Hong Kong Fried Rice

Ingredients

½ kg rice, (boiled)
1 capsicum (chopped)
1 tbsp hot black garlic sauce
1 onion (chopped)
¼ tsp aniseed powder
1 tbsp raisins
50 gm bean sprouts
2 tbsp red pepper (chopped)
2 tbsp yellow pepper (chopped)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper powder
¼ tsp garlic (minced)
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp chopped celery stem
½ inch chopped ginger
3 Kashmiri chillies
3 tbsp cashew nuts (roasted)
100 gm carrots (chopped)
3 French beans (chopped)
4 mushrooms (chopped)
¼ tsp garlic
¼ tsp soya sauce

Method :

Heat oil in a big pan. Add ginger, Kashmiri chillies, garlic, & fry for half-a-minute. Add all the vegetables, seasonings, & fry for 1 minute. Stirring continuously, add the rice & cook for 2 minutes. Garnish with spring onions.

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Triple Szechuan Fried Rice

Ingredients :

200 gm rice (uncooked)
200 gm raw noodles
2 spring onions (big pieces)
1 carrot (long strips)
200 gm chicken boneless
2 ½ tbsp Szechuan sauce
3 French beans (long strips)
1 tomatoes (long strips)
4 tbsp oil
250 ml chicken stock
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper powder
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp red chilly sauce
½ tsp tomato sauce

Batter

2 tbsp corn flour 100 ml water. Mix a little corn flour with the noodles & deep fry till golden brown.

Sauce
Heat oil in a big pan. Add all vegetables & stir-fry on high flame for 3 minutes. Add stock & boil for 2 minutes. Add all the sauces, seasoning & boil for a minute. Stirring continuously, add the batter. Cook for 2 minutes & remove from heat.

Rice
1 small carrot cut into cubes 2 French beans 1 spring onion white part 2 tbsp oil
1 tsp soya sauce ½ tsp salt.

Heat oil in a deep saucepan. Add vegetables along with spring onion & fry for a minute. Add rice & soya sauce & fry for 2 minutes. Add green part of spring onions & stir. Remove from heat.

To serve
Break the noodles into pieces & arrange on the serving plate. Pour the sauce on the noodles. Spread the rice over the sauce. Garnish with carrot wheels & spring onions.

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Chicken Stock

Ingredients :
250gm chicken
500ml water
1 bay leaf
3 crushed pepper corn
¼tsp salt
1tsp celery stem (chopped)

Method :

Take 500 ml water in a thick-bottomed vessel & bring to a boil. Add all the above & boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove any scum that rises to the surface. Reduce heat & then partially cover the vessel & simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, strain, & keep liquid aside to cool. If there is any fat floating on the surface, remove it. The same recipe can be used for other meat or seafood stocks by substituting the chicken.

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Szechuan Sauce

Ingredients :

1 cup celery (chopped)
½ cup spring onion (chopped)
1 cup full garlic (minced)
¼ cup green chilli (minced)
¼ tsp tandoori red colour
700 gm red chilli sauce
1 cup oil
1 ½ tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup ginger (minced)
1 tbsp sugar
50 gm Kashmiri red chillies powder
½ tsp white pepper

Method:

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add minced garlic into the oil (care should be taken as the oil can splatter) & fry this till light brown, stirring continuously. Lower the flame, add ginger, green chillies, celery, spring onion, chilli powder, & sugar, & fry for a minute stirring continuously. Add the rest of the & cook for 15 to 20 minutes (stirring occasionally) till the oil comes up. Remove saucepan from heat & cool the sauce. Store it in an airtight bottle.

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Baghdadi Zafrani Gosht

Ingredients

½ kg boneless mutton or beef
2 tbsp oil
2 medium onions (cut into quarters)
2 whole dried red chillies
¼ tsp powdered shah jeera
1½ tbsp lightly roasted besan
1 tbsp powdered cashew nuts
1 tbsp powdered khus-khus
1 tbsp ground dry coconut
1 tbsp powdered chironji (charoli)
¼ tsp saffron

Marinade

1½ cups thick curd (whisked)
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tbsp chopped green chillies
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
6 green cardamoms, powdered
¼ tsp powdered mace (javitri)
¼ tsp powdered cinnamon

For Garnish

1 tbsp black raisins

Method :

Wash meat, pat dry & cut into two-inch cubes. Combine for marinade, mix in meat & marinate for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add onions & fry till golden brown. Drain & set aside. Add red chillies to the hot oil & fry for a few moments.

Mix in meat with its marinade & cook under pressure for 15 minutes. Allow cooker to cool before opening it. Stir in remaining except saffron, & cook over low heat for seven to eight minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add saffron & simmer for two to three minutes longer, till oil bubbles on the surface. Garnish with reserved fried onions & black raisins.

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Maharani Dal

Ingredients :

1 cup chana dal
1 medium-sized onion (finely chopped)
1 medium-sized tomato (finely chopped)
2 green chillies (chopped)
½-inch piece ginger (chopped)
½ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
3 tbsp oil
Few coriander leaves (finely chopped)

Method :

Soak dal in a bowl of water for an hour or two. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add green chillies, ginger & chopped onions. Stir for a few minutes on low flame till onions are soft. Add dal, chopped tomato & all the dry spices. Cook on low flame, stirring occasionally till tomato pieces are fully dissolved. Add 2½ cups of water and salt. Then pressure cook for 10 minutes. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. You may add the juice of half a lemon before serving.

