Chicken Nuggets

            

Hello Peeps...hope you all are doing great. The festive season is just around the corner and it's time to celebrate all the festivals with your friends and family members. It's that time of the season when we visit each other's place, exchange gifts and have lots of fun. 

Any festivity is incomplete without food whether we have friends and family visiting our place or we go out exotic dinner or enjoy the street side food while hopping the Puja Pandals.

But between all these hustle-bustle we can never compromise the food items that we  feed to our family. We have to take care of the hygiene and the heathiness. Obviously, we all want to enjoy the festivals with full enthusiasm, energy and with a good health.

Today's recipe is Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Pakoras. We all love Chicken Nuggets isn't it? Especially our kids they just go gaga over them. Whenever we urge to have Chicken Nuggets we either go to McDonald's or KFC and satisfy our craving but think if we can make it at home, THEN?

Anything homemade is always better than store bought or having them at restaurants. These Chicken Nuggets recipe are too simple to make and require very few ingredients....trust me!

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Hariyali Chicken Kabab

Hello Peeps.....Hope you all are doing great and enjoying the first monsoon showers in your respective regions. What is the one food item that you relish while enjoying the monsoon showers? For me it's: A hot cup of piping Ginger Tea and some crispy Pakoras. I can see myself sitting in the balcony and munching on the Pakoras. Sometimes me time is necessary to get rejuvenated and bounce back with a new level of energy. 

Coming back to today's post: in this post I'll be sharing how to make Hariyali Chicken Kabab. Are you a Kabab Lover like us then you may check out the Kabab recipes I have shared previously.

• Chicken Malai Tikka Kabab
• Chicken Shami Kabab
• Panner Tikka Kabab

Hariyali Chicken Kababs are made by marinating the Chicken in a green marinate and then cooking it to perfection. That green marinate will do all the magic. 

So without doing any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Chicken Malai Tikka Kabab

            

Mughlai Cuisine is one of our family favorite. Whether it's a Biryani, Korma or Kabab we love them all. Whenever we go to a restaurant or any guest visits our home one of our all time favorite appetizer/starter is Tandoori Chicken. I have already shared the recipe of Tandoori Chicken on my blog. You may check it out here (click here)

Today in this blog post I'm going to share another delicacy of Mughlai Cuisine and i.e. Chicken Malai Tikka. Chicken Malai Tikka is one of those exotic dishes that you can make when you want to have a fancy dinner or want to impress your family members. These succulent and fragrant chicken pieces just melts in your mouth and taste heavenly.

These Kababs serve as a great appetizer and a complete party pleaser too. If some guests are visiting your place you can do the prep work beforehand and pop them into the oven before serving.

So without much further rambling let's begin with the recipe.

Chicken Satay with Homemade Peanut Sauce

             

Hello my Foodie Friends. Hope you all are doing great. As an Indian we all love Indo-Chinese cuisine. Whether it's Noodles, Chili Chicken, Fried Rice, Schezwan Noodles, Manchurian we love them all. These dishes are not authentic Chinese food but they are adopted to the taste buds of the localite people.

For me personally I love Thai food more than the Chinese food. Bangkok is mentioned as one of the best street serving cities in the world. It is also known as the Street Food Capital of the world. Thai cooking gives importance to lightly prepared dishes with strong aromas and a spicy edge. They give lot of emphasis to food's appearance, smell and texture. 

In this post we'll share the recipe of a very popular street food which is Chicken Satay. Chicken Satay is a very common Southeast Asian dish where seasoned, skewered and grilled meat is served with a tangy peanut sauce. It is a dish from Indonesia; and popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Making this mouth watering dish has two parts first grilling the seasoned chicken and then the sauce.Chicken satay is served with a creamy and tangy peanut sauce. For that we need roasted peanuts.

Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings.....The Healthier

             

Who doesn't love Chicken Wings. They are crispy, spicy and full of flavors. When you lick those flavorful wings there is a burst of flavors in your mouth.

But every good thing has a bad side too and if you ask me about these Chicken Wings then I would say the calorie part. So, I decided to recreate this recipe but this time in a healthier manner. 

