Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts - Baked

I believed that the best things in world are "Deep Fried"!!! and then I tried baking this crusted chicken breast. Boy, was I surprised or what? The same crisp and crunchy texture but with just the tiniest bit of oil. Maybe thats what they mean when they say " Having you cake and eating it too".

So here is a very easy to make,  non-messy chicken dish for a sit down meal, be it with friends,family or even a book ;-))!!

Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts - Baked

Serves - 2


Ingredients:


Chicken Breasts - 2


For Marinade :
English Mustard                   - 2 tbsp
Mayonnaise/Cheese Spread - 1 tbsp
Olive Oil                              - 1tsp
Garlic Powder                     - 1/4 tsp
Dried Mixed Herbs              - 1 tbsp

For Crust :
Fresh Bread Crumbs - 2 Cups
Garlic Powder           - 1/4 tsp
Chilli Flakes               - 1/2 tsp
Mixed Herbs             -  1 tbsp
Oregano                    - 1tsp
Salt                           - As and if necessary

To Make


1. Put the chicken breasts in a zip lock bag and beat it lightly to flatten the chicken.

2. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Rub the chicken with the mix.Marinate for at least 10-15 mins.

3. Mix all the ingredients for the crust.

4. Roll the chicken in the crumb till completely coated.

5. Grease an aluminium sheet with olive oil, put the coated chicken on it and bake in a preheated oven for 35- 40 min at 220C.

6. Turn the chicken over mid way to get even coloring on both sides.

Preparation Time - 15 mins
Baking Time - 40 mins

Notes and Deviations :


1. The herbs I used are - Dried Basil, Dried Parsley, Dried Rosemary

2. Garlic Powder is optional. I made the crumbs out of a garlic loaf so did not add any powder to the crumb.

3. You may make any marinade of your choice - the combination of mustard and mayo gave the complete taste of hot, sour and creaminess.

4. You could marinate for any length of time, the minimum being at least 10-15 mins. Refrigerate or freeze if  marinating for longer duration.

Serve hot with some mayonnaise and a side of mashed potato/potato wedges or some sauteed vegetables like I did.

Shahi Paneer

Shahi Paneer

My daughter has discovered her love for all things Paneer, which is quite a relief since my husband is not very fond of paneer and I felt bad making paneer just because I like it. Now I can use her as an excuse to make paneer at least once a week.

But with great power comes great responsibilities..now what was that for? Anyways all I wanted to say was since I now make paneer more regularly I needed to find more recipes to try out. Typing paneer into google search put up quite a few options but this recipe of Sanjeev Kapoor caught my fancy maybe beacuse it was different from the usual red/orange gravies that I make for paneer

I tried it out and felt this recipe is a keeper. So I am reproducing the recipe here with my few changes:

Shahi Paneer


Serves : 4

Shahi Paneer

Ingredients:

Paneer/Cottage Cheese - 200gms
Onion - 2 quartered, boiled and ground to paste
Cloves - 2
Peppercorns - 6
Bay Leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 2 inch
Green Chillies - 2 slit long
Ginger-garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
Kitchen King Masala - 1tsp
Cashewnut - 10 soaked and ground to paste
Dahi/Curd/Yogurt - 1/2 C
Cream/Milk - 1/4 C
Saffron - A pinch to be soaked in the above cream/milk
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

To make

1. Cut Paneer into bite size pieces - cubes/rectangle/triangle - and let soak in warm water

2. Heat oil, add the dry masala - cloves, cinnamon,peppercorn and bayleaf. When fragrant add in the slit green chillies. Follow it with the boiled onion paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes till the raw smell disappears.

3. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook till the raw smell is gone.

