Chicken Cholay Pulao

1 lb Boneless Chicken, cubed

3 cups Basmati Rice , washed and soaked in water for atleast half hour

1 (15 oz) can of Garbanzos beans/Chick peas/Cholay

1 cup of fried onions :D

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp Ginger and Garlic paste

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp Haldi

1 tbsp Cumin Powder

1/2 cup Yoghurt, whipped

Start off with a cup of already fried onions and put them in oil. Stir for a minute until the color turns dark brown. Quickly add a cup of water. You are welcome to slice fresh onions and fry them until golden brown..but I personally prefer this shortcut!

Add the spices and ginger garlic paste. Braise for another minute

Add the yoghurt and the chicken.

Braise for a few minutes till chicken changes color and everything else comes together.

Now, drain the chickpeas and rinse them out with water. Add it to the pot.

Brasie for another 5 minutes or so. At this point, chicken should be almost tender. Add the drained rice.

Add water. water level should reach an inch above the chicken and rice and all. Its a little tricky sometimes but its always good to add less water than more. You can always add more later.

Do not cover and let it all come together and cook until most of the water is absorbed by the rice.

At this stage, you cover and put the pot on a dum griddle and leave it on the lowest seting for about 20 minutes.

Give it a good stir but gently and check the situation of the rice. If it still needs cooking.. cover and return to the stove. All the liquid should be absorbed by the rice and the rice and checken and chickpeas should be tender by this stage.

Serve with Raita..

Mustard Chicken

This is my go to chicken when I am in a hurry and dont want to babysit the pot of chicken..

1/2 Chicken

1 cup yoghurt

2-3 tbsp petite diced tomatoes

1 tbsp Ginger and Garlic paste

Salt 1/2 tsp

1 tsp Red chilli powder

3/4 tsp Turmeric powder (Haldi)

1/2 tsp ground cumin powder

1 tbsp Mustard paste

1 tbsp Oil

Dump everything together in the pot with the chicken.

Give it a good stir so it looks something like this.

Turn on the stove on low to medium.. cover and cook for about 15 minutes.. no stirring needed.

In about fifteen minutes or so, give it a good stir and cover and leave it on the lowest setting of the stove for another fifteen minutes..

Now, evaporate the liquid so the gravy thickens a bit and all the excess water in evaporated.

Serve with Naan..

Pancakes

Morning, Morning!! We are whipping up some pancakes and would love for you to whip some up too..  Its going to be Chocolatechip Pancakes, Raspberry Pancakes and Raspberry Chocolate chip Pancakes..

Ready?? Alrighty..

All pictures shows doubled up recipe.. Measurements below serves about 4 people..

2 tbsp Melted butter

1 egg

3/4 cup Milk

2 tbsp White Vinegar

1 cup All purpose flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup mini chocolate chip Morsels

1 -2 cups fresh Raspberries

Pecans (optional)

Melt the butter and whisk the egg with it. Set aside.

Add the Vinegar to the milk and let it curd..set it for about five minutes to get the buttermilk effect.

Combine Flour, Sugar, Baking powder and Soda and salt..

Whisk together the sour milk and the melted butter/egg mixture. Pour it in a big bowl.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the liquid and whisk gently after each addition until all the flour mix is used up. Don't whip it too much.. small lumps are fine. Less whipping entails more fluffy pancakes..

Now its time to flavor the batter.. Divide the batter if need be and use your imagination.. Today we did half Chocolate chip and half Raspberries.. made 4-5 of each and then mixed the remaining batters together and had Raspberry Chocolate chip ones.. (I doubled the recipe to feed six [4+2 neices] hungry kids).

More popular ones around here are Chocolate Pecans, Banana Walnut, Plain ole chocolate, Double chocolate (Cocoa powder added to the batter).. If blueberry is your thing.. just sir it to the batter..

Preheat the gridle to 375. If you are using a frying pan, preheat until a drop of water sizzles and evaporates right away. Do use a cooking spray...

Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, pour the batter and wait until the pancake starts bubbling and edges turn brown. Just flip it once.. PLEASE just flip it ONLY once.. wait for another minute or two until the edges brown and serve right away..

