Dragon Chicken

 

Dragon Chicken - an "Indo Chinese" dish that caught my attention very recently. The term dragon could be because of how the chicken would look like or what your mouth could feel like after a few  bites. :) When I did a bit of research I was determined to try this rather sooner than later. This is very similar to Kung Pao chicken that is very popular in the US of A. This is an interesting recipe with a medley textures, flavours and colours. It's juicy, crunchy, spicy and a tinge of sweetness. So here's my take on this dish.

Ingredients

1. Chicken breast - 500 gms
2. Eggs - 2
3. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
4. Dark soya sauce 
5. Black pepper powder - 1 table spoon
6. Corn flour - 2 table spoons
7. Maida / All purpose flour - 1 table spoon
8. Red food colour (optional) - 1 pinch
9. Red onions - 2
10. Red Capsicum - 1
11. Green Capsicum - 1
12. Garlic (minced) - 2 tablespoons
13. Chilli jam (optional - can substitute with Chilli sauce if needed) - 2 table spoons
14. Kashmiri red chillies - 5 or 6
15. Dried red chillies (spicy one) - 5 or 6
16. Cashews
17. Sesame seeds - 2 tea spoons
18. Sugar - 1 tea spoon
19. Tomato ketchup - 2 table spoons
20. Chives (or spring onions)
21. Salt to taste
22. Vegetable oil

Method

1. Slice the chicken breast into very thin strips. It is important you cut it in strips and not diced.
2. Make a batter with eggs, ginger garlic paste, pepper powder,1 table spoon of soya sauce, salt to taste, food colour, corn flour and maida.
3. Marinade the chicken strips in this batter - at least for 30 minutes.
4. Cut the onions and capsicums in strips.
5. Deep fry the chicken strips in small batches.
6. In a large wok heat the oil (I use the same oil used for frying the chicken).
7. Toss the garlic, chillies and cashews for about a minute.
8. Add the onions and capsicums and stir fry them for about a minute.
9. Add 2 table spoons of dark soya sauce, chilli jam, tomato ketchup, sugar and mix well.
10. Add the chicken and toss well to mix the chicken with the sauce.
11. Add a few table spoons of water and toss well.
12. Add  the sesame seeds and chives to garnish and give it a quick toss.

Enjoy!!

C

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

Here's one of my favourite spicy and tangy Indo-Chinese soups that can warm up your body and mind. As in any soup the broth is what that makes or breaks it. While I've tried a different home made and store bought broths - here's a version which worked out well for me.

Ingredients

Broth

1. Chicken with skin and bones. I used about 6 large chicken drumsticks.
2. Garlic - 1 bulb smashed
3. Ginger - 100 gms - cut and smashed
4. Spring onion twigs - a few bumches
5. Black pepper - 1 table spoon
6. Salt - 2 table spoons

Soup

1. Chicken broth - 4 cups
2. Carrot - diced - 2 table spoons
3. Cabbage - diced 2 table spoons
4. Green chilles - diced - 2 table spoons
5. Vinegar - 1/2 cup
6. Dark soy sauce - 2 table spoons
7. Corn flour slurry - 1/3 cup
8. Eggs - 2  egg yolks and 3 egg whites beaten
9. Seasme oil - 1 table spoon
10. Cooked Shredded chicken - 1/2 cup 
11. Spring onions - diced - 2 table spoons

Method

Broth

1. In a large sauce pan or vessel boil the chicken for about 10-15 minutes.
2. Drain the chicken and the water.
3. Fill the same sauce pan with water, transfer the chicken, add the garlic, ginger, pepper and salt.
4. Bring it to boil and then simmer it for about 30 minutes.'
5. Take the chicken pieces out, let it cool and then remove the flesh out with hands or fork.
6. Put the bones and skin back in the broth and let it simmer for another hour or so.
7. Drain the broth out into a container.

