TOMATO YOGURT MICROWAVE MADE CHICKEN

I DID NOT EXPECT SUCH AMAZING RESULT FROM AN EASY MADE CHICKEN CURRY!

Few months back whilst scrolling my photo album, I discovered a chicken feature made last year or early this year! After much of hesitation, I deleted the pictures! I felt the spices did not mingle well with the meat & curry, given it was a quick curry made in the microwave oven! But I had on my mind to cook it sooner, with the same ingredients and using the microwave method! That I did last to last Saturday & enjoyed the chicken curry until yesterday afternoon! Light meat curries, chicken or mutton sets my mood! Like I wasn't that happy with the thick mutton curry I cooked last Saturday for our guests! The problem is I fear the raw smell, I did not use much of oil or spices, just that I tend to over cook the mutton for long hours, the fat melts & the gravy gets oily & thick!

I WENT FOR AN EARLY LONG WALK TODAY!

I was back home by 1 pm, dot! I have no plans to eat out today & tomorrow! Hence, I finished off with the out door walk pretty early as per my schedule! Usually, people go for morning walks, in this island any time is a good time to go for walks or run, they love running! I just wish to take part in walkathons but there are only races happening throughout the year! Running caused me knee injury, my last participation in a race was in December, 2019! I go too slow, almost walk & finish a half marathon in nearly four hours, no point of going! I cannot stress or push myself, I fear injury, even death! I dislike working in the gym, feels claustrophobic! I enjoy long walks & swim, in my own slow pace! I walked 7.5 km today, that could have been fine if my tongue remained in my control! I just love food! Anyway, I had a fulfilling walking session in my own pace, happiness is to know no one was there to force me with anything! We love our freedom at this home, I enjoy such clicks too!

I wish I could grow them & that home is supposedly my dream home, I want it in my dream alone! I am a panicky self, even if the man buys one such, I cannot stay! 50% of fear is of burglary & 50% of the haunted witches & ghosts! At this time, I have no qualms about not owning a home here, that phase has passed away! As long as the son scores good & remains firm with his aspirations, mumma wants to keep cheering him! She wants him to get a good job, settle in a peaceful place, scenic but have the home near the city centre, have green space at his home which essentially would not be in a secluded place! His parents are not comfortable about living in big areas with scattered homes, neither they want the same for him! We would discuss with him all of these as & when required, no hurry, one thing at a time! Of course, if his partner does not agree with us, we would not interfere!

WHAT IS THIS TOMATO YOGURT MICROWAVE MADE CHICKEN?

See what I & Cristine had for our lunch, the maximum are leftovers from last Saturday! The egg & potato spiced rice was made this morning for the man's lunch box & packed with chicken kebab, also Malpua! 

I so much keep eating outside, I am feeling home bound these days! After a walk or a swim, I am preferring to eat at home, may be twice or thrice a week I would eat outdoor! The thing is, when I eat alone outside of home, I try to keep the budget within 7-9-10$! In such a scenario, your choices get narrowed, I have almost covered everything within this budget that suits my tongue! Now what? At home, I do enjoy playing with ingredients, make lame videos of the steps! You have to remain engaged in some fruitful job, I will not allow myself to sit idle! This non-vegetarian meat recipe, TOMATO YOGURT MICROWAVE MADE CHICKEN had been an impromptu idea! I mean we keep doing chicken with yogurt & tomato, at times adding turmeric or at times without it, at times using yogurt alone or tomato alone, besides other ingredients! I have never tried a microwave version! I only depended on a rough idea about what I want of it; a light curry base chicken using a little amount of oil! The stepwise pictures would say how simple a gluten-free chicken curry it is!

Few other meat recipes from this blog are : EASY STEAMED CHICKEN, BEET GAJOR ALOO DIYE PATHAR MANGSHO, CHICKEN PRAWN VEGETABLE SOUP

INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN : 1 KG MEDIUM CUT

SLICED ONION : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

SLICED TOMATO : 7-8 PIECES

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 4-5

GARLIC PASTE : 1 TBSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 OR 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE : 

Wash the chicken pieces well under the running water! I do not have to struggle to get water, I would not understand what scarcity of water is! I may sound like Nero but the thought of having non-veg food at a normal place does not excite me, did they clean the meat & fish properly? I will cook at home, I have a help!

