Baked Mushroom and Tomato Rice

A really simple and healthy one-pot dish. 

Serves: 2 hungry people 

Cooking Time: 

ingredients

200g basmati rice, rinsed and drained 

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 large onion, chopped 

2 tsp fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary 

250g button mushrooms, quartered 

2 red peppers, diced 

400g tomatoes, chopped 

425ml vegetable stock 

Dash of black pepper 

Chopped parsley (optional) 

method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. 

Heat oil in a casserole dish and fry the chopped onion until soft. Stir in the rosemary and mushrooms and fry briefly. Add the rice, coat it in the oil then add the peppers, tomatoes, vegetable stock and some pepper. Bring to the boil, stir, cover tightly and then bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Serve hot with freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley. 

Sticky Ginger & Soy Chicken Wings

This is a dish which I've cooked at least 4-5 times in my short 4 months in Mumbai because 1) chicken is so fresh here; 2) it is comfort Chinese food; and 3) it is so simple to prepare. The recipe is from step-by-step Asian. 

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 12-15 mins (but allow plenty of time for marination)

ingredients
6 chicken wings
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5cm/1-inch fresh garlic, grated
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp chilli sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
lime wedges to serve

method
Tuck the pointed tip of each wing under the thicker end to make a neat triangle. Arrange the wings in a single layer in a dish.

Mix together the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, lime, honey, chilli sauce and sesame oil. Spoon the mixture over the chicken and turn to coat evenly. Cover and marinate for serveral hours or overnight.

Preheat the broiler to hot. Cook the wings on a foil lined broiler pan for 11-12 minutes on one side, and turn them over and broil for another 2 minutes. Juices should have no trace of pink when pierced. Serve hot with lime wedges.

note
The picture taken above was my first attempt and you can see that there are no burnt bits on the skin. Well, this first batch turned out to be under cooked, despite the recommended cooking time. PJ suggested that because I was basting it frequently and constantly opening the oven door, thereby releasing a lot of heat, the recommended cooking time in the recipe wasn't accurate. Hence, in my subsequent batches, I gave up basting altogether and let the wings cook straight for 11-12 minutes, before opening the oven door to flip them and cook for another 2 minutes to brown the underside. Wings cook this way will have charred bits of skin and hence look quite different from the picture up there. :)

Chicken Porridge

Porridge is a staple in my mum's kitchen. We would either have it plain, paired with various stir-fried dishes or just some salty dishes such as salted fish, omelette with preserved radish; or my mum will throw in bits of meat or fish and mushroom to make a complete one-pot meal. The one-pot wonder is also something she cooks when we are sick or nursing a weak stomach (or when we had our wisdom tooth taken out) so you can imagine how porridge screams "comfort food!" for me. As such, when my husband fell sick in Mumbai, I decided to make a one-pot wonder to provide some comfort.

Serves: 2 hungry people 

Cooking time: 1 hr 50 mins

Ingredients

• 10 cups of water
• 250g chicken bones
• 1 medium white onion, halved 
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 2-3 inch piece of carrot, quartered 
• 2 one-inch fresh ginger, peeled and crushed 
• 10 black (can mix with white) peppercorns, crushed 
• 3 fresh sage/bay/basil leaves (up to your taste) 
• 3/4 cup white rice, pounded 
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 8-10 white button mushrooms, quartered 
• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• Grounded white pepper to taste
• Sliced ginger to garnish
• Chopped spring onion to garnish   

Method 

1. Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add chicken bones, onion, garlic, carrot, ginger, peppercorns and leaves. Simmer gently (without breaking into a boil), uncovered, for around 1 hour. According to Keys to Good Cooking, bubbling clouds the stock with tiny particles of protein and fat; gently moving water allows the particles to cluster and either rise to the surface or fall to the bottom. The open pot cools the stock surface, dries the protein scum and begins the concentration process. 
2. Keep chicken bones, ginger and carrots in stock. Remove and discard everything else. Skim off most of the fat. 
3. Add pounded rice to stock and simmer, partially covered, for 15-20 mins until rice is cooked. 
4. Add chicken drumsticks and simmer for 12-15 mins.  
5. Add mushrooms and simmer for another 10-15 mins. 
6. Remove chicken bones from pot. 
7. Stir in fish sauce and pepper. 
8. Serve garnished with the sliced ginger and spring onion. 

Notes/Tips

• Pounding is optional but it really helps to create a smoother porridge. 
• Always pound damp/wet rice: The first time I made this dish, I made the mistake of pounding dry rice. It was an uphill task and took up so much of my time. The second time, I pounded damp rice and it was SO EASY. 
• Stir occasionally throughout the simmering process to prevent scorching at the bottom of the pot. 
• Top up with hot water when mixture becomes too dry for your liking. 
• You can marinate the chicken bones and thighs with some cooking wine (I use hua diao jiu), salt and pepper prior to cooking. I like the marinade to sit for at least 2-3 hours. 
• Basmati rice is used for this recipe because this is the main type of rice in India. Thai jasmine rice (which is what my mother uses) will be beautiful too.