Hot & Sour Soup

1. In a sauce pan, saute the chillies, carrot and cabbage for about a minute in seasme oil and vinegar.
2. Add the chicken broth and bring it to a boil.
3. Once boiling add the corn flour slurry and bring it to boil.
4. Add the soya sauce and mix well.
5. Add the shredded chicken and mix well.
6. Stir the soup mix well that the broth is rotating around.
7. Add the beaten egg mix and twirl it around with a folk.
8. Serve hot with a dash of spring onions as a garnish.

Enjoy!!

C

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

Sweet corn chicken soup - one of those soups that gives a meaning to "Chicken Soup for the Soul". It has all the goodness in it to bring your spirits up - especially on a gloomy cold night. After tomato soup this would have been one of my earliest memories of soup consumption - especially in a restaurant. There's something about the smell, the texture, the consistency and of course the flavour. So without much further ado - here's how to prepare sweet corn chicken soup - restaurant style - at home.

Ingredients

1. Sweet corn - fresher the better. If not a frozen packet would do just fine. (2 cups)
2. Chicken - Boneless - either thigh or breast pieces - thinly sliced or cubed
3. Chicken stock - either store bought or stock made out of boiling chicken with bones for about an hour.
4. Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
5. Garlic - minced (1 tablespoon)
6. Corn Flour - 50 gms
7. Eggs - 2 (beaten)
8. Milk - 1/2 cup
9. Sesame oil - few tablespoons
10. Spring onions (for garnish)

Method

1. Take about 3/4th - 1 cup of the sweet corn and pulse it to create a rough / chunky mixture.
2. In a large sauce pan or wok heat the sesame oil and saute the chicken and garlic for a few minutes. Saute until the pinkness is vanished in the chicken.
3. Add the vinegar and give it quick toss.
4. Add the sweet corn (whole and the chunky mixture) and saute for a few minutes.
5. Add the chicken stock and milk and bring it to a boil.
6. While the chicken stock is boiling, create a corn flour slurry by mixing water to the corn flour - about 1/4 cup.
7. Once the stock has come to a boil add the corn flour slurry and let the soup thicken up for a few minutes. I like my soups thick - so if the consistency is not thick enough for you, prepare more corn flour slurry and add it to the soup.
8. Once the soup is thick enough pour the beaten eggs in a circular fashion around the soup and stir it around in ONE direction with a fork. This should create the "egg flower" - which BTW is also another name for this soup in Chinese restaurants.
9. Simmer the soup for 2-3 minutes.
10. Serve hot with a garnish of spring onions.

Note: Some people like to have this with a bit of chilli vinegar mixed for a bit of a tangy and spicy flavour. If you would like it - just chop of a few green chillies in a few tablespoons of vinegar before you start this process.

Restaurant style - Indo Chinese - Sweet Corn Chicken soup ready!!

Happy Cooking!!

C

Schezwan Chilli Chicken

Schezwan or should I say Sichuan cuisine is known for it's spiciness thanks to extreme climate of the Sichuan province in China. As with many other Indo-chinese adaptations here's my version of Schezwan Chilli Chicken made using home made schezwan sauce. It's a great appetizer / entree that has a slight amount of sauce in it. 

Ingredients

1. Diced chicken - 500 gms - I normally use chicken with bones for this one.
2. Schezwan sauce - 3-4 table spoons. Something you can keep adding later if you want to increase the "heat".
3. Finely diced red onion - 1
4. Dried red chillies - 10-15
5. Egg - 1
6. Corn flour - 2 table spoons
7. Vinegar - 2 table spoons
8. Sugar - 1 teaspoon
9. Tomato sauce - 1 table spoon
10. Spring onions - for garnish

Method

1. Marinade the chicken with egg, a table spoon of schezwan sauce and corn flour. Let it marinade for at least 30 minutes.
2. In a large wok - heat a few table spoons of vegetable oil.
3. Add half of the minced onions and saute for a few minutes.
4. Add the schezwan sauce and the red chillies and saute for a few minutes.
5. Add the vinegar and sugar and mix it up.
6. Add the marinaded chicken and cook for about 15-20 minutes.
7. Add the remaining onions and saute for a few minutes.
8. Finally add the tomato sauce and mix it up well.
9. Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Enjoy!!

C

Chilli Chicken - Indo Chinese Style

Since the time I left India there is always a craving for good Indo Chinese food. Unfortunately there have not been many restaurants that fitted the bill. I ended up re-creating those dishes I was missing. Chilli chicken is definitely one of those. This can be made in a different ways - dry, semi-dry or with a bit of sauce. I like this as a starter and hence made the dry version. This is a great starter to go along with the drink of your choice or as a side dish for noodles or fried rice. So without further ado...

Ingredients

1. Boneless chicken - 500 gms
2. Eggs - 2
3. Corn flour - 1.5 cups (add more as needed to get the required batter consistency)
4. Maida / Plain Flour - 1/2 cup
5. Red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
6. Onions - 1 - cut in cubes
7. Green chillies - about a dozen depending on your spice appetite
8. Vinegar - 2 table spoons
9. Garlic - minced - 2 table spoons
10. Ginger - grated - 1 tea spoon
11. Sugar - 1/2 tea spoon
12. Dark soy sauce - 1 table spoon
13. Capsicum - 2 diced in cubes
14. Vegetable oil
15. Salt - to taste

Method

1. Dice the chicken breast in small slices. It is important to cut / slice it thin and diagonally. DO NOT chop it in cubes. Idea is to make it cook fairly quickly or a flash fry.
2. In a large bowl mix 2 eggs, corn flour, plain flour, red chilli powder and some salt. 
3. Create a thick paste and add water slowly and create a smooth but thick batter. If too watery add little amounts of corn flour to make it thick.
4. Marinate the cut chicken in the batter until you get done with other chopping / preparation tasks.
5. Chop up the onions in small cubes.
6. Slit the green chillies.
7. Mince the garlic in small pieces.
8. Grate about 2 inches or so of ginger to get about 1 tea spoon of grated ginger.
9. Dice the capsicums.
10. In a large hot wok fill about 1 cup of oil and heat it up. Test the heat by dropping a small piece of batter and it should pop up immediately.
11. Fry the chicken pieces in batches and keep aside.
12. Once done transfer the oil into a separate bowl, wipe it with a towel and heat it again.
13. Pour a few table spoons of the oil.
14. Once hot add the garlic, chillies and onions and saute for about 2 minutes.
15. Add vinegar and sugar (to balance the pungentness of vinegar) and toss it up.
16. Add the deep fried chicken pieces with the soy sauce and toss it up.
17. Add salt to taste.
18. Add the capsicums and toss it well.
19. Make a corn flour slurry with a tea spoon of corn flour and few table spoons of water.
20. Add the slurry and toss well for about a minute.
21. If you want more sauce add about a cup of water and bit more of corn flour slurry and let it boil until a thick sauce is prepared.

Enjoy!!

C

Schezwan Chilli Baby Corn

Schezwan sauce is such a versatile sauce that can be used to make a variety of dishes.  You can find the recipe for the sauce here. The 1st in those series in Schezwan baby corn. This works very well as a starter / appetiser/ entree / side dish - whatever you like to call. :) You can of course adapt this to make many dishes to replace the baby corn with any bite sized chunky food item - such as paneer, mushrooms, cauliflower (for the veggies) or chicken, prawn or fish. You can also prepare noodles and fried rice - which will be coming up shortly. This is definitely not for those who can't consume spicy food.

