Chicken 65!
I promised you all that I would post a food dish from my parent’s home state, Andhra Pradesh – specifically from my Mom’s home city, Hyderabad….and now here it is finally! I would be lying if I told you that this is a dish I grew up to with my Mom’s homemade cooking. My parents are vegetarian and although they raised me as a non-vegetarian, my Mom primarily cooked vegetarian dishes – and anything Andhra related was hence all vegetarian.
So when I went out to dinner with a few new friends of mine from the NetIP-NY board (one of them being from Hyderabad), I discovered Chicken 65. We all went out to Nirvana, an Indian restaurant in NYC. One of my friends, Shobha, ordered Chicken 65 and proceeded to tell me how it is from Andhra. I could not believe that I had never heard of it before – until it later dawned on me that my Uncle always talked about Chicken 65 and how great it is – in fact at one of our recent Dasika get togethers (this past Summer 2009), my entire family discussed the origin of Chicken 65 and why it was named Chicken 65. I myself had never tasted it until last weekend. I immediately wanted to learn how to make it. My friend, Sami, the Hyderabadi, asked his Mom to give me a few pointers on the recipe and voila – there you have it. CHICKEN 65!
Chicken 65 is a deep fried, spicy chicken dish mostly served as an appetizer. It of course is a Hyderabadi dish and has many theories as to the origin of the name:
- The 65 in the Chicken 65 represents the year it was introduced by the famous hotel in Chennai called “BUHARI”. Hence the name “Chicken 65″. They also serve Chicken 78, Chicken 82, Chicken 90 which are all introduced in those years.
- The pants size of Tarul Assani, the chef that invented the dish nearly 200 years ago.
- The number 65 is variously said to be the number of days taken to prepare the marinade or the year of the dish’s creation.
I loved making this dish – it’s great for all you spicy lovers. I have to admit that even though I eat spicy food, I actually sweated while I was eating this dish!! Here is the recipe that I used – I improvised and added my own ingrediants too = ) I hope you enjoy!!
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp of cloves mixture
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- 2 tsp ginger grated
- 2 tsp red chilies powder
- 3 tsp Sriracha red sauce
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsp All purpose flour
- 4 drops red food coloring
- 2 cups Yogurt
- 6 Green chilies
- 2 tsp Cornflour (if you don’t have corn flour you can use corn starch but it will be a little thicker)
- 3 tsp lime juice
- Vegetable/Canola oil
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 onion chopped
- Cilantro
Directions:
- In bowl mix corn flour, all purpose flour, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, egg, clove mixture, and salt
- Add chicken pieces to batter and marinate for 1 hour
- Deep fry chicken pieces until golden
- In sauce pan, heat oil
- Fry onions for 1 minute and set aside in a bowl
- Add fried chicken, yogurt, green chillies, Sriracha sauce, red food color, lime juice and fry for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Garnish with onions and cilantro
2 comments March 15, 2010
hdasika
Snow day calls for making appies! Aloo Tikki wannabe…..
It’s snowing like anything up here. Still not as bad as my friends got hit in DC. Nonetheless, what else are we to do but make fun food and pig out??? Tonight I made an appetizer that I thought I would share with everyone. This one’s American but we spiced it up a bit with a few Indian tricks and it sort of came out like Aloo Tikki. It’s a potato/cauliflower fritter…here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 3 large red potatoes
- 1/2 head of cauliflower florets
- 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 egg beaten and 2 egg whites
- 3 tablespoons of garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 stick of butter melted
- 2 green chili peppers chopped
- Sriracha sauce
Directions:
1. Boil potatoes until cooked through and mash.
2. Cook cauliflower florets in separate pan of boiling water for 10 minutes and drain.
3. Mix the cauliflower florets into the mashed potatoes. Stir in the grated Pecorino Romano cheese and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
4. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, and chili peppers to the cauliflower/potato mixture.
