Tandoori Chicken Salad

Indian At heart, Gourmet at Pallet, this recipe is especially handcrafted for my Social Media followers and friends form seven seas’ apart : https://freeandfriendlyfoods.com.

The Uber cool, the upwardly mobile : The Bay Area!

Hope you love this east-meets-west healthy #salad #recipe #glutenFree

Ingredients for making Tandoori Chicken:

For the chicken marinade:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, gently flattened and cut into strips
• 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt (Indians love setting their curd at home fresh every night, however you can buy it off the shelf too)
• 2 teaspoons Garam Masala powder (if you do not get ready made, you can also use the tandoori chicken masala or else check on to make the masala mix here)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Half a lemon
• Onion Seeds

Wash, clean dry the chicken pieces and add all the above ingredients. Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator for atleast 5-6 hours.

For the Dressing : 

• 1/2 cup hung curd (yogurt, tied in a muslin cloth for 5-6 hours)
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Powder
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• Salt to taste
• 6-7 stems of Mint leaves (made into a paste)
• 1 small Green Chilli, deseeded

Mix all ingredients in the hung curd and mix well, add a tablespoon of olive oil and whisk together. Add water if you want a slightly running dressing in consistency. Indian families usually stock homemade Mint Chutney that they use with most savoury snacks, one can just use this chutney whisked with normal yogurt/curd too.

For the salad:
2 cups mixed leaves : iceberg lettuce & Rocket
1/4 cup sliced radish
1/4 cups sliced cucumber
1/4 cup ring onions
1/4 cup sliced tomatoes
2 small lemons, juiced, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Finely chopped cilantro leaves and mint leaves for garnish

Tandoori Chicken traditionally comes out best when char-grilled, however we can roast the marinated chicken in a griller or even cook it in a non-stick pan without oil.

Cook it on high flame for first 10 mins to get the colour and later simmer for another 10mins till tender. While cooking add a dash of red food colour and rub over both sides of the chicken.

Take a salad plate, spread the salad leaves and layer all the sliced vegetables. Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and place on top of the vegetables. Add the dressing, squeeze some lemon, leave a small wedge on the side and garnish with mint & coriander leaves.

Enjoy this salad either warm or cold.

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Chef? Moi?

 

This blog owner is an Indian born confused Gourmet!

With no professional training nor techniques, I yet wear my Chefs’ hat quite frequently and do get a few accolades from my friends and family every now and then.

With a natural knack for cooking, I was making regular Indian meals (punjabi mostly) as a teenager. It all came to me so easy by just standing next to my favorite cook: My MoM! Not that my father was any less as he was pushy enough to get the most famous Sindhi dishes to our daily menu: SaiBhaji ,Salemani , Peas-Patata, Sindhi Curry just to name a few. And yes ofcourse, the Sindhi papads’ that contribute to some crispy dinning table memories where the four of us (mom, dad, my younger sister and i) sat and made some mega life plans!

Right from my school days till college, i loved dabbling my hands in all kitchen chores and yes that includes pouring some boiling hot water over my hand while filling a hot water bag, getting my fingers cut while chopping, to blisters while frying puris and pakoras. But again no gain without pain applies to all learning lessons in life!

My self discovery and love for #FOOD really happened after getting married to a family of foodies, who both Lived to #EAT and ATE to #LIVE, each day and each meal! All our family holidays were centered around food destinations and ‘Must Try’ in the city of travel. And I shall pass on due credit to Mr.Anthony Bourdain’s show for this nuance.

By the grace of God and my dear Mother-in-Law, daily cooking was not something that this family expected their daughters to do, therefore weekend cooking came with a bit of pressure for it had to be FANCY (just kidding). Being a busy working executive most of my life, cooking had became a weekend stress-buster and an excellent way to exhibit what one had tasted, tried, imagined the recipe to be and thus presented.

With a very social and well-read husband, who needs people around him all the time to blabber, entertaining at home was beyond escape. These short notice gatherings actually contribute to the origin of this blog. Instead of posting my food and other things around food pictures on facebook (in an assorted album obviously) and counting those likes and comments, it just made more sense to Blog.

I mostly do simple cooking that is Easy, Doable and Edible.
My motto is to make the most of what i have in my kitchen, cook from my head& heart and not necessarily follow a cook book.

“Looks do Matter on the Platter” , however is my real mantra.

Maha Shivaratri Special Healthy Makhana Kheer Recipe

Thinking of Hindu deity Lord Shiva, what comes to my mind is “overcoming darkness and ignorance” in life. The powerful Lord Shiva’s wedding anniversary is celebrated with great vigor in Hindu religion as Maha Shivaratri. This festival has great significance and is observed by fasting, yoga-meditation and chanting prayers for ethics and virtues to lord Shiva.