Ingredients

1. Baby corn - 400 gms
2. Schezwan sauce - 3-4 table spoons
3. Maida (All purpose flour) - 4 table spoons
4. Corn flour - 2 table spoons 
5. Eggs - 2 (for pure vegetarians you can exclude the eggs)
6. Soya sauce - 3-4 table spoons
7. Tomato ketchup - 2 table spoons
8. Sugar - 1 tea spoon
9. Vinegar - 2-3 table spoons
10. Minced garlic - 1 bulb
11. Dice onions - 2-3 table spoons
12. Kashmiri dried red chillies - 8-10 (you can use normal dried red chillies too)

Method

1. Depending on the size of your baby corns, you may cut them up into 2 or 3 pieces.
2. In a wide bowl mix 1 table spoon of the sauce with a pinch of salt and marinade them for about 30 minutes.
3. Prepare a slightly thick batter with the all purpose flour, corn flour, eggs, 1/2 tea spoon of salt, 1 table spoon of soya sauce and water. Make sure you add water slowly to make sure you don't have a watery batter.
4. Add the marinated baby corn into the batter and mix well.
5. In a large wok heat up enough oil (any oil will do) and deep fry the baby corn coated in batter few at a time until it turn slightly brown.
6. Once done transfer the excess oil to another bowl leaving about 3-4 table spoons of oil in the wok.
7. In high heat let the wok smoke a bit.
8. Add the garlic and onions and saute them quickly for about 30 seconds. Make sure you don't burn the garlic.
9. Add the red chillies, sugar and vinegar and give it a good mix.
10. Add the deep fried baby corn pieces add tomato sauce and soya sauce. You may add a bit of salt to taste.

Enjoy!!

C

Indo Chinese - Schezwan Chilli Sauce

Every Asian cuisine has an individual flavour of chilli sauce. First of my posts in the sauce series is one such variety - the Indo Chinese version of Schezwan Chilli sauce. As the name denotes this sauce takes inspiration from the Schezwan (also known as Sichuan) province in China where it is known for it spicy cuisine. As in any other Indo Chinese recipe this too has been adapted to Indian taste buds. This is such a versatile sauce that goes as a condiment with other finger food (such as Chicken Lollipop) or as a base sauce to prepare Schezwan noodles or fried rice. Am sure this can be used to make other stir fried dishes as well. So without much further ado...

Ingredients

1. Kashmiri Chillies - 1 cup
2. Minced Garlic - 1/2 cup
3. Minced Ginger - 3 table spoons
4. Minced celery sticks - 2 table spoons
5. White vinegar - 2-3 table spoons
6. Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
7. Tomato sauce - 2 table spoons
8. Sugar - 1 tea spoon
9. Salt - 1 tea spoon

Method

1. Soak the chillies in hot water for about 30 minutes.
2. Chop up the garlic, ginger and celery into tiny mince.
3. Once soaked blend the chillies into a smooth paste (with the stalks out but the seeds still intact). If you would like your sauce to be less spicy take away some seeds before you blend them.
4. Heat a wide sauce pan pour the oil and saute the garlic until it slightly turns colour.
5. Add the ginger and celery and saute for a few minutes until the oil separates.
6. Add the blended chilli paste and saute in medium to low heat for about 5-10 minutes until water evapourates. Keep stirring while this happens to ensure the sauce doesn't burn.
7. Close the sauce pan with a lid and let it simmer for another 15 minutes while stirring occasionally.
8. Remove the lid, add the vinegar, tomato sauce, sugar and salt and simmer it for another 5 minutes. Feel free to play around with these ingredients until you get your preferred taste - something spicy, tangy and just a hint of sweetness.
9. By now the sauce should be well cooked with oil separating out.
10. Let it cool to room temperature and store it in an air tight glass bottle. 

This can be refrigerated for at least 2 months or frozen (in a ziploc bag) for many more months.

Enjoy!!

C

Chicken Lollipops

Chicken Lollipop known by many different names - Chicken Drumstick, Drums of Heaven etc., has been huge hit recently at home while we visit an Indian restaurant nearby. My kids call it "the lollipop restaurant". This is an awesome indo-chinese appetiser (entree) that I tried ages ago and almost forgot about it since not many restaurants outside India served this delicacy. So after a few visits was inspired to recreate it at home. It took a few tries and knowing what part of chicken was best to use. This goes best with Schezwan sauce which will be coming up soon at Chetty's Kitchen.