5. Form mixture in rounds. Heat skillet over medium heat.
6. Add either vegetable oil or PAM non-stick spray to skillet. Add the fritters and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Here is a picture of the fritters on the frying pan:
7. Garnish fritters with Sriracha sauce
This dish is easy to make and appeals to all crowds as it is a vegetarian dish. I was told to add egg to this dish but I do have to say after trying this dish that I really don’t think you need to add egg at all when making this dish. The potato will be binding enough to make the fritters stick. Enjoy if you try the dish – please let me know what you think!!
Add comment February 11, 2010
hdasika
Chicken Makhani (butter chicken)
I am finally posting an Indian dish – yay!! This one is probably one of the most popular Indian dishes you will see in an Indian restaurant and it is therefore not unique by any means, but I did make it and thought I might as well post the recipe. This dish did not originate in my homestate, Andhra Pradesh, but don’t you worry, I’ll be posting dishes from my homestate very soon! This dish is a popular North Indian dish and I believe it originated in Delhi, India. Here is the recipe – enjoy:)
chicken makhani
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 pound boneless/skinless chicken breast cut into large chunks
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 small tomatoes chopped and de-seeded (we used tomatoes but I would recommend using tomato puree or tomato paste).
- 1 shallot chopped
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- Salt/Pepper
- Chopped fresh coriander leaves
- Corn Starch
Instructions:
Chicken:
- Heat frying pan with oil
- Add chicken and stir-fry for 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked all the way on both sides
Sauce:
- Heat sautee pan with oil
- Sautee onions and shallots for 5 minutes or until golden brown
- Add ginger, garlic, lemon juice, and all spices – sautee for 5 minutes
- Add tomatoes and sautee for 5 minutes
- Add yogurt, heavy cream, and corn starch and simmer for 5 minutes
- Add salt and pepper to taste and cooked chicken
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves
We had this with parathas, jeera rice, and red wine and it was just DE-LISH. Couple of notes I would like to make:
1. ***Important***If you use tomatoes please be sure to take out the seeds and as much tomato juice as possible – we did not do this and the sauce did not come out as thick as I would have liked it to come out. The key to the sauce is to be as buttery and thick with consistency as possible .
2. Please be liberal with the amount of butter you add – it is BUTTER chicken afterall and hence butter is one of the key ingredients so don’t think about your weight or health or anything of that matter – don’t feel bashful and just add the entire stick of butter – hellz add 2 sticks!
3. Corn Starch is also key to consistency in sauce.
Please let me know if you decide to make the dish!! and Bon App!!!
Add comment January 18, 2010
hdasika
Holiday Baking!! Shortbread Snowflakes
Ok so I am not a baker AT ALL. But I always try and bake something during the holiday season to get into the holiday spirit! I don’t invent my own recipes when it comes to baking because I hardly ever do it – plus I don’t have a sweet tooth at all (although I have come to appreciate sweets now as an adult more than I did when I was younger) so I tend to follow recipes. This year I used the following recipe to bake Shortbread cookies in the shape of snowflakes. Here is the recipe:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/shortbread-snowflakes
I have to say that I loved adding cardamom – I actually wish that I added more of that so if you do decide to follow this recipe I would recommend adding a bit more cardamom. Here are some pictures:
Snowflake Shortbread
2 comments December 17, 2009
hdasika
Okonomiyaki
It’s actually been a year since I made this but I thought I would post the recipe. I went to Japan a little over 2 years ago after I graduated from my MBA program. Three of my MBA classmates who are Japanese were kind enough to show me around the country. When I was in Kobe, my classmate took me to his cousin’s house and she cooked an amazing homecooked Japanese meal for me called Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki means “whatever you like” – so literally you can put whatever you like into the meal. It’s like a Japanese pizza where you choose the toppings. I watched my classmate’s cousin make this and promised her I would make it when I got to the states. Last year I had a holiday dinner party for my friends in DC and I finally made the dish. It was just de-lish. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Directions:
The Okonomiyaki sauce is what really makes the dish. Here are some pictures from my holiday dinner party last year.
Holiday Dinner Party 2008
toasting to saki!!!
