Chicken Risotto:
Cuisine: Italian
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups white rice (you can also use brown)
150-200 gms chicken, chopped into small pieces and marinated in lemon juice and salt for a minimum of 30 minutes (size: 1/4th of an inch)
3-4 cheese slices/cubes
1 cup fresh/packaged coconut milk
2 large red tomatos (chopped)
2 onions (sliced)
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp dry oregano
2 tbsps butter or olive oil
Salt
Preparation:
Use a kadai or large, deep frying pan to heat up butter/ olive oil.
Fry onion slices and when golden-brown, add chopped tomatoes and add a little salt — this helps the tomato to mix easily.
When tomato is soft and mixed with onions, add rice and fry for 3-4 minutes on a high flame. Add required salt while frying.
Now add 4 cups of water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. When it starts boiling, add the cheese cubes/ slices and let it cook on low flame.
When the cheese has melted, add the chicken and keep stirring. Add pepper and oregano and keep mixing. Add 1-2 cups of water if required, but take the precaution not to overcook the rice. When the rice is perfectly done, stop cooking.
If the risotto still has gravy, do not cook it to evaporate; it will be soaked up by the chicken and rice soon. Now it is ready to eat. You do not need any other sidedish with it, but if you do, then cook Chicken Flamboyant (recipe below).
Health quotient: Protein-rich, with healthy ingredients.
Since Sasmita says Chicken Risotto goes well with Chicken Flamboyant, that’s the second recipe she sent in:
Cuisine: Italian
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
400 gms chicken, boneless cubes marinated in only salt and lemon juice for minimum 4 hours
Chicken jumbo plain sausages (if possible buy Meatzza chicken sausages, but you can use others)
200 gms mushrooms (optional)
40 gms butter
4 tbsps olive oil
5-6 cloves of garlic
3 large onions, cut into thick slices
2-3 green chillies (only if you want it a bit spicy)
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 cup brandy (optional)
Preparation:
Heat the butter and olive oil together in a deep frying pan. Add the marinated chicken; you do not have to put salt in as it is marinated with salt and lemon juice.
Fry on a high flame to evaporate the water. Then add crushed garlic and thickly cut onions into it. Keep stirring. Then add pepper powder.
After 1-2 minutes, put in the sausages (cut into small pieces) and keep frying. When you realise the chicken is tender, add the mushrooms and stir for 5 minutes on high flame.
Before removing the chicken from the flame, take a deep serving spoon and pour 1/2 a cup of brandy into it and heat it. Within a minute, the brandy will start burning. Immediately pour all over the chicken which is on the high flame and wait till the fire extinguishes and the mild smell of brandy is felt. Enjoy this with either risotto or French loaves.
You can prepare Chicken Flamboyant without brandy, but remember, do not use vinegar to marinate the chicken — lemon brings out the best taste.
Health quotient: Protein-rich.
And here’s how to cook that standard favourite, Roast Chicken, by Malrina Ferreira:
Cuisine: British
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 kg chicken
2-3 tbsps lime juice
1 tsp salt
4 red chillies (whole)
6 pieces cardamon
8 cloves
4 cinnamon sticks (1-inch long)
1 tbsp garam masala powder
4 tbsps ghee
Preparation:
Wash the chicken pieces and drain the excess water.
Marinate the chicken with salt and lime juice and keep aside for 1/2 an hour.
Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add chicken pieces and fry for 5 minutes.
Add the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Break the red chillies into two pieces each and add to the chicken.
Fry the chicken for some more time, till all the water has dried up and the chicken turns brown.
Add the garam masala powder and water left over from the marinated chicken.
Add 1/2 a cup more of water and cook till done (till all the water evaporates and it becomes dry).
Here is how to prepare Chicken Sookha by Nitin Bhatt:
Cuisine: North Indian
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tsps red chillie powder
1 finely chopped green chillie
2 dry red chillies
1 tsp salt or according to taste
1/4 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
2 tsps ginger-garlic paste
2 inch cube of fresh ginger peeled and cut into very small pieces
1 tsp dhaniya powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
5 tbsps vegetable oil
2 onions, one diced and the other sliced lengthwise
1 inch-long stick of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
Cashew nut pieces
Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
1 tsp lemon juice
Preparation:
Clean the chicken pieces, wash thoroughly and drain the water.
Marinate the chicken pieces with the mix (red chillie powder, little salt, haldi, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste) for 1 hour.
Put marinated chicken in steamer (rice cooker steamer or other) and steam for 1/2 an hour. Chicken should be well cooked, leaving most of its oil in the steamer’s water. Throw the water away (most of the fat is now gone!).
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, onions (small & large pieces) and green chillies. Fry onions till brown .
Add rest of the ginger and garlic paste, dhaniya powder, bay leaves, cashews, salt, chillie powder, chopped green chillies, dry red chillies, ginger pieces and fry for a few more minutes.