Speaking of fasting, while there are rules on how to fast on each hindu festival, one thing that I see stays common is eating Indian sweets of various kinds. Indian sweets are usually made of clean, satvic ingredients using sugar, ghee and milk which are considered pure and thus fast worthy.

Well I am a health moron so even during fasting I cannot give up my motto of making eating healthy and fun. Another way of overcoming darkness and ignorance as far as food is concerned…NOT EVERYTHING SWEET IS SINFUL 🙂

On this note, here is a healthy kheer option, which will bring a sigh of relief to all fasting peeps and make this auspicious day healthy too.

Healthy Makhana Kheer

Makhana has gained great popularity recently as a super snacking option for weight-watchers. Also known as phool-patasha, fox-nut or puffed lotus seeds, makahans arerich in calcium and protein. This puffed babies are quite tasteless on it’s own and can thus take various seasonings and flavors to taste different each time.

We will use makhana today to make a delicious, no-sugar, vegan, gluten-free, all-natural, fast friendly kheer with some super ingredients that will leave you taste buds with a memorable feeling and not making your fasting day dull.

 Ingredients:

• Makhana 1.5 cup
• Fresh Coconut Milk 2.5-3 cups
• 10-12 soaked cashews
• Elichi powder ¼ tsp
• Nutmeg powder, a pinch (optional)
• Seedless Dates, (black) 12-15
• Mixed roasted dry fruits almond & pistachios 1 tbsp
• A few strands of saffaron

 Method:

Take a deep pan/wok and dry roast makhanas with the elichi powder or whole elichi. Dry roast is where we have replaced ghee with nothing J . This step makes our kheer vegan and also low fat.

Roast the makhanas for 5-6 minutes on slow flame till they get crispy. Watch this close as you don’t want the makahana to burn or over roast. (that will completely change the flavor). Once done, keep it aside to cool.

Now take ¾ qty of the roasted makhanas (along with elichi) and put it into a mixer and make it into a powder.

To this powder, while in the mixer add the cashews, coconut milk and dates. Blend them well together to form a smooth paste. Feel free to use cold water if need be to blend properly.

In a pan/wok, pour this milk-makhana mixture and the pending ingredients: nutmeg powder, roasted dry-fruits and bring the kheer to a boil on slow flame stirring occasionally. Later add the remaining (un-powdered) makahans and garnish with saffron strands that will lend an aesthetic touch to this no-sugar, healthy Makhana Ki Kheer for fasting.

#tip: roast your saffron for 3-5 secs and then soak in a little water for best colour and fragrance.

Relish this yummy, creamy (yet no cream) kheer on your fasting day that nourishes you with all natural foods. Can be served hot or cold as you like.

Insta @mumbai_health_moron

 

Power Packed Cauliflower Fried Rice

10 Min Recipe that is Keto Friendly | Low Carb| Good Protein | Vitamin ++

Recipe @ YouTube

This recipes is a hot favorite with many weight watchers right now and health food morons such as mua 🙂

This cauliflower rice (no rice added) is a good and a healthy substitute to your Chinese fried rice cravings, without actually being fried!

What makes it even great, is the versatile quality of cauliflower to adapt different flavors. Mix it with dark soy or oyster sauce or with sweet chili, it all blends in well.

Ah! This dish takes meats and no meats of your choice too and is extremely simple to toss-up with veggies of your choice.

I was at a detox spa recently www.healthoasisresort.com, fasting for 10 days along with many other cleansing rituals. Post our (cousin and i on a #detoxholiday) detox, we were served this dish with all things organic, msg free and fresh.

Our body needed to activate it’s good bacteria development process and thus with this power packed cauliflower rice we were served a bowl of sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) as a natural probiotic.

Ofcourse, we were famished with 10days of fasting and thus the first food morsels we ate had to be memorable. But trust me you all with relish it as much as I did even though the context will be totally different 😉

Here is what we need!

