Chicken lollipop

Who doesn't like lollipops? Even my kiddo who is not a big fan of candies like to suck on the lollipop for a couple of seconds.  I remember when me and my sister waiting for the lollipop my father used to get when he returns home from the market on Sundays. OK This is going somewhere else..no, I don't know how to make lollipops. I was trying to make a point that we all love lollipops just because its fun to hold and eat it. It is equally fun with chicken lollipops. In recent times whenever we visit an Indo-Chinese restaurant we end up ordering chicken lollipops just because my kid loves it and gobbles it up without a count. It made me think 'if she likes it so much why not make it at home?". So I decided to give it a try. Surprisingly it is not a very hard thing to make. The tough part is to cut them and make into lollipops which wasn't very hard considering its the first time I'm trying it. Rest all is very easy and you can munch in your lollipops in no time.

Things you'll need:
Chicken wings - 3 (you can make 6 lollipops with three wings)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
Egg - 1
All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely minced
Green onions - 2, finely chopped
Red food color -  2 drops (optional)
Oil - for deep frying

Yield - 6 lollipops

Method:

Step 1:
Cut the wings into three parts and discard the end portion. Make lollipops with each wings by cutting the meat at one end of each wing and pushing it towards the other end. Marinate the lollipops with chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, 2 tsps of soy sauce and salt (be careful when adding salt as soy sauce contains salt), and keep aside for 15 mins.



















Step 2:
Prepare the batter with corn flour, all purpose flour, egg, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp chilli sauce, pepper powder, food color and salt.

Step 3:
Heat the oil in a deep pan. Dip the lollipops in the batter and fry them in medium heat. (The heat should be in medium to allow the chicken to cook thoroughly).










Step 4:
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, saute the garlic and spring onions. Add the remaining soy sauce and chilli sauce and saute for couple of minute. Add a little water or stock mixed with 1 tsp of corn flour to the mixture and stir until it thickens. Add the chicken and mix well.

Garnish with spring onions and serve..get ready to receive the praises..

Stir-fry Noodles

My daughter is a noodle lover. Although she is a picky eater, we can trust her with noodles every time we go out to eat or having lunch/dinner at a friend's place. From instant noodles to authentic Chinese noodles she likes all kinds of them. If they don't have vegetables..good. If they are spicy..great. If they have chicken...wow!!. But somehow she doesn't appreciate the noodles I make for her at home or for her school lunch. I seriously don't know what's going wrong. I used the same ingredients they mentioned in the chowmein recipes, used thin noodles which she used to like in restaurants, used less vegetables, sometimes none. But she eats only a bit, which I would have forced into her mouth. I am going to still try all noodle recipes I could get and win her appreciation someday. Below is my version of the stir fry noodles recipe. But I would really like to know if someone has a different version of the stir fry noodles to make it taste like those in restaurants. 

Things you'll need:
Chowmein noodles - 1 pack
Carrots - 1/2 cup, diced
Cabbage - 1/2 cup, diced
Capsicum - 1/2, cut lengthwise
Garlic - 5 cloves, minced
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
Stir fry sauce - 1 tbsp
Salt - as needed (go easy on the salt since the sauces have salt in them)
Pepper - 1 tsp, crushed or coarsely ground
Oil - 1 tbsp

Yield - Serves 2-3 persons

Method:

Step 1:
Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain, mix in some oil, and let dry on a plate.
Heat oil in a wok or large pan. Stir fry the vegetables, garlic with salt and pepper, until the vegetables are almost cooked but crunchy.

Step 2:
Add the noodles and stir fry the noodles mixing the vegetables and noodles. Mix the sauces in a bowl by adding little water. Add them to the noodle mixture and stir fry until the noodles are dry and the sauces are well absorbed.

Serve hot with your favorite side.

Tip: Before adding the noodles you could add a scrambled egg to add extra flavor. You could also make it more spicy by adding some chilli sauce.

Chilli fish (gravy)

Indo-chinese recipes are my all time favorite. Whenever I want to take time off from my regular dishes and do something special for dinner or lunch I opt for Indo-chinese food without blinking an eye. Usually it will be a Manchurian and fried rice. But this time I wanted to do a seafood special. Chilli fish is the first thing came to my mind. We usually go for chilli fish with fried rice/noodles when we do a take-away. Somehow I thought it takes a lot of time to prepare it and hence never attempted to give it a try. Yes, it took a bit of my time but it wasn't so complicated as I thought. I made it for a Saturday dinner and served with veggie stir fry noodles.

Things you'll need:
Fish fillets - 2 (tilapia or any firm fish)
Soy sauce - 2tbsp + 2tsp
Chilli sauce - 1tbsp+1tsp
Corn flour -  2 tbsp
Salt - as needed
Food color (orange or red) - a pinch (optional)
Garlic cloves - 3, finely chopped
Onion - 1, cubed or slit lengthwise
Bell pepper (green or mixed colors) - 1 cup, cubed or slit lengthwise
Tomato paste - 1 tsp
Green onions - 2, finely chopped





Oil - for deep frying the fish and sauteing the vegetables

Yield - 2 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Cut the fillets into small pieces. Mix the cornflour, 2 tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of chilli sauce, salt and food color (optional) in a bowl.

Step2:
Coat the fish pieces with the corn flour mixture and deep fry them in small batches. Let them sit on a paper towel.

Step3:
Heat a little oil in a pan, saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper, uncovered in medium low, until the vegetables are cooked but little crunchy. Add the tomato paste, 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of chilli sauce and salt. Bring to a boil.

Step5:
Reduce the heat to low and cook the sauce for a couple of minutes. Add the fillets, mix it well, switch off the stove and garnish with green onions.

Serve it with fried rice or noodles

Tips:
Use dark sesame oil for more authentic effect. You could also use some toasted sesame seeds for garnishing.
If you prefer a thicker gravy, mix 2 tsp of cornflour in  1/4 cup of  water and stir into the boiling gravy. The gravy will thicken in couple of minutes. 

Vegetable manchurian

My friend would be very happy to see this recipe posted. She was asking to post this recipe ever since I made this for our Chinese themed potluck. I tried this recipe for the first time and luckily it came so well and liked by all my friends. This recipe takes quite a bit of time for the prep work. With a little patience and care this recipe would turn perfect.

Things you'll need:

For the vegetable balls:
Mixed vegetables (I used carrot, cabbage, beans and cauliflower) - 2 cups, grated
Salt - as required
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Corn flour - 1/2  cup
Chilli sauce - 2 tsp
Boiled rice - 1/4 cup (optional, to reduce stickiness of the vegetable mixture and easily hold them)
Spring onions (white and green parts) - 2, finely chopped
Oil - for deep frying the balls

For the gravy:
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
Ginger - 1" piece, minced
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Sweet and sour sauce (optional) - 1 tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tbsp
Vinegar - 1tbsp
Vegetable stock (reserved after boiling the vegetables) or water - 1/2 cup
Salt - as required
Spring onions (green part) - 2

NOTE: Take care when adding the salt as soy sauce contains salt.

Yield - Serves 5-6 persons

Method:

Step1:

Blanch the vegetables with little salt in 1/2 cup water for couple of minutes. Squeeze out the water and reserve it for the gravy. Add the soy sauce, chilli sauce, green onions, corn flour and boiled rice (optional), to the vegetables and shape them into balls. Deep fry the balls and keep aside.



















Note: Always try frying one ball first, and if comes together fry the other balls.

Step2:

Heat a little oil in a pan, saute the onions, garlic and  ginger. Add the sauces, vinegar, salt and sugar, and the stock. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for couple of minutes. Mix the corn flour in 1/4 cup of water and add it to the gravy. Stir until the gravy thickens. Switch off the stove and garnish with spring onions.

Step3:

Add the fried balls just before serving. Serve with fried rice or noodles.

TIP: If you want it dry, skip the stock. Rest all the steps are same.

