Thai Basil Chicken

Hi everyone !!

I am back after quiet a long gap. We went to India for a while and was busy this whole year with our new house. I wasn't attempting any new ventures in my kitchen all this while. But now when the holiday season is coming near, I am slowly getting into the mood :) .

Now before I get into the details of this dish, I want to tell about when I had my first experience with Thai cuisine. When we were on the lookout for houses, we came across an ad on Internet and went to see a place. It was late in the evening, and was dark, and hence we couldn't see the neighbourhood very well, what we did see was this very convenient strip mall right across the neighbourhood, and a Thai restaurant in the same mall !! I had heard that Thai cuisine is similar in taste to Indian cuisine as they use coconut a lot. I wanted to have food there so badly after seeing the restaurant and I told V that I never tasted Thai before. That day, though we were not sure about the neighbourhood or the house we came to see , we both dined at the Thai restaurant and it was like getting a taste of the neighbourhood :) It was the best ! 1 month and few weeks later we signed the papers and moved into the same neighbourhood . Though the restaurant is still there, we don't always go there , as it turns out to be a bit expensive. Its a once in a while treat when friends come home. Whomever we took to the restaurant , enjoyed the food. As for me, I have a special affection for the Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice. Even before the waiter asks for the spice level, I tell " 5 chillies or more " :) . They make it perfectly with the authentic Thai holy Basil that the owner gets from Quincy, Boston.



So when I saw the recipe posted on Suma's blog, I was thrilled. There is something else too, I got my treats from the Asian Food Grocer Tastemaker program through Foodbuzz. The Asian Food Grocer have a wonderful website with lots of interesting items used in the Asian kitchen. The ease of using it , was one thing which I liked. I had never shopped online, and I should say Asian Food Grocer became my first time and I felt a sense of accomplishment after that :D .

My V is so fond of chopsticks, that when I got the opportunity to use the gift certificate, that's what I ordered (3 pairs), along with other goodies : 2 rice bowls, 1 tea cup, 2 soup spoons, 1 box of Korean ginseng tea, 1 bottle Dashi, 1 bottle fish sauce. I have tried to capture all of them in these pictures.

I love the fish sauce, ask me why? Because it matches with the saying "You don't know what you have been missing until it arrives" and that's what I felt after I used it in Asian stir fries. I am not familiar with Dashi, I ordered it because I saw that its used in authentic soups. And I am a fan of soups. I would be glad to have someone who have used it/or know about Dashi, enlighten me about it.

After I ordered all the stuff, the total came to $31 and I used my debit card to complete the check out. I got an e-mail from them that I would be receiving it in the next 5-6 business days. I eagerly waited for my package to arrive by Fed Ex. The day it arrived, it was V who collected it and surprised me after I woke up from a short nap. The packing was neat. I especially liked the box that contained the Korean Ginseng Tea bags. Perfect for display !

The fish sauce will last a long time for me :) I never thought I would get such a generous amount :) . I recommend this website to all my readers who are interested to try some authentic Asian grocery. I thank Foodbuzz and the Asian Food Grocer for this opportunity to try something new in my kitchen.


So lets come to the dish. As I wrote above, I saw it on Suma's blog. I tried the same way she did, except use grated peel of lemon instead of Kaffir Lime leaves as I didn't have it. Suma, thanks for the wonderful recipe. I am posting it again here for my future reference :)


Ingredients:

1. 1 lb minced chicken
2. 4-5 basil leaves , chopped
   
3. 10 garlic pods
4. Kaffir lime leaves/ Grated Lemon peel - 2 leaves or 1/2 teaspoon peel
5. 1 Onion
6. 1 teaspoon soy sauce
7. 2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
8. Salt and Pepper to taste
9. 2 tablespoons oil
10. 5-6 Slit Green Chillies
11. 2 Capsicums (Bell Pepper) cut into strip lengthwise
    

Method:

1. Heat a pan with oil. Add garlic, onion, Bell Pepper and stir fry for a minute. Add a pinch of salt (not too much as fish sauce and soy sauce will compensate for the saltiness later during the preparation) . The bell pepper should remain crunchy in this dish, so don't cook it all the way through (I have not mastered this art, hence if you are a pro at it, please share that with me too :) .
2. Add the chicken and green chillies and stir fry until chicken is cooked and turns light brown.
   
3. Now add the soy sauce and fish sauce and stir well so that the entire dish is coated with the sauces. Now add some pepper and the chopped basil leaves and stir until leaves are wilted. Turn off the fire and close the dish. Serve hot with rice /noodles/roti.

