Cheesy Vegetable Fritters

Fritters / Chops/Cutlets made of Chhana (Fresh & fluffy Paneer), grated Cheddar Cheese and any finely chopped vegetables

Simple, fast and delicious....that's the other name of this dish.

Ingredients :
Chhana / Paneer from 2.5 litres full cream milk
Grated processed cheese  (used Amul) - 4-5 cubes or as many as you want
Any finely chopped vegetables : I used carrot, beans, capsicum, finely sliced babycorn, sweet corn kernels, mushrooms
Chopped garlic
Chopped Onions
butter / oil
Tej pata
Crushed peppercorns
Salt
Pepper powder
Oregano powder
Cornflour
Bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Procedure :

1. Curdle boiling milk with lemon/vinegar to make Chhana/Chhena/Paneer/Cottage cheese. Drain away the whey and press it lightly to retain the softness and fluffiness of the Chhana.


2. In a kadai, heat the butter. Add tej pata & crushed pepper corns into the heated butter, followed by chopped garlic and onions. Fry till golden brown.

3. Now add the chopped vegetables in descending order of hardness.....carrot, beans, baby corns ...capsicum etc...all in medium to high heat. If using mushrooms, better to saute them separately as mushroom will give out loads of water and make the other veggies soggy. We want the veggies to retain their crunchiness


4. Mix the crunchy fried veggies with the soft paneer and toss the mix in the kadai to mix well.

5. In the hot mix, gradually add the grated cheese and keep stirring. The cheese will melt and assimilate into the rest of the chhana-veggie mix.


6. After cooling, shape the doh-like chhana-cheese-veggie mix into friiters. Dip into a thin batter of cornflour+water and then roll in bread crumbs.

8. Shallow fry and serve with sauce, chutney or as it is....

Cream of Broccoli Almond Soup

Some left over broccoli which had turned yellowish and hence didnt want to use it for normal stir fry or in mix veggie dish preparation. So soup it was to cater to the kiddo tummies in the evening..

Ingredients :
Broccoli - I used 3/4 of a medium sized broccoli cut into medium sized florets
6-10 Garlic cloves chopped roughly
1 tej pata
Almonds - a handful...about 10-15..blanched, to ease the removal of skin
Salt
Rocksalt
Pepper corns ...freshly crushed
black Pepper powder
Chili flakes (optional)
grated Cheddar cheese
Milk - 3 cups
butter

Procedure :
1. Pressure cook the broccoli, chopped garlic with tej pata and a pinch of salt.
2. After blanching the almond in hot water, peel off the skin and saute the almonds in butter till golden brown
3. Now in a blender, make a paste of the pressure cooked broccoli-garlic and sauted almonds.
4. Heat butter and add crushed peppercorns to the heated butter. Fry for a few seconds and add the blended broccoli-garlic-almond. Cook on high heat till the raw flavour is eliminated.
5. Add milk and milk cream (malai/দুধের সব্র ). till it is of creamy & soupy consistency. Mix on high heat and lower the heat, cover and bring to a boil.
6. Adjust the salt by adding rock salt.
7. Sprinkle pepper powder, chili flakes (optional). Take it off the flame.
8. After pouring into soup bowls, garnish with grated cheddar cheese.

Serve this bowful of healthy goodness ....steaming hot...it's a meal by itself!

A bowl of Soup to calm a cold-cough-fever ridden cranky toddler

Chicken with Veggies & Egg Soup

A cranky toddler down with cold-cough-fever, holed up indoors for 4 long days....just needed to be perked up with something she loved....SOUP! So a bowlful of hearty wholesome soup it was.....

I did not have chicken stock...I more often than not, dont. But that hardly matters.....There's always an alternative and a pressure cooker....

So here it is...any vegetable can be used. I used the ones I had....