4. Add the kitchen king masala and cook for 1 minute. Add in the curd and and cook till the mixture is dry.

5. Add the cashew paste, saffron induced milk/cream, paneer(without the water) and salt to taste.

6. Cook in low heat for 2 mins. Top off with cardamom powder and take off the heat.

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 15 mins


Notes & Deviations :

1. Soaking paneer in warm water reduces cooking time and helps add in the paneer into the gravy at the last
    moment.

2. Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe doesn't ask for Kitchen King. He suggests Garam Masala. However, since we
    are using whole masala and the cardamom powder I didnt want to use garam masala as well. Adding
    Kitchen King brings in a slight colour change but I love the flavour it imparts

3. If you think the cream/milk could curdle, you may add the same after taking the curry off the heat.

4. Take care not to brown the onion paste or any other ingredients so that the curry would be white/cream in
    colour



Make this dish to add a new colour and taste to your dining table. It will add the royal touch that the name promises.

Jalebi Garma Garam!!

Garam garam Jalebi! was chosen for Srivalli's Indian Cooking Challenge.

Who can ever resist a plate of hot Jalebis especially when you have such an easy and versatile recipe with you.

Ingredients in the recipe was what you could find in your pantry any day, so I didn't bother to even check the availability. But when I decided to get going, I realised I was short of a crucial ingredient. But this recipe is so forgiving, even with the variations I had some gorgeous jalebis at hand or rather in my mouth.




Jalebi

Makes : 24

Ingredients

For Jalebi
All purpose flour/Maida - 1C+3 tbsp
Cornflour - 3 tbsp
Food Colour - 1/2tsp (Optional)
Yogurt/Curd - 1C
Oil - 1tbsp heated
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

For Sugar Syrup
Sugar - 1C
Water - 1/2C

Oil for deep frying


To Make

1. Mix all the ingredients for Jalebi into a thick batter.

2. Leave overnight to ferment.

3. Once fermented fill into a clean thick plastic packet or squeezable ketchup
bottle. If packet, cut a small hole for batter to flow out

3. Prepare Sugar Syrup by boiling the sugar and water till sugar is melted. Keep Warm

4. Heat oil till about medium heat. Pour out the batter into interconnecting
concentric circles.


5. Turn over. Allow each side to cook for about a minute.

6. When done, take out of oil and let rest for about a minute.



7. Dunk into the warm sugar syrup, soak for about 30 seconds.

8. Take out to serve hot Jalebis.


Preparation Time : 12 hours for fermenting
Cooking Time : 3 min per batch

Notes & Deviations

1. I ran out of cornflour so substitutes the same with custard powder and arrowroot
powder.
2. I used a lot of food colouring to get the store bought Jangiri colour
3. With the quantities I have given, the batter stays thick and you need thick
batter to get the right shape of Jalebi
4. Resting the Jalebis before soaking them helps them retain their shape without
becoming soggy.
5. I used the Gits Jalebi bottle for making the jalebis. It was easy to handle and
very non messy too.



A lovely and easy recipe to make. But be sure to serve it fresh and hot for great compliments!!

Edited to add : Priya wanted to have a look at the Jalebi bottle , so here it is

Khara Biscuit

or Savoury Shortbread Cookies. I love the sound of Khara Biskut(love to spell it that way...just fits the product)

Thanks to Srivalli's Indian Cooking Challenge my dormant blog has been springing to life once a month(eyes rolling. This month Champa's Khara Biscuit or Savoury Shortbread Cookies was chosen.Savoury Cookies .....yummmmmmm, cudnt think about giving it a skip for two reasons:
a. I luuuuuuuuurve anything savoury
b. I never baked a savoury cookie before.




But this being the month of holidays and travel and all, I kept postponing the baking, till I saw Valli's mail this morning with the post. And then I knew I cudnt stall anymore. Back from work, was trying to put together the ingredients when I realised that I was really short on butter and on Kalonji/onion seeds that I wanted to put in the cookies for extra flavour.

So of course, the recipe was tweaked a bit but the result was still as great as all the comments I was reading through the day. I still want to make it the Champa way to know how the taste could change though.

