Chilli Idli

            

India is a very diversified country and its diversity can not be seen in art, culture, language but also in food too. The diversity in food can be seen in its look, taste and even in the way it is cooked. One dish can be different in its look, taste and the process of cooking in different parts of our country. That's how diversified our country is and we Indians are definitely proud of it.

Have you ever tried Fusion Dishes? Fusion Cuisine doesn't fall under any particular cuisine style and has played a part in innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s. It's really very innovative and at the same time challenging to fuse elements of different culinary traditions into one style of cooking. I usually try to experiment with some traditional dishes and give them a new look and feel. 

Today in this post I'm going to blend together two different cuisines which are way apart from one another, one is South Indian cuisine and the other one is Chinese Cuisine/ Ind0-Chinese Cuisine to be very specific. If you love these cuisines then you'll definitely love this recipe.

If you're wondering how to cook Idlis which are soft and fluffy then I have got your back. I have already posted the recipe of Idlis which you can read here (click here). So, let's begin with the recipe:

Masala Macaroni

            

Hello Peeps....hope you all are doing great. We ladies have one common problem and i.e. what to pack for lunchbox? Especially if you have a toddler or a picky eater kid then this problem is much more daunting. 

We as a mom often struggle what to pack for kids lunchbox or what to make in breakfast which is healthy and well as filling. Our conscience will never allow us to pack store bought so called "Healthy Snacks" for them. Moreover if you have a picky eater at your home then whatever you pack in our kids lunchbox they often bring it back home.

The solution to this problem is giving something which is healthy and as per their liking. Here, in this video we will be making Indian Style Macaroni. Kids love Pasta and since it is loaded with veggies you can pack this in their lunchbox without any guilt.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Butter Garlic Shrimp/ Prawns

            

Hello Foodies.....hope you'll are doing great. One combination which always go hand in hand is Butter and Garlic; it's assumed that their match is made in heaven. 

Any recipe which calls for Butter add a clove of garlic to it and that dish will go a notch up; and into this combination if you add Shrimp/Prawns toh in our desi language we call it "Sone Pe Suhaga".

As you all know that we have taken a step forward and moved our blog to YouTube so going forward you can watch our videos on YouTube. Since we are budding YouTubers so you can find few of our recipes from the blog there but slowly and gradually we'll try to add all the recipes including the new ones. Just give us some time.

Coming on to today's recipe i.e. the Butter Garlic Shrimp is a very simple recipe and just need few minutes to cook and believe me it's a complete crowd pleasing appetizer. So 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.

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:

Schezwan Rice

Few days back I took a day off from work and utilized it in the best possible way I could. I did whatever I had planned for that day but amid of all the chores, suddenly a thought ran through my mind - What to have for lunch? Well, I opened my Fridge and found some cute little veggies peeping through the vegetable basket. 

After seeing those I thought of preparing Noodles (usually that's the best option I get when I want to finish off my veggies). But with the flick of mind I thought why not Schezwan Rice! It was completely impromptu preparation but the end product was so palatable that I couldn't resist the blogger inside me to click few pics to blog. 

Schezwan Rice is one of the most loved dishes in Indo-Chinese cuisine. You can find this dish in almost every Menu Card of Indo-Chinese restaurant. If you love a little spicy food I'm sure you will love this dish too. I'm not a full-time spicy food lover but I do like it sometimes. It's hot, spicy and completely irresistible. 

The prime ingredient of this recipe is the: Schezwan Sauce. If you have it handy then making Schezwan Rice is like a child's play. I like to add lot of veggies to my Fried Rice. You can make this recipe completely Vegetarian or add meat of your choice. This time I added few shrimps. 

So, let's start with the recipe: 

Veg Manchurian

We both love Chinese food but we all know that Chinese cuisine varies according to the geographical regions. India has its own variety of Chinese cuisine known as Indo-Chinese. I have already posted a recipe from this cuisine: Chilli Chicken. You can have a look.

Few days back my Sister-In-Law came to our place with her cute kids. The kiddos asked me to make something from my blog (they consider my blog as their menu card :)) 
The younger one requested me to make Chilli Chicken but the elder one wouldn't like Chicken that much so I thought of making Veg Manchurian for her and Chilli Chicken for the younger. That way both were happy :)

Veg Manchurian is a very popular Indo-Chinese dish and a complete party pleaser. It can be served as an appetizer or as main course with fried rice. The veg balls or fritters are made up of chopped vegetables and then dipped in the sauce. It can be made in two ways: with or without gravy. We like the later one which is also known as Dry Veg Manchurian. (If you want the gravy version add vegetable broth to the sauce)

For the sauce I haven't used Ajinomoto as it has adverse effects on health so you can enjoy yummy Veg Manchurian without giving any second thought. So, here's the recipe:

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: