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Recipes

Tonkatsu Chicken, Mooli Fried Rice, Egg Salad

We’re trying to adhere to a certain meal protocol on weekdays, with a break on weekends. As per that protocol, there was to be no direct sugar or dairy, and this is what we made.

Each of our bowls had a portion of very crisp Tonkatsu chicken, sliced into pieces, atop some fried rice made with onions and mooli / radish leaves, accompanied by a dollop of creamy egg salad. I forgot to include the Tonkatsu sauce in the picture, which is really a variation of BBQ sauce at our place.

Tonkatsu Chicken

The chicken was made using Panko, flour and seasoned, beaten eggs. Panko refers to Japanese style bread crumbs that are chunkier than normal bread crumbs and result in crisper, coarser outcomes. Take some flour, some beaten eggs seasoned well with salt and pepper and anything else you like, and some panko. Keeping all three in plates is a good idea for easier coating.

I used chicken tenders for this. You could use sliced breast or tenders, whatever is available. Tenders are the pectoralis minor muscles which are located under the breast meat, on both sides of the breastbone.

Heat some oil to medium. Remember to keep the heat at medium as the panko browns really fast. If you’re using breast meat, slice it about 1 – 1.5 centimeters thick and 2 – 2.5 centimeters wide. If you want to use bigger pieces, adjust your oil temperature and cooking time accordingly, as we’d like the pieces to be golden brown when they exit the oil and cooked on the inside as well.

The process is simple. Coat the chicken in the flour first. This ensures a nice, even coating of the egg. Then dip the floured chicken in the egg, then place it atop the panko and coat well, and put it back into egg, then back into the panko, and then into the oil. So that’s flour, egg, panko, egg, panko, fry. Each time you’re out of the egg and panko, drip/shake off the excess egg and crumbs.

Fry for a few minutes on each side until golden brown then remove onto paper kitchen towels. Might be a good idea to slice the first one and confirm its fully cooked so you can confidently do the rest.

Serve with BBQ or Tonkatsu sauce drizzled over.

Mooli Fried Rice

I hate wasting mooli leaves and try to use them in different ways. We also love soy sauce and garlic at home, so that’s what this dish used as well as a dollop of Chua Hah Seng sweet chili paste.

A good soy sauce is a thing of beauty, far removed from the thick, dark crap sold by most Indian brands. We use different soy sauces at home – light, dark and one somewhere in between. Locally brewed ones are the nicest though brands like Kikkoman are delights too. I used Woh Hup Light Soy Sauce for this rice.

For the fried rice, I fried some onions in a little oil, then sliced garlic, then a few finely chopped green chilies, threw in finely chopped radish / mooli greens, added a bit of salt and let the mixture dry out a bit before adding the chili paste and mixing it well. Then came some rice (we cooked the rice a little while earlier, spread it on a plate, cooled it and then broke it up with our fingers), mixed the lot with some soy sauce and the rice was ready.

Egg Salad

For the egg salad, we hard boiled a few eggs, sliced them open and separated the yolks. The whites were chopped coarsely and set aside. The yolks were mashed with a little garlic infused olive oil and when smooth, blended with mustard sauce, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and a bit of milk to make it a little more fluid. A squeeze of lemon goes well, and so does a tablespoon or so of finely chopped raw onions. I also served pickled jalapenos on it, which made for a nice contrast.

And that’s that. This was a satisfying meal that all of us took second helpings for. :)

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Recipes

Swordfish Steak with Bean Mash and Green Peas

Cherie felt like cooking up a meal a few days. We discussed available options, time and difficulty levels and came up with this very nice platter that would make for a nice meal as well as be quick to execute.

Ingredients:

  • Fish steaks:
    • Swordfish steaks
    • Seasoned flour
    • Oil for frying
  • Bean Mash
    • Boiled kidney beans/rajma, 500 gm
    • Lemon juice, 2 whole
    • Butter, 100 gm
    • Green chilies, de-seeded and chopped
    • Onions, 2 medium, chopped
    • Garlic, 10 cloves, chopped
    • Salt to taste
  • Peas
  • Egg, fried

Method:

  1. Wash drain and dry steaks. Dust with seasoned flour and pan fry for a few minutes on each side until cooked. This fish doesn’t have a lot of fat – don’t overcook it or it’ll be too dry.
  2. Mash the kidney beans/rajma with lemon juice butter and gently fried mixture of onions, green chillies and garlic, seasoning as required.
  3. The egg was broken into a hot pan with a bit of oil, then quickly flipped over so the white would cook, and then slid onto each platter, after a total cooking time of about 1 minute. We like our eggs soft and yolks liquid.
  4. Thaw the peas.
  5. Serve up on a plate.