Kung Pao Chicken

This is a traditional Sichuan recipe supposedly named after a governor of Sichuan province. In any Chinese restaurant this dish would be definitely in the menu. This dish is also my favorite as well as my husband's. I would not say this is an easy-to-make recipe, but since I used ready made Kung Pao sauce it didn't take me much time to prepare this dish. If you couldn't get ready made sauce you could also prepare Kung pao sauce ahead using some soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, sugar, cornstarch and chilli sauce.

Things you'll need:
Chicken - 1/2 lb
Vegetables of your choice (cubed) - 2 cups (I used zucchini and baby corn)
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
corn starch - 1 tbsp
ginger - 1/2 inch piece (minced)
garlic - 2 (minced)
Spring onion - 2 (chopped)
red chillis -  3
Roasted peanuts - handful
Kung Pao sauce - 2 tbsp
egg - 1
Oil - for frying the chicken

Yield - 2 - 3 Servings

Method:

Step1:
Clean and cube the chicken. Marinade the chicken with 2 tsps  soy sauce, egg, and 2 tsps corn starch. Keep aside for 10-15 mins. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the chicken pieces. Drain them and place them in a bowl lined with a tissue.

Step2:
Heat some oil in a pan (you can use sesame seed oil for better taste) in medium heat, add the red chillis, when the chillis are just brown (see that the chillis are not burned). Add the ginger and garlic and the vegetables. saute the vegetables until they are almost done. Don't cover them while cooking, the vegetables should be crisp.

Step3:
Add the soy sauce, Kung Pao sauce, little salt (go easy on the salt since soy sauce has salt in it), and 1/2 cup water. Stir well and add the chicken  and the peanuts. Add the corn starch and stir quickly to thicken the sauce. Garnish with spring onions.

Serve with stir fry noodles or fried rice.

This recipe can be substituted exclusively with vegetables.  

Baby corn manchurian

Manchurian is my favorite..whether its chicken or cauliflower (gobi) or baby corn, I just love it. I think all who loves chinese food does love manchurian in any form. I have heard about baby corn manchurian but never tried it or had it at any restaurant (they didn't have it in the menu..). Whenever I do gobi manchurian, I would tell to myself "next time i should try baby corn manchurian". Some time ago my husband was in the grocery store and he called me (he calls me at least once to ask any doubt if he goes alone to grocery stores)..and asked me "I find some baby corns here..do u know something to cook with baby corn?". Yes u guessed it right..I said " I do"

And the next day we had egg fried rice and baby corn manchurian for lunch..yummy!!
Before you lose your patience and try to scroll down, here's the recipe...

Things you need:
Baby corns - 10-12 (if smaller add some more)
Onion - 1 cubed
Bell peppers - 2, assorted colors, cubed
Garlic - 1 big clove, minced
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece minced
Scallions - For garnishing
Green chillies - 1 (optional)
Soy sauce - 4 Tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1Tbsp
Tomato sauce - 1 Tbsp
Tomato Ketchup - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - For deep frying

For coating baby corns:
Tomato ketchup - 1Tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Corn flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1 tsp

Serves 2-3 people

Method:
Step1:
Blanch the baby corns in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain them well. Mix the corn flour, chilli powder, salt, ketchup, and 1 tbsp of soy sauce.

Step2:
Coat each baby corn in the flour mixture and deep fry in batches. The oil should be hot. Since the baby corns are already blanched, it  needs to sit in the oil until the flour coating gets brown. Then remove them and dry them in a paper towel. At this stage the baby corns can be served as a snack or appetizer with chutney or ketchup.

Step 3:
Heat up little oil in a pan, and fry the cubed onions, minced ginger and garlic, and green chillies until the onions turn soft. Add the tomato sauce and the bell peppers. When the peppers are cooked add 3 Tbsp of  soy sauce, chilli sauce and  tomato ketchup and bring it to a boil. Switch off the stove and garnish with chopped scallions.
Note: If you want to increase the quantity of the sauce mix some corn flour (maybe a teaspoon or two ) in little water and add it to the sauce.

Step 4 :
Mix the baby corn to the sauce just minutes before serving, serve the manchurian and get ready for a praise!!