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. :)

Whole Lentils with Herbs and Spices

Dal - a soupy mixture of lentils in herbs and spices - is probably my favourite dish in Indian cuisine. This recipe adapted from Cooking with my Indian mother-in-law is a flavourful and much healthier version (i.e., less oily) than some of the dal you will find in Indian restaurants. 

Serves: 4 with rice, or 2 as part of a complete meal
Cooking time: 45 mins

ingredients
225g (slightly more than 1 cup) of brown lentils (alternatively, use 175g of yellow lentils w/o skin and 50g red split lentils)
1-2 green chillies
1 fat clove garlic
4 cm ginger, peeled
1 tsp salt
2 tomatoes, skinned and halved
1 tbsp canola or peanut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon dhana jiru (blend of ground coriander seeds and cumin seeds)
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro) stems
1/2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander (cilantro leaves)

method
Wash the lentils in several changes of water until the water is clear. Drain and put them in a put with 2 litres or 8 cups of water. Bring to the boil without the lid. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat and simmer the dal for 35 minutes or until it is soft.

While the lentils are cooking, make the tomato mixture. Top and tail 1-2 (depending on how much spiciness you can take) of the green chillies. Put chillies, garlic, ginger, salt and tomatoes into a food processor and blend the mixture until well blended and finely chopped up.

Heat the oil in a soup pot, add the mustard seeds and onion and fry until pale golden. Add the butter. When melted, add the dhana jiru and turmeric. Cook the spices for a few seconds, then add the tomato mixture and the coriander stems. Increase the heat and simmer the masala until the oil pools around the sides of the pot. Set aside.

When the lentils are cooked, take a whisk and beat the mixture to make it as smooth as possible. Add it to the cooked masala in the soup pot and bring the mixture to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Depending on your preference, you may wish to add more water to achieve the consistency of a thin soup.

Add pepper and more salt if necessary, and serve hot with coriander leaves scattered over.

tips
To skin tomatoes, pierce the bottom of each tomato with a "X" using a small kitchen knife. Put the tomatoes in a deep bowl and pour freshly boiled water over them (enough to cover them completely). Leave for around 5 minutes, remove the tomatoes from the bowl and you will be able to peel off the skin easily starting from the "X".
+
Whole lentils with skin will give your dal more bite. If you prefer something softer and more mushy, use lentils without the skin.

Chicken in Parchment Paper

I attended a cooking class at Palate Sensations in Singapore and this dish of "Oven baked snapper in 'catoccio' with onions, tomatoes and potatoes" was part of the menu. Simply put, it is fish cooked in parchment paper. Since fresh fish is not readily available during the monsoon season in India (plus, I have no freaking idea how to buy fish or identify the different types of fish yet), I decided to try cooking chicken breasts in this manner. 

Serves: 1
Cooking time: 20 minutes

ingredients
1 chicken breast fillet, about 150-200g
1/2 small red capsicum, sliced
1/2 yellow red capsicum, sliced
2 small portobello mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
1 tsp of crushed garlic
1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
Dash of white wine or chinese cooking wine (hua diao jiu)

method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees for 10-15 mins.

Make some deep gashes in the chicken meat with a small kitchen knife. In a mixing bowl, coat the chicken generously with olive oil, crushed garlic, thyme, salt and freshly ground black pepper and let it sit for at least 15 minutes.

In the center of a large piece of parchment paper, lay the mushrooms in one layer (roughly over the surface area of one fillet), followed by the capsicum slices. Season with some salt and pepper. Finally, put the fillet on top of the vegetables and splash wine over the meat. 

This is the fun part - wrap your chicken into a parcel! Any way is fine, so long as the package is sealed and you leave some room for expansion. 

Pop the parcel into the oven and let it cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove the parcel from the oven when the time is up and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before you open up the parcel for serving.  

tip 
As it is very easy to overcook chicken breast, a good alternative would be to use chicken drumsticks instead. 

Vegan Broccoli and Cannellini Bean Soup

This soup is thickened with cannellini beans instead of the usual cream or flour. The original recipe calls for rosemary, but as I only had thyme in my kitchen today, I decided to heck it and the taste turned out nicely! But I think it has the potential to be awesome. So I'll try it with rosemary the next round. :)

Serves: 2 

Cooking time: 20 minutes 

ingredients

4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups of broccoli florets, roughly blitzed in food processor
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 can of cannellini beans, pureed in food processor
4 cups of unsalted vegetable broth
2 tsp fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash of sesame oil

method

Heat the oil in a soup pot and saute the garlic and onion for about 4-5 minutes. Add the blitzed broccoli florets and fry for another 2-3 minutes; then add the salt, pepper, paprika and pureed beans and stir well. 

Slowly pour in the stock, using a whisk to help you blend the mixture well. Add the thyme (or rosemary) and let your soup simmer for another 12-15 minutes. 

Using a in-pan soup blender, roughly blitz the soup to get a slightly grainy texture. Alternatively, blend it in 

batches in a food processor.

Serve with fresh ground black pepper and a drizzle of sesame oil.