Ingredients

1. Chicken wings - at least 4 per person (unless you want a dog fight at home). I bought 16 for the four of us. Make sure you buy the smallest chicken wings possible and the one without the shoulder piece or the winglet.
2. Corn flour - 1/2 cup
3. Plain Flour (Maida) - 1 cup (the ratio between Cornflour to Maida should be 1:2 whichever measurement you use)
4. Egg - 1
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 table spoon
6. Salt - to taste
7. Lemon juice - 2 tea spoons
8. Light Soya sauce - 2 table spoons
9. Kashmiri chilli powder - to taste
10. Red food colour - 2 pinches (totally optional)

Method

1. Take a chicken wing and feel out the 2 bones. There will be one thin bone and a thick one. Run a knife around the thin bone, scrape the flesh and remove the bone (by twisting it out).
2. Run the knife around the remaining bigger bone and scrape the flesh down.
3. Push the flesh down towards the other end of the bone and roll it up into a ball (loosely). The lollipops are formed now.
4. In a large bowl mix the ingredients for the marinade - ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, soya sauce, kashmiri chilli and salt.
   
5. Marinade the lollipops in the above mix for at least 30 minutes.
6. While the chicken is being marinated prepare the batter with the egg, corn flour, plain flour, kashmiri chilli powder, salt and food colour. Prepare a fairly thick batter by adding water slowly. 
7. Heat a deep sauce pan / kadai with vegetable oil. Enough oil to have at least 3 to 4 cms depth. Once hot move the heat to medium / low heat.
8. Dip the chicken lollipop in the batter and roll it smoothly to maintain the ball shape and immerse them in the hot oil.
9. Cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes occasionally turning them around.
10. Drain and serve hot with a spicy Schezwan sauce. You can decorate the bone tips with aluminium foil if you would like.

The result is a crunchy on the outside but juicy on the inside Chicken Lollipop!!

Enjoy!!

C

Chicken Manchurian - quintessential dish that features in every Indian restaurant that serves "Indo-Chinese" cuisine. I do not remember any visit to a  (Indian) Chinese restaurant that did not have A "manchurian" in the order. It could be Gobi (Cauliflower) or Paneer or most often as the case is - Chicken. It usually comes in 2 variations either as "Dry" which is served as an appetizer (entree/starter) or "Gravy" which is usually served as an accompaniment to fried rice or noodles. So here is the gravy version. If you would like the dry version just follow the notes below (step #7).

Ingredients

1. Chicken breast fillet - 500 gms
2. Minced garlic - 2 table spoons
3. Minced red onions - 1 large onion
4. Corn flour - 3 table spoons for batter and 1.5 table spoons for sauce
5. Plain flour (Maida) - 1/2 cup
6. Red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
7. Eggs - 2
8. Soya Sauce - 2 table spoons
9. Vinegar - 1 table spoon
10. Sugar - 1 tea spoon
11. Spring onions - 1/2 cup for garnish

Method

1. Thinly slice the chicken breast fillets. Make sure you don't cut them into cubes.
2. In a deep bowl mix the chicken with eggs, corn flour, plain flour, chilli powder and salt (about a tea spoon). Do not add any water. You should just have a thin coating of the batter on top of the chicken.
3. In a large wok heat about 2 cups of vegetable oil (or enough to deep fry).
4. Deep fry the chicken pieces in a few batches. It should take about 30 seconds to a minute for each batch. This is where the thinly sliced chicken pieces come in handy.
5. Transfer the excess oil into a separate bowl and use the same wok with a few table spoons of oil left.
6. Saute the garlic and onion until the onion turns slightly brown.
7.  Add vinegar and soya sauce mix it up well. (If you want the dry version avoid step #8 and add about 1 table spoon of corn flour slurry for the smooth texture).
8. Pour about 2 cups of water (or more if you need more sauce) and bring it to boil.
9. Mix the 1.5 table spoons of corn flour in half a cup of water and bring it to boil until the sauce thickens. (Adjust the water or corn flour slurry to desired thickness of sauce)
10. Mix the deep fried chicken pieces and mix it up for about a minute.
11. Serve hot with diced up spring onions as garnish. As mentioned above a good combination with noodles or fried rice.

