Must Try Recipes

by Farheen Naaz

Bismillah

Every cook has must-try recipes from her kitchen, and I am no different. The only thing which might be different is that I am a novice when it comes to cooking and these are NO-FAIL recipes from my kitchen. When you are falling short of time, need to cook something delicious in a short span of time or just want to cook for fun, try the following recipes.

GINGER CHICKEN

This is the easiest recipe I have come across to make a gravy chicken. Ingredients are readily available and it takes just about 20 minutes to cook.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken
2 tbsp corn flour
1/4 cup oil
2 large onions
2 tbsp grated ginger
10 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

For the Sauce:
2 tsp soya sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp lemon juice -

Method:

· Marinate the chicken with corn flour, vinegar, soya sauce, black pepper and salt. It takes hardly 20 minutes for the chicken to get marinated in this mixture.

· Meanwhile, cut onions, grate ginger (thin and long pieces) and garlic. Grind 3 to 4 tomatoes and keep aside as the puree

· In a big bowl, mix water, corn flour, vinegar, soya sauce, salt, red chilli powder, lemon juice. (If you want a lot of gravy then use more water)

· Next, heat oil and deep fry the chicken. Keep aside the fried pieces.

· After that heat some oil and fry the onions till translucent. Add grated ginger and garlic. When the ginger and garlic start getting cooked, add the tomato puree and stir for four to five minutes.

· Add the liquid mixture to this and mix well. Next, add the fried chicken and leave it to simmer till the gravy thickens. When the gravy begins to thicken, add black pepper (if you want it to be very spicy)

· Garnish with spring onions and coriander.


CRUSTY POTATO FINGERS

Here’s a recipe for French fries with a little twist.

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes
2 1/2 cups cornflakes, crushed
Oil, for deep frying

For the Batter:
1 onion, roughly chopped: 1
1 green chilly, chopped: 1
1/2" piece ginger
Salt
1/2 cup refined flour
1 tbsp corn flour

Method:
· Peel and cut potatoes lengthwise into even strips

· Heat 4 cups water. Add salt and parboil sliced potatoes

· Drain and set aside

· Grind onion, green chilli, ginger and salt to make a fine paste. Mix with flour and corn flour

· Add water to make a thick batter

· Dip potatoes in batter, roll in crushed cornflakes and deep fry till golden

· Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with tomato sauce or mayonnaise


BABY CORN CIGAR / GOLDEN BABY CORN

There are lots and lots of recipes available for making baby corn. Here is a mixture of all of those. A tried and tested one :)

Ingredients:
20 – 24 baby corn
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
½ tsp red chilli powder
Salt
Chaat masala (if you do not have this then just use a spice mix which suits your taste)
Oil, to deep fry

For the Batter:
2 tbsp refined flour
2 tbsp corn flour 2 tbsp
1tsp coriander, chopped
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
Salt

Method:
· Marinate the boiled baby corns in ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and chat masala for 15 minutes

· Make batter by mixing all ingredients with sufficient water

· Dip marinated corn in batter and deep fry till golden and crisp

PS: If using the tinned baby corns, there is no need to marinate them. Just use a little extra ginger garlic paste and red chilli powder in the batter and dip them directly.

I'd love to hear your views on this topic. Please leave comments in the section below!

Posted in: Farheen Naaz,Food,Recipes