I decided to bake these chicken wings instead of frying them. I have used minimal oil here just to brush the wings and later on in the sauce. So we don't have to worry about the calorie part.

Buffalo Chicken Wings require minimal effort to cook just add in all the ingredients and  pop these wings in the oven. Prepare the sauce and coat these wings and you're sorted. 

Traditionally these wings are served with ranch, blue cheese and a side of carrots and celery. But; I like to enjoy them as it is and feel the burst of flavors while having them.

So, without any further ado let's jump right into the recipe:

Singapore Style Black Pepper Chicken

                    

Hello Foodies, Hope you'll are doing great and feasting your favorite dishes during this time of the year.

Today I'm back with one of the most loved recipes of the Chinese or I must say Asian cuisine and i.e. Singapore Style Black Pepper Chicken. It's hot, it's spicy and completely irresistible. If you love spicy food then I'm sure you'll love this recipe too.

Since, this recipe is on the spicier side I would recommended you to adjust the spiciness according to your taste buds. So, without any further ado let's get started:

Pad Thai/ Phad Thai

            

We just love Thai food, if you ask me to choose between Chinese and Thai food; I'll always go for the later one. So, today I thought of sharing a recipe which is one of my favorites whenever I think of a Thai Cuisine. Yes, it's none other than Pad Thai.......a famous Thailand street food. 

              

The Asian store in my neighborhood carries so many sauces which always compels me to pick and try each of them; but thanks to the Chinese/Thai script which restricts me to do so and I always stick to the basic ones. 

When it comes to Thai food I love their Chicken Satay, Dumplings, Spring rolls, Tom Yum Soup, Basil Fried Rice, Pad Kee Mow and the list goes on. Although (for novice like us) Chinese and Thai cuisine have a very minute difference but I love the flavors of Thai cuisine.

Pad Thai or Phad Thai it's a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at most of the restaurants in Thailand. Preparing any kind of noodles is a time taking process because it needs a lot of pre-cooking time but the actual cooking time is very less. Just fry the protein & veggies add sauces and noodles. Stir fry them for few minutes and you're served. 

So without further ado let's start with the recipe of Pad Thai.

Herb Roasted Chicken

Hello peeps, hope you'll are doing good. Few days back I had posted a pic of Herb Roasted Chicken with Dijon Green Beans on my Insta stories and I received number of DM's to post the its recipe. 

Believe me that dish was an impromptu attempt to cook something for dinner; whatever was handy I had mixed up everything and came up with a dish which was a great hit on the dining table and on my social media handles too. 

So, I thought to give that dish a place on my blog so that I won't forget the recipe and you guys can also try it in your kitchen. This recipe is not only healthy but also requires minimal prep and cooking time which is very helpful on the days when we don't like to step into the kitchen.

Here, the recipe of Herb Roasted Chicken with Dijon Green Beans. 

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken......The name itself is enough to make someone drool over the hot, sizzling platter of spicy and juicy Chicken pieces. As a kid when I use to attend the marriage ceremonies the first thing I would search in buffets or the menu card are those succulent Tandoori Chicken.

When I grew up and developed interest in cooking I use to think that making those restaurant style Tandoori Chicken at home is not possible. Thanks, to the technology, my blogger friends and You-tubers from where I tried to learn the art of making Tandoori Chicken at home. 

I tried many recipes; sometimes it use to work and sometimes I failed drastically but finally after adding and subtracting many things I came up with a recipe which never disappoints me and every time I come up with restaurant style taste at home.

So, without further ado let's start with the recipe:

Chicken 65

Hello my foody peeps, hope you'll are doing good and enjoying spring and summer in your respective regions. Recently, I visited my home town Kolkata, India but before the summer would start showing it's temperament we returned to Boston, though it is spring here and the temperature is in single digit yet. 

Anyway, I have enjoyed lot of good Bengali food during my vacation and satisfied my craving for the Kolkata style street food but what to do YEH DIL MAANGE MORE!!!!! 