Happy Cooking !!

C

Indo Chinese Spring Roll

Spring Rolls - this dish takes me back about 3 decades ago when I had tasted it for the first time at "China Town" restaurant in Salem. Since then it was always one of my favourite starters to order whenever we went to a Chinese restaurant in India. Some of my family may still remember the short "stint" I did at the kitchens in Savera Hotel, Chennai in 1993 - right after high school. That is where I learnt how to make a spring roll which I replicated a few times in few of my relatives houses. I couldn't cook this dish at home since eggs were still not allowed in the kitchen then. Fast forward a few years I had the opportunity to try spring rolls in USA. It was never the same - it was bit more crispier, but the fillings were bland. For whatever reason I stayed away from this dish for decades - until recently it popped up in my memory urging me to try this again. I couldn't quite remember the ratios of certain ingredients and fumbled a bit initially but got it right the 2nd time around. So let's get going with this yummy appetizer / entree (depending on which side of the globe you are).

What goes in

Wrapper

1. Maida / Plain flour - 2 cups
2. Corn flour - 3 cups (note the ratio between Maida to Corn flour should be 2:3)
3. Eggs - 2
4. Baking soda - 1 tea spoon
5. Salt - 1 tea spoon
6. Water - 4-5 cups (enough to create a runny batter)

Filling

1. Carrot  - 2 or 3
2. Cabbage - 250 gms
3. Capsicum / Bell Peppers - 1 or 2
4. Red Onion - 1
5. Garlic - 3 or 4 cloves
6. Salt
7. Black Pepper powder
8. Vinegar - 1 table spoon

Feel free to add any eggs or thinly sliced chicken should you chose to add any protein to the filling.

The Method

Wrapper

1. Mix all the ingredients of the wrapper in a large bowl and create a runny batter.
2. Heat a large wok - preferably non-stick wok.
   
3. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter on to the wok and keep swirling it around until the batter creates an even thin skin around the wok.
4. In about 20 seconds you should slowly blow around the edges and the wrapper / skin should separate out of the wok. Use your fingers to slowly remove the wrapper out of the wok. You should not be using any spatula / utensil for this.
5. Store the wrappers on a plate dusting it with corn flour between the wrappers.

Filling

1. Thinly slice / shred the vegetables 
2. In the same wok heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the minced garlic with the vinegar.
3. If you are adding chicken or egg, now would be a good time to add and saute until cooked well.
4. Add the vegetables and saute for a few minutes with salt and pepper to taste.

Spring Roll

1. Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling in one end of the wrapper and slowly roll it into a cylindrical roll. After 2 or 3 rolls fold the sides and roll it up so that none of the filling is exposed.
2. Use egg wash or corn flour slurry to glue the last bits of the wrapper so that it sticks to the roll firmly.
3. In a large wok fill enough vegetable oil to be able to deep fry the spring rolls.
4. Once the oil is hot enough deep fry the rolls until golden brown.
5. Chop them up diagonally or just as cylinders and serve hot with tomato or sweet chilli sauce.
6. You should have a crisp outer layer with some soft and crunchy layers of filling inside.

Happy Cooking!!

C

Vegetarian American Chopsuey

American Chopsuey yet another Indo-Chinese delight which you can rarely find anywhere outside India. Niven - this one is for you. :-)  American Chopsuey is neither American nor Chinese. I think my first attempt at eating American Chopsuey is either at China Tower or Golden Dragon. It was a very unique experience to eat "Murukku Noodles" with gravy. Not particularly a huge fan of american chopsuey, but did have it every once in a while including "Chung Wah" in Koramangala. They used to dish out a killer chopsuey with just the right amount of everything.

Technically it is not supposed to be a very complicated dish. Chopsuey is nothing but a Chinese Avial where you put in all left over veggies and make some sauce out of it. The difference with the "American" version is of course the usage of Ketchup.

