We invited readers to share some of their favourite recipes with us. As part of a continuing series, we publish two of these lip-smacking recipes we've received so far:
Here is how to prepare Chicken Sookha by Nitin Bhatt:
Cuisine: North Indian
Type: Non-vegetarian
Preparation time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs chicken cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)
- 2 tsps red chillie powder
- 1 finely chopped green chillie
- 2 dry red chillies
- 1 tsp salt or according to taste
- 1/4 tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- 2 tsps ginger-garlic paste
- 2 inch cube of fresh ginger peeled and cut into very small pieces
- 1 tsp dhaniya powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 5 tbsps vegetable oil
- 2 onions, one diced and the other sliced lengthwise
- 1 inch-long stick of cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Cashew nut pieces
- Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Preparation:
- Clean the chicken pieces, wash thoroughly and drain the water.
- Marinate the chicken pieces with the mix (red chillie powder, little salt, haldi, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste) for 1 hour.
- Put marinated chicken in steamer (rice cooker steamer or other) and steam for 1/2 an hour. Chicken should be well cooked, leaving most of its oil in the steamer's water. Throw the water away (most of the fat is now gone!).
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, onions (small & large pieces) and green chillies. Fry onions till brown .
- Add rest of the ginger and garlic paste, dhaniya powder, bay leaves, cashews, salt, chillie powder, chopped green chillies, dry red chillies, ginger pieces and fry for a few more minutes.
- Add the marinated steamed chicken and fry for sometime. Do not add any water.
- Stir it, cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cover of the pan and garnish it with coriander leaves and lemon juice.
Health quotient: Most of the chicken fat is thrown away, making this an almost fat-free dish -- serve as appetizers or main course.
And here's Suchitra V's recipe for Cheesy Rice:
Cuisine: Indo-Italian
Type: Vegetarian
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups basmati rice
- Vegetable broth
- 1/2 an onion
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsps mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tsps crushed garlic
- 2 tsps butter
- 2 tsps olive oil
- 1/4 cup green peas
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
- In a pan add butter and olive oil, bay leaf, crushed garlic and finely chopped onion.
- When the onion is slightly brown, add basmati rice and stir it for a few seconds; then add vegetable broth, salt, pepper, green peas and keep stirring every few minutes.
- Depending on the texture of the rice, keep adding veggie broth to make sure it is cooked.
- Then add grated parmesan cheese and mascarpone cheese and mix well.
- This rice is deliciousand has a very different flavour. It goes best with cucumber raita.
Health quotient: This recipe is very easy to make and very, very tasty. It's a good mix of Indian and Italian flavours.