Avocado fries

I used to love those snow scenes in the movies when I was a kid and wondered how is it like to feel snow.
I never thought growing up, snowstorm would be one of my nightmares.
I cant explain enough how it feels when weather.com shows negative temperatures and snow blizzards.

On one such wintry day, I was starving like anything and I did not even feel like getting up from couch to make something.
My legs were freezing. Watching those recipes in food channel was making my stomach to growl already.
I was seeing one of those best seller food in famous restaurants and they were making Avocado fries and Gazpacho.
Although I did not have the patience to try gazpacho I decided to make avocado fries which was simple and gave my own Indian twist.

We all loved it and it was quite easy to make it.

So here is the recipe.

Ingredients
Avocado - 2 ripe (Peel and Slice like the apple slices)
Egg - 1
Four - 1 Cup
Chilli powder - 1/2 Tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 Tsp
Pepper Powder - 1 Tsp
Sat - 1 and 1/2 Tsp
Bread Crumbs- 1 Cup
Oil - to deep fry

Preparation
1. Whisk the egg nicely with chilli powder, garam masala, 1/2 Tsp salt.
2. Mix the Flour with 1 Tsp Salt and Pepper.
3. Place the avocado slice into this flour, then to egg, then to the bread crumbs. i.e, all in all three coating.
4. Fry the slices until its nice and crispy or golden brown.

Enjoy with a nice spicy sauce. I had it with Maggie Chatpat sauce.

 Kozhi Nirachathu/ Stuffed Chicken!!!

                                    
I have been longing to eat this chicken for a long time. Although I never tried to make one or for that matter didn't even check online for the recipe, until my friend Najla invited me for a dinner. She had prepared this and it was so yummy.
Here is the recipe link which I followed. 
http://shabscuisine.blogspot.com/2009/12/kozhi-nirachathustuffed-chicken-with.html
I will write down how i made this.
Before trying this recipe i would give you a little tip how to do it easily
1. Marinate the whole chicken for atleast 2 hours or overnight.
2. With in that 2 hours you can prepare the egg stuffing/ masala that has to go inside the chicken and masala/ gravy which makes the final gravy.
3. Since base of these gravies are almost same make one gravy and split it into two so that way u can save time.
Ingredients 
Chicken - 1 Small- Medium
Marinade:
Chilli powder - 3 Tbsp
Turmeric powder       - 1 Tsp
Lime juice   - 1 Tbsp 
Salt or as required
Water  - 3-4 tbsp
Ingredients for Egg stuffing:
Vegetable oil  - 2-3 tsp
Egg  - 1
Medium size onions thinly sliced - 2
Green chillies  - 3 sliced
Curry leaves - few
Ginger ,minced - ½ Tbsp 
Garlic, minced - ½ Tbsp 
Chilli powder/paprika - ½ Tsp
Turmeric powder - ½ Tsp
Coriander powder - 1 Tsp
Salt - to taste
Ingredients for the final gravy:
Medium size onions thinly sliced - 4
Curry leaves - few
Tomatoes chopped - 2 big
Ginger minced - 1 Tbsp 
Garlic minced - 1 Tbsp 
Green chillies -  3 slices
Cumin powder - 1 Tsp
Chilli powder/paprika - 2 Tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp
Coriander powder - 2 Tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 Tsp
A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Preparation
Clean the chicken well and make shallow incision on the thick part of chicken. 
Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under marinade. Keep it in the fridge for at least 2 or more hours.
Boil Egg
Preparing the basic gravy
Heat oil in a big nonstick pot add all of the sliced onions, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and garlic from both of the egg stuffing and gravy and sauté till onion turns brown.
For the Egg Stuffing
In a big frying pan cook 1/4th of basic gravy add all the spice powders under egg stuffing (turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder) and sauté till it leaves aroma. Add egg and mix well.

