Kung Pao Chicken

Chili Chicken, Chicken Manchurian, Hakka Noodles, Sweet corn Soup, Hot and Sour soup, and Chicken lolly-pops or Drums of heaven, these were the ultimate dishes which used to comprise the whole Chinese Cuisine for us. My sister and I both die for the Chinese delicacies, make sure as told earlier, for us (To be true, as per our knowledge), mainly Chili Chicken and Hakka Noodles meant all for Chinese cuisine. Whenever we used to visit any Chinese restaurant with our parents, we would order only the items among those. Once for a change we ordered for a new dish called Chicken China Town. We were pretty excited and anxiously waiting to taste a new dish. What we were served, was a dish tasted same like Chicken Manchurian. Only it was covered with an egg poach. Huh, so whether there were 30 odd items listed on the menu of a Chinese restaurant in India, say about 20 years back, the dishes tasted more or less the same. The present scenario has now totally changed. People gained a good knowledge on different cuisine about the varieties and authenticity of the tastes. But at the time of our childhood authentic taste of a cuisine only limited with the high end Restaurants which were not always affordable for us. Spending 250/-INR for a dish was mere a luxury nothing else. So we used to choose our comfort zone where each dish costs 100 to 150/- or less. To be honest once or twice we have visited such places but those Chinese dishes didn't tickle our taste buds for the mildness in the tastes, as we were used to with the dash of Ajinamoto, spicy and full of soy sauce gravy dishes.

It had only opened the whole arena of the versatility of Chinese Cuisine then, when I visited USA. Though not the authentic one, I at least came out from a world where Chilli Chicken and Hakka Noodles were not available. Rather I was introduced with Honey crispy Chicken, Mince Chicken with eggplant, Kung Pao Chicken or Gong Bao Chicken, Hunan Chicken, Wantons, Dumplings, Peking Roasted ducks etc. The variety in taste and flavour in-fixed my mind to What actually Chinese Cuisine is. I was introduced with the varieties of Sauces and spice in the Chinese local stores. The taste of Soy Sauce was so different from the one available in India.  I had never heard about the Sauces like Hoisin sauce or Oyster Sauce. I had never seen so many different varieties of Chili Sauce. The different kind of vinegar and et al. Thankfully now at this age we almost get most the global continental food items in the market. So one can easily delve in luxury to make different types of international dishes at home. Only you have to find out the proper recipe and give a try. Now Kung Pao Chicken is one of the dishes that we love from the traditional Chinese Cuisine. The recipe I have shared is not entirely the authentic one, but a near to it. So enjoy Kung Pao Chicken... 

This Magazine look I created inspired by my very talented friend Chandrima. Check out her blog Not out of the box for delicious recipes and eye catching food photography.

{Recipe partially adapted from HERE}

Ingredients

Marinade

Soy Sauce: 1tbspn

Chinese rice wine or dry sherry – 2 tspn (I used rice vinegar)

Cornflour – ½ tbspn

Boneless Chicken – 250 grams (Cut in to cubes)

Sauce

 Chinese black vinegar or substitute good-quality balsamic vinegar – 1 tspn (I used Balsamic vinegar)

Soy Sauce – 2 tspn

Hoisin sauce – 1 tbspn

Sesame oil – 1 tspn (I didn’t use)

Sugar – 1 tspn

Corn flour – 1 tspn

Ground Sichuan pepper – ½ tspn (See notes - #1)

For the final part:

White oil – 2tbspn + 2 tbspn

Dried red chilies – As per your taste

Spring onion – Finely sliced ¼ cup

Coloured bell pepper  diced -  1 & 1/2 cup

Garlic – finely chopped – 1 tbspn

Fresh ginger – grated 1 tspn

 Dry - roasted Peanuts – ¼ cup

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients written under Marinade. Fold it nicely so that the cornflour gets mixed evenly.

2. Prepare the sauce, combine all the ingredients written under Sauce. Rest for a while so that the sugar gets dissolve.

3. Heat 2 tbspn oil a wok or a Kadai. Pour the chicken and fry for 4 - 5 minutes on high flame. Take them out and reserve in a bowl.

4.  Add the remaining 2 tbspn oil with the excess oil. Add garlic and let it turn light brown. Add the bell peppers and the chicken. Give a good stir on high flame for  2- 3 minutes. Then add the sauce and the dry red chilies (See notes - #2). Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more then add the peanuts. Cook for couple of minutes more. Then take it off the stove sprinkling the spring onions. Serve hot with rice / fried rice / noodles.

