Grilled Chicken

Today I return with a Grilled Chicken recipe as promised in my previous post. Since we enter winter, this recipe is quite handy for all those who experience severe winters. And you can also use the same recipe for Barbeque as well with so many other alterations of your choice.


I grilled the chicken using the Microwave Oven. I marinated huge chunks of chicken overnight and grilled for an hour in the microwave oven. Oil is used liberally to get fine textured pieces. The oil content can be altered as per your choice.

 Chicken pieces can be cut as per your choice - either you can have small/medium/large pieces or you can grill the whole chicken at one time. The chicken that I grilled was of the medium pieces type and I selected the wings & legs portions for this purpose.


I marinated the chicken overnight and left it in the freezer section of the refrigerator. I removed it and brought to normal tempearute exactly one hour before I could start grilling it. Grilling time I set for 1 hour and 10 minutes. But I kept turning the pieces and oiling them every 20-25 minutes so that they could grill uniformly.


The recipe is as follows:


INGREDIENTS:


Chicken  - 4 Pieces
Ginger paste - 1/2 tablespoon
Garlic paste - 3/4th tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 2  teaspoons
Coriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder - a pinch
Tandoori masala powder - 2 teaspoons
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon
Red color - a pinch
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon
Oil   - as per your choice

HOW TO MAKE:


1)  Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients except oil and refrigerate it for atleast 2 hours or preferably overnight for best results.

2)  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator atleast 1 hour before grilling. Set the oven for 1 hour and place the chicken pieces on the grill rack and grill the chicken.

3) Turn the pieces regularly basking with oil till they are done and get a brownish color.

4) Serve them hot.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  The more the marination time, the better the results - a more tastier dish in other words.

Pav Bhaji

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes/ground tomato
• 2 cups cauliflower, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 cup green peas boiled
• 1 cup grated carrots boiled
• 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 3 tablespoons pav bhaji masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 (2 inch square) dinner rolls / pavs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped green chilis
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

HOW TO MAKE: 

1) Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Saute garlic and green chilli for 30 seconds, then stir in onions and ginger. Cook until onions are brown.

 

2) Add tomatoes, and cook until pasty. Stir in cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots and potatoes. Season with pav bhaji masala. Cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, and stir in lemon juice.

3)  Toast the dinner rolls, and spread lightly with butter. Serve garnished with chopped onion, green chile and cilantro.



RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the vegetables. They need to be just rightly boiled and not too soft.

Spicy Chicken Bits

I found this recipe in a website I dont remember. I tried it as a side dish for our weekend lunch along with egg rice and coleslaw. So I post this simple recipe here for you all.

INGREDIENTS:

5 Chicken Sausages/ Franks
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp green chilli-coriander paste (optional)/ chopped green chillies
2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chat masala
4-5 tbsp Oil


HOW TO MAKE:


1)  Cut the chicken sausages into thick slices or bits.

2)  Add ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder, garam masala, chat masala, chopped green chillies and lemon juice to these chicken bits and let them marinate for some time.

3)  Heat a kadhai (wok), add oil and let it heat. Then add a pinch of asafoetida and then add the marinated chicken.

4)  Mix and cook stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. Decorate the serving dish with lettuce leaves, spring onions and tomato slices and transfer the chicken bits to the dish and serve as a starter or snack.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  The more the marination time, the better the results - a more tastier dish in other words.

The week in a nutshell

It is a bright and a fresh morning and its the mid-week for us here. Another two working days to pass for the weekend to come. These days I find myself staring at the calender every now and then counting days for the hols. But the countdown has already begun for them.

Well, I had a good weekend and as usual did not do much except for sleeping, watching TV, using facebook and reading my book. This reminds me to tell you all about the book I am reading. But I think I can save this for another day as by then I will have more progress in my reading activity.