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken leg pieces or 1 large chicken breast - chopped into small pieces

1 Carrot cut into tiny cubes

3-4 french beans chopped into tiny pieces

A handful of corn kernels (I used frozen)

A handful of fresh peas 

1/2 Capiscum chopped 

Chopped onions - 1

5-6 cloves of garlic-sliced

fresh ginger - 1/2 inch - cut into thin strips

pepper corns-freshly crushed : 4-5
Black Pepper powder
Tej Pata - 1 or 2
Salt to taste
Butter - 1 tbsp
Sesame Oil - 1 tbsp
Eggs - 2

Got the idea to add the beaten eggs to the soup and to use sesame Oil , from Soma's Egg Drop Soup. 

Procedure :
1. In a large pressure cooker, heat butter. Add the Tej Pata, sliced ginger & garlic, crushed pepper corns and finally the chopped onions. Stir till the onions turns translucent.
2. Add the bit sized chicken pieces. Stir around on high heat till slightly browned. Add the fresh peas
3. Add 2 mugs full of water. And pressure cook till 2 whistles go off. If you have chicken stock, add only 1/2 mug of water and pressure cook the chicken and them add the chicken stock and again bring to a boil.
4. While the pressure cooking is on, heat a tawa without oil and dry roast the chopped capsicum. Dont overcook..just to remove the moistness/rawness of capsicum and to give it a smoky flavour.
5.After release of the pressure, take off the lid of the cooker, raise the heat and again bring to boil. When boiling, add all vegetables except capsicum/bell pepper and boil for a minute or less. The vegetables should retain their crunch and not turn soggy. Add the dry roasted capsicum.
6.Adjust the salt and pepper. Add a drizzle of sesame oil into the boiling soup.
7. Beat 2 eggs. Lower the heat and add the beaten eggs slowly in a thin stream while stirring (with a fork) the simmering soup in one direction as described in Soma's Egg Drop Soup. My egg ribbons/strands were not as fine and delicate as hers ..but tasted smooth and silky!

Serve Hot!!!
To see the kiddo's eyes light up with joy as she slurped the steaming bowl of soup was an immense relief after a long day of seeing her being ill and moody!

Kataa Chochchori (Begun diye)

Fish Head with Brinjal

This dish personifies everything rustic and unsophisticated. Some pieces of Rohu Fish head. Some small to medium brinjals. Some potatoes. And some very basic Indian spices. Nothing exotic. Nothing which even the most basic of kitchen does not have.

But the result was mindblowing...and coming from me ...who is neither too fond of Maachher Kaata nor of brinjals, it's a big compliment (to my ownself!!)

Ingredients :

250-300 gms of Rohu / Katla Fish head pieces 

8-10 medium size brinjals

2-3 medium size potatoes

1 finely chopped Onions 

Kaalojeera/Kalonji/Nigella

Garlic paste : 1 tsp 

Holud/Haldi/Turmeric - 1tsp

Kashmiri Chili - 1/2 - 1 tsp

Red Chili powder - 1tsp
Dry Roasted whole garam masala (elaichi+cardamon+cloves) and ground - 1/2 tsp

Green Chilies - 2-3 

Coriander leaves / Dhonepaata - choppe

Mustard Oil / Groundnut oil

Salt

Sugar

Please note : I had  only Brinjal...in addition, Kumro (pumpkin), Potol (Pointed gourd), Jhinge (Ridge gourd) can all be added. These need not be separately sauted in oil, but can be added after the potato. They will cook in their own juices.

Procedure :

1. Smear the Fish head pieces (which I get quartered by the fishmonger / supermarket) with salt and turmeric powder and fry them crisp and keep aside.

2. Smear the potatoes (cut lengthwise) and brinjal (cut in a shape similar to the potatoes) with salt &  turmeric powder and sauté them separately in oil.

3. In a kadai / wok, heat 3-4 tbsp of mustard oil (preferably) and season with Kalojeera followed by garlic paste.

4. Add the chopped onions and a pinch of sugar (for imparting the colour to the onions) and fry on medium heat

5. Now add a paste comprising of Turmeric powder, the chili powders and salt, to the oil. And keep frying till the oil separates out.