After getting over the jet lag, unpacking things and other chores finally I decided to work on  my blog which had gained a back seat in my life :( 

This time I decided to make Chicken 65: A popular hot, spicy and delicious South Indian Snack. There are numerous ways in which this scrumptious dish can be made; I tried few of them and finally settled on this recipe and trust me you don't need any other recipe after this.  

The origin of this dish is still unknown; there are number of theories associated with this recipe but who cares when you're a food enthusiast what matters for you the dish should satisfy your craving.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Chicken Clear Soup

Hello my foodie friends......hope y'all are doing good. I know these days writing a blog post is on the side track because some other things have taken the priority. 

Anyway how's the weather treating you these days? Here, in Boston we are still dealing with freezing cold, chilling winds and snow. Keeping the cold aside, who doesn't love snow when you're sitting at home with your cuppa, munching over your favorite cookie and gazing the view from your apartment window. 

One more thing that is synonym to winters are Soups. We both are soup lovers whether it's Tom Yum Soup, Hot n Sour Soup,Tomato Soup, SweetCorn Soup or Chicken Soup. We love them all. Today, I thought of sharing a very simple recipe of Chicken Clear Soup right from scratch. It is simple to make and at the same time very healthy and refreshing.

This soup needs very few ingredients which are easy on stomach and make you feel good even when you are sick. So, let's enjoy this recipe.

Kung Pao Chicken

Hello Peeps......hope you all are doing good in this scorching heat. This year we the Kolkatians too are facing the harsh summer heat. Usually we don't face such kind of summer. So, what you all are doing to beat the heat? I usually drink lot of water to prevent myself from getting dehydrated.  

Moreover, I like to keep my refrigerator stuffed with some homemade drinks and Ice-cream. Ohhhhh....I love ice-cream like a kid. I know you don't need to be a kid to indulge yourself in a scoop of ice-cream. A helpful advice to all my calorie conscious friends, sometimes it's fine to treat yourself with a scoop. Your tastebuds kindda like it.

This time I'm posting the recipe of Kung Pao Chicken. I made this dish few weeks back and managed to click few pics. This recipe is an American-Chinese Dish but I adjusted it to please our Indo-Chinese tastebuds. 

Kung Pao Chicken is a quick and easy Chinese dish which is ready to serve in less than 30 minutes. The best thing I like in this dish are the roasted peanuts, most Chinese restaurant use the aromatic mouth numbing Sichuan peppers. They give a different flavor to this dish along with the dried chili peppers that I always find irresistible.

The best part of Chinese Cuisine is that you can tweak it the way you want. It's not necessary you need to follow the recipe as it is. You can add or subtract the ingredients to your liking. 

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Burrito Bowl

As of now you all know that we are big time foodie. Here, I would like to thank my husband bcoz of whom I was able to discover this aspect of my life that I love cooking. It was boz of him that I am able to taste different national and international cuisines. Some are totally rotten tomatoes and some are so delectable that we love to taste them again and again.

Chipotle is one of such restaurants in America where we used to have our brunch on the weekends (when we were in the USA). Chipotle is a very famous Mexican Grill renowned for their Burritos and Tacos. It was my personal favorite from health and nutrition factor. 

Burrito is nothing but a Mexican dish consisting of a flour tortilla rolled round with savoury filling typically of minced meat, veggies, beans etc. But today I'm going to share the recipe of Burrito Bowl. The best part of this dish is that it's completely customizable. You can add or delete any of the item you don't like bcoz there's number of goodies which goes round it.

It includes lemon-cilantro rice, pinto/black beans, corn salsa, roasted bell peppers and onions, lettuce, guacamole, cheese, sour cream. In restaurant too I never added the last three ingredients to my rice bowl (guacamole, cheese, sour cream) so here too I'm not using it in my recipe but if you like you can definitely add it to your bowl.

So, go ahead and make this healthy, nutritious and delectable recipe and enjoy it with your friends & family. So, let's get started:

Parsley Chicken

Last Sunday when I went for my weekly grocery shopping at our local market I was quite surprised to see one vendor was selling fresh PARSLEY. Before that I used to buy dried parsley leaves from a super market. 

