Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

Sweet Corn Chicken soup is the comfort food!  This soup is a common soup made in most of the households. If you have all the ingrdients at home you can make this soup in just half an hour :) The most simple, easy to make soup..!! Perfect for a rainy day.

Ingredients
250 gms chicken (with bones preferred)
1/2 tsp fresh pepper powder
salt as per taste
4 cups water
1 corn cob or 1/2 cup tinned corn
Corn flour 2 tsp

Method

1. Boil chicken with 4 cups of water and salt till chicken becomes tender, water not dried up.(At least 2 cups of soup should be there- This is your chicken stock) Keep the stock aside for later use. 
2. Pull out the chicken pieces from the bone and shred it. Keep aside
3. Take some luke warm water and add the corn flour to it. Mix well. See to it that there are no lumps formed.
4. In case you are using corn kernels (tinned corn) add it to the chicken stock and stir well.
5. Put the chicken stock pan on fire and let it boil. Slowly add the cornflour to the pan. Keep stirring continuosly. You will notice change in the consistency of the stock. It will start thickening slowly. Add the shredded chicken pieces to the stock.
6. Add pepper powder and salt as needed.
7. Serve hot!

Chicken in Lemon and Rosemary sauce

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tbs butter

1/2 lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup fresh cream

1 tbs cornflour

1/4 cup chicken stock/ vegetable stock
1-1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

Method

1.  In a small skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in 1 tablespoon butter for 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove and keep warm.
2.  Add wine to the pan; cook over medium-low heat, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Add cream and bring to a boil. Add lemon juice.
3. Reduce heat, add cornflour and cook and stir until slightly thickened. Add chicken stock/ vegetable stock if it becomes very thick.
4.  Stir in rosemary and remaining butter until blended. Serve with chicken

Prawns in Thai Yellow Curry

Ingredients

6 dried red chillies
salt as per taste
6 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 cm piece fresh turmeric / Alternatively use turmeric powder
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped/ alternatively use dried lemon grass sticks
3 coriander roots,
500 gms uncooked prawns
1 cup (250ml) light chicken stock/ fish stock
400ml coconut milk
1 tbs sugar
fish sauce, to taste
3 lime leaves, thinly sliced
½ cup  basil leaves
lime juice, to taste
jasmine rice, to serve

Method

1. Cut the chillies into half and remove the seeds.Soak the chillies in salted water for 10-15 minutes. Drain the chillies and chop roughly.
2. Grind the shallots, chillies, garlic, tumeric, lemongrass and coriander in a small food process. Add some water (if needed) to make it into a fine paste.
3. Devein the prawns. Add little salt and keep it aside
4. Heat some vegetable oil and add the paste and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the stock and coconut milk and simmer for sometime.
5. Add prawns and sugar, fish sauce and lime leaves. Bring to a simmer. Stir through the basil and lime juice and serve immediately with jasmine rice

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients
200 gms yellow pumpkin
1 carrot
1/2 onion
4-5 garlic
1 small tomato
1/2 potato (optional)
1 inch cinammon (optional)
2 cloves (optional)
salt as per taste
ground pepper (as required)
1 tsp Amul butter
fresh cream for garnish

Method

1. Pressure cook pumpkin, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato and potato till 3-4 whistles. Grind well in food processor after it cools down.
2. Heat a non stick kadai and add Amul butter. Add this mixer and bring it to a boil. Add water and make it a soup consistency.
3. Add salt and pepper as per taste (remember you have already added cinammon and cloves. So add pepper as required)
4. Serve hot. Garnish with little cream (optional)

Sabudana Khichadi

Sabudana Khichadi is enjoyed in the major towns of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Pune. it is available as street food and is widely enjoyed by everyone throughout the year. It is the dish of choice when somebody is observing a fast. 


Ingredients
2 cup sabudana (Sago, Tapioca)
1 1/2 cup roasted peanuts powder
1 tbs jeera seeds
1 boiled potato
1/2 lemon juice
1 tbs sugar
salt as per taste
4 green chillies (cut into pieces)
coriander leaves for garnish
2 tbs clarified butter (homemade ghee)

Method

1. Dry roast the peanuts till they turn brown in colour. Remove the skin from the peanuts and coarsely ground the peanuts in a food processor.
2. Soak the sabudana for at least 6-8 hours. (2 cups of sabudana soak in 8 cups of water) Once the sabudana is soft, drain all the excess water and let it rest for sometime. Add sugar, salt, peanuts powder to the sabudana and mix well. Keep aside.
3. Heat ghee in a non stick pot. Add jeera, green chillies and boiled potato. Let it splutter. Add the sabudana mixer to the pot and mix well. Put the lid on and let it steam for a while. Add lemon juice. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Sabudana khichadi is also eaten with curds.

Pound Cake

This is a recipe I have been using for many years now. The first time I tried my hands at baking was when I was in college. I'm a huge fan of pound cake and the perfect way to eat it is with a hot cup of chai (Tea). These days I prefer to use wheat flour for baking the pound cake! Here my recipe for the perfect pound cake...

Ingredients
400 gms wheat flour
200 gms unsalted butter (room temperature)
200 powdered sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs vanilla essence
1 cup milk (if needed)
1/2 tps salt
1 lemon zest (optional)

Method

1. In a large bowl sift wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside
2. Pre heat oven/ microwave at 180°C. Butter the baking dish. Keep aside.
3. Using your spatula beat the butter and sugar till it is soft and creamy. Scrap the sides from time to time.

4. Beat the eggs with vanilla essence with help of your hand mixie. The eggs will become fluffy and light. Add this mixer to butter and mix well. The mixer will look cuddled but this is OK. 

5. Add the wheat flour and lemon zest (if using). Mix well until combined. You may feel the batter looks dry, add little milk to the batter till you get the right consistency (it should not be runny, make it into a thick paste like)  

6. Bake for about 50 to 60 mins or until the skewer inserted comes out clean. The top of your cake should be golden brown.  I baked a few in muffin stand

7. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack about 10 mins.  

8. You can store this cake in an air tight container for a week. Warm the cake a bit before serving it tastes better!!

General Tao's chicken

General Tso's chicken (sometimes Governor Tso's chicken, General Tao's chicken, General Tsao's chicken) is a sweet and spicy, deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in North American Chinese restaurants.
Ingredients
1 kg boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 cups onions- finely chopped
8 small red dried chilies, seeds removed
Cornstarch slurry
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 egg
1 cup cornstarch
for the sauce
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup white wine
1 litre chicken broth
Method

1. Place sauce ingredients in container with a lid and mix well. Keep aside. Mix well before using.
2. Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl- the mixture will be strange consistency but trust me it works. It will be VERY thick almost paste like. Dip in chicken pieces using a fork remove ONE chicken piece at a time and let the excess mixture drip off.  Deep fry the chicken pieces and remove excess oil by placing the pieces on a tissue paper.
3. In a separate wok or a large pot add a small amount of oil (you can use the same oil which was used for frying the chicken pieces) 
4. Add green onions and hot peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds.
5. Stir sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and peppers, cook until thick. If it gets too thick, add a little water. The thickness of the sauce should be similar to what you get when ordering this at a restaurant.
6. Add chicken to sauce in wok, and cook until it is hot and bubbly. The quicker this is done the crispier the chicken stays.
7. Serve with rice