Punjabi Chicken Masala and The sun juice

This recipe from my dear friend S's recipe collection.Thanks to her, for lending me such a nice collection recipes.I always have a double mind while adding yogurt to a dish, as from my previous not-so-good experiences, the dish turns out to be a little bitter.But this time it came out really well.As turned the heat to low while adding the yogurt mixture, this helped.I am sending this to Srivalli's Curry Mela.



Ingredients

Chicken breasts - 4 ( cut into small pieces)
Garlic - 5 cloves
Ginger - 1 1/2 in ch piece
Onion - 2 (medium sized)(chopped)
Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Jeera powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Yogurt - 3 tbsp (well beaten)
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 3
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Crushed Tomato - 1 cup
Salt - as needed
Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnishing
Oil - 3 tbsp

Method

Marinate minced garlic in yogurt for about 15 minutes.In a pan, heat oil and fry 1 chopped onion.Fry till they are translucent.Now add chilli,coriander and jeera powder.Fry till the raw smell goes away.Grind this mix into a paste.In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil and fry cardamom, cloves and then add the second chopped onion.Once onions are fried ,add minced ginger.Saute well and then add the grounded onion mixture.Saute well till the oil separates.Now reduce the heat to medium low and slowly , one spoon at a time, add the garlic yogurt mix.Keep stirring continuously until the whole yogurt mix is well Incorporated into the gravy.Now add the crushed tomatoes,sugar and salt.Finally add the chicken pieces.Cook till the chicken is cooked through and gravy thickens.finally add the kasuri methi.When the gravy is thick enough , switch off the heat.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.Serve hot with roti,naan or rice.





The Sun juice

I know the name sounds interesting..but this is what came thru my mind when i finished blending this juice.This YUM yellow color juice is the product of blending mango and pineapple.

Ingredients

Ripe Mango pieces - 1 cup
Pineapple pieces - 1 cup
Sugar - as needed (optional)

Method

Blend mango and pineapple together well in a blender until smooth.Add sugar if it is not sweet enough for you.Strain the blended juice, if needed.



This is my entry to Aartee'S SUMMER SPLASH and Sia's WBB - Summer Feast


My second jewelry making project.I am trying to make set for all the individual pieces of jewelry i have.So this one,I made this bracelet and earrings to match with my store brought necklace..

The Passion right now..

Jewelry making is the passion right now for me.Though i love knitting , since Meha i couldn't sit and knit anything for a long time.So took up jewelry.These bracelet i made for my Sis V as she loves turquoise and brown combo.And chain for me, made with one of my old pendant.Planning to make so many for Meha in the future which she will be able to wear.. hmmm... in 8 years or so....:-D.

Waiting....

In the mean time of waiting impatiently, i was doing this for the little angel...
a knitted supersoft blankie and a pinky hat....

Chicken 65

An easy,spicy and tasty appetizer...

Ingredients

Chicken - 4 breast pieces (cut into bite size pieces)
Onion - 1 (cut into big pieces)
Green chillies - 4 (slit)
Oil - as needed
Coriander leaves - for garnishing

For marinating chicken

Ginger garlic paste - 3tbsp
Red chilli powder - 3tsp
Salt - as needed
Red food color - a pinch
Lime juice - 1tsp
Corn flour - 1 (optional)

Method

In a bowl, mix chicken,gg paste,food color,red chilli powder,corn flour,salt and lime juice well and keep aside for about 45 minutes for marination.The longer you keep the more tasty it is.As i was out of time i kept only for 45 minutes.After marination, deep fry all the pieces and drain out excess oil by placing it on the paper towel.Take 2 tsp of that oil in another pan and saute onions slightly.Garnish chicken 65 using this sauted onions, slit green chillies and chopped coriander leaves.

P.S :I have seen in some restuarents they serve this with some slightly sauted shredded cabbage.




This is cozy chenile scarf i knitted for myself...





Tips : While buying chicken in large quantity, like from stores like sam's club,as soon as get home divide them into individual portions and put in separate ziploc bags.Squeeze max air out of the ziploc before closing and put in the freezer.This is healthy and you can avoid thawing and freezing the whole packet again n' again each time you cook chicken.

Mutton thoran

Ingredients

Mutton -1lb (boneless, cut into bite sized pieces)
Small onions - 1 cup (sliced)
Ginger garlic paste - 1tbsp
Chilli powder -2tsp
Dania powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - as needed
Oil - 2tbsp
salt- as needed

For grinding (into a coarse paste)

Coconut -1/4cup
Jeera - 1tsp
curry leaves - as needed

Method

Cut mutton into bite sized pieces and clean them.Mix mutton with all the powders,salt and gg paste.Pressure cook it with just enough water for abt 4 whistles.In a pan, heat oil and fry mustard seeds, curry leaves and sliced small onions.Fry well till they are golden brown.Now Pour the cooked mutton with the juice in to this pan and cook it till the juice is completely evaporated.finally add the coconut paste and cook it till the raw smell disappears and mutton is well cooked.Serve hot with rice.

P.S : As you can see my mutton thoran has little bit gravy, as we like it that way.In traditional mutton thoran,there won't be any gravy at all.
The more shallots/small onions used, the more tasty this dish is...








Just finished knitting this sofy blanky for my friend who is expecting her baby this month...

Rug using scrap yarns..

This is one of my latest crochetted product..a rug using scrap yarns...
Thanks to my friend who mentioned about this pattern and i got rid of a bag full of leftover yarns..:)

Happy Thanksgiving

I take this oppertunity to thank all of you who have visited here and encouraged me to keep sharing my experiments with food.I thank, my H for being supportive and encouraging without even visiting my blog unless i force him to..:))A big thanks to my lil' one who is been very cooperative while I cook ( not the times when he messes around with Atta n' rice).Happy thanksgiving....


As i have mentioned, my fav. hobby is playing with the yarns..so here some of the my latest products which i knitted time in between.This is for my lovely cousin whom we will be visiting this thanksgiving.One of the scarf is for my H, who is having a bad time with the weather...:))

Winter is on the way..

As winter approaches..i am getting ready.This is gonna be our first winter here in Chicago.As my toddler had out grown most of his hats/caps, i had started knitting/crochetting again for him.These are some of the hats i made this week...