Ingredients:

1) Boiled noodles. (Do  not use fresh - ready to eat ones).
2) Garlic (thinly sliced)
3) Green chillies
4) Onions, Cabbage and Capsicum - all cut into 1.5 inch wedges
5) Carrots - thinly sliced
6) Baby corn
7) Vinegar
8) Soya sauce
9) Tomato Ketchup
10) Corn flour
12) Seasme oil

The Method
1) Boil the noodles, drain, dust it with corn flour (this is very very important!!)  and set aside.
2) Heat up a wok and pour a few tablespoons of sesame oil.
3) Once fuming add garlic and chillies and sautee for a few seconds.

(If you would like to add any thin slices of meat now would be a good time.)

4) Add the onions and carrots and sautee for a 1-2 minutes.
5) Add a few teaspoons of vinegar.
6) Add cabbage, baby corn and capsicum. Sautee for a few minutes. (Note: Do not let the veggies go too soggy)
7) Add few tablespoons tomato ketchup.
8) Add water as much sauce is needed and bring to a boil.
9) When the water comes to a boil add the corn flour water.
10) Bring the mixture to a boil until the sauce thickens to the required consistency. It should not be too watery or should not be a porridge either.

Tip: If it becomes too sour add a bit of sugar.

....Now comes the tricky part....frying the noodles

11) Heat up a wok with generous amount of oil.
12) Once the oil is hot enough start frying the noodles one handful at a time. Of course you can do more if you have a bigger vessel. This is THE most trickiest part of the recipe. It took a few batches of trial error.
    a) Once you plonk the noodles spread it around so it forms a circle.
    b) Leave it to fry until you hear frequent crackle. Another test is to slightly prod the noodles. If it is soft, it needs further frying. If it is hard enough then flip it over and give it another minute or 2.

13) Fry an egg and keep aside.

14) Place the fried noodles on the plate, pour the veggie sauce over the noodles and top it up with the fried egg. American Chopsuey Ready!!!

Stir Fried Chicken Noodles a.k.a. Chicken Chowmein (in Indo-Chinese lingo)

Stir-fried noodles or "Mee" as I was introduce to about 4 decades ago was always a hit at home. My mom had her recipe influenced probably by Malay and Indian cuisine with a strong garlic and ginger flavour to it. Over the years I have realized that "chowmein" means many things in different restaurants. I always get confused (and confuse the waiters) when I order "chowmein" in a proper Chinese restaurant (outside India). I've learnt to order this as "stir fried egg noodles with...".  When it comes to anything chinese and stir fried - one of the key requirements is a nice wok to get the smoky restauranty flavour. You cannot get this with the non-stick versions but a proper steel sticky version that needs proper "seasoning".  I used something like the one below. 

Ingredients:
1) Egg Noodles
2) Carrot
3) Onions
4) Cabbage
5) Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
6) Spring Onions (Shallots)
7) Garlic
8) Eggs (beaten)
9) Dark Soya sauce
10) Chicken thigh fillet
11) Vinegar

The method:

1) Chop Shop
The first and foremost in making noodles is chopping the veggies to the right size in terms of length and thickness. Yes, it could be a pain to chop the carrots, but any other way would not make that a chowmein. These days I cheat and get the ready made stir fry veggie mix. The next important thing in chopping is the meat. Make sure you slice the chicken fillet as thinly as possible and chop it up a bit more. Each piece should not be more than 1-2 inches in length and probably a few centimeters wide. This is to allow the chicken to be cooked fairly quickly. The next trick was to marinade the chicken in soy sauce and garlic. This removed the otherwise chickeny smell of chicken once stir fried.

2) The Noodles

1) Heat a large sauce pan with enough water to dunk all of the noodles.
2) Bring it to a boil and add the noodles.
3) Use a fork to separate the noodles after a few minutes.
4) Stop cooking when you can see the froth coming up.
5) Drain and wash the noodles in cold water to stop further cooking.