6. Add the sauted (‘shaantlano’) potatoes followed by the brinjals. Cook them while stirring. When the veggies are almost cooked, add the crispily fried Fish head pieces. Mix well. Sprinkle some water if too try. And cover an let it cook for 3-5minutes.

7. Remove the cover, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of roasted and ground garam masala powder. Break some green chilies and add to the cooked 'Chochchori' / ‘Chorchori’ ...give it a final stir and after garnishing with chopped coriander / Dhonepaata, take it off the flame.

Serve with steamed white rice….aaah bliss! 

Malai Palak or Spinach in Milk Cream

A simple Palak recipe which tastes awesome with both rice & roti

DISCLAIMER : Quite unphotogenic to look at....but definitely delicious to eat!

Ingredients :8-10 bunches of Spinach / Palak / Palong Shaak
Garlic -5-6 cloves chopped fine
1 choppped Onions chopped
Tomatoes  - optional
Salt & Sugar to taste
Green chilies as per heat tolerance
Fresh Malai / Milk Cream / Doodher Shawr - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure :
1. Wash the Palak leaves well, drain the water and chop.
2. In a kadai / wok, heat oil and add the chopped onions, chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar into the oil. Saute till the onions turn a translucent pink.
3. Add the washed & chopped Palak.
4. Cook with an occasional stir without lid to dry away the water.
5. Once the majority of the water has been vapourised off, add the malai / fresh milk cream / doodher shawr, followed by chopped green chilies.
6. Stir it around till the malai palak is moist but not watery. In case the need arises to drain off the last remnants of wateriness, sprinkle some atta (all purpose flour) on cooked Malai Palak and give it a stir.



The simple Malai Palak is ready to serve with steaming white rice.

Chicken-Spinach Frittata in Microwave

A one pot meal containing meat , greens, eggs! Frittata is the answer to Mealtimes blues especially so because my kids LOVE eggs!

And more often than not, I skip the oven top followed by grill mode of making frittatas and go for the one shot microwave mode!!!!

Ingredients :

Eggs - 3-4

Chopped onions

Boneless chicken pieces cut into bit sized pieces or shredded. If marinated in lemon/vinegar + salt + pepper + ginger + garlic, makes things easier....

Spinach - 5-6 mini bunches, washed, drained and chopped

Baby corn - sliced into thin discs.....as many

Chopped coriander

Garlic 8-10 cloves, finely chopped

Salt

Pepper

Chilly-Oregano powder

Any other herbs (fresh/fried) of choice

Chilli flakes

cheddar cheese - 1 cup.

Any other veggies or ingredients like capsicum, spring onions, carrots, beans, Mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli etc etc can be used after sauteing / blanching in salt water

Procedure:

1.Heat some oil in a wok/kadai and throw in a tej pata, followed by crushed pepper corns and chopped/sliced garlic. Add the marinated chicken pieces. When the chicken is almost done, add the sliced babycorn and fry them along with the chicken. Fry on medium to high heat till browned and crispy. 

2.Simulaneously, in another wok/vessel, with/without oil, throw in the chopped spinach along with a pinch of salt and sugar and turn on the heat to high/medium and cook without any cover. Let the spinach give out the water and continue till the water dries up but the spinach is still moist.

3. Beat 3-4 eggs till fluffy. Add some fresh cream of milk or milk. (optional) Add salt & pepper and herbs of choice. I added chili - oregano mix. Mixed well

4. In a microwaveable flat bottomed container, make a bed of spinanch, top it up with fried chicken-babycorn. Pour the beaten egg on it.

5.Put it in microwave (HIGH) mode for 10-15 minutes (depending on the microwave). The bottom should have set and the top should still be slightly runny. 

6. Sprinkle the grated cheese. And put it in Micro+Grill mode for around 10 minutes or till the cheese melts and browning starts. In microwave, though, the browning is quite minimal despite cooking on grill mode.

7. Take it out, garnish with chopped coriander. 

I served it hot with potato wedges, sliced tomatoes.