Verdict : The pungent aroma of basil leaves infused with the fish sauce and the chicken makes one want to savour the dish immediately.

Lauki (Bottlegourd), Breadfruit (Sheema chakka or Kadachakka) Erisseri

I had recently purchased Lauki (Bottlegourd) for the first time. I had seen a lot of blogs posting recipes with this wonder vegetable, so I wanted to try it too. Recently I got a nice piece of Breadfruit from my cousin's place. So I wanted to make something special. Hence this Erissery came up in my mind. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

1. Lauki and Breadfruit cut into cubes - 2 cups
2. Canned Beans (or pressure cooked beans) any variety, I used Pink Beans - 1 can/1 cup after cooking: reserve 1/4 cup to be used for grinding (as told below)
   
3. To grind to a paste:

• Grated coconut: 1 cup (save some for garnishing at the end)
• Garlic and Ginger
  
• 1/4 cup of canned Beans (any variety can be used, I used Pink Beans)
  
• Dry roasted Cumin powder (1tspn), Coriander powder (1tspn), 5-6 Dry red chilli

4. For tampering:

• 1 tablespoon methi seeds
• 1 tspn mustard seeds
• Hing (Asafoetida) : a pinch

5. For the tangy flavor: Make a thick paste (approximately 1/4cup) of tamarind soaked in hot water.
6. Salt to taste and water as needed for gravy


How to make:

In a deep bottom vessel, on high heat, add 1 tablespoon oil. When the oil heats up, lower fire to medium and add all the tampering, then add the vegetables and fry them until they are a bit soft on the outer. then add sufficient water to cook , wait for the water to come to a boil and then close the vessel and let it cook. Add salt when they are almost cooked, that way you don't add more salt. When the vegetables are completely cooked, and there is just the right amount of water for gravy, add the ground paste, remaining canned beans and stir well. Then cook for 2 more minutes. Now add the tamarind pulp and stir again. Check for salt again. Cover cook for another minute and then switch off fire. Sprinkle the remaining grated coconut. Serve hot with Rose Matta rise like I did :) or with any other variety of rice.

Microwave Milk Peda

Well, I guess I am just disappearing too often from blogging world. I don't know the real reason behind it. But there is something called 'external factors', which , for me (and I am sure for all other bloggers), simple things like a proper table to sit and type , the tidiness in the room, and light, affects my mood to blog and hence, if this maybe considered an excuse, well, so be it, because, now with a brand new computer table which has lots of space to arrange files and other paperwork and a high end memory (thanks to V) upgraded computer, I am all set to blog again. Last weekend me and V assembled our computer table, took an hour. I love it when we both work together to assemble things like this, its always lots of fun :) . We almost ended up fixing the wrong wooden plank on one side of the table, then had to unscrew the whole thing and start over :D. I like the way the system works here, especially the do-it-yourself projects. It always helps to learn new things. And especially after buying a house, these projects are very handy.


Well, coming to the sweet , I made this on our 4th wedding anniversary on July 3rd. It was a quick fix , but the taste was too good. I always bake cakes on our wedding anniversary, but this time I had to settle for this sweet as our oven has quit its job :(. It smokes all the time when we switch it on . Hence I am on an adventure, I must say, to try making some satisfying sweets/snacks using my other working appliances :) You will be surprised to know some of the things I tried.

I found the recipe for Microwave Milk Peda in Sify. There are other blogs too out there which have made these sweets, and I liked each one of them. This sweet is a favorite of V. And I was happy to make it on our special day.


Ingredients:

1 can condensed milk
3 cups milk powder
1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
Cardamom powder - a pinch

Method:

• Melt butter in a microwave safe plate
• Add all the rest of the ingredients and stir well
• Microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, and stir
• Repeat the above step for every 2 minutes until it turns from yellow to light brown
• It takes approximately 6 minutes for making pedas this way
• Make balls out of the pedas and shape as desired

Hey I have one good news to share with you. I was lucky to be the 'The Foodie Blogroll - Stir, Laugh, Repeat Cookbook Cookbook Giveaway : Winner for June, 26 2009' . I got the Stir, Laugh , Repeat cookbook written by Martha Cleves (shown in the picture above). It has a lot of recipes which is written in a simple, and fun to way. I loved all the little anecdotes which she has shared under each recipe. There are also some interesting tips which can be used to make life easier. Being the first time I won any lucky draw contest, I was so happy, that I felt a bit emotional when I got this book by mail, signed by the Author herself :) Thank you Martha, and Thank you Queen of Foodie Blogroll for hosting such an event !