3) Stir Fry
a) Heat up a large wok on high heat until you can see the smoke coming out.
b) Add a few table spoons of oil (1 per serving) and coat the wok with oil.
c) Toss in the minced garlic and sautee for about 10-20 seconds.
d) Add the chicken and sautee until the chicken is 3/4ths cooked i.e., you dont see anything pinkish. Remove the chicken and transfer to a separate bowl / plate.
e) Add the beaten egg and scramble it up for about a minute.
f) Add the onions and stir fry for a minute.
g) Next comes the carrots. Another 30 seconds of stir frying.
h) Add capsicum and cabbage and give it another quick stir.
i) Toss in the boiled noodles and coat it with a bit of soya sauce. A typical Indo-chinese version will be fairly low on the soy sauce content. Add a few tablespoons of water if the noodles are sticky.
j) Stir fry the mix for about a minute ensuring all the contents have mixed well.
k) Garnish with spring onions.

Chicken Chowmein ready!!

Enjoy

C

The Manchurian (Gobi)

Hello,

Gobi (or Gopi as one of my mates would call it) Manchurian is one dish that I definitely did not grow up as a kid. It probably started from my late teens and upwards (and still going). A staple appetizer / starter that one would order in any Chinese restaurant in India. There are 2 variations to this -  dark brownish version found in propah Chinese restaurants (in India) and the orangish version more popular in the non-chinese restaurants. This one I tried is the later.
And of course there is the other choice you need to make whether it is the dry or the gravy or saucy version. Coming out of India, this is one dish that I've always longed for because you don't find that normally in Indian restaurants in US. However in Australia  I can find it more frequently.

What goes in:


For the batter:
1) All purpose flour (Maida) - 2 Cups
2) Corn Flour - 2 Table spoons
3) Eggs - 2
4) Salt
5) Food colouring - A pinch or so... Completely optional. I tried a saffron colouring, turned out OK.

As mentioned earlier I would attempt to give as accurate measurements as possible with anything involving  flour and egg, . The batter is a very important aspect which makes or breaks a good manchurian. Sometimes it gets too water, or too crispy or too floury. I found that the above measurement worked out just fine. If you need more or less apply your ratios as required.

Main Ingredient - Gobi (Cauliflower) florets. This of course can be replaced with pretty much anything you want. The only difference would be in the time it takes to deep fry. You can try a bite size piece of chicken, paneer, fish.

For manchurian kick:

1) Garlic - thinly minced
2) Green chillies
3) Soy sauce
4) Tomato sauce (skip this if you prefer the brown version)
5) Vinegar - 1 tablespoon - try not to overboard on this - you might have to give a different name to the dish then. ;-)

6) Spring Onions

The process:

1) Cut the cauliflower into bite size florets. Too big or too small will cause a problem with deep frying.
2) Prepare the batter by whisking in all the ingredients with about half a cup of water. Keep adding water only as much as needed. The result should be a fairly thick batter which would cover up the Gobi and stick together.
3) Leave the batter to settle down.
4) Mince the garlic, chillies and the spring onions.
5) Deep fry the Gobi in batter. It normally takes about 2-3 minutes for a batch. Try not to under or overcook it. Got to watch the temperature of the oil and control the flame (or heat) setting accordingly.
6) In a large wok, sautee the garlic, chillies and the bottom part of the spring onions. Use about 3/4th of the garlic you have to sautee.
7) Add in the sauces - tomato, soy and vinegar and mix it up for about a minute.
8) Toss in the deep fried Gobi and stir fry until the sauce is evenly mixed.
9) Add a little of the remaining garlic and stir.
10) Garnish with finely chopped spring onions.

For the saucy version:
1) Before you toss in the Gobi, add as much water you need and get the mixture to boil.
2) Add corn flour water. Can't measure this since completely depends on how much sauce you need.
3) Once the sauce is thick enough add in the deep fried Gobi.

Warning: Gobi Manchurian is Addictive - Enjoy Responsibly!! ;-) (Our guests last night almost did not eat dinner after the starter).

Enjoy.. :-)