But basically can be served with anything...bread, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, salads or just as it is....

E(n)chorer Dalna...Raw Jackfruit curry-Bengali style

Raw Jackfruit or Ee(n)chor is eaten as a vegetable and not just eaten but is a delicacy in Bengali Vegetarian cuisine! And in Bengali it's also jokingly called 'Gaachh Paa(n)tha'.... literally translated, that would mean 'Tree + Goat meat'..and meant to say that Raw Jackfruit curry tastes as good as Goat Meat, but is of course vegetarian !! ;))

As a kid I would neither touch or taste either the ripe or raw version of the fruit/vegetable. As I grew up, I developed a taste for the vegetable version but the strong aroma of the fruit version (Kathaal) could never lure me into tasting it!

Seeing the rare sight of raw Jackfruits on the shelves of the supermarket and knowing my homehelp would take care of the tough part of cutting it, I bought a medium sized one.

Ingredients :

Tender raw jackfruit, cut into small cubes and blanched/steamed in salt water

One small onion chopped

One small onion paste

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Tomato chopped (optional)

Two potatoes cubed

Bay leaf / Tej Pata - 1

Garam Masala whole - 3-4 elaichi (Cardamom) + 1 " cinnamon stick + 2-3 clove pieces

Haldi (Turmeric) powder - 1 tbsp

Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Mirch - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Mustard Oil preferably

Procedure :

1. Smear the potato cubes with salt and turmeric and fry and Keep aside

2. Lightly fry the cubed and blanched jackfruit pieces. Keep aside

3. In oil, throw the Bay leaf and whole Garam  Masala.

4. Add a tsp of Garlic paste

5. Add a pinch of sugar and the finely chopped onions.

6. Fry till light brown, then add the ginger paste followed by onion paste. Fry well till nicely browned.

7. Make a mix of the masala paste - Turmeric + Jeera powder + Kashmiri mirch + Chili Powder + salt with little water

8. Add to the fried onions. Cook well on medium to high heat (Koshano as we say in Bengali) till the oil separates out.

9. Add the blanched and fried Jackfruit / Ee(n)chor pieces into the masala and mix well on medium heat. Sprinkle some water if too dry. Add the potatoes.

Continue cooking till the vegetables are soft and cooked.

Finish off with a dash of ghee (clarified butter)...

This post is off to Weekend Herb Blogging #363 started Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and organised by HAALO and  hosted for the week by ELENA of ZIBALDONE CULINARIO

Mushroom & (Pan) Roasted Broccoli Soup

Realised (seeing the date of my last post) that I'm posting after a year! Most of the times, the urge of posting has been pushed to the backburner, was due to lack of photographs! Several posts are gathering dust in the drafts for want of pictures ...

Managed to click a few quick pics and hence this post happened....and hopefully a few more will follow too!

Ingredients (yielded 4 soup bowls of soup)

Broccoli - 1 small - cut into small florets

White button mushrooms - 250 gms

Milk - 750 ml - boiled and lukewarm

Onion - 1/2 , finely chopped 

garlic cloves - 2-3, chopped.

Bay leaaf - 1 (optional)

Butter / Oil

grated processed cheddar for garnishing

Salt  & Pepper

Chili flakes - optional

crushed dried oregano leaves - optional

salt - I used rock/black salt (beet noon/kaala namak)

Procedure :

1. In a thick bottomed wok/kadai, pan roast (I used butter) the broccoli florets alternating between medium-to-high heat. Season with rock salt and freshly crushed pepper. Roast till the brocolli has a nice brownish speckles all over. Keep aside and let it cool.

2. Again in the wok,  heat butter / oil, and add the cleaned and halved mushroom and cook till water starts oozing out. sprinkle (black)salt and pepper while cooking. Take it off the gas before the water dries off.

3. Blend the roasted broccoli & fried mushrooms.

4. Again in the wok, add a tbsp of butter, add the bay leaf, some chopped onion and garlic and crushed pepper and a pinch of sugar for caramelisation (that's the bong in me!!) fry till the onions are golden brown. 

