Khow-Suey

Khow Suey is a Burmese noodle dish with a delicately spiced coconut milk sauce or broth and is served up with an array of different contrasting condiments/toppings that takes this dish to the next level and give it a burst of amazing flavors.
This is one of our favorite meal as a family, I love the delicate coconut milk broth,my son loves the mix of toppings we put on top…hubby likes the crispy garlic and onion with the freshness of  green onion..it is that one dish to please all.

Ingredients:

• Egg Noodles - 2 packs 
• Boneless Chicken breasts - 300 gms
• Prawns - shelled and deveined - 2 tbsp
• Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 1/2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder -  1/2 tsp 
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Dry red chili- 3-4
• Coconut milk - 1 pack 
• Lemon - 1
• Salt to taste

For the toppings/ garnishes:

• Boiled Eggs - 2
• Garlic cloves - chopped - 2 tbsp
• Onions - 2, chopped fine
• Spring Onions - a bunch - chopped
• Lime wedges
• Green and Yellow pepper - chopped, 1 cup

Take the chicken pieces in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of freshly grated garlic and half that of freshly grated ginger to the chicken. Sprinkle over the turmeric powder and some salt. Mix everything well so that all the chicken pieces are coated in the marinade. Let the chicken sit in the fridge.

Prepare all the toppings and garnishes. Chop the boiled eggs, sprinkle a pinch of salt and set aside. Finely slice the green onion and set them aside in little bowls.
Heat 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a small pan. Then fry the garlic slices until they turn a light golden. Remove them as soon as they turn golden using a slotted spoon and place them on a paper napkins to drain the excess oil.
Separate the onion layers, into strands and fry them in the same oil the same way you have fried the garlic, until it turns golden. Remove the fried onion with a slotted spoon and drain it as well.
Stir fry the bell peppers over high heat for a minute or so and keep aside.
Boil your egg noodles as per the instruction and keep ready.
 Now to prepare the chicken broth, add oil to a large pan. Once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds, dried red chili and stir.

Add the marinated chicken pieces and fry them with the spices untill they turn brown slightly.

Lower the heat and pour in the coconut milk and season it with salt. Add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once the broth has been simmering for about 10 minutes and the chicken is cooked through, add the prawns and boil for 10 more minutes over low heat so that the prawns are cooked. Turn off the heat. Make sure there are enough broth.

Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the broth for a touch of tanginess. 
Serve the noodles in a bowl with the hot broth with all the assortment of condiments / toppings / garnishes so that everyone can customise the dish to their taste. 

Linking this recipe with Kitchen Dreaming Weekend Social 

Baked Prawn Pasta

Our Saturday Dinner is usually a special one, with some good food, good music and after dinner a good movie. However, this week, hubby was on tour, and we were missing him so badly that I didnot feel like cooking something elaborate, so made this prawn pasta in a jiffy. Surprisingly it was Yummmm!!!

Ingredients:

• Prawns - 250 gms, cleaned and washed
• Shell Pasta - 1 pack, boiled
• Tabasco Sauce - 1 tsp
• Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbsp
• Dried Herbs - as required
• Salt
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Cheese - grated, 2 tbsp
• Cream - 100 ml

Heat butter in a pan. Add the prawns and saute. Add salt, tabasco sauce, half of the tomato ketchup and half of dried herbs. Season well. Add the splash of water and remove from heat.

Take a oven proof Container. Mix the remaining tomato ketchup, herbs and cream lightly. 

Layer the cooked prawns on the pasta. Add 2 tbsp of pasta water too. Sprinkle grated cheese over.

Bake for 10  minutes at 200 degree C. And your prawn pasta  is ready to serve....

Sending this to link party of My Mixing Spoon

Thandai Flavoured Mousse - Holi Special

Holi,or the Festival of Colours is here. Though I am not a big fan of this festival because of various reasons, and I like observing this from a distance, and not be a part of it, still I like the vibrant and colorful spirit of this. Our Bollywood Movies are full of Holi sequences with the most rhythmic songs and dance and I like those songs, but again from a distance. This Holi celebrations are incomplete without a glass of thandai, which is a milk based thirst-quencher, very tasty and cooling and a perfect mood setter for playing colours. 
Last year I made a traditional Thandai, the recipe of which can be found here. However, this year I made the same Thandai with a twist and it become a MOUSSE!!!

Ingredients

• Almonds - 20
• Cashewnut - 15
• Poppy Seeds - 3 tbsp
• Black Pepper corn - 1 tsp
• Orange Jelly crystals - 2 tsp
• Orange Essence - few drops
• Rose Water - few drops
• milk - 1.5 cup 
• Powdered sugar - 3 tbsp, as per taste
• Beaten whipped cream - 1 cup
• saffron strands as reqd
• Cardamom powder - a fat pinch

Soak the nuts in water for 30 minutes, then peel the almond. Mix poppy seeds, black pepper corn and grind to a fine paste. Add little water if required.

Combine Jelly crystals,, 1/2 cup water and milk in a deep pan and bring it to boil, stirring continuously. Add the sugar and the nut etc paste, mix well and cook on a medium flame for about a minute or two, stirring continuously.