I just lazed around in the weekend but I did make 2 simple dishes from my recipe archive - the Pav Bhaji and Grilled chicken. I plan to post these recipes on this page very soon. There is not much to cheer for these trys as they are not something new. I have made them before also. Neverthless I will share it with you all.

By the time it was friday evening I started to go about with my preparation chores for the working week and finally called an early night to mark the end of a simple but rest-filled weekend.

Come Saturday morning and I was all energetic and I realised that I could have done more in the weekend. So I quickly prepared a TO-DO List for myself. Striking a completed job on the TO-DO List is so exciting and encouraging that it compels me to finish everything quickly. These days I am maintaining 2 TO-DO lists for myself - one in the office and the other at home.

I had a beautiful saturday lunch with my colleagues. There were 3 of us in this and we lunched in a french restaurant called La Mer which offered us a unique variety of cuisines that included both French and Arabian dishes. The ambience was magnificient and welcoming with a classical contemporary design and an open plan "Show -Kitchen". The Arabian Sea could be viewed from the Glass Patio next to which we chose a table for ourselves. The place was not at all crowded when we visited it and byt the time we were finishing, we could see people filling in.

The restaurant also has an outdoor section with a fabulous view and it has several seats and tables scattered under the palm and date trees with a direct view of the sea in front. The silent rushing waves of the sea on which the afternoon sun shone and the occasional sight of a few sea birds scattered here and there offered us an enchanting view and I wished to spend all afternoon watching the beautiful waves and the alluring sceneray that mother nature possesses.The long pathway across the restaurant at the edge of the sea was so inviting for a lovely walk. But our timing was not right for the same and may be some evening I could sneak out for this experience I thought.

Even though this restaurant has a special sea food section, I opted for the poultry cuisine - I started directly with the main course and a creamy chocolate shake. I skipped the salads, but they looked so colourful and appeatising.

 The dish I chose was Escalope de Poulet - boneless chicken rolls filled with sundried tomatoes and raisins served on a garlic-spinach bed along with buttered mashed potatoes mixed with thyme sauce and rosemary. While I ate, I enjoyed this for the first few bites. But midway I felt this dish was quite heavy and filling for me. I somehow managed to finish it. The chocolate shake was also tasty.

The restaurant also serves breakfasts, Arabian cuisine and a variety of desserts.  At the end of the lunch, I got a few pictures which I have pasted above before we finally left the place to get back to office for another boring afternoon filled with work.

My sunday was a usual day with tons of work in office. Nothing significant to mention for the day. I have been browsing a bit these days randomly on different blogs, I have been tweeting regularly too. Very soon I will update my twitter links on this blog too.

I leave this page with a promise to return with a few recipes to share with you all. Catching up very very soon.....

Hamburger & Macaroni

I found this recipe from simplyrecipes.com by Elise Bauer, California while I was looking for a macaroni recipe. The pictures caught my eye and that was why I went on to try it. Hence I have copy pasted the recipe on this page for your reference. Even the pictures belong to the same site. Hope you enjoy this .....

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound ground beef
1 yellow onion, chopped (or mixed chopped green onion greens and yellow onion)
Olive oil/cooking oil
1/2 teaspoon Vegesal or other seasoned salt
1tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
Dash crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce/soya sauce
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
2 cups uncooked macaroni (use rice pasta for wheat-free version)


HOW TO MAKE:

1)   Get a large pot of hot water heating and begin cooking the macaroni as per the directions on the macaroni package.

2)   In a skillet, brown the ground beef in a tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Stir only infrequently so that the ground beef has an opportunity to brown.

 3)   In a large skillet, sauté chopped onion with a tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat.

4)   Add the ground beef and lower the heat to medium. Add a dash of crushed red pepper. Add Vegesal or other seasoned salt. Add celery seed.

5)  Add canned tomatoes. Add Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes.

6)  Mix in the drained and cooked macaroni and parsley. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY

              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the macaroni. They need to be just rightly boiled and not too soft and sticky. To prevent them from sticking to each other, you can add a teaspoon oil while the macaroni is boiling in the water.