Pre-Prep Time : 15 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (preferably organic & Omega3 rich, especially for Keto folks) | vegetarians & Vegans can use Tofu instead (200grms)
• 1 large Onion, diced
• 1 spring onion, chopped fine with the stems
• 1 tsp, ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp, coconut oil or Sesame seed or olive oil (virgin, cold pressed)
• I large cup of mixed veggies of your choice, chopped fine
• Carrots, pumpkin, red & yellow peppers, red cabbage
• Others that can be used are frozen peas, asparagus, broccoli, green cabbage
• 2 medium head sized cauliflower (to make it into rice)
• 2 tsp burnt garlic (keep it fried, we will use it for garnish)
• 2 tbsp dark soya sauce (MSG free if possible) or Tamari
• 2 tsp oyster sauce (optional vegetarians & Vegans can skip)
• 1 Tomato, cut into long thin slices
• Himalayan Pink Salt to taste
• Black Pepper, freshly crushed
• A few fresh coriander leaves
• 1 lemon wedge
• a few roasted cashews

Method:

• Wash & clean the cauliflower. Drain and dry the water completely before cut the head into florets.
• Making cauliflower into rice :

1. a) grate them fine, finer than what you do to make “gobhi paranthas” (now go check with your respective moms’ for the grating process)

OR

1. b) pound the florets in a food processor for a few churns. The texture of the cauliflower should be like cous cous or rice consistency.

• Getting the moisture out of the raw cauliflower is key as our next step. I suggest spreading all of the riced cauliflower onto a kitchen towel and then using your own body weight as the force to drain the moisture out
• Now take a skillet and add the ½ tbsp oil of your choice, once the oil is heated, add the minced ginger
• One the ginger starts sizzling, add the diced onion and stir till the onions soften and turn yellow
• Now break 2 eggs into the skillet and scramble them in on high flame till cooked. Your stirring will break the eggs into small pieces and make it look like unda bhurjee. Once done, push the cooked egg mixture on one side of the pan/skillet.
• Add rest of the oil and heat it slightly to add the vegetables one after the other. Add carrots, then stir in the cut pumkin and cook for 3-4 mins. Follow it by adding the red cabbage, bell peppers and some spring onions. Stir-fry this colorful and vitamins rich skillet for another 2 mins and later mix the eggs into the vegetables.
• Now its time for some seasoning, add salt pepper to taste, the soya and oyster sauce and stir well.
• Add the cauliflower into the skillet and increase the flame. Stir in well to mix the cauliflower rice with the vegetables and sauces. Add extra sauces if your palate demands so. Cooks for 5 mins
• On the 4^th min do remember to add some fresh tomatoes in the skillet preparation and stir in well with some coriander leaves. Put the lid on to the skillet and let it rest for 2 more minutes.
• Our power packed Cauliflower rice is now ready! Remove from the heat, fill the rice in a deep bowl and set it right
• Now its time for garnish : plate the rice upside-down (from the bowl) and garnish the surface with spoon full of burnt garlic, half a lemon wedge, some spring onions and some fresh coriander leaves
• Serve the fried rice with some fermented vegetables like kimchi or sauerkraut (good for the gut) or some fresh slices of cucumber. 

#Variations:

• Vegans & vegetarians can use tofu scramble instead of eggs
• Meat eaters, you can add shrimps| chicken ,sauté separately in any sauce of your choice
• Using Tamari sauce makes the dish Gluten Free too
• If you don’t like the burnt garlic taste, add garlic right at the beginning with ginger

#Tip:

The key to this recipe is using fresh vegetables (organic preferable) and NO OVER COOKING!

If possible keep the grated cauliflower ready a day prior in the refrigerator, wrapped in a kitchen towel so that max moisture is out and your rice stays nice and crunchy once cooked.

Enjoy this scrumptious dish as your lunch or dinner!!”

 

Nutty Celery Pesto

So it turns out that i have a slight uric acid accumulation problem. No i don’t need medication,but sure the healthiest way to cure is to have celery seeds (not readily available here) or celery stem juice. I have this juice regularly with different mix of ingredients like fennel, orange, vegetables etc.

So when you use the stems and collect the celery leaves, what do you do? Make this soft and creamy #pesto.

Its super easy, quick and delicious. I keep is ready to use on sandwiches, flatbreads, grilled vegetables, use it as a pasta sauce, salad dressing or a dipping treat.

Make sure you wash the leaves well by using an anti disinfectant like a Veg Wash or some KMnO4 (this a mandatory SOP for all people working in my kitchen to clean of fruits and vegges).

Ingredients :

1. 2 Cups of Fresh Celery Leaves along with a few stems
2. 1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
3. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.
4. 1/3 cup roasted pine nuts
5. 3 garlic cloves
6. Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure :

Put the leaves, 2 table spoon water,  garlic cloves and the pine nuts into a grinder. Blend well adding another spoon of water if required. Once blended, add the olive oil and cheese with kosher salt and fresh peppercorn seasoning.

Blend for a few minutes again till you achieve a soft, creamy paste.

Remove from the jar, add a table spoon of olive oil from the top and preserve it in an airtight container.

Tip 1: If you want to reduce the strong taste of celery, you can add a fist full of coriander / cilantro leaves.

Tip 2 : You can make large quantities and freeze it too. However do not use cheese in that case. Line an ice cube tray with plastic wrap, and fill each pocket with the nutty celery pesto. Later remove the cubes and store in a zip lock bag. Defrost and use as required by adding cheese later and whisking a little.

Start getting your ingredients going now…see you later!

 

Homemade Breakfast Cereal

A healthty filling and a nutritious breakfast!

Can be had with hot/cold milk or with yoghurt too.

   
 

  
Ingridents:

Rye flakes : 200grms

Barley flakes : 200grms

Rolled Oats : 200grms

Oats bran : 150 Grms

Granola flavoured (of your choice) : 200 Grms 

Mixed Nuts (crushed): almonds, walnut ,pecan (all or either) : 100grms

Mixed seeds : pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesamee seeds : 75grms

Black raisins a fist full.

Mix all well in a dry blow and pack in an air-right jar, ready to serve with yoghurt or milk.

   

   

Indian Summer Cooler

So it’s 33degrees Celsius outside and feels like 41! Time to churn some yogurt into a refreshing green glass.

  

Traditional chach made with ginger, curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and a green chilly roasted in half-a-teaspoon of oil. Added to yogurt with fresh mint leaves, coriander leaves, black salt, pepper and cumin powder.

Churned with water and ice in a blender and seved with a healthy topping of flax, sunflower,pumpkin, sesame seeds and goji berries!

And more stuff…

Now all travellers in the family bring me food stuff …interesting isn’t it!

 

Here we go:

• Wholegrain Rolled oats for oat pancake breakfast and bercher musellie 
• Prawn crackers to be served with nasi goreng or esquisit curries
• Gadi gado , an Indonesian salad made with raddish, cucumber, spinach, beans and cabbage etc.
• Sate paste and seasoning for chicken satay skewers 
• Pedas (hot) Manis (sweet) Sambal (sauce), comes in extra prada too and have that one as well 
• Opor Ayam, chicken in spicy coconut gravy
• Soto Ayam, yellow chicken clear soup….this dish is the indonesian version of Burmese curry, however in clear soup with many accompaniments 
• Green and red curry paste
• Cinnamon sticks from Srilanka 
• And to clean it all up some mellow green tea prepared using camellia sinensis 

Whose coming over for lunch or dinner ??

What’s new in my kitchen!

Its been a while since I last posted a new receipe….have got some interesting ingridents for my kitchen and shall see you guys soon with more.

  
Lists as follows:

• White Pearl Barley, which I see tossing into a nice summer salad
• Tortellini ai 3 formaggi (cheese stuffed pasta) 
• Japanese sesame seed salad dressing, which smells awesome
• Nando’s pepper sauce for my exoctic vegge serve or grilled chicken dinner or maybe in a burger or even with some cottage cheese steak
• Frutti del cappero in aceto (capers)
• Kosher salt , which has replaced way back any other table salt in my house
• Maraschino cherries for some summer cocktails to blend
• Srilankan Pork curry mix
• Srilankan Crab Curry Mix
• Pad Thai stir fry sauce
• Egg middle curry mix
• Holy Basil seasoning paste

Phwww….that’s a lot of variety and cusine mix, calling for some serious pressure cooking 😉

Any receipe suggestions?

Awaiting….

Quinoa for dinner.

Finally the chefs cap is back!

Cottage cheese seasoned with Teriyaki  ginger juice, pepper and pakchoy. Garnished with spring onions and oyster sauce.

Served with quinoa mixed with exotic vegges and glazed with olive oil and balsamic and fresh mint leaves.

Plated with shavings of lettuce on the side.

Bon Apetit!

 

Nutritious Smoothie In a jar

A healthy breakfast, mid-evening snack or a desert. This nutritiously delicious jar can be made with variety of fresh and dry fruits.

This one in particular was made with 2 seasonal fruits : Dates and Figs
Both fruits, naturally sweet calls for no added sugar!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup yogurt ( I prefer using the ready-made yogurt like Nestle etc.)
2 pieces, de-seeded Dates
1 fresh fig, washed , cleaned, de-skinned and cut into halves
2 tbsp mixed nuts (almonds, walnut,hazelnut)
Honey 1 tsp (optional)
Cinnamon powder
Mint leaves form decoration.

In a magic bullet (blender) blend the yogurt into a smooth paste. Add the cut fruits and blend again, now add the nuts and churn quick and intense, the coarse nuts adds a good texture to the smoothie.

If you feel the smoothie is think, add few spoons of milk to loosen a bit. Pour in a jar and drizzle some cinnamon powder or nutmeg powder.
Serve chilled with a leave of basil or mint.