Serving suggestions.. Whipped cream, Maple Syrup, Butter/Margarine, Chocolate syrup, Nutella..yum.. Nutella.. I will stop here..

Scones

In one word, DIVINE!! Scones are a sort of British quick bread usually eaten along with Tea/Coffee but if you are anything like me, you could have it for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and every little munching in between. Its that good. My kids love 'em too and they are gone here in no time.  They have just the right level of sweetness and dipping it in lemon curd (Recipe coming soon) makes it ever more delish. Tell me you will make this today?? Or perhaps tomorrow? But no later than that?? You will love the fact that they are moist but still soft and light and very lightly crisp..all the good things going on together at the same time..... Lets begin!

Oh, by the way, this is a very basic scone recipe which I got from Here and you could add all kinds of nuts, dried fruits, fresh fruits, chocolates etc to customize it. You could also make it savory by adding garlic, cheese etc.. Sky is the limit..


2 cups All purpose Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled (8 tbsp)
1/2 cup of Sour Cream
1 large Egg

In the food processor, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and soda and salt and give it a good pulse.

Cut the butter directly into the flour mix and add the egg and sour cream.

Blenderize until it forms a dough. Its magical!



Transfer the dough on a lightly floured surface.

Line a baking sheet with baking liner or Parchment. Preheat the oven to 400.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Do not smooth it out as the crumbly texture is what it should be like.

Using a knife o a pizza cutter, cut them into wedges. I usually do 8 *equal* wedges but my mind had wandered into the food processor along with the wet ingredients.. ehm.. anyways..

Using a fork, prick it all over. Man! Was I in a rush or what?

Now lift them up and line them onto the baking sheet.

Actually I had them cut into unequal pieces for a reason.. Big ones for Mama Bear, medium ones for Papa bear and tiny ones for baby bears..

On the middle rack, slide the baking tray in the oven and bake for precisely 15 minutes.

They will comes out slightly crispy on the edges.

Firm on the top and a bit crisp on the bottom.

And a pretty gold tone on the bottom.

Dip it in Lemon Curd or dunk it in coffee or spread some Jam over it...

Cheesy Baked Spaghetti

I wanted to make Spaghetti but I wanted to bake it and the way I usually make Baked Spaghetti is like THIS but I wasn't in the mood to use Puff Pastry nor felt like spending too much time in the kitchen so I ended up adapting my recipe from HERE. This is a very flexible recipe so use whatever you have on hand. Use whatever Cheese you have on hand and whatever kind of pasta.. Throw in a bunch of veggies if you like. Choices are endless... Enjoy!!


1.5 lbs Chicken Boneless Breast
1 tbsp dry Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Oil
1 (16 oz) package of Spaghetti
2 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 jar Pasta Sauce (Any variety, I used garden)
1 Can Tomato Condensed Soup with Basil
2 cups of Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup of Italian Blend Cheese
1 12 oz container of Ricotta Cheese (Optional)
Oil for greasing

Dice the chicken into tiny cubes and set aside.

In a pot, add chicken, ginger garlic paste, Italian seasoning , salt and pepper and oil. Turn the heat on and stir frequently.

Let the Cheeses come to room temperature.



When the chicken changes color and seems somewhat cooked, lower the heat.

Add a can of Tomato Basil Soup.

Stir and let the sauce bubble for a minute or two. Turn the heat down and set aside.

Boil and drain the spaghetti accordingly and transfer into a bowl. Add the butter to it. Let the butter melt while stirring the hot noodles.

Now add the Parmesan Cheese and mix well until well coated. Set aside.

In a greased 13X9 baking dish, dump the pasta sauce.

Make sure it covers the base of the dish completely.

Now toss the spaghetti over the sauce and spread evenly.

Add the Ricotta cheese if you decide to use it.

Now pour over the chicken with the sauce evenly over it to cover the spaghetti entirely.

Generously sprinkle with the Italian blend cheese.

Now cover it with the Mozzarella Cheese. Cover with Foil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 for about 30 minutes.

After the 30 minute mark, uncover the dish and let it bake for another 15 minutes so the cheese turns a lovely gold color.

Let it stand for ten minutes before serving.

Yumm!! Enjoy!