General

Boneless Chinese Chilli Chicken

Author: Min | Category: General | Tags: Chicken, Chinese

Oh, I just noticed that the name of the dish has a very good alliteration. Though it’s named Chinese Chilli Chicken aka CCC, I’m not very sure how ‘’chinesey”it is. I can assure you that soya sauce and rice wine vinegar are used in my recipe which is an integral part of Chinese cuisine. Since Chinese food is a family favourite, anything on those lines will always be appreciated.

I can’t pinpoint where I got this recipe from, but I can assure that this is evolved from eating Chilli Chicken of varied colour and taste from different quarters. I remember a dish named Chicken/Fish with vegetables which I’ve had from Taj Residency many years back. Any resemblance to that is pure coincidence. 🙂

This CCC has no heavy sauces, colour or red chilli. Nor does it have any aji-no-moto.

The subtle flavour of this dish makes it a very good accompaniment to vegetable fried rice or noodles.

Enjoy, or as they say in Chinese, Xiǎngshòu!

~Min

Ingredients

Boneless chicken pieces, cut into 1 ½ cm cubes	250 grams
Onions, cut into 1 cm cubes	1 cup
Green peppers, cut into 1 cm cubes	1 cup
Garlic, sliced lengthwise	3 cloves
Ginger, cut into juliennes	2 cm long piece
Green chillies, slit lengthwise	4
Green/ spring onions, chopped	2 tablespoons
Black pepper powder	1-2 tablespoon or according to taste
Light soya sauce	2 tablespoon
Dark soya sauce	1 tablespoon
Rice wine vinegar	1 teaspoon
Chicken stock (stock cube can be used)	1 cup
Corn flour	2 tablespoon
Water	¼ cup
Salt	to taste
Vegetable oil	as required

To marinate the chicken pieces

Garlic paste	1 tablespoon
Ginger paste	1 tablespoon
Light soya sauce	2 tablespoon
Corn flour	1 tablespoon
Black pepper powder	1 teaspoon

Directions

Marinate the chicken pieces with the ingredients mentioned above for a minimum of half an hour.
Heat a thick bottomed wok or a frying pan.
Once the pan is hot, shallow fry the marinated chicken pieces till tender in some oil and remove from the pan. If breast pieces are used this will take 4-5 minutes, thigh pieces will take 8-9 minutes.
Add another table spoon of oil to the same pan and sauté the sliced ginger, garlic and green chillies till garlic becomes light brown. This frying should be done under low heat as the garlic slices get burnt very quickly.
Add the sliced onions and sauté. When it becomes transluscent add green peppers followed by the fried chicken pieces. Fry for a couple of minutes under high heat.
Now add the two sauces, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper powder. Care should be taken when salt is added as the soya sauces used already have salt in them. Stir fry for a minute or so.
Add the stock, stir and let it simmer for 5 minutes with a lid on.
Mix the corn flour with water and add that mixture to the simmering stock in the pan and stir in quickly.
Remove the pan from fire and add chopped green/ spring onions.

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08 Jan 2014

Season’s Greetings with a Fruit Cake

Author: Min | Category: General | Tags: Baking, Cake, Festive, Food, Fruit Cake

As the season demands, I’m all set to make a fruit cake. Fruit cakes are quite rich with lots of dried fruits and nuts. Unfortunately fruit cakes are looked upon with disdain. So here I’m trying to uplift the image of our poor fruit cake with some changes in ingredients and how it’s made.

Boozing the fruits

The tradition of “boozing” the fruits started only a week before. In my cake the fruits & nuts are limited to dark and light raisins, candied peel, dates and cashew nuts as I’m not very keen on using umpteen ingredients.( read no green and red thingies ) I used dark rum; brandy can also be used, as it’s always available at home.

The Christmas fruit cakes are characterised by their dark colour and dense texture and the aroma of the spices added. Cinnamon is my favourite among them. The dark colour is attained by using caramel syrup which can be made at home.

As I prefer a lighter texture for the cake I always separate the egg yolks and whites and add the beaten egg whites at the final stages of mixing the batter. A sprinkling of a couple of tablespoons of rum when the cake is still hot keeps it moist.

Happy Baking!!!

~Min

Soaking the fruits

Raisins (both light and dark together)	150 grams
Dates	150 grams
Candied Peel (orange)	50 grams
Dark Rum/ Brandy	½ cup

Deseed the dates and mince all the above ingredients. Add rum to the minced fruits and shake them every day. Soaking of fruits can be done a week ahead of baking.

Caramel Syrup

Granulated sugar	¼ cup
Warm water	½ cup

Heat the sugar in a dry pan till it caramelises. Care should be taken not to burn it, otherwise the caramel syrup will become bitter. Once the sugar attains that dark colour slowly pour the warm water and heat it again till all the solid particles get dissolved, if there are any. Keep it aside to cool. Caramel syrup can be made ahead of time.

Spice Powder

Cloves	2
Cardamom	2
Cinnamon powder	½ teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon

Powder the whole spices with sugar and mix with the cinnamon powder.

Ingredients for the Batter

Flour	250 grams / 2 cups
Baking powder	1 ½ teaspoons
Baking soda	½ teaspoons
Unsalted butter (at room temperature)	175 grams / 1 cup
Sugar	200 grams/ 1 cup
Eggs (separated into yolks and whites)	4
Vanilla essence	2 teaspoons
Rum / Brandy	4 tablespoons
Cashew nuts (powdered coarsely)	½ cup

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius / 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Butter and flour a 10 inch round, 3 inch deep cake tin.
Sift the flour with baking powder and baking soda twice.
Cream the butter till creamy.
Powder the sugar and mix with the creamed butter. A handheld electric mixer or a whisk will do the job.
Once the butter and sugar are blended, egg yolks can be added one at a time and beat well.
Add vanilla essence, spice powder and caramel syrup at this point and whisk again.
Add the sifted flour mixture in 3 batches and whisk in between to get a uniform mixture without any lumps. If the consistency of the batter is too thick 2 tablespoons of rum can be added in between.
Add the soaked fruits, powdered cashew nuts and 2 tablespoons of rum (if it’s not added already) to the batter and mix well.
Now beat the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the cake mixture.
Transfer the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 45 – 50 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Once the cake is out of the oven let it cool on a wire rack. After 5 minutes sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of rum over the cake and let it cool completely.
Now loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and invert onto a plate.