Note:

1. I didn't have ground Sichuan pepper. So what I did, I cut the dry red chilies in strips and added it.

2. Basically the recipe asks for tempering with the Dry Red chilies. I avoided it because of my kid. If your hot tolerance appreciates a good amount of chilies then go for it. Make sure to put your exhaust fan on high and keep your kids away from the kitchen while tempering the chilies.

3. #Tips : Don't cook the chicken for longer time otherwise it will kill the softness of the chicken and will make it hard and rubbery.

Pan Roasted Soy Honey Glazed Chicken

Resuming blogging almost after three months. When you are on a break then it becomes a tedious job to get back on track. My lazy soul needed a lot of boost ups from my friends and family and then here is the result. When you are surrounded by some good souls how your life can be unhappy. They are like the fairies of one's life who can drive away all the glumness away from you. Yes I am one of the blessed souls in this earth who by any chance got these fairies around her. 

There are so many things to share with you all - the experiences of the last three months. Ah, I need few serene hours to nurture the thoughts in my mind and then to pour the heart out here. Yes I truly missed blogging in the past few months. But one the reasons is, I was pretty confused with my blogging carrier too. I will come with my thought in my next to next post till then enjoy the dish that I made yesterday night. And I swear it came out so tasty. I highly recommend all of you to please give it a try and then Oh yes don't forget to give me your feedback.

Ingredients:

Chicken Leg Full- 5 pcs

Dark Soy Sauce- 1/2 cup

Honey - 1/4 cup

Lemon Juice - 3 tbsp

Juice from Garlic & Ginger paste - 3 tbspn

Salt as per taste

Oil - 2 tbspn

Method-

1. Slit the flesh of the  Chicken legs so that the juice can go inside.
2. Marinade for at least 3-4 hrs with everything listed under the ingredient section.
3. Take a non-stick pan. Heat the oil.
4. Now strain out the chicken pieces from the marinated sauce and put it in a Plate. Please reserve the sauce.
5. I roasted three pieces first and then the other two in the next batch. So put three Chicken leg pieces in the pan, put a lid and cook in low flame for at least 10+10 minutes both side.  In between keep on adding the sauce in a very small amount.
6. When the chicken is almost cooked add more than half of the sauce in the pan and cook in high flame unless the sauce thickens and the both sides of the chicken gets coated nicely with the dark soy look.
7.  Take it out form the pan and plate it with desired assortments. Do the same thing with the second batch of the chicken.

Chilli Fish And Chilli Mutton with Sarani Tarafdar (Kolkata Food Blogger)

Another week of "Know your Kolkata Food Bloggers Friend" event, another week to introduced one of our blogger friends. This time whom I am going to introduce,  is one of my favourite and very close ones. We know each other for almost 2 years I guess but only as a fellow blogger. It has only happened when she returned back to Kolkata and joined our group  9 months back and in a wink she became so close to me/us. Sarani Tarafdar who blogs form Cocoawind, is one of the glamorous, gorgeous and beautiful ladies of our group. She will always be found with a heart melting smile at whatever situation she may be. She is one of the most dedicated members of the group who first thinks for her group than anything else. For instance, we had a video shoot and without her it would not be possible. Just on that very day her son got high fever. But she did come managing all her household problems and fulfilled her commitment towards her group. She is that kind of a lady who knows what a promise and commitment called. She is one of the most reliable ladies whom you can trust blindly. As much as I love her, I respect her more. An ex banker and a guest faculty of KPC Medical College by profession, she is also a cinematographer, a photographer and a great writer.

Her blog is new but already you will find some delectable recipes. Today I have chosen from her blog one of the most common recipes  - Chilli Chicken. Chilli chicken is one of the famous Indo-Chinese dishes. I have made Chilli Fish and Chilli Mutton instead. So here I am giving the recipe of Chilli Fish and more or less the same way I cooked Chilli Mutton too.

