Turkey Fry

Turkey is naturally low in fat without the skin, containing only 1 gram of fat per ounce of flesh. A 5-ounce serving provides almost half of the recommended daily allowance of folic acid, and is a good source of vitamins B, B1,B6, zinc and potassium. These nutrients have been found to keep blood cholesterol down, protect against birth defects, cancer and heart disease, aid in nerve function and growth, boost the immune system, regulate blood pressure, and assist in healing processes.



There is probably no other food that evokes images of celebration, family, friends and giving thanks than turkey. November is the month noted as the season for enjoying turkey but its wonderful taste and nutritional value should not be reserved just for the holidays as it is available to enjoy year-round. "No Thanksgiving without Turkey"



Turkey is a very good source of protein. A four ounce serving provides 65.1% of the daily value for protein, along with 11.9% of the daily value for saturated fat, about half the amount of saturated fat found in red meat. The structure of the human body is built on protein. We use animal and plant sources of protein for our amino acids and rearrange the nitrogen to make the pattern of amino acids we require. (Source)



My hubby is a fan of turkey... He introduced me to this Turkey fry and I started liking it. Turkey is big sister of Chicken and it taste similar. If u are diet conscious, turkey is best choice for protein. My sincere advise to y'all, Don't make curry with turkey.. ur whole kitchen will stink.. My sis in law had bad experience.. So i always make fry with turkey!!!!



Ingredients:



½ lb ground turkey
1 onion
1 tbsp g&g paste
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat oil in a pan. Add fennel seeds. Once the aroma fills out ur senses, add chopped onion. Fry till the onions become transparent. Add g&g paste. Sauté for couple of mts. Add ground turkey and salt. Cover cook for 5-8 mts in medium flame. The turkey oozes out lots of water. Remove the cover and stir for 5 mts. Add the masala powder and sauté for couple of minutes. Let it cook until all the moisture is absorbed/ evaporated. It should be a dry fry. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve hot with Chapatti or rasam rice!!!!

Round shaped Chicken Kebab

Chicken kebab is a perfect party food. When I was in Aberdeen, I was surprised to see loads of kebab shops...in every corner..they serve kebab with pita bread and veggies. After Fish & chips, kebab is the most liked fast food in UK. I never liked the taste of it. I was going through Sailu's site and found this awesome recipe. My hubby was overwhelmed by the taste of it. My friends appreciated me for making such a wonderful dish.

Thanks Sailu...Ur recipe is Tried,Tasted & Certified: Excellent.

I made this chicken kebab as a appetizer,The plate was empty within few minutes..The picture doesn't do any justice to the taste of the dish. I had no time to take further pictures coz 'hungry eaters' waiting for appetizer.. Next time sure to get good click of the kebab!!!

(Recipe source)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg boneless chicken pieces, cleaned and washed
1/4 kg onions finely sliced
8-10 fresh green chillies
5-6 dry red chillies (adjust according to your choice)
15-20 garlic flakes
3″ piece ginger chopped
small bunch coriander leaves, chopped
4 tbsp coriander seeds
1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
2″ cinnamon stick
3 green cardamoms
5-6 cloves
20 cashewnuts
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Preparation:

I didn't do any modification, Just followed the recipe as mentioned by sailu!!!

1.Heat a tbsp of oil in cooking vessel. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom, cloves, Cinnamon, red chillis and cashewnuts and stir for a minute till a nice aroma emanates the whole kitchen. Be careful not to burn the spices. Cool.

2 .First grind the roasted ingredients along with ginger, garlic and green chillis to a coarse paste. Next add the chopped raw onions, coriander leaves, chicken and salt and grind further to form a smooth paste like shown in the picture above.2 Add a tbsp of oil to the ground mixture and mix thoroughly before shaping into small lemon sized balls.

3 .Heat oil for deep frying. Once its piping hot, reduce flame to medium and place these balls in the oil and fry them to a crisp, golden brown color.

4.Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Mutton Liver Fry (Eeral fry)

Eeral varuval or Liver fry takes me down to my child hood memories. Most of the Sunday's my mom will cook liver fry especially for me.. no one gets it... I will go out to play..come back have one piece of liver fry and run back to play with kids. I will make few trips till I am tired of it..Days gone by so fast..I couldnt believe its just a memory now...I wish i could get back those precious days, where u dont have to worry about ur surroundings, no issues, no work, no stress..what a fantastic stage of life!!!

After coming to US, we buy mutton for occasion coz u have to go to halal ,meat shops to buy them..Its a tedious process. we are pretty much content with chicken. One day when we went to the meat shop, I saw Goat liver, got excited..asked shop keeper several times whether it is goat or something else...After I was sure its goat liver I bought it..Got the recipe from mom and made it for my Hubby's bday..It came out very well..My hubby loved it...

Ingredients:

1 Goat liver

1 big onion

6 garlic

1" ginger

2 tbsp pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Salt to taste

Seasoning:

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp fennel seeds

curry leaves

Preparation:

Cut the liver to small bite size piece. Grind the rest of the ingredients to smooth paste without adding water.Marinate the liver pieces with ground paste for 1hr.

Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning. Add the marinated liver pieces. Cover and cook on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Cool till the moisture evaporates and liver is fully coated with the ground paste. It takes about 15 mts for liver to cook. Remove from heat..

Serve hot with Mutton gravy!!!

Ginger Chicken

Ginger chicken reminds me of my college days. I usually take college bus everyday. During our final year we get off in afternoon...We used to take private bus and get off at a stop called Hopes college (Coimbatore)Its like a student hub. U can see students wandering all around the place...Restaurants, copiers, Internet cafe what not... When we felt hungry, me and my friends used to go to a restaurant. I don't remember the name. I love ginger chicken and chickoo ice cream served at this restaurant... I could never find the same taste in any restaurant. I tried to reproduce the same taste but could only reach halfway!!!!
Enough of story...Lets look at the ingredients..

Ingredients:
Chicken - 2 lbs
Ginger - 21/2 " piece
Onion - 2
Tomato - 3
Green chillies - 8
Jeera - 2tsp
Red chillipowder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - 2
Cloves - 4
Curry leaves,coriander leaves
Lemon - 1 tbsp
Oil- 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Clean and Cut the chicken to bite size pieces. Marinate the chicken pieces with 1 tbsp lemon juice and salt for 1 hr. Fry sliced onion in 1 tbsp of oil until translucent and grind it with green chillies, ginger and Jeera . In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 3 tsp of oil, fry bay leaf,cloves,cardamom cinnamon and then add grounded onion mixture..Add salt and fry till oil separates.Now add turmeric,red chilli and coriander powders to this mix and fry for few more minutes.Finally add chopped tomatoes.Once tomatoes are well cooked ad the marinated chicken pieces and mix very well.Cover and cook it under medium heat. Don't add water.After chicken is well cooked, add the chopped coriander and curry leaves .

Saag Chicken or Chicken Palak (chicken in spinach sauce)

Chicken and Spinach is very good combo. Chicken has high protein and spinach is very good source of fiber.. which makes the combo a "hearty meal". I learnt this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Kazana. He is great chef, I love his TV shows. I found amazing pickle from Sanjeev kapoor's Kana kazana... wow... See if u can find this brand of pickle in Indian grocers. U don't wanna miss the wonderful taste of the pickle...

Coming back to chicken palak, its easy to make recipe and tastes so good. This is usually available in restaurants as Saag chicken and i have never come across this recipe in any of my friends house. I make chicken palak whenever i am bored doing the same chicken gravy every week....Just for a change!!!

Ingredients:

chicken 2lbs
spinach 1 bunch
Tomatoes – 2 medium
chopped Onion – 1 medium
Lemon juice – 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 4 cut in to 2 pieces
Salt to taste
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- -1/2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – 1tsp
oil -2tbsp
Whole garam masala:-Cinnamon – 1 inch piece Cardamom – 3 Clove – 4
Cumin – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnish



Preparation:

Boil water and add cleaned spinach. Let it cook for 10 mts. Remove the spinach leaves and grind it to smooth paste.

Heat oil and add whole garam masala and cumin, followed by onion and green chillies. Fry till the onion changes to light brown color. Add ginger garlic paste, once the raw smell vanishes add chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Add all the masala powder and fry for few minutes. Add Chicken pieces and 2 cups of water. Cover and cook for 10 mts. Chicken takes about 10 - 15 mts to cook. Once the chicken pieces are tender, add ground spinach paste. Let it cook for five minutes. Squeeze lemon juice to the chicken gravy and remove from heat. Mix thoroughly and leave it for 1o mts... Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve it with roti or naan..

Ambur Mutton Biriyani

Ambur is a small city in Vellore Districts famous for Mutton Biriyani, Corn (cholam) and Sweets. Ambur is a muslim populatd city and u know how good their biriyani tastes... yummy.. especially the one made in Ambur is delicious...When we travel from vaniyambadi to vellore by bus car whatever means of transport, we stop by ambur to buy biriyani. One more speciality is corn, man they taste awsome... Its a great snack to munch in the car... Still remember the fresh smell of the corn... Lovely food... Here I am gonna share the lovely recipe for Ambur Mutton biriyani.

Ingredients:

Biriyani Ella (Bay Leaf) - 3
Cinamon - 1
Cardamom(Elachi / Elaka) - 2
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Mint - 1 bunch
Coriander(Kothamalli) 1/2 bunch
Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Marinate:
Mutton - 1 kg
Yogurt - 4 tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric Powder 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Pepper Powder - 3/4 tsp
Lemon Juice - 4 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Paste:
Cashew Nuts Plain - 20
Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Sombu / Saunf - 1 tsp
Garlic - 8
Chilli Green small - 2

Rice 4 Cups


Preparation:

Mix the ingredients given for marination and keep aside for 1 hour.

Grind the ingredients given in paste to make a smooth paste adding little bit of water.

