London hasn't helped much. I can spend a whole day at Selfridge's or Sloane street just gawking at the brands and wish for the millionth time id married a rich man (don care even if he's old) or was earning enough to afford these.

I'm scared of ghosts..really (i think they exist)..but love watching horror movies..I have a hard time sleeping at night and so my husband has banned them at home. I still manage to watch them at the cinemas.

I am so liberal when it comes to traditions and ways of thinking, the older generation detest me and sometimes I'm too fast for even the younger generation. Although they wonder why i got married when I'm all for the 'living together' aspect. Ro tricked me;)

I have ornithophobia (sounds fancy right?). I am so so scared of anything with feathers. And i am in the perfect place...London, where pigeons nest in every possible corner..and the parks..i have to play hop, skip, dodge all the freaking time. I don't mind eating them though (evil laugh!)

Phew! Long post..i need to lie down.

Methi Dal (Dal spiced up with fenugreek leaves)

Remember i told you about the Methi Dal my friend keeps talking about? Well, i finally made it and it turned out great. I had some friends over on Saturday for lunch and on Friday i slogged it out and made a whole lotta food, 1, because i could sleep in late on Saturday and not wake up early to cook and 2, i dint have to do any major cooking for the rest of the week :). I don't think i have ever made so much food in my life. The girls ate well and i didn't have much left over. So the 2nd reason was lame.

The methi dal recipe is exactly the same as this recipe, except you add the cleaned and chopped methi leaves (about 1 cup) after the tomatoes are well cooked. I also added a dash of fenugreek powder just before i took it off the heat and that tasted awesome. I avoided the coriander leaves and the last tadka as well. I found this interesting recipe on Soma's blog and I should try it out the next time i get methi leaves.

Enjoy!