Stuff the marinated chicken with this mixture. Insert the eggs first and then the onion masala. Do not over stuff it. Tie the legs together with a thread. Now we have to shallow fry the chicken before it goes to the gravy.
Frying the Chicken
Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a large frying pan or wok and shallow fry the chicken in medium heat briefly just for few minutes until all side are lightly browned. It may take 20 minutes for the whole chicken. Keep it aside.
Preparing the final gravy
Take the rest of the basic gravy start heating and add the tomatoes . Add the spice powders under final gravy ingredients (turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and chilli powder) and sauté till is thick and tomatoes are mushy. Add little water if the mixture is dry. Add coriander leaves and sprinkle garam masala. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes more.
5. Final cooking:
After the gravy masala is prepared, place the fried chicken on the masala, cover with a lid and cook it on medium flame until done. Make sure you flip the chicken on all sides to ensure thorough cooking.

Pheww!! I know its a lot of work but the result is worth the effort.

                                  Chicken Florentine Crepe!




I am a big fan of IHOP Chicken Florentine crepe.
So when I stopped eating meat from outside, this was one of the dish I really missed.
I thought of recreating it and I found a link where I could make them exactly same as the one I get in IHOP.

I was all set to make it and I realized I did not have some of the main ingredients,
So I tried to give it a little twist and came out really well.
Here it goes

Ingredients
Chicken Florentine
Chicken breast (boneless, skinless, cubed) - 2 fillets
Garlic cloves (minced)   - 3
Onion - 1 Small
White Sauce  - 3 Tbsp (Recipe below)
Cheddar Cheese - 1/2 Cup
Spinach   -   2 Cups (Cooked and drained) (Can also use frozen one)
Butter      -   2 tbsp
salt and pepper - to taste
Preparation

Heat butter in a pan. Throw in garlic and Onion.

Cook onions until they are soft. Add chicken, salt and pepper and mix well.
Cook Chicken till they are almost done. Add white sauce. Mix them nice and well. Cook till the Chicken is done.
Add spinach , pepper with 1/2 cup of cheese. 
Take out.

White Sauce
Butter      - 2 Tbsp

Flour/Maida- 2 Tbsp

Milk         - 1 Cup

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir until the butter and flour are well combined. Pour in milk, stirring constantly as it thickens. Add more milk depending on desired consistency.

Crepe
Flour/Maida   -1 Cup
Milk         - 1 Cup
Eggs         - 4
Melted butter - 1 Tbsp
Salt  - 1/2 tsp
Mix all the ingredients with whisk.  Pour batter into center of pan and swirl pan until bottom is covered with batter, like we make dosas/pancakes. Check the bottom side of the crepe if its light brown. Cook only one side of the crepe or else it will be crunchy. 
Take two to three tbsp of the chicken mixture and place over the center of crepe.
Fold from both the sides.
Enjoy!

Salmon Steak Dinner

Leftover Chicken Sandwich

Chicken Tandoori

Ingredients:
Chicken legs n thighs : 2 nos
Coriander pdr : 1tsp
Cumin pdr : 1tsp
Garam masala : 1tsp
Kasoori methi pdr : 1tsp
Ginger garlic paste: 1tsp
Lemon juice:1tbsp
Red chilly pdr:1 tbsp
Salt
turmeric pdr: 1tsp
yoghurt: 3-4tbsp

Preparation:
1.Clean and put slits on chicken. Apply salt, chilly powder and lemon juice. keep aside for 15 mts.
2.Marinate with coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chilly powder, kasoori methi, garam masala, ginger garlic paste, yoghurt and salt.
3.Apply over chicken and refrigerate it for 3-4 hours.
4.Grill at 425F till chicken is soft and juicy approx 40 mins.
5.Broil for 5 minutes. 


Serve with Jeera Rice and Raitha.

Ground Beef Kabob

Ingredients:
Minced Beef/Lamb : 1 lbs (approx. 500 gms)
Onion : 1 (thinly sliced)
Chilli flakes : 1tsp
Green chilli : 4
Pepper powder : 1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste : 2 tsp
Corriander leaves : a small bunch
Salt : To taste
Rice flour : 2 tbsp
Oil : To deep fry


Preparation:
1. Make a paste of the all of the above ingredients using a grinder.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes.
3. Make kabobs out of the mixture and deep fry until golden brown (its cooked).


Serve with hummus.