A time for reflection

This morning when I woke up I realised that I seem to be waking up long before the sun wakes up and by the time I reach home after work, the sun is back to bed. The sun's life sounds like a fairy tale. It has such a beautiful life these days. The shortened hours of work for the sun clearly marks the emergence of Winter.

But winter season in the gulf? Yes, I look forward to this short and precious season even though it is not marked with marvelous rainbows or splendid colours of the fall. Winter in the gulf is saying goodbye to the torrid summer heat and the dog days that we had. The summer had been awfully harsh and muggy for us with warm winds, high humidity, long days and a burning sun.

On the other hand, winter is very pleasant with short days, moderate and tolerable temperature, crisp breeze, inviting outdoor life and little rainfall. Rains !!! Its ages since it rained here. I last saw a good rainfall more than 10 months back. And some other times I saw cloudy and dark skies which never brought any rains to us. This sultry desert is very calculative with rains and we hardly witness 8-10 rains a year.

" Winter time is short of light, Winter time is small but bright,
Winter time has tons of fun, As winter time has a cooler sun,
Grand welcome for you winter, For me you are an uplifter"

Today has been a bright and beautiful day with a balmy weather and a soothing breeze. So I decided to have my lunch outdoors - in the balcony of my workplace so that I do not miss the beautiful signs of nature. I spent a good one hour enjoying the breeze with a beautiful view of date trees neatly lined with a small hill in their background. The glorious weather combined with magnificent sorroundings boosted my spirits for my boring afternoon session at work thanks to my long working hours.

Life otherwise has been full with loads of demands from work and the virtual world. But time passes off so quickly that its hard to wonder where so much of time has gone.

I felt a bit blue this morning when I woke up, thinking again another work filled day has arrived and again the same old routine. But the day passed out quite well. So while I sit at my desk in front of the screen in an attempt to paste my thoughts on this page, I glance out of the glass patio to see a clear blue sky with the sun almost down. I wish I could be outdoors during this time. I crave for hols and hols seem to be still far away. I crave for enough time to read my books. To be honest i am reading very little these days.

Would you belive that we have almost 10 days of holidays coming up next month for Eid? It sounds so exciting..... Waiting for them......

This morning I had a heavy breakfast. Guess what - its the Hamburger and macaroni recipe I tried. It was so simple and easy to make and hardly consumed any time. Recipe for this will be posted in a couple of days time.

Creamy Vegetables Gravy

INGREDIENTS:

Beans - 50 grams
Cauliflower - 50 grams
Carrot - 50 grams
Green Peas - 50 grams


For the Gravy :

Oil - 4 tbsp
Bay Leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 2
Small Cardamoms - 4
Cloves - 4
Onions - 100 grams Chopped
Ginger Paste - 1/2 tbsp
Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Salt  - to taste
Dry fenugreek leaves or Kasuri methi - 1/2 tbsp
Green Cardomom powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato - 100 gms chopped
Tomato puree- 50 ml
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Khoya - 20 gm


Garnishing:

 Butter - 2 tbsp
 Cream - 30 ml
 Coriander Leaves -1/2 cup chopped


HOW TO MAKE:

1) Boil vegetables and keep aside in hot water

2) Heat oil, add the whole spices, chopped onion and fry till golden.


3) Add ginger and garlic paste,coriander powder, chilli powder and salt. Saute for a while.

4) Add the chopped tomato and fry and then add Tomato puree and cook till oil comes up.

5) Add the Khoya, Kasoori Methi, green cardomom powder and cook for 5 min and then add the vegetables and mix. Remove from fire after two minutes.

6) Add the butter, cream and coriander leaves and garnish.

7) Serve hot with Rice or Naan/Bread.

RATING NOTES:

              DIFFICULTY LEVEL    :   EASY
              RATING  POINTS         :    8/10**

**  Do not overcook the vegetables. They need to be just rightly boiled and not too soft.