Heat ghee in a sauce pan and fry the rest of the ingredients in specified order. Now add the marinated mutton, ground paste and 1 cup of water. Cover and cook till meat becomes tender. U can also use cooker for this process. Leave for 1 Whistle.

Once the cooker cools down add rice to the mutton mixture. For 4 cups of rice (1:1.5 ratio), I added 5 cups of water coz the mutton gravy will also have water. Cover and cook for one whistle. Remove from heat.

(Ambur Biriyani and prawn Masala)

Serve hot with onion raita and egg...

This is my contribution for Harvest The festival of Rice hosted by Sudeshna of Bengali Cuisine.

Chicken Chukka Fry

There are so many dishes in chicken in all cuisine!!!! After coming abroad ,my all time favourite is chicken coz I don't eat red meat... Mutton is so expensive and we buy it for few special occasions. Anytime, anywhere Chicken is my motto!!!. My hubby wanted to have chicken fry for dinner, so i was thinking about making simple chicken chukka to go with Rasam rice.

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken Breast Boneless

1 onion chopped

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Paste:

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 bunch coriander

2 tbsp pepper corns

3 cloves

3 Cinnamon sticks

1 cardamom

1/2 onion chopped

4 garlic cloves

1" ginger

4 greenchillies

Preparation:

Grind the ingredients mentioned in paste with 2 tbsp of water. Grind to smooth paste. Heat oil in a pan, add onion and fry till translucent. Add chicken pieces, salt and ground paste. Cover and cook for 10mts. If the chicken is too dry add 1/2 cup water. Once chicken becomes tender, open the lid and let the gravy thicken. All the water should be evaporated and chicken would change to slight brown color. Chicken should be dry without any gravy!!! Remove from heat..

Serve hot with Rice and Rasam.

Note: Adjust greenchillies and peppers according to ur taste.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung pao chicken, Chinese pronounced as gong-bao-ji-ding is a classic dish in Chinese cuisine. Ambassador is a Chinese restaurant in Houston, famous for its spicy Chinese recipes. The place is thronged by Indians and Americans!!!! The food is so delicious and they make it spicy according to ur taste... We are one of the regulars to the restaurant and we always order Kung pao chicken for main dish!!!!

I have lived in Aberdeen for more than 3 years, never heard of this dish in any Chinese restaurants ( only 2 Chinese restaurants and few takeaways..its a small city)) !!!. I was introduced to this dish by my hubby and I love it!!!!

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 7 to 8 ounces each

Marinade:
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce:
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar

Other:
8 -10 dried red chili peppers
3 cloves garlic
2 green onions (spring onions, scallions)
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
2 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorn or black peppercorn, optional
1/2 cup peanuts or cashews

1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
a few drops sesame oil, optional

1/2 cup chopped Bell pepper, carrot, celery

Preparation:

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Combine with the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the chicken for 25 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce and vegetables: In a small bowl, combine the dark soy sauce, rice wine ( can be found grocery shops in international section), and sugar. Set aside.Cut the chilies in half so that they are approximately the same size as the chicken cubes. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Cut the green onion on the diagonal into thirds.

Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken. Stir-fry until it turns white and is almost cooked. Remove from the wok.Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds). Add the chili peppers and the Szechuan peppercorn if using and vegetables .

Stir-fry briefly until they turn dark red and veggies are cooked.Add the sauce to the wok. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken back into the pan. Stir in the peanuts and the green onion. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve hot.

Serve hot with Fried rice!!!!

Chettinadu Chicken or Mutton Rasam (soup)

Chicken Rasam is one of Chetinnadu specials!!! I learnt this rasam from a chef who is working in Gourmet Kama restaurant in Aberdeen. This recipe can be used for both mutton or chicken. This rasam or soup would be one of the best remedies for cold. I personally prefer mutton for this recipe!!!!. Mutton Rasam and chicken chukka is a combination to beat!!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken or mutton ( with bones)

5 shallots ( chinna vengayam)

1 tbsp pepper powder

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tomato

2 greenchillies

5 flakes garlic

1' ginger

1 tsp redchilli powder

1 tsp dhaniya powder

2 cloves

1' cinnamon sticks

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp lime juice

oil for seasoning

salt to taste

Preparation:

Use small pieces of chicken or mutton with bones. Boneless meat doesn't give much flavour to this rasam!! Gringdginger and garlic to a fine paste.

Heat oil, add cloves and cinnamon sticks. Add shallots and fry for few minutes. Add Ginger garlic paste, fry till the raw smell vanishes... Add tomatoes and greenchillies and fry for 1o mts. Transfer this mixture to a cooker, along with chicken or mutton. Add Spice powder and add 2 cups of water( alter according to ur taste, u can have it slightly thicker consistency for rice, whereas for the soup it has to be watery). Leave it for minimum of 6 whistles ( cooking time depends on quality of the mutton). Remove from heat, once the pressure is down add little bit of lime juice ( optional) and Garnish with cilantro...

Serve hot with crushed pepper!!!!!

Note: U can filter the rasam, and have it as a soup!!!