Cashew Peanut Chicken

This one is my mom's creation. She happened to taste a similar dish in a restaurant and had to recreate it. So she gave me a rough idea of the ingredients and said I could try it out with whatever sauces I liked! Given the freedom, I took this opportunity to try out most of the sauces I had in my refrigerator... and I must say, I was quite happy with the result!

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1/2 kg

Carrot - 1 cup (1 inch long thin slices)

Capsicum - 1 cup (1 inch long thin slices)

Onions - 1 small (thinly sliced)

Garlic - 2 cloves

Sugar - 1 tsp

Cashewnuts - a handful

Peanuts - a handful

Dried red chilli -5

Egg - 1

Corn flour - Enough to coat the chicken

Lime juice - 1 tbsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Oil - 1/4 cup plus enough for deep frying

Salt to taste

To mix:

Tomato sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp

Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp

Teriyaki sauce - 2 tsp

Schezwan sauce - 2 tsp

Hot chilli sauce - 1/2 tsp

Honey - 1 tsp

Garlic powder - 1 tsp

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with lime juice, pepper and salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Add a beaten egg to the chicken and mix well. Put the chicken into a strainer. This is done to remove excess egg.

3. Toss the chicken pieces in cornflour. Again put the chicken pieces into a strainer to remove excess cornflour.

4. Deep fry the chicken pieces until they are nice golden brown in colour.

5. In a pan, add oil and throw in the crushed garlic. Remove the garlic from the oil when it starts to turn light brown in colour. Fry the red chillies and the nuts in oil and keep aside.

6. In the same pan, saute the onions till it gets translucent. Add the carrots and the capsicum and cook till they are done.

7. In a small bowl, mix together all the sauces and powders mentioned above. Add this to the vegetables and mix well. If you like to have some gravy, add quarter cup of chicken stock.

8. Add the sugar and throw in the chicken pieces. Toss it till the chicken pieces are well coated. Stir for a minute.

9. Transfer this to a serving bowl and mix in the fried chillies and the nuts.

This dish goes well with fried rice/noodles.

Pineapple Pachadi

Sweet and spicy.....a definite treat to the taste buds! This is one of my favorite vegetarian dish and the one that I look for in every sadhya. Last onam, my husband's cousin made this and I was fortunate enough to taste it. I must say, it was simply awesome!!! And, as usual, I had to get the recipe and try it on my own. Fortunately, it came out well and I finally decided to post it.

Ingredients:

Fresh pineapple - 2 cups(cubed)

Sugar - 4 tbsp

Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Yoghurt - 5 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

To grind:

Coconut - 1 cup(grated)

Green chillies - 2

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

To Temper :
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dried red chillli - 2

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

1. In a vessel(preferably an earthern vessel/chatti), cook the pineapple with the sugar. Remember not to add water as the water from the pineapple will ooze out. Cook till the pineapple is soft and the water has dried up.

2. Add the turmeric and chilli powder.

3. Grind the ingredients mentioned above with little water. Add it to the pineapple mixture. Cook for 1 minute.

4. Next add the coconut milk and stir well. Adjust the salt and also the sweetness of the dish. The sweetness can be increased by adding sugar.

5. Lastly add the curd. Check for the sourness of the dish after adding each spoon. Mix well and turn off the stove.

6. For tempering, heat coconut oil another pan. Add the dried red chilli first. After few seconds, splutter the mustard seeds and add the curry leaves. Pour over the pineapple pachadi and mix well.

7. Enjoy this delicious dish with rice!

Pesaha Appam and Paal

For Pesaha Appam:

Roasted Rice powder - 1 cup

Urad dal - 3 tbsp (soak in water for 1 hour)

Small onion(shallots) - 3

Garlic - half of a clove

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Coconut - 3/4 cup (grated)

1. Grind the coconut, urad dal, small onions, garlic and cumin seeds using required amount of water.

2. Add in the rice powder and blend it well in a blender. Add water if required. The consistency of the batter should be like idli's batter.

3. Brush some oil in a pan and pour the batter. Make a cross using the palm leaf and place it on top.

4. Steam it for around 15 to 18 minutes.

5. Wait till it completely cools down before transferring it to a serving dish.

For Pesaha Paal:

Coconut milk - 3 cups(medium consistency)

Jaggery - 200 g

Roasted rice powder - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp (powdered)

Cardamom - 4 (powdered)

Dry ginger powder(chukku) - 1/2 tsp

Salt - a pinch

1. Place jaggery in the coconut milk and set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Once the jaggery has melted, Strain the mixture and place it on medium flame.

3. Make a thick paste with the rice powder and water. Add this to the milk. This is done to thicken the milk a little.

4. Add the powdered spices and salt.

5. Turn off the flame once the milk thickens. Pour it into a serving dish and place a cross made from the palm leaf.