Pan Seared Chicken

Pan Seared Chicken 

On a regular day I prefer having fish or chicken which is either steamed, boiled, poached or grilled . And I love grills but here in our temporary house in Bombay we have no oven which I personally feel is just sad but then again a girl needs to eat.

I was dillydallying when a lovely person whose food posts I admire posted this delightful picture of pan seared chicken legs. I immediately knew what I was having for lunch. The idea was enough and I didn't need a recipe to follow. Its pan seared and I suggest using a non-stick pan.

I am sharing my recipe but you can always alter the flavours as per your taste :-

Serves 2

2 chicken leg + thigh without the skin
4 tbsp finely chopped leek leaves
Spray of olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

For the marinate :-

1 tsp whole black pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce or any other vinegar
1 fat clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt as per taste

Make a smooth paste of the ingredients for the marinate and make gashes on the chicken and marinate and leave aside for 1 hour.

Lightly spray a non-stick pan with olive oil and add the finely chopped leek and add the thyme and palce the chicken and seal its juices on high heat for 2 minutes on either side and then cover, lower heat to minimum and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on both sides, till its thoroughly cooked. Remove cover and cook for a few seconds on high heat so that it becomes dry and then let it rest for 1 minute and  serve it with your favourite side dish. I served mine with some crisp salad.

Malai Chop and an aunt's Love

Malai Chop and an aunt's love

I can just call this my Calcutta Connection. Well I'l be honest once you start making sweets at home it becomes an addiction. I am passionate not just about sweets but about cultures because for me it through food that I can communicate with the entire world.

'Malai Chomchom' is a much loved sweet dish from Bengal where flattened or cylindrical shaped cottage cheese is boiled in thin sugar syrup and then soaked in slightly thickened milk. It is an absolute delicacy but then the recipe I am sharing today is extra special for me. I have a beautiful aunt who would often come over to our place with a big case of delightful  white Malai Chomchom but these malai chom choms had a coat of milk which was thickened enough to stay put on the white beauties. Now that I think about it I haven't ever paid attention to the name of the shop from where my darling aunt would bring one of my favourite sweets but now I can easily make it at home and so can anyone who is reading this.

Sitting in Bombay I miss Kolkata and so on an ordinary Saturday I decided to make these sweets from my memory. Having previously made roshogollas , pantuas, chanar jilipi , jalebi I was more or less confident enough to not consult any recipe and my confidence was well rewarded with a husband who usually doesn't like sweets yet gobbled up 3 and 3/4th malai chomchoms out of the 5 that I made 

Makes 4 Malaichochoms and a semi mini malai chomchom

1 litre full fat milk and it must be full fat

7 tbsp sugar

3/4th tbsp vinegar diluted in 3 tbsp water

1 tsp sugar

3/4th tsp semolina

tiny pinch of bi-carbonate of soda

For the syrup

1/2 cup sugar granules

5 cups of water

2 green cardamom

2 tbsp pistachios blanched and finely chopped

Start a day ahead by first making the condensed milk. Simply take 500ml of the milk and 7 tbsp sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and simmer it on low flame stirring it from time to time. Once the milk turns beige , thick and starts bubbling you must keep stirring it continuously and then cool it and blend it in the food processor / mixer grinder. Chill it in the refrigerator. The process takes about 45 minutes to 50 minutes.

The next day bring the milk to a roaring boil and lower the heat and add the diluted vinegar and let the cottage cheese form well so that in the end you have snow white cheese floating in a green liquid. It takes 2 minutes. Now switch off the gas-stove and cover and leave for 5 minutes . Then gather the cheese in a cloth and drain it for 15 minutes to 20 minutes and then take the cheese on a wooden board and knead well rubbing the cheese against the wooden board and gathering it and kneading it. After 3 minutes of kneading add the semolina , baking powder and 1 tsp sugar and knead well. Knead well for a good 15 minutes. The softness of the dessert depends entirely on the kneading. Make a large ball and divide it into 5 parts and make discs out of them.

Now bring the sugar and water to a boil and add the green cardamom . make sure that the pan is large enough to hold all the cheese discs side by side. Lower the heat and add the discs and cover and boil on medium heat for 15 minutes. It is essential that you keep lowering the temperature and increasing it in-between. Once done keep it covered for 10 minutes to 15 minutes and then take off the cover. Once the discs cool down place them on a tray and soak them with the thick condensed milk and garnish with pistachios and chill for 4 hours to 5 hours before serving.

Enjoy these soft milky creamy delights.

