Chinese Bandi Style Chicken Fried Rice with a Twist!

Ingredients 

Veggies and Meat
Pudina Leaves A Handful
Curry Leaves A Handful
Mint Leave/Pudina A Handful
Green Chillies 6-8 Chop Lengthwise
Coriander Leaves A Handful
Green Peas A Handful
Spring Onions 4-8 Stems Chop Finely
French Beans finely Chopped 1 Bowl
Onions Finely Chopped 1 Bowl
Ginger Garlic Paste 1 Spoon
1 Portion Murgh Malai Kabab or Chicken Tikka (6-8 pieces) Cut into small cubes
You can also substitute with KFC Chicken or Tandoori chicken (Tastes brilliant! I tried all 4!)

Eggs (Beat with or without the yolk) - 3

Oils and Seasonings

Virgin Olive Oil 2 Teaspoons
Cooking Oil (Sunflower, Rice Bran etc.) About 4-5 teaspoons
Black Pepper 1 Teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder 1 Teaspoon
Curry Leaf Powder/Karivepaku Podi 1 Teaspoon
Oregano Seasoning 1 Teaspoon
Fresh Lime 1
Salt To taste

Rice

Basmati Rice











Preparation

1. Cook the basmati rice making sure that the rice doesnt become too sticky. As a thumb rule 1.8 parts of water for 1 part of rice. Once cooked spread it out into a plate or a tray and mix the rice with the Olive Oil. Allow to cool for a bit.
2. In a large wok, heat oil and deep fry the beaten eggs for a bit and keep it aside
3. In the same wok heat some more cooking oil and throw in (not literally! with care of course) the green chillies, curry leaves and mint leaves/pudina. After they fry for a few seconds add the onions and mix for a minute. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir for a bit on low flame.
4. Add the spring onions, french beans and green peas and stir for a minute or so.
5. Add the fried egg and the chicken pieces. Stir fry for a bit (making sure you make the ting ting noise of your frying utensil with the spoon. Bandi Style remember?)
6. Add all the seasonings and spices and stir for a bit
7. Finally add the rice and mix properly, first on high flame and then on a low flame.
8. Turn off the gas and then add the squeezed lime juice and coriander leaves, cover the wok for a minute and serve!

Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients:
Rice - 3 Cups
Eggs - 6
Onion - 1 (Big)
Ginger Garlic paste

Procedure:
1. Cook Rice with lil less water.
2. Boil eggs in salted water.
3. In a pan, put 3tbspn of Oil. Add Chopped onions to heated oil.
4.After onions are lil fried, add 1tspn of ginger garlic paste. Allow it to fry lil.
5.Add salt(req), masala kaaran, pasupu (turmeric) and garam masala (pinch). Mix all of them .
6.Cut only the white part of boiled egg into small parts and leave the yellow as it is.
7.Mix these chopped boiled egg pieces into pan of Step 5.
8.Mix the rice into this, and mix thoroughly.
9.Taste for salt and kaaram. Add accordingly.

Servings:
Serves 3-4 ppl. Serve with Onion raita.

Tomato Chutney

Ingredients
Tomatos 6 medium cut to small pieces
onions - 1 medium size, cut to small pieces
Green chillis - 6
dhanilyalu/Dhaniya - 1/2 tsp
jeera - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp,
Tamarind - 2 small flakes
Dry cocunut powder - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste.

Method

1)Take a pan, add oil, fry mirchi, dhaniya and jeera. for a min. Keep it aside.
2)With 1 tsp oil, fry onions till slight brown, do not fry too much. Keep it aside.
3) In the same pan without any oil, put the tomotas, tamarind and a 1/2 cup water.
keep frying till the water is evaporated. keep it aside to cool.
4) In mixy/grinder, put cocunut powder and grind a little, then add the mirchi+dhaniya+jeera mixture and salt grind a little till it is soft. Then add the tomato paste to this and grind.
Then add onions and grind for couple of seconds. Once onions are added do not grind for long.

Thats it!

This can be stored for couple of days.

Vegetable Pakoras with Idli Batter

When there is leftover idli batter and bored of making another batch of idlis or uthappam, try making these pakoras. These are so quick to prepare and taste delicious too! Did I mention healthy (with the addition of vegetables) too? Any combination of vegetables can be added to these pakoras to make them healthier.

Ingredients:
3 cups Idli Batter
1 ½ cups Chickpea Flour (Besan, Senagapindi)
2 cups mixed Vegetables (I used frozen)
1 small Onion
1 Tomato
4 green Chilies
A hand full of Cilantro
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
Oil to deep fry
Salt as required

Preparation:
Add besan to the idli batter and mix well. Keep aside.
Cut onion + tomato + green chilies into fine pieces and add these to the batter along with the mixed vegetables + Cilantro + cumin seeds. Add salt as required and mix well. With the addition of besan the batter becomes little thick.
Heat the oil in a deep-bottomed pan. Then carefully drop the batter into the hot oil with a spoon or hand.
When the pakoras turn golden brown in color take them out of the oil and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the same process with rest of the batter.
Enjoy these hot pakoras with desired chutney and a cup of tea/coffee. These are perfect for the evening snack.

Veg Manchurian (Recipe to Serve 2 people)

Ingredients

a) Vegetables Required

1. Onions- 2 Medium Sized
2. Green Chillies - 4 to 6 depending on the spice you want to have
3. Ginger - Finely Chopped- a teaspoonful
4. Garlic - 3-4 Pieces finely chopped
5. Coriander (Kothimeera)- for garnishing... amount varies according to your taste
6. Curry Leaves (Karivepaku)- 4-5 Remmalu (Stems, donno how else to measure!)
7. Carrot - 1 Medium Size
8. Cabbage-About 150-200 gms finely grated

b) Sauces and Other Chinese Items

1. Tomato Sauce -1 Teaspoon
2. Chilli Sauce - 1 Teaspoon
3. Dark Soya Sauce - 2 Teaspoons
4. Worcester Sauce - 2 Teaspoons
5. Schezwan Sauce- 2 Teaspoons(Its ok if its unavailable, but will be great if it is added)
6. Chilli Vinegar or Plain Vinegar if Chilli unavailable - 1 Teaspoon
7. Ajinomoto / China Salt - 1 Teaspoon

c) Other Ingredients

1. Oil
2. Salt
3. Chilli Powder- 1 Teaspoon
4. Gram Flour/Besan/Sanagapindi -200 gm
5. Corn Flour -3 Teaspoons
6. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Teaspoon
7. Garam Masala- 1 Teaspoon

Preparation

Stage 1

Grate one onion or grind it into paste. Grate the cabbage and carrot. Squeeze out the water from the grated carrot firmly without fail.Now mix them with Besan, Corn Flour, Ginger garlic paste, Chilli Powder, Garam Masala, Salt and water. Allow the mixture to stand still for 5-10 mins. Now make little balls of them and deep fry them in oil like pakoras till they are golden brown. Keep them aside.

Stage 2

In a bowl, mix all the sauces given above, ajinomoto, a teaspoon of salt and dilute with a little water.Make sure the ajinomoto and the salt are dissolved properly. Increase the amount of sauces used if you want more peppy manchurian. Now in a frying pan/tava heat some oil. First fry curry leaves/karivepaku, chopped ginger, garlic, onions and green chillies. Then pour the sauces into the frying pan and mix properly until the sauce becomes like a thick soup(this usually happens in one minute at max). Now add the pakoras that were fried earlier and keeping the stove's flame at maximum keep mixing them till the sauces are spread evenly. Switch off the stove and sprinkle a bit of black pepper, garnish with kotheemeera/coriander and serve hot! Enzaay Maadi! :)

Mushroom Curry

Ingredients:

Mushroom - 200gms

Onion - 1 Big

Tomato - 1Big

Masala Kaaram

Salt

Turmeric Powder

GingerGarlic paste

Oil

Ingredients:

1. Clean Mushroom and keep it in salt water to clean it.
2. In frying pan, put 1tbspn of Oil. Add chopped onions and fry till they turn into lil goldenish color.
3. Add 1tspn Gingergarlic paste. Mix it thoroughly and fry them.
4. Add small chopped tomatoes and fry them.
5. Add 1.5 tspn Masala kaaram, and required salt & turmeric powder.
6. Add cleaned mushroom.
7. Add very lil water and close the lid.
8. When mushroom is cooked, remove the lid and let the water get drained.
9. Before switiching off, add 0.5tspn Dhaniya powder and add very lil (less than pinch) garam masala and Coriander leaves and mix them and switch it off.

Servings:

This quantity serves 2 ppl. Serve with roti.

Note: Mushrooms can be replaced with Prawns. Procedure is the same but more water need to be added in step 7 as Prawns need more water and time to get cooked.

Beerakaya Chutney

Ingredients:

Beerakaya : 0.5 Kg

Onions : 1 (big size)

Green Chillie : 4-5

Dhaniya : 1 tbspn

Jeera : 1 teaspn

Aavalu : 1 tbspn

GroundNut : 100gms

Garlic: 2 - 3 strands

Oil - 2 tbspn

Procedure:

1. Clean and Cut Beerakaya into small pieces. DONOT peel the skin.

2. In a frying pan, put Oil and heat it.

3. In the hot oil, add beerakaya pieces and fry them.

4. After some time, add dhaniya,ground nut,green chillie, onion fry them thouroughly.

5. Switch it off and allow these to cool them down.

6. Put this mixture in blender, add required salt and blend it.Take this paste into a bowl.

7. In frying pan, add Oil and heat it. In oil add aavalu, jeera and garlic. Fry them lil and switch off.

8. Add this to the paste of Step 7 and close it with the lid immediately to protect the smell.

Servings:

Serve this with hot rice.