5. Add the blended broc-mush paste. Stir well. Check for salt and add if needed. 

6. Now to liquefy, on low heat, add the milk while stirring continuously till you get the desired thickness of your soup. Cover and bring to a boil.

7. Sprinkle chili flakes and crushed dried oregano leaves .

8. Serve after garnishing with grated cheese.

Yummy on a damp rainy evening!!

This is linked to Let’s Cook #18 ~ Starters / Appetizers

Roast Chicken on a bed of vegetables.....served with butter rice

The success and satisfaction of a job well done, egged me onto to try out a simpler chicken roast unencumbered by a deluge of ingredients and sauces. While at it, habit led me to google and amongst the various Chicken roast recipes, it was this recipe  which appealed to me due to its simplicity and ready availability of all ingredients....of course slight changes, modifications were made here and there.

So here goes my version...

Ingredients :

Whole chicken with skin on - 1.4 kg

Rock Salt

Pepper

Chili flakes

Lemon juice - of 2 medium sized lemons

Dried oregano 

A mix of dried thyme-basil-rosemary-parsley 

Lemon - 1 whole 

Vegetables - lots of roughly diced vegetables. I used carrot beans, baby corns, potatoes

Mushrooms  - about 12 button mushrooms

Garlic cloves - 10-12

Coriander leaves - a handful of chopped coriander

Butter - about 40 gms.

Procedure

1. Mix lemon juice + rock salt +pepper+chili flakes + dried oregano+herb mix and rub the it all into every possible surface of the chicken and also inside the cavity.

2. An hour's marination is adequate but the longer the marination the better. I marinated it for 24 hours, unplanned and unintentionally.

3. While dicing the vegetables and mushrooms, switch on the oven (I used OTG) for preheating, at 250 deg C.

4.Spray/smear the baking tray with butter/olive oil

5. Arrange the diced vegetables on the tray. Sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle/brush on some butter/olive oil on the vegetables.

6. Smear semi melted butter all over the chicken and also inside its cavity.

7. Take a lemon, prick it all over. Microwave it for 15-20 seconds and then push it into the chicken cavity along with some chopped coriander and garlic cloves.

8. Place the chicken on the vegetable bed. 

9. I used 'BAKE MODE' of the OTG for 50 minutes first.

10. Place the chicken on vegetables into the oven. After 10-15 minutes (till the chicken has a crispy golden coating), reduce the temperature to 200 deg C.

11. After lapse of 45-50 minutes, turn the chicken around. Baste the chicken and toss the vegetables around. Sprinkle some water if they are darkening/burning

12. After turning the chicken around, cook at 200 deg C for another 40-50 minutes....making it a total of 90-100 minutes cooking time..

13. Take it out of the kitchen. Keep it completely covered for about 10 minutes (I covered with my large wok upside down)

While the chicken was cooking and the aroma of melted butter wafted from the kitchen, my olfactories started working overtime, and suddenly I felt  a craving for rice.....took out some cooked rice leftover from the lunch and in a wok, melted a tbsp of butter, threw in a bay leaf, peppercorns, pinch of sugar & salt. Added the plain white rice, tossed it around to coat the butter-salt-sugar-pepper mix uniformly and hey presto! a heavenly butter rice to go with the chicken and vegetables, was ready!

This post is off to Sudeshna's Blog (COOK LIKE A BONG) ' s CHRISTMAS EVENT

Pan(fried) Pseudo Pizza!!

It looks like a small sized pan pizza. Tastes quite like one....well, almost! But the difference doesnt make it any less tasty! Inspired by Indira Mukherjee, I have adapted to make it simpler and faster. This recipe suits me fine on the "Onno kichhu khaabo" (Something different from regular stuff!!) days.