Add comment December 17, 2009
hdasika
Black Bean Quesadilla
This is a very simple recipe but I love making it cause it is quick, easy, and soooooooooo tasty. Plus, you can do so many variations with the filling. I made this last night for my parents and since my Mom is vegetarian I decided to do Black Bean Quesadilla this time. Sorry folks, I didn’t take any pictures of it – we ate it ALL before I could snap even just one picture. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Canola oil
2 medium onions – chopped
2 cups chopped baby portabella mushrooms
1/2 cup cilantro
1 red bell pepper – chopped
1 can Goya black beans
2 green chilis – chopped (this is optional depending on how spicy you like to make this – I used Indian green chilis but I have used jalapeno peppers and Anaheim peppers in the past)
3 tablespoons of Lawry’s Fahitas spice (which is basically black pepper, chili pepper, oregano, cumin, salt, and garlic powder)
1 tablespoon cumin powder
2 large soft tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup salsa (any brand)
Directions:
1. Heat oil in large skillet and add onions. Sautee for 5 minutes on medium heat or until onions are slightly brown.
2. Add chopped mushrooms and chopped red bell pepper – sautee for 10 minutes
3. Add fahita mix, cumin powder, green chilis, and cilantro, and black beans; stir and sautee for another 5 minutes. Set black bean filling aside in bowl.
4. Layer the black bean filling, salsa, and both cheddar and mozzarella cheese on 1/2 of flour tortilla. Fold over the tortilla. Repeat this step with second tortilla. Grill tortilla on flat grill (medium heat) on both sides for about 5 minutes each side or until both sides are brown.
5. Garnish – you can be creative and garnish with almost anything. I used what was in my house which was Sriracha hot chili sauce (awwwwwww yeah, BEST sauce ever!!), and Cholula chili lime flavor hot sauce. I also garnished it with Cilantro.
6. Optional: Serve with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole
The great thing about making this dish is that it is very simple to make after a long day at work. However, the biggest challenge (or at least for me) is always getting the tortilla to stick together 100%. The first key to that is making sure you add a LOT of cheese – you don’t have to use cheddar and/or mozzarella – I just used what we had in our house. But you can really get creative and use other cheeses such as feta, blue cheese, gruyere etc. The second key to this is making sure you don’t overstuff the tortilla with too much filling – I tend to overstuff it cause I can’t help it – I love the filling! But either way, you can’t go wrong to make a delicious meal – overstuffing ain’t a bad look either – they don’t have to be perfect – they just have to look homemade!
Enjoy if you decide to make them and please let me know how they turned out!!
Add comment December 16, 2009
hdasika
Cooking Morrocan with my cousin
This is my first blog entry! Woohoo! My parents bought a house in Florida (close to Sarasota) a few years back and plan to retire there. In the meantime, they take trips down to Florida from time to time to check up on the house. This time they decided to drive down from New Jersey and since I just moved back to my parents house and have some free time I thought, ‘why not take the trip down with them?’ Also, one of my cousins just had massive surgery a month ago and is now staying with her parents in Orlando while she recovers. So I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with her, too. After spending a few days at my parents’ Florida home, I came up to Orlando to spend time with my cousin, Swati, on Sunday night. She’s doing very well – and I am so happy to see how well she is doing despite what she went through. I always have such a great time with her – she’s 6 years younger to me but she is always so wise beyond her years that I feel like I am talking to someone my age – or even older than me! One of the things I love about her is the fact that she is a big foodie just like me and eats anything and everything. Wherever we go she has her fork ready to try something new! She has her own blog about food called Global Glutton – you should check it out at: http://globalgluttononline.blogspot.com/
toast for Swatireading...
Swati was doing well enough this week to try out new recipes and cook a few dishes for her parents (my aunt and uncle) when they got back home from work. On Monday we looked in the fridge to see what we could make with what we had. We had chicken……saw some vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini, etc. We were thinking, and thinking, and thinking of what interesting dish we could make. And then it hit me like a lightening bolt. ahhhhhhh…..ha! Morrocan chicken! I then asked Swati if we had couscous in the house to which she replied, “Yes! And we can use the vegetables to make grilled vegetable couscous!”. And there you have it – our first meal in the house while I am visiting was decided – Morrocan it is! Now all we need is a belly dancer and we’re all set!