In India it's very hard to find fresh herbs like Basil, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Dill etc; we get the dried version though. So, the recipes which call for fresh herbs have to be replaced by the dried herbs. When I glanced over the fresh Parsley the first thing which came to my mind was I need to buy them today. Buying these fresh herbs here in India is pretty expensive :(

The recipe which I'm sharing today is PARSLEY CHICKEN. This recipe was one of my favorites when I was in the USA. The mild flavors of freshly chopped Parsley takes the recipe to the next level. So, without any further ado let's jump straight into the recipe:

Buffalo Style Chicken Wings......And Our Love For Buffalo Wild Wings

If anybody asks me what I miss most about USA then my one and only answer will be BUFFALO WILD WINGS!!!! It's an American casual dining restaurant cum Sports Bar which specializes in Chicken Wings and their 16 finger licking sauces.

You get fried Chicken Wings coated with their wide variety of sauces along with 6 different dippings to choose from. You can enjoy them with carrots and celery on the side. As I said they are specialized in Chicken Wings but you also check out their Burgers, Sandwiches, Quesadillas, Fries etc.... 

I have many memories linked with that restaurant: we celebrated our first weekend dining there, our first New Year and so many similar events. We were so much fond of that restaurant that we ate there than any other restaurant in Portland. 

They have their line in America, Canada, Mexico and Philippines. Unfortunately we don't have B-Dubs (that's a nick name given to Buffalo Wild Wings) in India. As I always rave that being a foodie is a blessing and a curse too. I crave for Buffalo style Chicken Wings so much in India that it enforced me to look for a recipe of it. Finally after many trials and errors I can say that I'm able to somewhat recreate that taste.

If you're living in USA then you can get their sauces readily available in their restaurants. You just have to make the wings and coat them with the sauces. Otherwise follow the recipe to enjoy Buffalo Style Wings at the comfort of your home.

I had grilled the wings in the microwave by just brushing them with little bit of oil. It's much healthier option than frying the wings. If you want you can deep fry them too. So let's start with the recipe:

Murg Makhani/ Butter Chicken

Murg Makhani or Butter Chicken is one of our favorite dishes when it comes to Chicken preparations and we always find ourselves ordering this dish whenever we go out for dinner in a restaurant. We both are huge fan of Makhani recipes whether it's:

• Paneer Butter Masala
• Daal Makhani
• Malai Kofta

we just love all of them, actually you can never go wrong with these dishes. 

The origin of this recipe is from a restaurant named "Moti Mahal" in Delhi where the leftover Tandoori Chicken pieces is cooked in a rich, buttery, creamy tomato based curry.

I'm so much addicted to this Makhani gravy that these days the above mentioned dishes are getting place on my dinning table very frequently. Moreover, if you have this Makhani gravy handy then you can come out with so many options either veg or non-veg which is very helpful when all of sudden some guests arrives at your place.

Let's start cooking:

Chilli Chicken

Chinese Cuisine is extremely popular all over the world but at the same time its taste varies across the geographic regions and India is no different. One reason could be that Chinese restaurants try to modify their dish according to the local place and available ingredients but keeping the basic essence same.

In India too we have our own variety of Chinese cuisine known as Indo-Chinese. The recipe which I'm sharing today is called "Chilli Chicken". You may not find this recipe in the menu card of any authentic Chinese restaurant but Indian restaurants offering Chinese food in or outside India is incomplete without this recipe. Chinese restaurants do have a similar kind of dish known as "Kung-Pao Chicken" which looks somewhat like Chilli Chicken but taste wise it's very different.

We both like Chinese and Thai cuisine a lot that's the reason we would love to have noodles, soup etc for dinner once a week. Yesterday was that day when I made Chilli Chicken and paired it with Egg Chowmein and Tomato Soup. A lazy, rainy night is perfect for Chinese food as it takes very less time for preparation and cooking; making happy "me" and so is my family :) 

We like the dry version of Chilli Chicken from it's gravy counterpart so here I'm posting the recipe of the same. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Nargisi Kofta Curry

Mughlai Cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the Indian subcontinent. It's origin can be found back in Mughal empire where exotic dishes were prepared in the royal kitchens. Many of the dishes in Indian cuisine are influenced by their imperial cooking style.

