Chicken Fried Rice - Treat Your Tummies On Every Special Occasion

Are you planning to make your Sundays special? Or are you confused over what to make for your guests? If you want something grand and elegant, for a dinner or a lunch, you can always try your hand making Chicken Fried Rice.

I always love chicken fried rice that is loaded with a whole lot of veges and shredded chicken pieces with a bit of scrambled eggs, nuts and raisins. 

Ingredients

• Basmati Rice- 1 kg
• Onions - 2 large
• Beans - 1 kg
• Carrot - 1 kg
• Chicken cooked and Shredded - 2 cups
• Eggs - 2
• Green chilies - 2 
• Pepper  powder - 2 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 1/2 tsp
• Tomato Sauce - 2 tbsp
• Soya Sauce- 1 tsp
• Raisins - 50 gms
• Cashew nuts - 50 gm
• Ghee -
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Cardamon whole - 2
• Cloves - 2
• Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

Method

Stage - 1

• Wash the basmati rice and soak it for 20 min
• In a large pressure cooker, add around 3/4 water and switch on the flame.
• Add cardamom, cloves and cinnamon to the water and allow it to boil
• Add the soaked basmati rice to the water and allow it to cook. Do not over cook.
• After the rice is cooked, strain off the water and keep the rice aside

Stage - 2

• Heat a pan and add vegetable oil to it
• Add finely chopped Onions, carrots, beans and green chilies to the pan and saute well after adding salt to it
• Add pepper powder and garam masala and mix well
• Close the lid and cook for 10- 15 min
• Switch off flame and keep the veges aside

Stage- 3

• Beat the eggs 
• Add salt, half a tbsp of tomato sauce and beat well
• Heat a pan and scramble the eggs
• Switch off the flame and keep the eggs aside

Stage - 4

• Cook chicken pieces by adding salt and pepper powder
• Remove from flame after they are cooked
• Shred them and keep aside

Stage - 5

• Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp of ghee
• Fry the nuts and raisins separately and strain off oil and keep aside

Stage-6

• Take a large Kadai and heat it
• Add 2- 3 tbsp of ghee and heat it
• Add the cooked rice to it and mix well in the ghee
• Now you may add the vegetables, shredded chicken, fried raisins and nuts, scrambled eggs, tomato sauce, soya sauce and salt to the rice
• Mix well 
• Serve hot with chicken curry and raitha
• ENJOY!!

Beef Cutlet

Beef cutlet is a real delight as an evening snack or as an accompaniment with rice. You can even serve it as a starter when you have guests for dinner or lunch.

Though making cutlets is simple, it takes too much a time while getting the ingredients prepared for the final stage. The effort you take is never wasted when you find your loved ones and your guests shower you with appreciations.

PS.: Picturized version below the description

Ingredients

• Beef keema- 1 kg
• Potatoes - 4 medium
• Onions - 2 medium
• Carrot- 1 1/2 medium
• Beans - 15 nos (app 1/4 kg)
• Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - a bunch
• Green chilies- 2
• Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
• Bread crumbs - 
• Eggs
• Salt
• Oil

Method

• Pressure cook beef keema with Ginger garlic paste and sufficient salt
• Remove them allow it to cool
• Cook the potatoes in pressure cooker until it cooks perfect. 
• Switch off the cooker and allow the potatoes to cool.
• Peel off the skin as soon as the potatoes cool enough to handle with your bare hands
• Finely chop the vegetables (carrots, onions, beans and green chilies separately)
• Heat a pan 
• Add oil to it
• Now you may add the finely chopped veges in the order- Onions, green chillies --- saute then carrots and beans. Saute well after adding sufficient salt.
• Add a pinch of turmeric and saute
• Close the lid and cook for 5 min
• Switch off flame after the veges have cooked well
• After the vegetables have cooled down, add them to the cooked dry beef keema
• Now you may add pepper powder, Garam masala, coriander leaves and mashed potatoes to the beef and vege mix
• Add salt if you find salt is little
• Mix well and divide the mix into small balls
• Place a flat plat upside down or you may use a smooth surface for flattening the balls into cutlets
• You may use a small thin strip of flexible plastic for shaping the cutlets
• Make sure you flatten the cutlets after dipping the balls in a plate with some bread crumbs
• Beat an egg in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and keep aside
• Heat a pan and add oil for deep frying
• As soon as the oil gets heated, take a cutlet, dip it in the beaten egg
• Remove excess egg content and add them to the hot oil for deep frying
• Fry it for 5 min
• Now turn it other way round to get the other side cooked well
• Remove the cutlets from flame as soon as it turns brown in colour
• Place them on tissues to drain off excess oil
• Serve hot with tomato sauce
• Enjoy!!

Mackerel/Ayala Fish Curry

Ayala Fish curry, one of my favorites is a quick and easy one to prepare. Usually it is served with rice during lunch time in the state of Kerala, India. But often, it takes place in the breakfast plates with Puttu, which is a steam cake made out of rice flour. I love it both as a side dish for lunch and as an accompaniment for Puttu. So here is the method of preparing Ayala Fish curry, the Kerala style.

Ingredients

• Ayala/Mackerel fish - 4 nos
• Coconut gratings- 1/2 cup
• Shallots - 6 nos
• Chilies - 3 nos 
• Tomato- 1 no
• Red Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander Powder - 2 tsp (Optional)
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Tamarind paste - 1/4 tsp
• Salt 
• Oil(Coconut oil)

Method

• Take out a mixer jar, add coconut gratings, Red chilly powder, Turmeric powder, Coriander powder(optional) and Shallots, and Grind them by adding a bit of water (1/4 cup) till you get a fine paste
• Clean the fish and cut them into small pieces
• In a kadai, (Do not put it on flame now) you may add the coconut paste, fish and small amount of salt. Now add the slit green chilies, finely chopped tomatoes and a tablespoon coconut oil and mix well.
• Now you may place the Kadai on top of stove. Switch on the stove and allow the mix to boil
• When the curry is about to boil, add the tamarind paste to it and mix it with the help of a spatula.
• Add some curry leaves.
• When the curry starts to boil, simmer and close the kadai with a lid.
• Let the fish cook for 10 to 15 min.
• After 10 min, or as soon as the fish is found soft and cooked well, switch off the flame.
• Remove the contents to a serving bowl
• Serve hot with rice or puttu
• Enjoy a tangy tasty ayala fish curry with your family!!

Potato dry fry- The Perfect Mate For Your Lunch Box

Potato delicacies are loved by kids. Packing your child's lunch box with a variety of dishes each day is sometimes a hilarious task. Since variety is the spice of life, spice up the lunch box of your kid with variety of food each day.

Simple Potato dry fry can be prepared within minutes and you will be able to win the hearts of your kids right away.

Ingredients

• Potatoes - 2 
• Red Chilly powder- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Salt
• Oil 

Method

• Heat a non stick pan
• Pour in some oil - 1 tbs would be fine
• Add the potato cubes into the pan
• Add chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt
• Saute for 1 min
• Close the lid
• Allow it to cook for 5-10 min till the potato cubes have cooked
• Stir occasionally to fry the potatoes properly
• Switch off flame
• Serve hot or pack in lunch boxes