So the race was on to get this dinner together by the time my aunt and uncle came home. We decided to make M’galli Chicken Tagine and Grilled Vegetable Couscous. First we needed to go to the grocery store to buy a few ingredients. We went to the Fresh Market in Windermere, Florida and bought a variety of olives from the olive bar as well as lemons, and a few medium sized onions.
After we came home my cousin worked on the chicken dish while I worked on the Couscous.
Here are the recipes for both dishes:
M’galli Chicken Tagine:
3 small skinless/boneless thighs
1/2 small cup cooking oil
1/2 small cup olive oil
9 cloves garlic
6 medium-sized onions
3 tablesspoons salt
pinch of saffron powder
1/8 pound of variety of pickled olives
1 pickled lemon – see below for recipe
1 tablespoon vinegar
1. Wash chicken thighs and rub with lemon, garlic, salt, saffron, and pickled lemon.
2. Place cooking oil and olive oil in a pan and sautee the chicken thighs on each side for 10 minutes.
3. Add the diced onions and fry for 5 minutes.
4. Cover with water and simmer for 90 minutes.
5. Remove chicken once it is cooked and place on a plate. Sprinkle with the sauce and decorate with olives. Garnish with fried parsley.
Pickled Lemon recipe
Ingredients – to make one jar of lemons
5-6 Lemons – to fit a large clear jar
½ kg salt
1 Cinnamon stick
3 Bay leaves
¼ cup olive oil
Spring water – to fill the jar
1. Wash the lemons and cut them into quarters from the pointed end up to within 2cm of the stalk end. Gently open them without breaking them apart, remove any visible pips, pack them with salt and then press them back into shape.
2. Put 1 tablespoon salt into the large sterilized clear jar.
3. Put in the lemons and press them down, adding more salt and spices between the layers. Push the lemons down firmly to release some of the juice and to make room for the other lemons. Fill the jar up with spring water, leaving enough space for the olive oil.
4. Cover the top with oil and seal the jar. The oil is to seal and protect the lemons from contact with the air.
5. Leave the lemons in a cool dry and dark place for 4-6 weeks before using.
Grilled Vegetable Couscous:
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Zucchini
1 medium red onion
Olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of cinnamon powder
1 1/2 cup couscous
2 3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon butter
Grilled Vegetables:
1. Cut vegetables into long pieces.
2. Rub olive oil to each piece of vegetable using basting brush and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and cinnamon powder
3. Grill vegetable on grilling pan until golden brown.
4. Remove from pan
Couscous:
1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil.
2. Add salt and stir.
3. Add couscous and remove from heat and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
4. Add grilled vegetables to couscous
My aunt and uncle came home and we prepared dinner and served with a glass of Shiraz. Normally I would not think that a chicken dish with pickled lemon and olives would go well with red wine. But surprisingly, the Shiraz complemented the chicken dish as well as the cinnamon flavor from the grilled vegetable couscous. Shiraz tends to be lighter in nature which is why it actually worked with the chicken and couscous dishes. Also, the pickled lemon was very flavorful in this chicken dish. I learned that pickled lemons are very common in Moroccan cooking – very interesting because we make a similar pickled lemon in Indian cooking as well. My cousin, Swati, made a fantastic chicken dish – I have to give her a special shout out for making this meal fantabulous. The chicken was cooked to perfection – very tender. I can still smell the saffron, tangy pickled lemon, and cinnamon spices 2 days later. I learned from Swati that the trick to cooking tender chicken is to buy boneless/skinless thighs and to first pan sear the meat for 5 to 10 minutes to brown it on all sides, then braise with water or some form of liquid . It just turned out amazing. What a great start to spending quality time with my cuz!!
Here are some pictures of the dishes:
4 comments October 28, 2009
hdasika
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
1 comment October 27, 2009
hdasika