Here goes the recipe :


Ingredients : yielded 4 nos. 1/2" thick 6" dia pseudo pizzas
All purpose Flour (Maida) & Milk in 1:1 ratio
Egg - 1 for 1 cup Maida:1cup milk (200ml cup)
Any Grated / finely chopped vegetables like carrot, bean, cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower/broccoli florets, babycorn etc
Garlic - 3-4 cloves - chopped
Salt
pepper
Chili flakes
Oregano & dried herbs-I used FabIndia's Chili-Oregano & Italian seasoning
Grated Mozzarella cheese - 1 bowl (200ml)
For topping -Boiled corn kernel /Chicken sausages/nuggets/mushroom/paneer cubes/soya chunks etc etc
Diced Onions - 1 medium

Procedure :

1. Mix Milk and Maida and add the egg, Salt & pepper Mix well with a hand blender. The batter is thick but of pouring consistency.

2. Add the chopped garlic and all the grated/chopped vegetables.

3. Keep the topping ready (the choice is yours...I used paneer cubes+diced onions on one occasion and chicken sausages+corn kernels+diced onions on another) stir fried or sauted.

4. A small pancake frying pan makes the base preparation a cake walk. Pour a ladle full of veggie mixed batter and spread it to cover the whole pan. Pour some more to increase the thickness of the base. Cook on minimum heat. While frying the base on gas stove top, keep the oven ready for next step by preheating oven (I used my OTG) at around 225-250 deg C.

5. Flip the pancake pizza or pseudo pizza base and let the other side cook.

6. Now on a flat ovenproof plate, place the (Pseudo) pizza base, arrange the toppings and sprinkle desired quantity of grated mozzarella. Sprinkle the italian seasoning and dried oregano and other herbs of choice.

 7.Place it in the preheated oven on Grill mode at 225-250 deg C for around 5-7 minutes or till the cheese melts and gets a golden colour!

Ready to serve!!

Penne Pasta with Roasted tomato sauce and vegetables, chicken nuggets

As the kids grow up , fussiness and tantrums are often on the rise. Variety is not an option anymore but a compulsion. Same similar food on consecutive days is a big no no...the whine is almost instantaneous. Family meals , especially dinners are often dictated by their likes and dislikes, at least to ensure the given meal is finished without much ado. I am sure most Moms would agree.  

In my home, the current rage being pasta, I take the opportunity to pack in as much of veggies  into a bowl full of pasta as I can.....

 

Ingredients :

1.Penne Pasta cooked 'al dente' as per pkt instructions - 250 gm
2.Blanched vegetables for stir fry - carrot, beans, baby corn, brocolli etc

3.Tomatoes cut into quarters - 8-10 medium sized

4.Chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces - 250 gm, marinated in ginger-garlic paste-lemon juice-White 5.Sesame seeds-3 tbsp

6.Pepper corns - crushed

7.fennel seed paste

8.Rock Salt

9. Pepper

10.Chilli flakes 

11.Basil - a handful

12.Garlic - finely chopped - 8-10 cloves

13. Dried Oregano

14. Italian seasoning

15. Grated cheddar cheese - 1 cup

16.Salt to taste

17. Butter/Olive Oil

Procedure :

Roast Tomato Sauce (inspired by Kalyn's recipe of slow roast tomato)
 
1. In a mortar pestle roughly grind 2 tbsp of fennel seeds with a few drops of water
2. Brush the baking tray with oil and preheat the oven (OTG) to 250 deg C
3. Smear the quartered tomatoes with the fennel paste, pepper powder, rock salt, dried oregano and drizzle EVOO.
4.Place on the baking tray cut side down.
5.Set the OTG in grill mode for about 25 minutes at 250 deg C. Keep and eye to ensure the tomatoes dont get charred.Continue till the skin of the tomatoes are wrinkled.
While the tomatoes were being grilled, I continued with the stir fried vegetables & chicken
6.In a pan/wok, take a tsp of EVOO. Add chopped garlic and basil leaves. lightly fry.
7. Add the roasted tomatoes and mash them.
8. Add water drained after boiling pasta mixed with a spoon of cornflour. Add 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Mix well

Stir fried Vegetables : 
1. Blanch the vegetables after cutting them into small equal sized pieces.
2. Dry roast white sesame seeds in the wok. Remove
3. Heat EVOO/Butter. Add crushed pepper corns, a dash of sugar.
4. Add the blanched vegetables and toss them around in high heat.
5. Add required salt, dried oregano and chili flakes
6. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds



Chicken nuggets

1. I used some previously marinated (ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper, lemon juice) chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok. And throw a bay leaf or two.
3. Pour the chicken pieces. Brown them on medium-high heat.