Add the marinated steamed chicken and fry for sometime. Do not add any water.
Stir it, cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes.
Remove the cover of the pan and garnish it with coriander leaves and lemon juice.
Health quotient: Most of the chicken fat is thrown away, making this an almost fat-free dish — serve as appetizers or main course.
here’s Suchitra V’s recipe for Cheesy Rice:
Cuisine: Indo-Italian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
Vegetable broth
1/2 an onion
1 bay leaf
2 tbsps mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsps crushed garlic
2 tsps butter
2 tsps olive oil
1/4 cup green peas
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
In a pan add butter and olive oil, bay leaf, crushed garlic and finely chopped onion.
When the onion is slightly brown, add basmati rice and stir it for a few seconds; then add vegetable broth, salt, pepper, green peas and keep stirring every few minutes.
Depending on the texture of the rice, keep adding veggie broth to make sure it is cooked.
Then add grated parmesan cheese and mascarpone cheese and mix well.
This rice is deliciousand has a very different flavour. It goes best with cucumber raita.
Health quotient: This recipe is very easy to make and very, very tasty. It’s a good mix of Indian and Italian flavours.
First up is Rana Sinha Ray’s mum’s recipe for Omelette Curry:
Cuisine: Bengali
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
For the omelette:
4 eggs
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1 green chilly, chopped fine
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
For the gravy:
1 1/2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 green chillies, slit
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 and 1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/5 tsp jeera (cumin seeds) powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp ghee
Salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
Preparation:
Making the omelette:
Crack the eggs into a bowl.
Mix all the ingredients except the oil.
Whisk briskly with a fork or egg beater until frothy.
Heat oil to smoking in a skillet or a non-stick pan (not too small).
Pour the egg mixture and reduce heat to prevent the bottom from burning.
Once the egg is cooked through, take it off the fire, and cut in quarters.
Alternately you can make two omelettes and half them — the idea is to have thicker omelettes than the usual thin and layered ones.
Reheat the same pan and and brown the boiled potatoes in the residual oil (after the omelettes).
Making the gravy:
Dissolve the chilly powder and jeera powder in a little water to make a paste.
Heat oil to smoking in a kadhai (saucepan/wok).
Put the chopped onions, sugar and salt in the oil — this helps to brown the onions faster.
Once the onions are browned, add the masala paste.
Lower the heat and keep stirring.
When the water dries up and oil starts leaving the sides, add the ginger-garlic paste and tomatoes.
Keep stirring in low/medium heat until the water dries up and oil starts leaving the sides. If the masala starts sticking to the bottom, keep adding spoons of water.
Take off the bhuna (roasted) masala in a grinder, add a little water, and grind to a fine paste.
Heat the ghee in the pan, and add the paste. Add two cups of warm water and bring to a boil.
Add the omelette pieces, boiled potatoes and slit green chillies. Boil hard for 2-3 minutes.
Lower heat, add garam masala simmer for two minutes, check for salt and your curry is done. Serve with hot rice or paratha or chapati.
Since the salt was put while frying the onions plus the omelette also has salt, be careful about the salt quantities.
Health quotient: Less oil, high proteins and carbohydrates, health benefits of ginger and garlic.
Next is Rimi Agarwal’s recipe for Cinnamon Cauliflower:
Cuisine: Indian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower
1 tsp oil
100 ml coconut milk (or milk)
Handful of cinnamon sticks
1 tsp sesame seeds
Fresh mint leaves
1 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
4-5 whole black pepper corns
1/2 tsp garlic (or garlic powder)
A few almonds
Salt to taste
Preparation:
In some oil, saute the sesame seeds (til), almonds/walnuts, saunf, pepper corns and garlic (add potatoes if you wish).
Add cauliflower, mint leaves and a bunch of finely broken cinnamon sticks.
Let it cook for a while on a high flame. Afterwards, simmer for 10-15 minutes on low flame.
Add coconut milk and salt.
Cook till the cauliflower stalks are soft and the florets are juicy.
Serve with hot parathas
You should get a rich and juicy flavor of cinnamon, garlic, mint and coconut milk.
Health quotient: Uses as little oil as possible, has healthy vegetables and whole masalas.
Aafreen Quadri sends in her recipe for Cilantro Chicken:
Cuisine: Indian
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients:
750 gm chicken
2 medium-sized onions, chopped fine
2 big bunches coriander, washed and chopped roughly
4 green chillies, chopped fine
1 1/2 garam masala powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder or 1 stick cinnamon broken into bits
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
Preparation:
In three tbsp oil fry the onions and green chillies until the onions turn translucent.
Add the coriander and fry really well.
When the onions turn a golden brown, put in the ginger-garlic paste. Again fry well, add a little water to let the onion mash cook.
Add in the spices: the garam masala powder the coriander powder, turmeric and the cinnamon (powder). Fry well till the masalas have cooked through.
