Vegetable Manchurian with Gravy

Indian-Chinese cuisine is very popular in India, UAE, and the US. Unless you're from India you aren't really exposed to all the wonderful dishes that Indo-Chinese cuisine has to offer. Thanks to me, however you can learn a few dishes and show it off to your friends and family! This one is a little hard to make and requires some patience but at the end, it'll be worth it! Good Luck!

For the Vegetable Manchurian balls:
Cabbage – 4 cups, finely shredded
Carrots – 2 cups, grated
Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped
Garlic – 4 large cloves, finely chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Salt & Black Pepper – to taste
All-purpose Flour – 6 tbsp or as needed
Corn Starch – 2 1/2 Tbsp
Oil for deep frying


  

For the Sauce:
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Ginger – 2 Tbsp, minced
Garlic – 6 large cloves, chopped
Green Chilies – to taste, finely chopped
Soy Sauce – 1/4 cup
Sugar – 1 1/2 tsp
Corn Starch – 1.5 Tbsp
Vegetable Broth (stock) – 3 cups
Spring Onions – cut at a diagonal for garnishing

 

 Method:
 1. Heat the Oil well for deep-frying on medium heat.
2. Prep all the vegetables.
3. In a large bowl, mix the following: Cabbage, Carrots, Onions, Garlic & Green Chillies.
4. Mix gently but well.
5. Mix in Salt, Pepper, Corn Starch & Flour.
6. Sometimes, the Vegetables may need more or less Flour and Starch depending on how fine they have been shredded. Adjust those two as needed. You should be able to form a ball.
7. Form balls and drop into hot Oil and fry till golden on all sides.
8. Remove into a paper towel. Fry all the Vegetable Manchurian Balls and keep aside.
9. For the gravy, take a wok and heat Oil (1 Tbsp) on medium flame.
10. Add Ginger, Garlic & Green Chillies and saute for 30 seconds.
11. Add in the Soy Sauce and mix.
12. In a separate bowl dilute the Corn Starch with some room temperature Stock or Broth. Mix well till there are no lumps.
13. Add in the balance of the Stock and mix into the wok.
14. Add in Sugar to balance.
15. Additional Soy Sauce or Sugar may be added to taste.
16. Bring the gravy to boil and allow it to thicken up a bit.
17. Once it is thick enough, turn off the flame.
18. Place your Manchurian Balls in a serving dish and pour the hot gravy over it.
19. Garnish with Spring Onions and serve Hot.


Tips:
1. Do not fine shred the vegetables where they get limp and mushy.
2. Do not over-work the vegetables while mixing.
3. It is very important to prep all the vegetables when you are making Chinese or Indian Chinese Cuisine.
4. If you are making the Manchurian for a party, make the balls and keep them hot, make the gravy minus the corn starch. Add the Corn Starch to the gravy the last possible minute to thicken up and then add the Manchurian Balls.

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken, also known as Chicken Makhani, is a very rich and popular dish! Considering how often its made at my house and the fact that my two toddlers eat this dish too, I had to make it a little more healthy without compromising on the taste. Butter Chicken is one of those dishes that very few restaurants can ever get wrong because every cook has his or her own little variations and that's what makes this dish unique and yet, fantastic

 

Ingredients:

Oil- 1tsp or as needed

Chicken – boneless skinless breasts or thighs (your choice of quantity)
Red Chili Powder –1tsp
Turmeric Powder- 1tsp
Cumin and Coriander Powder- 3tsp
Salt – to taste
Ginger & Garlic Paste – 1tbsp
Cloves- 3
Cinnamon Stick – 1
Bay Leaf – 1
Onions- 1 big onion, chopped
Crushed Tomato- 12oz can
Sugar – 1-2 tsp
*Heavy Whipping Cream – 1 cup or to taste
Cilantro – 3 to 5 pieces, finely chopped

Method:
1. Cut the Chicken to bite-size pieces and wash it well.
2. In a medium size pan on medium heat, add the oil.
3. Once hot, add the bay leaf, cloves, and cinnamon stick.
4. Add onions into the pan and stir well.
5. Sprinkle 1tbsp salt and simmer on medium-low heat till onions look translucent.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste.
6. Pour in the crushed tomato and stir well, let the oil work itself into the tomato puree.
7. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric, and cumin-coriander. Stir again.
8. Add more salt (to taste) and 1-2 tsp sugar.
9. Add the Whipping Cream and the pieces of chicken.
10. Let it cook for about 15 min but remember to stir it every few min.
14. Garnish the cilantro while serving.

