Showing posts with label basil leaves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basil leaves. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Thai Chicken Curry in Jiffy





What makes Thai dishes authentic?

If you have tasted Thai dishes you are likely to discover that it has the strong taste of Basil and lime leaves. The dishes are pungent with a sweetest tinge.

Once you have developed the taste for Thai cuisine, there is no going back. Long after you have returned to your own hometown, the taste haunts you. You have to learn to cook.

During my visits to Bangkok, eating street food is a must. The food sold in carts is spicy and nutritious. You walk down the street, the weather is warm and the whiff of flavors surrounds you till you drool. You don’t care about the hygiene, not the pollution nor noise, stopping and taking a bite is unavoidable.

There is a dip that I particularly like and it compliments number of salads and freshly grilled seafood. It is called Yum sauce and this is the finger licking combination of sugar, garlic, chili, coriander leaves, lime juice and fish sauce. This yum sauce can be relished with grilled meat or seafood or it can be poured over freshly cut salads to add zing to the meal.

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Cooking Thai food is very easy and quick to make. My fridge is always stocked with few essential ingredients that include oyster sauce, fish sauce, chili, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, basil leaves, limejuice and coconut powder

I have a habit of marinating chicken in small portions and storing them. It is difficult to order home service of the frozen/fresh chicken in small quantity. But I cannot eat one kilo in one go, right? I normally divide one kilo of chicken into four portions and I marinate each portion differently, Chinese sauce, Indian curd masala, tandoori masala and other just garlic-ginger-onion-chili paste.

Last week I entered my kitchen with no plans on what I would cook. There was marinated chicken in the fridge. I picked up the chicken portion marinated in garlic-ginger-onion-chili paste.

Still unsure, I started to stir fry the marinated chicken in 2 tablespoons of oil. The chicken became light brown on both sides. I added 2 glasses of water and let it cook.

I opened my fridge to see what I could add.

There was Tom Yum chicken cube, kaffir lime leaves, coconut powder and the decision was made to make chicken Thai style.

Added the kaffir lime leaves and Tom Yum chicken cube into the stock, then looked for veggies to add and grinned ear-to-ear when I discovered I had all the veggies that I would need.

Started to chop vegetables like carrots, capsicum, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, shallots, basil leaves and green beans.

Added the veggies that take some time to become tender, veggies like chopped carrots, mushrooms and green beans to the stock.

Added red chili powder and lime juice to the stock

Dissolved coconut milk powder in half cup of warm water and added to the stock.

Finally added veggies that require just steam, veggies like broccoli, shallots, basil leaves, cabbage and capsicum.

Added few drops of fish sauce.

Covered the pan for two minutes then sat down to relish with it white rice.

The experience in cooking teaches you to add the ingredients as you wish, and tasting several times helps you decide its’ correct taste. Thai cuisine is the moderate combination of sweet, sour and spicy. I don’t use salt in Thai cuisine, fish sauce and Tom Yum cube is quite salty.

But for those who want some reference to quantity, you could add ingredients as:

250grms chicken
1tbsp garlic
1tbsp ginger
1 small onion
2tbsp lemon juice
Few drops of fish sauce
2tbsp oil
1 Tom Yum chicken cube
7-8 kaffir lime leaves
8-9 red chilies
1tsp red chili powder
50grms coconut powder
½ carrots
½ capsicum,
2 florets of broccoli
¼ cabbage
2 mushrooms
2 shallots
10-15 basil leaves
4 strings of green beans

Makes enough for 2 persons

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 There is red and green Thai curry paste available at a grocery store that can be used for preparation of this curry. I have a family in Bangkok, who knows my taste and they do bring for me the freshly prepared Thai curry paste from the market. This masala has to be fried with spring onions and garlic before using in the recipes or else it might taste bitter. This paste can be used instead of Tom Yum chicken cube that I have used in this recipe.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Pesto with a Twist


The other day, I went to the supermarket and saw various bottles of pesto. Picked up one and checked for date, it was beyond expiry date, kept it back. Picked another bottle and checked the price…my eyes popped out..a small bottle of pesto was around Rs300…gosh!..it sure is rich-men’s food, how will common man eat?

Well! A commoner like me does eat it when I can make it on my own in the comfort of my home. I relish these kinds of food but then I always believe that what we like we should be able to make it…..

And it is so easy to make, all we need is the right ingredients, little time to spend in the kitchen and little creativity. I checked few sites and few u-tube presentations, learnt the basics and then decided to make my own version to suit my palate..

So off I was, on my way to kitchen, making the first ever pesto……



Step 1: 
Collect all the ingredients such as 7-8 pods garlic, 4 red chilies, 2 green chilies, 1 cup basil leaves, 2 tbsp pine nuts, 20grams cheese and 4 tbsp olive oil




Step 2
Chop together basil and garlic



Step 3
Add Pine nuts and chop it again, mixing with basil n garlic


Step 4
Add Red and Green Chilies and chop it again into the mixture



Step 5
Grate the cheese and mix it 


Step 6
Transfer the mixture into the clean and sterilized bottle


Step 7
Add Olive oil on the top


Step 8
Store it in the refrigerator



Best enjoyed with boiled macaroni, mix the pesto with macaroni and top it with stir fried mixed vegetables



The stir fried vegetables I have made many times, remember this?



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