In a large bowl assemble the cooked (al-dente) penne pasta, stir fried-white sesame garnished vegetables and chicken nuggets along with the roast tomato sauce. Toss them around to mix well. Garnish with grated cheese.

Whole Chicken Roast...

My first try at making whole roast chicken and it was a super success! But the credit goes completely to the awesome Barbecue sauce used to marinate the chicken and of course to me for following the recipe to the 'T', which is so very uncharacteristic of me....The few variations are due to non-availability of the ingredients and not an intentional attempt at deviation! ;)

The recipe and procedure which I followed so sincerely, are here. However noting the variations/improvisations in the ingredients as follows:

Dry Bay Leaf instead of fresh bay leaf
Regular Vinegar instead of Balsamic Vinegar
Sunflower Oil instead of Canola Oil
Kashmiri Chili powder instead of Smoked Paprika

Some personal notings for future reference :

• I used an OTG at a temperature of 200 deg C.
• The Chicken was approx 1.3 kg. 
• Time of roasting was aroung 1 hr 20 min. But could be around 10 minutes less as the top of the chicken was slightly charred, but that definitely added to the taste.
• I marinated the chicken overnight instead of the suggested 5-6 hours.

I served the roast chicken with a side dish of mashed potatoes (with dill-garlic-cheese) and some steamed and (butter) sauted vegetables.

The mashed potato: (Boiled 1 potato per head)

1. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a wok and season with crushed pepper corns, chopped garlic.
2. Add chopped dill and the smoothly mashed potato.
3. Add a large cup of milk and stir it well to mix with the mashed potato.
4. Add grated cheese, salt to taste, chilli flakes and pepper and mix well.

Serve...

This recipe is off to Sobha Shyam's Event COOK IT HEALTHY PROTEINicious @ Good Food

Mixed Fried Rice

A simple, easy to make, yet versatile fried rice...ideal for fussy kids on a weeknight or for their lunch box.
And yes, we adults also wouldnt mind having this 'fast to cook; great to eat' main course!!

Any vegetable, meat, sausages, eggs, prawns may be used...it's just a simple stir fry followed by mixing with rice. Here's what I used....

Ingredients:
1. Onion -1 finely chopped
2. 2-3 garlic pods sliced/chopped
3. Capsicum - 1
4. Button Mushrooms- 1 pkt containg 10-12, sliced
5. sweet corn kernels - a handful
6. peas - a handful
7. brocolli - small
8. I had some left over roast chicken - roughly sliced/shredded. Any kind of meat/sausage would be great.
9. Rice - 2 cups
10. Butter/Oil
12. Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom & Bayleaf
13. Salt & Sugar to taste
14. Pepper  corns & ground  pepper

Procedure:
1. Make steamed rice and spread it under the fan to dry. A better option would be to use rice cooked the previous night. (The latter is ideal for me when I make the fr. rice to pack for lunch)
2. Dry roast the sliced mushrooms in a wok to dry up the water.
3. In a wok, heat 2 tbsp butter.
4. Add bay leaf, crushed peppercorns, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom & Bayleaf and a pinch of sugar.
5. Add the chopped garlic & onions. Fry till golden  brown
6. Add the broccoli, followed by capsicum, dry roasted mushroom, boiled/thawed corn kernels & peas. Stir fry on high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add the shredded chicken followed by cooked rice. Sprinkle black pepper powder. Mix well.

The mixed fried rice is ready to eat......