Khara Biscuit

Makes :24 mini cookies/15 medium sized/8 large ones

Ingredients
All purpose Flour/Maida - 2 Cups
Softened Butter - 1/3 Cups
Sugar - 4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 6 chopped fine
Fresh Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp chopped fine
Yogurt - 3 tbsp or as required
Carom Seeds/Ajwain - 1 tbsp

To Make

1.Heat your oven to 160C and line your tray with lightly greased aluminium foil.Alternately you may chose to use parchment paper

2.Cream the butter and the sugar.Add the yogurt and continue to beat.

3.Add rest of the ingredients and knead them together lightly

4.Roll it out to 1/4" thickness and cut out the cookies in desired shapes

5.Bake for 18-20 mins. Rotate half time.

6.Cool to get a firm biscuit.




Preparation Time :15 minutes
Baking Time :20 minutes

Deviations & Notes

1. I was out of butter so I used equal amount of ghee/clarifies butter and vegetable oil

2. Champa suggests baking a while longer for crispier biscuits

3. Champa also advises favouring the biscuits with anything that suits your imagination and taste. I instantly thought of carom and onion seeds.

Lovely accompaniment to your evening tea or just something light to nibble at while watching your favorite soap...thats what I am doing!!

Bake it, you will love it!!

Pudachi Wadi - Coriander Rolls

Indian Cooking Challenge is an attempt by Srivalli of Spice Your Life to revive traditional recipes from all four corners of India.

Wanting to be a part of it, I wrote to her and joined the event. This is my first entry and I should add I loved it.

Pudachi Wadi- a native spring roll filled with fresh coriander- is a Maharashtrian recipe and the following recipe is courtesy Archana of Tried & Tested Recipes.

Since I have never had Pudachi Wadi before,I decided to stick to the recipe as given by Archana.However, I have taken a few shortcuts which I have mentioned at the end of the recipe.

Pudachi Wadi

Makes - 6 nos

Ingredients

For the dough
Chickpea/Gram Flour/Besan - 1/2 C
Wheat Flour/Atta - 1/2 c
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - To taste
Hot Vegetable Oil - 2 1/2 tbsp
Water - As required

For Filling
Coriander Leaves - 1 1/2 C Finely chopped
Onion - 1 medium Finely chopped
Dry Coconut Flakes - 2 tbsp
Poppy Seeds/Khus Khus - 1 tbsp roasted
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp roasted
Garlic - 3 cloves finely shopped
Ginger-Chilli paste - 1 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Lime Juice - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

For Sauce
Tamarind Pulp - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Oil to deep fry.

To Make
1. Make the dough by adding all ingredients with enough water to make a stiff dough



2. For filling grind the roasted Poppy Seeds, Sesame seeds and dry coconut flakes

3. Heat oil, add onion and garlic. Saute till golden.Add ginger chilli paste and saute for some more time. Mix in the ground mixture followed by the condiments. Take off heat and add coriander. Add the lime juice.Mix well.



4. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce.

5. Make small balls from the dough. Roll out into circles.

6. Spread the sauce on the surface on the rolled out dough.

7. Spoon about 1 1/2 tbsp of filling in the centre of the chappatti/puri.



8. Roll into what else but Rolls!!



9. Pan roast the rolls.Deep fry before serving.

10. Serve with Sauce of your choice.

Preparation Time : 20 min
Cooking Time : 15 min

My deviations :
1. I used Ready to make Bonda/Bhajji Powder instead of Besan.It is already has
spices and salt. So I just mixed the Bonda/Bhajji Powder with Atta.

2. I skipped making the sauce. Instead I used store bought Tamarind Sauce which
again contained all spices and condiments.

3. I skipped the pan roasting part and deep fried them directly.

These are perfect tea time snacks for the winter months. And an easy to make from scratch one with the simplest of ingredients available in your kitchen. You will love biting into the fresh coriander filling through the hot rolls.

French Apple Cobbler

How would you like a easy bake cant-go-wrong dessert??? You want? then well here it is.