Ingredients:

Fish Fillet (Basa/ Bhetki) -  250-300gm (Cubed)

Onion - 1 big diced

Chopped Garlic - 1 tsp

Ginger paste - 1/2 tspn

Capsicum - 1 big diced (I used some coloured one too)

Flour - enough to coat the chicken cubes

Cornflour - 1 tsp to make gravy

Soy sauce - 2 tbsp + 1 tbspn

Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Chilli Sauce - 1 tsp + 1 tspn

Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp + 1spn

Salt to taste

Green Chili - I didn't add

Oil - enough to fry the chicken cubes

Method:-

1. Marinate the fish cubes  for 30 mnts with the first portion of Soy sauce, chilli sauce , vinegar and tomato sauce and salt.
2. Add Flour to it in small amount slowly to coat each cube nicely.
3. Heat enough oil in a pan/kodai and fry the fish cubes 4-5 cubes at a time till they are brown and crisp.
4. Strain out the fries from the oil and soak the excess oil from the fried fish cubes with a kitchen towel and reserve.
5. Heat a little amount of oil. Add the garlic. Let them turn brown. Add the onion cubes.
6. When the onion cubes will turn translucent add the ginger paste. Sauté for a while then add the capsicum. Fry for 2- 3 mnts.
7. Add  all the sauces and the fish fries and fold nicely. Add 1/2 cup water and bring it in to boil. If you need more gravy then you can add more water.
8. Dilute the corn flour in 2tsp water and add it slowly to the gravy. Don't forget to stir constantly. Cook for few more mnts and then serve.

Chilli Mutton
I made it with boneless mutton. First boiled the mutton and then marinated. Then did the same way I cooked the Chilli fish. Only the sauces had been given a bit more to enhance the  taste.

Hunan Style Cucumber Chicken with Jayati Saha

You all might know that we are having an event called  "Know Your  Kolkata Blogger Friend" on our  Kolkata Food Bloggers group. I will literally like to thank our dear friend Amrita who came up with this brilliant idea to know each other. And the importance of the event I realized while being a part of it.  This event leads us to each one of our blogs and to make us to read and surf the blog recipes to recreate one and write about the person. Jayati Saha who blogs from Jayati and Tito's Food Journey,  is the featured person of this week. I hardly know her from the personal level. She has joined us in the recent past and I didn't get an opportunity to meet her yet or to interact more.  But when I surfed her blog, I found a mother more than a lady who loves to cook and enjoys to feed her family. Her passion for cooking reflects in her each recipe. Being a Full time working Lady she didn't let go her passion for cooking and that exactly what she features in her blog. She shares her mouthwatering dishes with the world whenever she gets time from her busy life. The best part that really touches my heart that the blog she started only on her Son's inspiration. From this you can guess how he is the fan of her mamma's food and wants to make it acknowledged by others too. The title of the blog reflects in such an adorable manner the mother son duo's food journey. Her blog is full of delectable dishes. Therefore it became so hard for me to choose a particular one. I have bookmarked many but here I can share only one, so more later. I loved her Tandoori Pomfret, One Pot Chicken Roast, Lagan NuCaustard, and so on and so forth. But I was eyeing from a long time to make her Chicken in Hunan Sauce which is one of my favourite dishes. I have given a little twist by moving a bit away from her original process of making Chicken in Hunan Sauce (Click to find our Jayati's version).   I have added Cucumber as when I opened my fridge I just got those to add. And make the recipe a bit healthy by not frying the chicken pieces separately. 

After making the dish I was so satisfied as my daughter loved it most and now her acknowledgment counts to more than others. The Man also reacted in the same way. Mainly the addition of the cucumber made the dish more flavourful that I felt after tasting it. I served the dish with Dinner Rolls and enjoyed wholeheartedly. I would like to thank Jayati for sharing such a sumptuous dish on her blog. So here goes the recipe of my version of Hunan Style Cucumber Chicken:

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken: 200 gm (Diced)

Soy Sauce: 1 table spoon

Tomato Sauce: 3 table spoons

Sweet Chilli Sauce: 1 tea spoon (more or less can be adjusted as per the spice intake)

Garlic Cloves: 6-7

Roasted Peanuts and Cashew - 1/4 cup (Jayati added only Cashew nuts)

Salt & Sugar as per taste

Oil: 3 table spoons

Cucumber - 1 medium sized (Cubed)

Method:

1. Take the chicken cubes marinade them with all the sauces and Salt.
2. Take a Kodai/Pan. Heat the oil and then add the garlic cloves.
3. Let the garlic turn light brown. Add the chicken pieces and keep on stirring in medium heat.
4. Add sugar nad cashew after 5mnts of cooking.
5. Let keep on frying till the chicken is well cooked soft and tender.
6. Add the cucumber. Fold nicely and take off the flame.

Note:

1. After adding the cucumber just cook for a minute. Otherwise the cucumber will get soft and soggy)

2. If you want to fry the chicken first then too make the dish then pls follow Jayatis version HERE.