Lamb with Peas and Mint in a Lettuce Wrap

This dish is usually paired with rice or bread, but I decided to serve it on iceberg lettuce leaves ala Korean ssambap style to suit PJ's slow carb diet. You can also try this with other types of lettuce or even cabbage. I personally prefer lettuce because the sweetness of the leaves complement the slight spiciness of the lamb. 

This recipe is adapted from Om books' Complete Indian Cooking. 

Serves: 2 (if eaten as a complete meal)
Cooking time: 20 mins

ingredients 
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp roughly chopped and crushed garlic
1/2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
275g lean leg of lamb, minced (ground)
1 large carrot, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 fresh green chilli, chopped

method 

In a deep heavy frying pan, heat the oil and fry the chopped onion over a medium heat for 5 mins until golden.

Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, mix the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, ground coriander and salt. Stir well.
Add the sliced tomatoes and the spice mixture to the onions in the frying pan and fry for 2-3 minutes. stirring occasionally. Add the minced lamb to the mixture and stir-fry for about 7-10 minutes to brown the meat.

Break up any lumps of meat which may form in the pan. Add the carrot, peas, mint, coriander and green chilli and mix together well. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes until the carrot and peas are cooked, then serve immediately with lettuce leaves. 

tip

Mince your own meat as far as possible. In this way, you can be assured that the meat is fresh and clean (and it's exactly the parts that you want and need). Simply chop up the meat into chunky pieces, and pulse it on low in a food processor for under 15 seconds. 

Vegan Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Ever since PJ decided to restart his "Slow Carb" diet, I've been cracking my brain on what to cook for him. Apart from kicking out all carbs from his diet (rice, grains, flour, noodles, glucose, fructose, potatoes etc.), there can't be any dairy products in his diet too (save for butter). Hence, when I came across this vegan roasted tomato basil soup recipe from chow.com, I thought, awesome! It's dairy free, and calls for ingredients that are easily available (not to mention, very cheap) in India. Tomatoes and basil. :)    

Here's the recipe which I modified slightly:

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 1 hr 30 mins

ingredients
500g plum tomatoes (or any sort that is readily available for you)
3 tbsp olive oil
 3/4 tbsp salt
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes
200ml tomato puree
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded roughly
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

method 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Usually 10-15 mins is okay.

Slice tomatoes lengthwise (from stem part). Arrange them on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss the tomatoes with your hands until they are even coated. Arrange them on the sheet with the cut side up. Place in preheated oven and roast for 50 mins. Remove pan from oven when done and set aside.

Warm the rest of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft & golden. Add garlic and chilli and fry for another minute. Pour in the tomatoes, their juices and add the puree, water, basil and thyme. Bring to boil and then simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Allow soup to cool slightly before blending in batches in a food processor. Blend until desired texture (I blend it until the tomato skin is all blended finely) and pour back into a saucepan to heat it up again before serving.

Pour the soup into serving bowls and top with fresh ground black pepper.  

Really Really Easy Pan Fried Salsa Chicken

This is a really, really easy recipe adapted from Good Food (which reprinted it from Hamlyn All Colour 200 Twenty-Minute Meals). It's really, really easy because there's barely any cooking. You will just need to season your chicken well, heat the pan right, and the chicken will sit there and cook on its own, so long as you flip it around after 4-5 minutes. Makes cooking a breeze and feeds my slow carb diet husband well. :)  

Serves: 2 hungry people 

Cooking time: 30 mins 

ingredients

4 chicken breast fillets (about 150g each), boneless, skinless 

3 tbsp olive oil 

Fresh ground pepper (as much or as little as you want) and salt (around 1 level tsp would be nice) to season

Dash of paprika to season 

for the salsa
1 onion, finely chopped
15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 small cucumbers, diced
A handful of fresh basil, finely shredded
1/2 tsp of fresh thyme
Juice of 1 lime

method

Coat the fillets with oil and season generously with pepper, salt and paprika.

Heat a frying pan until very hot (to the point where the chicken will sizzle when it hits the pan), add the chicken and cook for about 4-5 minutes (I find 4 minutes just nice) on each side. In order not to overcrowd the pan (which will result in a sudden drop of temperature in the pan, you can either pan fry each fillet individually, or stagger the time you place each fillet in e.g., 2nd fillet enters the pan when you flip the 1st fillet at the 5th minute, 3rd fillet enters when you flip the 2nd fillet, so on and so forth.

Meanwhile, to make the salsa, mix together the salsa ingredients. Season well with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken hot with the salsa spooned over and around.

notes/tips: 

The original recipe calls for 1 red chilli (deseeded and finely chopped) and a handful of fresh coriander leaves (chopped). As I did not have these on hand, I chose to replace them with fresh basil and thyme, which worked beautifully to enhance the flavours of the tomatoes and cucumbers.
+
Also, it's very tempting to "disturb" the chicken (flip it around, peek at the bottom) whilst it's frying in the pan. Resist it! Have faith that they will cook beautifully and not burn if you let them sit in the pan, ~4 minutes on each side.
+
Since chicken breast meat is generally tougher and the fillet is not of even thickness throughout, I like to pound my chicken to kind of even out the thickness and break down the tissue. Try it!