Chicken Katsu

Recipe Source - https://www.wagamama.com/cook/curries/chicken-katsu-curry

Pic courtesy - S who made this dish and gave it a good rating.

Ingredients 

Rice  Cooked

Chicken breasts - skinless - 2                        

Plain flour - 50g

Eggs - 2 lightly beaten

Oil - 75 ml

Salad leaves  - 40 g

For sauce

Katsu paste - 120 g

Coconut milk - 120 ml 

OR

Make paste from scratch 

Vegetable oil - 2-3 tbsp

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Garlic clove - 1 crushed

Ginger - 1" peeled and grated

Turmeric - 1 tsp 

Curry powder - 2 heaped tbsp 

Plain flour - 1 tbsp

Stock - 300 ml - can use either chicken or veg

Coconut milk - 100 ml

Light soya sauce - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

If you are using readymade paste - just add 120 g paste and 120 ml coconut milk to a pot.  Stir. Heat and bring to a simmer.  

From scratch - 

A little oil. 

Soften the onion, garlic, ginger and add curry powder, turmeric

Keep it on medium heat. 

Add flour  and cook for a minute with the spices.

Add the stock in, slowly and follow it with coconut milk, a pinch of sugar, salt to taste and a dash of the soya sauce. 

Strain through a sieve to make it a smooth gravy. 

Preparing the chicken

Split chicken fillets in half.  Coat in flour.  

Soak in beaten egg.  Dip in breadcrumbs making sure all sides of chicken are covered with it. 

Put in a pan with oil and cook till golden brown. 

Serving Suggestion 

Slice chicken into lengths and plate it next to hot rice.

Serve a portion of salad, or wok-fried greens. 

And place a bowl of sauce to drench the chicken. 

Chicken, Mushroom and Leek Pie

S has become somewhat of a show-off :-) . She made this and sent pictures just as I was posting an Okra recipe.  That has gone into the draft folder for a while.  This looked super delicious.

Vegetarians : The recipe can be adapted to a vegetarian dish - the filling can be totally different - just substitute the chicken for Spinach, mushroom and corn or leek for a great combination. And modify cooking of sauce accordingly.

Adapted from Nigel Slater's recipe on BBC Foods

Ingredients

• Chicken breast -1
• Peppercorns - 5
• Onion, chopped -1
  
  Bay leaf (dried, use fresh if available) -1
• Milk (enough to cover chicken pieces)
• Butter - 10 gms
• Leek, sliced into ½ inch discs -1
  
  Mushrooms - few - cut into quarters
• Plain flour - 3 tbsp
• Dijon mustard - 3 tsp
• Puff pastry - 500 gms pack
• Egg, beaten, for glazing - 1
• Cheddar, grated, for topping
  
  Take a saucepan. Add chicken, pepper corns, onions, bay leaf. Cover with milk
  Bring to boil, and simmer till chicken is cooked ( approx 25 mins)
  Melt butter, add slice leeks allow to soften.  Followed by mushrooms
  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from milk, flake the meat into the pan with the leeks and mushrooms.
  Add flour and cook for two minutes before adding milk through a sieve to remove peppercorns, bay leaf.
  Add the Dijon mustard. Stir continuously to make a thick sauce.
  Pre-heat the oven to 200C /400F
  Roll our sheets of puff pastry to a round shape at a coin thickness.
  Lay the filling one one sheet and then cover with second sheet and crimp the edges
  Brush the pie with beaten egg and sprinkle grated Cheddar cheese on top
  Bake for 35-45 minutes
  
  

1. 

   
   Enjoy !

Thai Chicken Curry

Another one of the few Non-Vegetarian recipe that features here. Picture and recipe sent by S.  She told me it was delicious.  Vegetarians could substitute the chicken with a vegetable/vegetables of choice.  And skip the fish sauce. The curry was served with rice noodles.

(Recipe slightly modified - source - BBC Goodfood )

Ingredients:
Shallots - 2 or 1 small onion

Lemon Grass - 1 stalk ( but used only half )

Vegetable Oil - 1 tbsp

Red Thai curry paste - 3-4 tsp  (readymade)

Boneless chicken breasts - cut into bite-size pieces - 2 nos

Fish sauce - 1 tbsp

Brown sugar - 1 tsp

Freeze -dried Kaffir lime leaves - 4

Coconut milk - 400 ml

Fresh coriander - 20 gms

Beans - 7-8 nos - one inch pieces

Ginger - one inch finely chopped

 Peel shallots or onion and cut in half from top to root. Lay the cut sides flat on a board and thinly slice. Very finely slice the lemongrass, starting at the thinner end, stopping towards the base when it gets tough (often described as 'woody' and white in the centre).

 Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan for a couple of minutes until the oil separates (it looks more liquid at this point). Add the shallots or onion. Fry for 3-5 mins, until soft and translucent.  Add the ginger also. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min, stirring all the time. Add the beans and cook for one to two mins

Add chicken pieces and stir until they are coated. Add the fish sauce, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. Bring slowly to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 mins until the chicken is cooked. Stir the curry a few times while it cooks, to stop it sticking and to keep the chicken submerged. Check and add salt if needed

While the chicken is cooking, strip the leaves from the coriander stalks, gather into a pile and chop very roughly. Taste the curry and add a little more curry paste and salt if you think it needs it. Stir half the coriander into the curry and sprinkle the rest over the top. Serve with Thai jasmine or basmati rice/ or rice noodles as S did. 

BBQ Chicken -

After a long time a non-vegetarian recipe here.  Made by daughter S . I must admit that there were some nice flavours emanating from the oven as it was baking!  And for all non-vegetarians - there will be some more to follow from her kitchen.

This is a Lorraine Pascale recipe that she has modified.  A recipe that can be made in the Barbecue or in the oven as in this case.

Ingredients
Chicken - 1/2 kg

The Sauce:
Tomato Ketchup - 6 tbsp
Balsamic Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Soya Sauce - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Ginger Powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - to taste
Garlic cloves - 4-5 cut into slivers
Honey - 2 tbsp
Coriander and mint - finely chopped
Salt to taste
Olive oil - generous drizzle
(Feel free to vary the quantity of ingredients according to the quantity of chicken)

Preheat the Oven to 200C
Put the pieces in a baking tin
And then add the ingredients in a bowl along with the olive oil and then pour it over the chicken pieces.
Toss to give an even coating 

      Marinate for 30 mins

      Put in the oven for 30 mins

      When done it should be piping hot in the middle and have a sticky coating of the sauce on top.

       Enjoy!

Methi Chicken

I do not generally cook non vegetarian food at home, for ours is essentially a vegetarian household. But when the elder one and s-i-l were coming home, I went online to prepare something for them. I came upon this dish on the Vah Re Chef website.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 gms

Onions - 3 - chopped

Methi ( fenugreek) leaves - 2 bunches

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Tomatoes - 2 large ( or substitute with 50 gms tomato puree)

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Curd ( yogurt) - 1/2 cup beaten

Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Cumin ( jeera) seeds - 1 tbsp

Green chillies - 2 ( optional)

Coriander leaves - few

Red chillie powder - to taste

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

Heat oil, add cumin and onion. Saute till brown

Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste.

Add chopped tomatoes , chillie powder, finely chopped green chillies, coriander powder.

Add beaten curd and and cook till it gets mushy.

Add chopped methi leaves and chicken.

Cook till the chicken is tender and the gravy is thick.

Add finely chopped coriander leaves and garam masala powder.

Simmer for a minute.

Remove from fire and serve with rice or roti.

Dhania Chicken

Chicken - boneless 500 gms
Corriander leaves - 1 large bunch
Green chillies - 3-4 ( depending on how spicy you would like it)
Dhai - 4-5 tbsp
Jeera Powder - 2 tsp
Dalchini - 1/2"
Cloves - 2-3
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Turmeric - large pinch
Onion - 1 large - sliced.
Oil - 2 tbsp

Grind the corriander leaves and chillies and garam masala with a little water
Mix curd and ginger garlic paste.
Marinade the chicken with the curd-ginger-garlic paste and the corriander-chillie-garam masala puree. Also add the turmeric powder .
Cover and keep in refrigerator for 1/2 hour - 1 hour.

Take the oil in a wok.
Lightly brown the onions
Add the marinaded chicken.
Cover , stir occasionally and allow to cook till tender.
Add salt.

Serve with rice or rotis.

Ginger Chicken - Chinese style

Chicken - 200 gms
Onions - 1 medium
Ginger - 1/4" piece
Garlic - 2 pods
Green chillie - 1
Soya Sauce - 2 tbsp ( more if you like the taste)
Pepper to taste
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
tomato puree - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Take a pan/wok and in a little oil add the chicken pieces and saute for 4-5 minutes
Remove
In the same pan add the finely chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chillie, tomato puree, salt, sugar, vinegar and boil with a little chicken stock or water.
After 5 minutes, add the chicken pieces and cover and cook for a while. Sprinkle coarsely powdered pepper.
If required it can be thickened with a little cornflour.

Serve.
Onion can be substituted with spring onions. For the soya sauce mixture to penetrate into the meat, it can be pricked with a fork

Chicken Curry

I wonder when I last made chicken curry. Simple one.
5 pieces drumstick
4 medium onions
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Tomatos - 2 medium
Chicken masala - 1 heaped tbsp

Smear the drumstick with turmeric, salt and keep awhile
Take a wok add oil ( 3-4 tbsp) add the diced onion - brown them
Add ginger garlic paste
Add chopped tomatos - saute a while
Ad the chicken pieces - fry for 5 mins
Add the chicken masala
Add a litle water
Add salt if required
Chillie powder

Cover and cook for 15 mins.
Serve with rice

(PS:- the guys said it was good - hope they were not being polite)