 Remove from the flame and let the mixture cool and thicken. Whisk the mixture vigorously to avoid any lumps. Add the beaten whipped cream and a few drops of orange essence to the mixture. Fold in gently. I have added few drops of rose water as well.
Pour equal quantity of mixture in glasses and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or till it sets.
Sprinkle cardamom powder on the top. Garnish with saffron strands and serve chilled.

Baby Corn Stick

This Saturday I was not feeling like spending too much time in the kitchen, hence decided to give it a try since this fits my criteria. It is easy, non-fussy and most of the ingredients are readily available in the kitchen and exotic at the same time.
P.S. - Can't remember exactly where, but it seems I saw this recipe in one of Sanjeev Kapoor Show.

Ingredients:

• Baby corn- 15-20
• Soy sauce- 2 tsp
• Honey- 1 tsp
• Brown Sugar - a fat pinch
• Ginger paste- 1 tsp
• Garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Lemon juice- 1 Lemon
• Chili flakes- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste

Wash and steam the Baby corn. In a bowl, add soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, ginger-garlic paste & mix well. Add lemon juice, chili flakes & salt. Add the steamed baby corn to this sauce and marinate for 2 - 3 hours.

Thread the Baby corn to the satay sticks and place in batches on a frying pan with little olive oil. Let it get fried till golden brown and set aside. Do it for all baby corns.

Pour the excess marinade on the pan and stir quickly with a splash of water. Add 1 tsp of corn flour and let the sauce thicken. 

Serve the baby corn stick hot with sauce with a sprinkle of chopped spring onion over it.

Sharing this with the linkz party by My Mixing spoon

Orange Pudding

This Orange Pudding scores high on the comfort front. I had initially a bit of doubt about the outcome, but after baking, it results in this puffy golden melt in the mouth Pudding with a subtle hint of sweet and tangy orange, which is just out of the world. Best to have it warm. A bit dense in calorie though, but life is not about depriving yourself always, right???

Ingredients

• Butter - 50 gms
• Sugar - 150 gms
• Orange - 2
• Eggs - 3,
• Plain flour - 50 gms
• Milk - 250 ml
• Orange Flavor - few drops

Heat oven to 180 degree C. Juice the Oranges by removing the seeds and then strain it. Keep some segments separately for garnishing.

In the big mixer bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar together in a mixer. Add the orange juice, egg yolks, flour and milk one by one to make a smooth batter. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until firm and mix with the batter. Pour into individual ramekins which are buttered thoroughly. Put in a baking tray half filled with hot water.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until lightly browned at the top and set. Place half of a orange segment over each ramekin and serve warm.

Sending this to Linkz Party by My Mixing Spoon  and 'Bake Fest' event organised by 'Nandoo's Kitchen'. 

Mushroom Stroganoff

Stroganoff is originally a Russian dish where sauteed pieces of meat or vegetable is served in a sour cream based sauce. Here in Kolkata we have this restaurant, One Step Up, where I have tasted this dish first and immediately fell in love with it. So, tried this Mushroom Stroganoff as my Saturday cooking adventure, which comes out really well.

Ingredients

• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
• Onion - 1, thinly sliced
• Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp
• Button Mushroom - 300 gm, sliced
• Mustard Paste - 1 tsp
• Cream - 2 tbsp
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Dried Parsley - 1 tbsp

Heat olive oil and butter in a frying pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic paste and fry gently until softened and beginning to brown.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan and cook until softened and beginning to brown. 

Stir in the mustard paste and cream and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. I have used a pinch of chopped green chilli to satisfy my Indian taste bud, but you may omit this if you like. Mix the dried parsley. If you can manage fresh parsley, it is even better. 

Serve hot with your favorite Noodles or pasta.

Hot and Tangy Chicken

This quick one is super easy to make and a life saver too, when you have some unexpected guests. Found this out in one of the food groups I am associated with and made this immediately. Most amazing fact of this recipe is no fancy ingredients, all things are available in a regular Indian pantry.

Ingredients

• Chicken - 500gms
• Onion: - 3, chopped
• Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Egg - 1 for garnishing
• Black pepper powder - 2 tsp
• Green Chilli - 5-6, chopped
• Curd - 100 gms
• Tomato - 1 big, chopped
• Salt to taste
• Kashmiri.Red chilly powder 1 tsp

Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper and curd for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

Add mustard oil  in a pan. When it is hot, add bayleaf, whole red chilli, cinnamon, clove and cardamom and let it splutter. Next add chopped onion and fry till golden brown. Keep 1/3 of the fried onions separately, then add the garlic paste. After 1 minute, add chopped tomato, green chillies, sal, sugar and kashmiri chilli powder and fry well.

Add the marinated chicken pieces with the marination and mix with masala. Then lower the heat and let it cook in its own juices. No need to add water.

When the chicken is cooked and completely dry, make a well at the centre and break one egg carefully. Let the egg cooked. You may need to cover the pan for some time. 

Sprinkle the fried onions on top and serve.