Marinate the washed chicken with enough salt for an hour, wash thoroughly a couple of times! This helps get rid of the raw smell!

Add all of the ingredients except for the washed & slitted green chillies to the chicken taken in a microwave proof bowl! Of course, we would wash the sliced onions well!

Fold in well & keep covered for an hour! Thereafter place the bowl in the microwave oven, cover it with a microwave proof plate. Microwave at 300 power for 10 minutes. Take out and stir well!

Again microwave at 300 power for 12-13 minutes, take out and give a stir!

Add the slitted green chillies, stir & microwave at high for 10-12 minutes! We should be done! 

We can enjoy it with both plain rice & chapati, even toasted bread!

 

CRISPY BAKED PASTRY SHEET ROLL

AFTER A PRETTY LONG TIME, I AM WRITING A BLOGPOST, A FEEL GOOD THING FOR SURE!

Yesterday was a day full of tensed moments! It was World Cup Cricket's Final Match last evening, India was one of the contestant! You can imagine the amount of pressure on our minds! The man hides it tactfully, I am expressive! We have to accept that the Australian Cricket Team had been strong all through, they do not go out of form ever! Our son never sits to watch a game of cricket, he is an ardent fan of Formula-1 matches, of what else mumma does not know! In my side of the family, except for me, every one else had been good in sports; all of the three sisters including our mother earned medals in sports, the father played football, my brother used to be a good swimmer, cricketer, sprinter! The entire family would watch any sport on our black & white television, the maternal grandfather who stayed with us in Kolkata during his posting there would insist all of us watch the important football, cricket, lawn tennis matches! Then the man entered my life who did not play any game but is fond of watching sports! I would sit with him & watch the game of cricket! I do not watch the Wimbledon or American Open anymore! Well, to watch the Gymnasts perform in the Olympics used to be my another hobby! I am myself far from playing any game! Today, I feel I had to learn something besides the text books, may be music!

HOW DO I SPEND MY SUNDAYS?

Ever since the son has left for his college, we hardly have anything to do on this day! For long, I continued the practice of getting store bought food for the man! Then one day, I stopped going out to the mall opposite to fetch food! Sundays seem long with most of the cooking done on the Saturdays! Yet, at least one meal I wish to cook on a Sunday, it can be the simplest! I enjoy the exercise, it helps me spend some quality time! The son would not pick up the phone always, the man would prefer having his beer, wine or whisky over going out with me on a lunch date! I have a license but cannot drive, drink driving is out of question at this home! Every country should have strict rules with regards to drink driving & playing music while driving! Yesterday, under the stress of India's possibility of losing the match, I cooked this!

For yesterday's lunch, we had a scrumptious Bengali platter, all items of our choice! That chicken curry I wish to blog about, I liked it! Today, after a swimming session, my first meal was a noodle bowl, corn+butter+chilli+salt cup & I do the latter better than any outlet selling it!

The problem is I cannot have that butter corn cup alone for a better looking, fitter body! Hence, my hanging belly keeps showing up prominent! Cristine cooked the noodles pretty well!

WHAT IS THIS CRISPY BAKED PASTRY SHEET ROLL?

I always have a pastry sheet packet kept in my freezer, I like cooking various snacks using it! The problem is I am poor at shaping them with the filling! Cristine wasn't around, I rolled them the simplest way because they were to be baked! I do like Bengali style rolls, specially the egg rolls but cannot digest those heavy stuffs! I started liking spring rolls when I first had them in my college days, did not have much of idea how Far East had it or South East Asia had it! I only knew it as Chinese Food! Funny enough, sitting in Singapore, I find their spring rolls pretty bland, having only some shredded & boiled cabbage or turnips with a hint of salt! For a desi like me, it is not welcome! Also spring rolls are deep fried! If I have learnt using pastry sheets for snacks that are oven cooked just brushing some oil, why would not I? I do have one or two similar recipes in the blog! The filling made for this CRISPY FRIED PASTRY SHEET ROLLS is one of a kind! Though I wished for a vegetarian snack, sometime back I discovered this Spring Home's pastry sheets have eggs used in the making, consider these non-vegetarian snackers!