Very important tips :-

1. It is extremely important that you use the tiniest pinch of bakign soda else your discs will break when they are being boiled in the syrup. 
2. The softness of the discs depends entirely on the kneading , so knead as much as possible , your dough should be melt in the mouth and ultra soft 
3. When you make the syrup remember that it is the thinnest syrup possible so once the sugar gets dissolved in the water after you have started boiling it immediately lower heat and add discs.  

This is part of Kolkata Food Blogger's  Ongoing event 'Deepavali, Festival of Lights with Sweets and Savouries'

Soft Homemade Cottage Cheese Salad

Soft Homemade Cottage Cheese Salad 

Indians do not traditionally use a lot of cheese in their food but there is one cheese which is used extensively in India and that is Homemade cottage cheese aka Paneer in India. The truth is most people buy the readymade paneer these days but then again readymade paneer can never match up to a well made homemade paneer. Basically it is split milk clustered together and then drained of all its water to make firm cheese.

In Bengal people are more specific with this homemade cottage cheese for Bengal has an intense love affair with cottage cheese as is proven by the extensive use of cottage cheese known as 'Chana' not 'Chena' in Bengal. Not only do they make the softest chana ever they use it in one other form which includes kneading the cheese really well.

Now recently there has been an increased popularity of flavoured Paneer which I love but quite frankly paneer as a whole is firm in nature and on this particular day I wanted a soft melt in the mouth cheese without the calories that come along with most good cheese.

I was struck by this idea and I put it to good use with a very satisfactory result. Basically everything remains the same except for the technique.

So here is the recipe :-

Serves 2

For the Cheese:-

1 litre toned milk
1.5 tbsp vinegar diluted with 2.5 tbsp water
Wooden platform for kneading

For flavouring :-

Herbs of your choice, I used rosemary
Salt as per taste
Chili flakes or freshly ground pepper

For the salad :-

4 cups of assorted shredded lettuce
2 green apple

For the dressing

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt as per taste
1 large clove of garlic finely minced

Bring the milk to a roaring boil and then lower the heat and add the diluted vinegar. Within 2 minutes white cheese will be floating about in green whey. Now switch off the stove, cover the pot and leave for 5 minutes.

Now gather all the cheese in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and wash it under cold water squeezing out all the water after you are done washing . If it still feel too hot for sqeezing out the water let it hang for 15 minutes.

Now start kneading the crumbly cheese , knead it well for 5 minutes , add the flavouring and keep kneading for another 10 minutes to 15 minutes (Remember that the more you knead the softer your cheese will be) and then make a fat roll and tie the cheesecloth after squeezing it well so that it is moist but not wet and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Now toss your salad. Whisk the ingredients for the dressing to make an emulsion and carefully slice the cheese. It is ultra soft and as a result it may break a little bit but its so soft that you can make perfectly shaped cheese cubes or balls or discs using clean hands, something which I did not do.

Enjoy a healthy meal.

Tips

1. Kneaded on a wooden surface does result in a softer texture. I can vouch for this from experience.
2. When you are kneading the cheese try rubbing it well against the wooden surface and then gathering the cheese with the sides of your finger and palm. 
3. Since you are using your hands make sure its absolutely clean for hygienic purpose 

Oriental Black Pepper Chicken

Oriental Black Pepper Chicken 

They say necessity is the mother of all invention. For this particular recipe it was bottles of sauces beyond their expiry dates being sold at Big Bazaar which led to the creation of the sauce, well that along with my strong love for Calcutta's Chinese dishes which are on the verge of extinction.

So here goes the recipe for Oriental Black Pepper Chicken

Serves 2 :-

200gm to 250gm chicken de-boned breasts
Salt as per taste
Rice flour or corn flour  for dredging
2 cups of chopped Chinese cabbage
1 tbsp oil (Sesame or refined)

For the marinate sauce :-

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp black pepper
Salt as per taste (I used 3/4th tsp)
1 fat clove of garlic
1 tsp Sesame oil or refined oil

Start by making a smooth paste of the ingredients for the marinate sauce. Transfer it to a bowl and mix very well. Then make small cubes of the chicken and use half the marinate and let it marinate for 1 hour to 2 hours.

Now heat the oil in a non-stick pan. In case you are not using a non-stick pan use a bit of extra oil. Dredge the chicken in rice flour / corn flour and saute on high heat to seal the juices and then turn down the heat and cover and cook for 40 seconds on each side. It should be golden brown by the time you are done with both the sides. Leave it to rest.Now add the remaining  marinate along with 3/4th cup water and bring to a boil and add salt after tasting. Simmer for 2 minutes and add the chicken and cabbage and simmer covered for sometime.

In case you want a thick sauce, mix 2 tsp flour / cornflour with a bit of water to create a smooth paste and add to the simmering sauce before adding the chicken and cabbage.

Enjoy it with steaming hot rice