Notes:

  • Substitute with any other mash, though this one is somewhat healthier for most of us.
  • Cook the eggs longer if you wish.
Categories
Recipes

Patiala Fried Chicken

This pan-fried chicken is made using the thighs of the bird, so it’s difficult to overcook, is really moist inside due to the fat present, and quite easy to make.

This chicken has a mild crust from the onion powder and maida and is delicious as a snack or part of an otherwise boring dinner.

I made this for Cherie’s lunch today and she quite liked it and even asked for seconds, which given her current focus on healthy eating and all, is rare. The name is random; I couldn’t think of anything else and thought the title apt.

Ingredients:

  • Boneless chicken thighs, 500gm
  • Processed cheese, 2 tbsp
  • Chilli powder, 1 tsp
  • Jeera powder, 1 tsp
  • Garam masala, 1 tsp
  • Onion powder, 2 tbsp
  • Garlic powder, 1 tsp
  • Kasoori methi, 1 big pinch
  • Black pepper, 1 tsp
  • Carrots, finely chopped, 2 tbsp
  • Maida, 2-3 tbsp
  • Eggs, 2, beaten
  • Hing, 1/2 tsp
  • Lemon juice
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil for shallow frying

Method:

  1. Mix the lot and marinate for an hour.
  2. Mix again, ensuring the masala is evenly coated over every piece of chicken.
  3. Shallow fry – about 2 – 3 minutes on each side in a moderately hot pan.
  4. Pat dry, sprinkle with lemon juice,
  5. Serve hot

Notes:

  • If you plan to deep fry, increase the maida and eggs, and ensure the batter covers each piece fully.
  • The cheese can be omitted, unless you’re using breast.
  • A vegetarian version can be made with paneer.
  • The carrots add to the texture of the final product.
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Recipes

Breakfast Platter #1

I’m trying to post regularly, yet again, and want to try documenting the stuff we do in the kitchen. It helps to have something to refer to.

It’s Saturday and this is breakfast in bed for the girls.

When we spend more time eating from a platter with multiple ingredients designed to be eaten together and to complement each other, we take more care in choosing what we put in the platter and then have to contemplate nearly every bite. This results in slower eating, more conversations, more time spent together, smaller portions and ultimately, greater satisfaction.

Indu is a small eater and the smaller platter is hers, though even this is stretching it a bit.

The eggs were slowly cooked so the whites wouldn’t crisp up, which none of us like, potatoes were boiled and then grilled with the tomatoes in a grill-pan, broccoli florets blanched, broccoli stem trimmed and the tender portion chopped, cucumber sliced and a spoonful of olives to go with the potatoes.

A spoonful of spicy spring onion jam spread on a burger bun brought in a burst of flavour and was the central point of the platter. Freshly squeezed and chilled orange juice to wash it all down.

Altogether, simple to put together, interactive and easy to eat, all altogether satisfying. We realised later there was no meat on the platter and that’s a good thing. We’re trying to reduce our consumption of meats and such meals help.

Ingredients:

  • Broccoli, florets, blanched
  • Broccoli, stem, trimmed and chopped
  • Olives, bottled
  • Potatoes, boiled, sliced and grilled
  • Tomatoes, halved and grilled
  • Eggs, very slowly fried and drained
  • Cucumber, peeled, trimmed and sliced
  • Oranged, juiced, with pulp
  • Jam
    • 3 Spring onions, chopped
    • 1 tsp Garlic powder
    • 1 tbsp Balsamic reduction
    • 1 tbsp Olive oil
    • Salt and pepper
  • Burger bun halves

Method:

  • Jam: Put all jam ingredients in a pan and cook to a soft mush.
  • Assemble all ingredients and serve

What do your weekend breakfasts look like?