Put in the chicken. You’ll have to fry the chicken thoroughly for about 10 minutes, till it browns.
Add salt and a glass of water and let cook for 15 minutes.
Simmer for another five minutes, till the oil leaves the sides. Serve with phulkas or parathas. (For larger quantities of chicken, you will have to add another two bunches of coriander and increase the other masalas accordingly.)
Health quotient: It has the right blend of spices, it’s mildly flavoured and high in protein.
Cuisine: North Indian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 kg bhendi (okra)
2 large onions, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 litre curd
1 small packet buttermilk
1 tbsp besan
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp methi seeds
1 tsp jeera seeds
Fresh curry leaves
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste
For the masala:
8 cloves peeled garlic
6-8 dry red chillies (de-seeded)
1 tsp tamarind
2 tbsp coriander seeds
Preparation:
Grind all the masala ingredients to a paste and set aside.
Cut off the edges of the bhendi, slice them into half-inch pieces and set aside.
Mix the curd and buttermilk in a separate large vessel and beat it to a liquid consistency. Add besan and mix well with hand-blender. If you don’t have a blender, mix it with your fingers until no lumps exist.
Now take a deep nonstick pan and put in the oil on low flame. Add methi seeds, jeera seeds, curry leaves, turmeric and let it splutter.
Next, add the onions and fry them just until slightly brown. Then add the masala paste into the pan. Fry this well along with the onions, until the raw smell of garlic is gone.
Add the bhendi to the pan and mix and toss well, untilit gets covered with masala.
Add one teaspoon of salt. Mix throughly.
Cover the pan annd let it cook for three minutes on a low flame. Make sure the masala does not get burnt.
Now add the buttermilk into the pan and mix well. Check the taste and add salt if necessary. You must do this on a low flame, not allow it to boil. The buttermilk should get mixed with the bhendi and just before you see it is coming to a boil, put off the gas flame.
Add the garnishing of the garam masala powder and keep the vessel covered for five minutes, allowing it to cool. Personally, I prefer to grind my own garam masala, using 2-3 cloves and a 1/4 inch long cinnamon stick. Crush them to a coarse powder using a stone grinder and use them instead of the readymade powder — freshly prepared spices give off a better aroma.
Serve with hot chapatis or rice. As a side salad, cut thin slices of onion lengthwise, add 1 tsp mustard oil and ajwain seeds, a little salt and 1 tbsp lime juice. Mix well.You may also add a pinch of sugar if you like. Make the salad just before serving lunch, as the onion starts leaving the water. It tastes great!
Health quotient: It contains spices that are healthy for you. Okra is also good for diabetics. Overall, everyone will love this dish.
Next we have Pratibha Marathe’s mother-in-law’s recipe for Masala Poha:
Cuisine: Mangalorean
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1cup poha (thin)
2 dry red chillies
3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 grated carrot
1 small tomato (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
A few coriander leaves (chopped)
Preparation:
Grind red chillies, coconut and coriander seeds to a coarse paste without adding any water.
In a mixing bowl put all the ingredients together and mix well.
Your poha is ready, prepared in a jiffy!
Health quotient: It contains no oil and has raw veggies, which are nutrient-packed.
Here’s how to prepare SautĂ©ed Penne Pasta by Raj Seku:
Cuisine: Italian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
3 cups penne pasta
6 cups water
1 cup chopped vegetables: carrots, beans, tomatoes
2 green chillies
Vinegar
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil
Preparation:
Pour water in an open pot and boil it. Add penne pasta and a teaspoon of salt. Drain the water after 8 minutes.
Take a wok, add vegetable oil and stir-fry carrots, beans, tomatoes, green chillies, salt, vinegar and after 4 minutes, add butter.
Add penne pasta to the wok and stir it vigorously for 1 minute, then off the stove. Serve hot.
Health quotient: It contains vegetables, carbohydrates, fibre and is easily digestible.
And finally, we have Shilpa Acharya’s mother’s method of cooking Oondi:
Cuisine: Coastal Karnataka
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
1.5 cup rice (wash rice and soak in water overnight or for 2 hours)
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Sprig of curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tbsp methi
Preparation:
Grind rice with the grated coconut and salt, till the rice is as fine as rava granules. Add minimum water while grinding just to make it a thick paste (like thick dosa batter). Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan, then add mustard. Once mustard splutters, add methi (this is for a tinge of bitter taste only) and curry leaves. Now add the ground rice paste and keep stirring till its water content is such that a small ladoo can be made out of it.
Remove from flame and roll small ladoos of the paste, making a small depression in the center of each.
Use an idli stand to steam the ladoos on the stove for 15 minutes.
Oondis can be served hot with chutney or jaggery syrup for kids. It’s a good breakfast item, easy to prepare. This preparation makes around 12-15 oondis, maybe enough for 2 people
Health quotient: It contains less oil and is hence healthy.