Week #34 An Indo-Chinese fusion perfection

Deepa, my awesome cousin from CA got it right! This dish is an amazing and perfect fusion of Indian Chinese flavors. The garlic, ginger, and soy sauce and regular Chinese ingredients, but the green chillies and red chilli sauce give it that kick and this dish is not for those that dont like spicy food. California has some really good Indian Chinese restaurants and my fav is the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and their spicy baby corn is pretty darn good. I made this dish with some crumbled firm tofu, but can easliy be made with ground chicken.

Ingredients :
Garlic and ginger- minced - 4 tablespoons each
Soy sauce- 4-5 tablespoons
1 egg- beaten if using tofu
green chillies- minced- as needed
onions- minced- 5 tablespoons
breadcrumbs- 1/2 cup
crumbled firm tofu patted dry or ground chicken- 1 cup
salt and white pepper- as needed
corn flour- 2 tablespoons
vegetable or chicken stock- 5 cups
red chilli sauce- 2 tablespoons
capsicum- diced- 5 tablespoons
oil for frying.
Green onions or scallions- 1 bunch diced for garnish
Method:
If tofu is very wet, make sure to drain properly in paper towels as a first step.Mix tofu or chicken with bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons each of ginger/garlic/onions and green chillies as needed. Add salt and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. If using tofu, mix egg as well as it will be the binding agent. You may need to add some more breadcrumbs if needed so the mixture comes together. Form small balls and deep fry in oil and drain in paper towels.
For the sauce, heat 2 tablespoons oil, Put the remaining garlic, ginger, onions and saute 1 minute on high heat, add green chillies and capsicum and then add salt, pepper, rest of soy sauce and the red chilli sauce. Add the stock and allow it to boil for 4-5 min. Mix cornflour with 2 tabelspoons water and add to the mixture. The mixture will thicken. Now add the green onions and switch off the gas. Serve with Fried rice or Noodles and Enjoy!

Week #34 Guess this week's dish

Garlic,ginger,green chillies, onions and soy sauce make up ingredients for this week's dish....

Week #33- A very Southern Indian specialty

Paruppu Vadai:
If you need to eat something fried- might as well be this Vadai which has 2 pulses mushed together. At least its low-carb :) :) I have to say I make this vadai quite well. I grind Toor and Chana Dals together with some red chillies, asafoetida and add some salt and curry leaves in the end before patting them and frying them up. We had a small party for my dad's 75th birthday over the weekend and the catering was by my favorite traditonal caterer in Coimbatore, Sabari caterers. In fact, he is the one who catered for my wedding. Though he has lost some following in recent times due to various reasons, I have to say, his traditional food like avial, sambar sadam, vadai and rasam are really by far better than the more well-known cooks of Coimbatore. The food in my wedding has got to be the best wedding food we have had since. This is not just my view, but pretty much everyone that attended my wedding. Just my 2 cents, the traditional Tamil food is so unique and so important for weddings and such, that just beacuse you are ready to pay money or get more "famous" caterers,you dont necesarily get the actual taste . The vadais they brought were just mind blowing Just sticking to basics are awesome and Sabari caterers r my pick in CBE for such occasions....

Recipe:
Ingredients:
Toor Dal and Chana Dal- equal measurements soaked in water for 6 -8 hrs in cold water
Dry Red chillies- 2 or as needed
salt- 1 teaspoon or as needed
Asafoetida powder- 1/4 tablespoon
Curry leaves- 1Oil for frying

Grind both dals together with red chillies and asafoetida in a mixer with no water at all or just a few sprinkles of water. Do not grind too fine. Add curry leaves and salt and mix toegther. Pour 2 tablespoons of the heated oil and mix them, this will get the vadai to be nice and crispy. Pat them into patties. I like thme fairly thin, though the traditional vada they make at home is quite thick.The oil should be preheated but not overly hot that its fuming.Fry the patties and drain them in paper towels when they turn brown. Enjoy!!!

Week no.32 Choco-chip pancakes

With all the travel and eating Indian food, Sahana was longing for this. The key in this recipe is good quality choco chips. Otherwise its fairly easy to make.


Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup choco chips- semi sweet
1 egg beaten
1 tablespoon butter melted
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Method:
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add melted butter, egg and sugar and beat until mixed. Combine all and whisk it together.
Preheat greased non stick pan and pour 1 scoop of batter evenly. Sprinkle choco chips evenly and let it cook until browned(abt 1 min) Keep a check on it,so it doesnt burn. Flip it over and let it cook for another minute.
Chocolate chip pancakes are ready. They r super easy and is awesome for sleepovers!!!

Week 31- Paradise for Vegetarians

This week's food blog is dedicated to some wonderful and varied recipes of the state of Rajasthan. From unique vegetables to dried beans and pulses, its surely a true haven for vegetarians all over the world. The Dal-Baati-Churma is a specialty here. The Churma and Baati are crushed and the hot daal(pulses) added on top of it. This week I havent had the chance to try cooking this while I am traveling, but will have it for u guys shortly. But here is a photo of all the dishes that is served ona Thaali in a restaurant called Gypsy in Jodhpur.... the food was heavenly and didnt even feel heavy or oily....