I first tasted this when my sis made it on a visit to my home. The entire family was absolutely floored by it. I always wanted to make it again but as most things I want to do that never happened. But when I read about Deeba's monthly mingle and the Apple & Pear Open Pie so reminded me of this dessert that I had to make it.

The recipe is from www.southernfood.about.com, however I am reproducing the same here for my furture reference. Afterall, its not everyday that you get a easy bake and reasonably guilt free dessert.

French Apple Cobbler

Serves : 6-8 generous Dessert portion

Ingredients
For Filling:

Green Apples - 5
Sugar - 3/4 C
Flour - 2tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp,softened
Water - 1/4 C
Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Salt - A pinch
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp

For the Topping

Flour - 1/2 C
Sugar - 1/2 C
Butter - 2 tbsp, softened
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - A pinch
Egg - 1 lightly beaten


To make

1. Lightly grease/butter a baking pan (9 inch square)

2. Peel apples and cut into 11/2" cubes

3. Mix all the ingredient for the filling and put into the filling into the pan

4. Heat oven to 375F/185C

5. Combine all ingredients for the topping.Mix well but not for too long.

6. Drop the batter in small equal portions over the filling. Space evenly. The
batter will spread as it bakes.

7. Bake for 30-35 mintues till the crust is goldren brown.

8. Serve warm with whipped cream/icecream or cold just by itself.



Preparation Time : 15 min
Baking Time : 35 min




Just a few things you could keep in mind :

1.In the filling adjust sugar according to tartness of apple, if apple is not too
tart use lesser sugar

2.You can increase the cinnamon to 3/4tsp if you are really fond of the apple-
cinnamon combo

3.My sister skips the butter in the filling. The taste doesnt change much but I
feel it makes the filling a little drier.

4.You may replace the egg with about 3 tbsp milk in you dont eat egg. Egg eaters
please go with the egg.

5.Dont mix the topping too much. The graniness of the sugar gives a nce cruch to the
topping when baked.



I have to apologise for the pic as my camera has gone kaput and I took this photo on my phone.

I am sending this entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle being hosted by Deeba this month.

This is my first time at Monthly Mingle and I am so excited as Deeba and Meeta are 2 of my favs from the Blog world. I look forward to their posts every single day. Feel so proud to be participating in an event hosted by them.

Hope you all enjoy it.

Creme de Abacate(Cream of Avocado) or Avocado Cream

Exotic is the word for this oh so easy dessert!!

Till recently avocado itself was an exotic - only seen mentioned in Mexican recipes.Never thought I would be making something out of it and that too a sweet something.

Hubby and I had it first at Haji Ali Juice Centre here at Chennai. While I went for the classic Mango Cream , hubby tried the Avocado Cream. I ended up digging so much into his dessert that he had to order another one all for himself.

I had almost forgotten about it since I didnt think I could get either Avocado or Whippable Cream here is Chennai. But today at that little miracle store that actually stores fresh herbs, fruits or vegetables that are exotic, I found some ripe avocados and I thought I could try the avocado milkshake if not the cream.

But to my surprise when I googled for Avocado cream I found that there was no cream required in any of the numerous versions available online. So it just had to be Avocado Cream than the milkshake and the recipe is a blend of the various recipes that are out there.

One thing i can promise you, this is the easiest and yet the most bowl-licking recipe you will ever make.

Cream of Avocado



Serves : 2 Generous Bowls

Ingredients:

Ripe Avocado - 2
Condensed Milk - 4 Tbsp
Juice of Lemon - 1 Tbsp
Vanilla Icecream - 2 Scoops

Ya thats all!!

To Make :

1. Peel and pit the avocados and put them into a blender

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and run the blender for anout 30-45 sec. Thats all again!!

3. Pour into serving bowls and chill in fridge till served.

4. Thats Thats all!!


Preparation Time : 5 min

Cooking Time : None at all!!

Serve it plain or with whipped cream on top!