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Peshawari Murgh Tangdi

Ingredients

4 chicken legs
Half cup curd (yoghurt)
1-inch piece ginger
6-8 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
½ tsp garam masala powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp jeera powder
2 onions chopped into rings
2 lemons
Coriander leaves
1 tbsp butter

Method :

Grind ginger, garlic & green chilli into a paste or cut very fine. Wash chicken legs & prick each at a few places with a fork. Place in a large bowl or container & apply the ground paste/ chopped ginger, garlic, chillies to the chicken pieces.

Now add curds & all other powdered spices & rub chicken legs well with the mixture. Cover the bowl & keep in refrigerator for a couple of hours to marinate.

A little before you want to serve the chicken, remove from refrigerator, put in pressure cooker, add a cup of water & cook for five to seven minutes after first whistle on low flame.

When the cooker cools, remove chicken pieces. Now heat a non-stick pan with the butter & put chicken legs. On a low flame, turn around till chicken legs are golden brown.

Remove from fire. Squeeze juice of half a lemon on the chicken. Serve on a plate decorated with onion rings, lemon slices & garnished with coriander leaves.

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Puris

Ingredients :

1 cup wheat flour (atta)
1 tbsp maida (optional)
¾ cup water
2 to 3 tsp oil for the dough
Oil for frying

Method :

Put the flour (atta) on a kneading plate (thali). Spread it by making a hollow in the centre. Put oil & slowly mix adding water. Keep adding a little water & mix the flour with your fingers. At first the dough may stick to your fingers & look messy but continue to mix well.

Slowly it will become more manageable & elastic. Turn it around & gather together shaping it like a ball. Now press the ball down with your knuckles.

Roll back & repeat. It should now feel smooth & soft, neither sticky nor too dry. Take one tsp oil on your palm, rub on both hands & smoothen dough with it. Cover & keep aside for 15 to 30 minutes.

When ready to fry the puris, divide the dough into 12 to 14 small lemon-sized balls. Flatten each, cover very lightly with dry flour & roll out into small puris of about three-inch diameter. Place rolled out puris on a sheet of brown paper or tray.

Heat oil in a kadai (to fill 1/3 of the kadai). The oil should become quite hot. You can test this by putting a tiny dot of dough into it. It should immediately start bubbling & rise. Reduce flame to medium heat.

Now put one rolled out puri into the oil so that it is fully immersed. With the slotted spoon gently pat the puri so it starts swelling up. Turn it over & fry the other side for a minute till both sides are golden brown. Drain out oil & place on brown paper. Repeat for all puris.

Variation You can add salt, pepper & ajwain to the dough. These puris go very well with just yoghurt & papad.

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Aloo Tikki

Ingredients

For the tikkis
½ kg potatoes (boiled & mashed)
1 tsp cornflour
½ tsp jeera powder
½ tsp chaat masala
½ tsp red chilli powder
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

For the garnish

1 cup whisked & salted dahi
6 tbsp coriander & mint chutney
6 tbsp meetha chutney
½ tsp chaat masala
1 tbsp coriander leaves (chopped)

In a mixing bowl, mix with hand all the of the tikkis. Mould into balls & flatten until ¾ inch thick & two inches wide. Set aside on a floured surface. Heat the oil & slip the tikkis into the oil carefully so that they don’t stick to each other. Turn over & fry the other side. Remove from oil when golden brown. Set on absorbent paper. Take a flat serving platter & pour the dahi onto it, covering it completely. Place the tikkis on the bed of dahi in a creative manner. Spoon the chutneys over the tikkis, followed by the masalas & chopped coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

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Dilli ki bhel

Ingredients

200 gm Bhel mix
8-10 pieces Papdi
½ cup Potatoes (boiled & chopped)
½ cup Onions (chopped)
4 tbsp Coriander & Mint Chutney
50 gm Sev
4 tbsp Meetha Chutney
½ cup Moong Sprouts
½ cup Brown Chana Sprouts
Juice of one Lemon
½ tsp Chaat Masala
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 Pakodis (soaked & crumbled)

For Garnish
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves (chopped)
1 tsp Ginger (cut into long strips)
2 tbsp Dahi (whisked)
2 tbsp Sev
4 to 5 Papdi

Method :

Combine all the above ingredients in a metal mixing bowl. Heap it in the center of the serving dish. Pour the dahi in a single line over the center of the mound. Sprinkle Sev, coriander leaves & the ginger slivers over this. Place the Papdis around the bhel in an attractive manner. Serve immediately.

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Meetha Chutney

Ingredients

½ kg Imli (Tamarind) soaked in one cup of warm water
¼ kg Jaggery
½ tsp Amchur Powder
½ tsp Dried Ginger Powder
½ tsp Ground Jeera Powder
Salt to taste
¼ tsp Red Chilli Powder

Method :

Put all the above ingredients in a mixer & blend until a smooth paste is formed. Add an equal part of water to this paste & bring to simmer on medium flame, stirring continuously.

Cook until it turns into dark brown in colour & a shiny layer forms on the top. Remove from heat & set aside to cool. After the mixture cools at room temperature, store in an airtight container.

Do not refrigerate. Use half-an-hour before serving, add a few ice cubes to the mixture until it attains pouring consistency.

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