* Substitutes for Heavy Whipping Cream – Half and Half, Evaporated Milk, Lactaid, Milk or Milk Powder (so you can control the water).
*In the past when I needed to make this quickly, I have used Cooked Tyson Chicken Strips for this recipe instead of raw chicken and it still tasted great!

Super Easy Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

• Oil (1tbsp)
• 1 packet fajita seasoning
• Strips of green, red, and yellow peppers (1 bell pepper of each color)
• Onions cut in long strips. (1 big onion)
• Water (as needed)
• Chicken strips (1 lbs)
• Tortillas
• Lettuce
• Mexican Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa
• Lime

Method:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet with onions, green yellow and red peppers, and cooked chicken strips. 
2. Empty the contents of the fajita seasoning packet into the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender and the chicken is marinated through, about 6 minutes.
3. Add water to thicken the fajita sauce and keep stirring for 3 more mins.
4. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a large bowl and serve with the warmed tortillas, lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream and lime wedges.  

Szechuan Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients

• oil-3tbsp
• Butter-1tbsp
• Bay leaves-1 no
• Basmati Rice -2 cups
• onion-1(sliced)
• Green onions -3 (chopped)
• Bell Pepper-1(de-seeded,cut into cube size)
• Green chillies-2 nos(chopped or sliced lenghtwise)
• Ginger and garlic paste-1tbsp
• Red chili powder-1/2 tbsp
• Szechuan stir fry sauce-1tbsp
• cooking soy sauce-2 tbsp
• Red chili sauce-1 tbsp(according to your spice level)
• Scrambled Eggs (4-5 eggs)
• Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

Gravy

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions fry for few minutes, then add the ginger and garlic paste fry for 3 min.
2. After a few seconds start adding the sauces one by one as per the quantity mentioned above.
3. Stir the mixture in low flame.
4. Now add the sliced bell pepper into it and cook for like 5 minutes and remove it from heat.

Preparing Rice

1. Soak the rice for 15 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of Butter in a large frying pan and add the soaked rice in it, fry for a few min. (make sure the rice doesn’t turn brown) Just fry the rice slightly take it out and put it aside.
3. Now take a pressure cooker, pour a little oil in it, add bay leaves and add the fried rice with water and add 1 tsp of cooking oil on top of it (add the water according to the ratio of rice)
4. cook for 1 whistle in medium heat. (don’t pressure cook more than one whistle because the rice is soaked and fried already).
5. And then mix the rice with the gravy we prepared before, gently mix the rice and gravy together but be sure not to break the rice.
6. Finally garnish it with green onions on top of it.

Tip
You can add minced chicken for making chicken fried rice or any other meat of your choice.

Health Benefits of Indian Spices

Indian cooking has a lot of spices in it, some of which provide astonishing health benefits. The below table gives you a look at what you gain from two of the main ingredients in Indian foods!

Turmeric	Red Chilli Powder
Blocking Cancer	Contains trace amounts of vitamins and minerals
Powerful Antioxidant	Pain Relief
Potent anti-inflammatory	Cancer Prevention
May prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease by removing amyloyd plaque buildup in the brain.	Weight Loss
Natural Liver Detoxifies	Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent	Boost Immunity

                           *via http://www.flickr.com/photos/arifaqmal/3729246510/

My daughter, Suhani.

This is my oldest daughter, Suhani. She will be 3 years old in June!