Mughlai food is known for its richness. It is famous for the generous use of ground spices, nuts and dry fruits which make the dish quite spicy and give it a very unique aroma. The rich flavors and the exotic aroma are so tempting that can make any food loving person carve for more. 

The name of the dishes in this cuisine are so alluring that they invite you to try them out at least once. Whether its Biryani, Kofta, Korma, Shorba, Nihari, Haleem or Kebabs we love them all and usually end up licking our fingers. A huge thanks to the Mughal dynasty who introduced us to the special ingredients and techniques used in this form of cooking. 

We both are huge fans of Mughlai Cuisine and that's the reason our Sunday's are incomplete without Biryani and Shorba. I have already posted few recipes from this cuisine; you may check them out:

• Chicken BIryani
• Chicken Shami Kebab
• Kashmili Pulao (A fusion of Kashmiri and Bengali cuisine)

Today I'm again posting a delicacy from this cuisine which is Nargisi Kofta Curry. The term "Nargisi" is derived from the word "Nargis" which refers to "Narcissus"; a winter flower which has a yellow center with white petals around it just like a boiled egg. These koftas are hard boiled eggs coated with minced meat and then cooked in a gravy. When you cut the kofta it resembles the Nargis flower. There are two parts in making this recipe firstly making the koftas and then the sauce. The sauce can be a simple tomato based gravy or a Makhni sauce which enhances the flavors of these koftas. I prefer tomato based gravy over Makhni gravy to keep flavors intact yet adding a subtle richness to the gravy.

So let's start preparing this exotic dish:

Kashmili Pulao....A Fusion of Kashmiri and Bengali Cuisine

You might be wondering there's a typo in my recipe name but no there isn't and today's recipe name is "Kashmili Pulao". In India we have lot of diversity in art, culture, literature, religion and this so the food.

Indian food is also diversified not only by taste and look but also how it is cooked. In India each new wave of civilization have brought their own culinary practices. Like Indian culture our food is also influenced by various civilizations and each one of them has their equal contribution in making Indian food at its best and renowned.

India has 29 states and each state has its own culinary practices. Today I'm going to present a very interesting fusion of Kashmiri and Bengali Cuisine. Kashmir aka "Heaven on Earth" forms the crown of India on the other hand Bengal aka "Cultural Capital of India" is located in the eastern part. Kashmiri Cuisine has a strong reflection of flavors from Central Asia. The staple diet of every Kashmiri includes rice which can be found abundantly in the beautiful valley and their main course revolves around  it. Whereas people living in the eastern part of India particularly West Bengal loves to eat fish and rice.

Today I decided to combine two very popular dishes: Kashmiri Yakhni Pulao (a very popular dish of Kashmiri cuisine prepared with rice and meat stock) and Bengali Mishti Pulao (a flavorful, sweet and aromatic rice dish).

I adopted the recipe of Bengali Mishti Pulao from my Mother-In-Law who is one of the finest cooks I know. She can do number of variations in a simple pulao and each time it tastes different. This is my take on her recipe but with a twist.

Chicken Shami Kebab

             

Mughlai Cuisine - It's a cuisine which all Indians are die hard fans. Whether its Biryani, Kebab, Kofta or Rezala we all enjoy them equally. Thanks to the royal Mughal kitchens who taught us to cook these palatable dishes.

                 

The taste of Mughlai dishes varies from mild to spicy and flavored with whole or ground spices. My home gets aromatic whenever I cook something from this cuisine. Last Sunday it was Thanksgiving weekend and I made Chicken Biryani and Shami Kebab for our lunch. Yes, as I mentioned in my Chicken Biryani post that I cook Biryani on every Sunday but this time I wanted it to be accompanied with Shami Kebab.

Shami Kebab are small paties made from minced meat, chana dal (lentil), flavored with spices and served with chutney. The process of making these kebabs is little lengthy but trust me it's worth the effort. The hypnotic aroma of these kebabs and clean licked plates gives you a sense of contentment. 

So let's get started: