Chicken Pasta with stir fried Veggies

Though I am a pasta lover, I am not well versed with the different types of pastas available. It’s a tricky and confusing affair to remember all pasta by their names. I  tried this recipe  with Amori pasta. Amori pasta is an elongated version of the elbow shaped pasta and I haven’t seen much of its kind.

I added few veggies to it along with chicken pieces. I did not use any pasta sauce but topped it with an all purpose seasoning and also added a bit of oyster sauce to it.

 

Ingredients:

Pasta of your choice… 250 gm

Boneless Chicken pieces…. 200 gm

Chopped veggies like bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes etc

Chopped onions… 1 no.

4-5 Garlic pods

All purpose seasoning herbs (you can also use oregano)

Oyster sauce…. 3 tbspn

Black pepper powder

Olive oil

Salt to taste

 

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

Cook the chicken pieces by adding salt and black pepper powder.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and saute. Now crush the garlic and add to the pan. Saute well.

Add the chopped veggies and saute well. Add the cooked chicken pieces and mix well. Add the all purpose seasoning, black pepper powder and oyster sauce. Mix well. Now add the pasta and mix well .Add salt according to taste. Garnish with few basil leaves. Serve hot.

Appam and Egg Stew ( a comeback !! )

Hi Friends.. am back.. it’s indeed a comeback…since the gap is quite long… a long gap of 2 years or more.
I do not feel guilty over the issue that I’ve been inactive on my blog for such a long time. It was all for a good purpose and that good thing is a pretty little flower with her tiny arms around my neck…
“MY ONE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER”. It was all worthwhile to dedicate my entire time as a mom for my little one. She has started walking and running all over the house, keeping me on my toes, so cooking was not  done elaborately…. it was done just for basic fulfillment.

This was prepared on a  Sunday for  breakfast but it turned out to be a Sunday brunch. Sundays are always lazy and slow moving, and preparing something like appam and stew requires lot of time. Preparing appams are not time consuming since the batter was prepared a day before and kept overnight for fermentation. Egg stew requires lot of time as the coconut milk used here was not the store brought coconut powder. It was prepared by grating the coconut and extracting milk.You can use the coconut milk powder to cut down on cooking time.

For Appam:

2 cups rice (soaked for 2-3 hrs)

1 cup grated coconut

1/4 tspn yeast

1tspn sugar

1 cup cooked rice

Water

Salt to taste

Grind together all the above ingredients  using water. Make the batter in a thick consistency. Leave the batter overnight for fermentation.

Make the appam using a pan (traditionally called as appam chatti). Pour one laddle of batter. Cover and  cook for 3-4 mins on medium flame. Once done take it out (do not flip over and cook).

For Egg Stew:

5-6 Boiled eggs

1 cup coconut milk

Whole garam masala (bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, cloves)

Whole black pepper

3-4 green chillies

1 small onion …chopped

1tspn ginger garlic paste

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Fry oil in a pan. Add the whole spices and the whole black pepper as well. Now add the onions and saute till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute. Now add the curry leaves and green chillies. Now add the coconut milk. Let it simmer. Add the boiled eggs. Cover and cook for 4-5 mins. Serve hot with appam.

 

Paneer Makhani / Makhni (Paneer Butter Masala)

Paneer Makhni or Paneer Makhani otherwise called as Paneer Butter Masala is a very common Vegetarian dish within the Indian household.

Paneer Makhani

Ingredients

  • 3 drops red color
  • butter – 1 tbsp
  • ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
  • tomato paste – 1 tsp
  • 2 tbsp Curd
  • chilli powder -1/4 tsp
  • garam masala powder – 1/4 tsp
  • coriander powder – 1 tsp
  • kastoori/kasoori methi powder – 1/4 tsp
  • ketchup – 1 tsp
  • milk to add to gravy – 1 cup
  • milk to mix spices – 1 cup
  • paneer – 250 gms
  • Mix veggies (optional)
  • Cashews a few (ground to paste)
  • salt to taste

Method

  1. Melt the butter and add ginger garlic paste and saute
  2. Add all the spices/powders  & mix with milk to the above.
  3. Cover and cook for 3 min
  4. Add salt , cut paneer and remaining milk to adjust the thickness (you can add the mix veggies with this)
  5. Add Curd to the mixture, you can also add cream if you wish
  6. Mix the cashew paste to the mixture as well.
  7. Take off the heat once the gravy is thick enough.
  8. Serve hot with naan/roti
  9. You can add fried onion (crushed) for better taste.