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE FILLING]

CHOPPED CARROT : A BOWLFUL

BOILED POTATO : A BOWLFUL

CHOPPED ONION : 2 TBSP

ROASTED PEANUT : 2 TBSP

CHOPPED COCONUT : 2 TBSP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TSP

CURRY LEAF : 7-8

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1 TSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/4 TSP

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

ASAFOETIDA : A PINCH

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 TSP

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE BAKED ROLLS]

THE FILLING

THE PASTRY SHEETS

SOME OIL OR GHEE OR BUTTER TO BRUSH

PROCEDURE :

Take the cut coconut, carrot, onion, green chillies together, wash & marinate with salt & turmeric! 

Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok, temper with the cumin seeds & asafoetida!

Add the marinated vegetables, stir & cover cook! My initial plan was not to add the boiled potato, later I changed my mind, I love potatoes!

Remove the cover, add the rest of the spice powders, curry leaves & give a stir! Add the boiled & mashed potatoes, fold in well! 

Add the roasted peanuts, fold in well & take down! Let it cool!

Cristine wasn't there at home & I am poor at folding a pastry sheet!

I felt free to just roll them & bake! I filled one side with some filling, applied water to the two ends, rolled the simplest way, pressed!

I greased one oven proof tray and placed the rolls with the two ends side placed down! I brushed some ghee on them for a better flavour!

Inside my convection mode microwave, I placed the low height wired stand, preheated the oven at 160*C!

I had placed the oven proof plate inside, closed the door, baked for 15 minutes at 160*C! 

The cooking time varies for different machines, be careful!

APPLE CINNAMON DESICCATED COCONUT MISHTI

 IT WAS AN IMPROMPTU IDEA!

This morning, sometime around 9 am I finally decided I cannot get a fish curry recipe in the blog today! Early morning, I read about a post in the parent's forum & went off mood totally! My depression knows no bound & how can I stay well? A young boy, a year older to our son, who just graduated in Mechanical Engineering last year is no more! I do not know him personally, but thinking of the scene is too heartbreaking; that he was fun loving, adventurous! How beautiful the caption read, "An Engineer by the Day, Adventure Photographer by the Sunset"! I do not understand what might have been right or what may have gone wrong when it comes to the safety, security, longevity of the kids around! His father is sick, mother works but do not have enough means to bid him a decent goodbye! Such pathetic it feels inside, had he not been this adventurous, he could bring good fortunes to the family!

WE WERE HAPPY UNTIL THE ABOVE NEWS CAME IN!

We were savouring India's win against South Africa, Virat Kohli's century, Shami's wicket taking skills; in fact Team India's performance at this time! I cooked something similar to Fateer Pyazi bread as part of my pleasure activity on Sundays & then the above news comes in early morning, such a promising life & career was waiting for him! In this scenario, I wasn't willing to share a Bengali fish curry recipe! Also, this is the Kalipujo / Bhai Phota / Diwali week, a fish share would not suit! I had a "Bhola Mach" curry on my mind that I and my brother started loving the day the mother got it home first! Originally, this fish was not eaten in the family just as pomfret! The mother says, these days the brother prefers meat over fish! Our monkey son had always been a meat lover over a fish! My tiny green space, some cooking ideas give me solace when I feel restless!

Early morning, I cooked noodles for the man's lunch box & our's, clicked my green corner too!  Then I read the news in our parent's group, the deceased child walked the same corridor & classrooms our son does, it is a horrifying feel for a mother sitting thousands of miles away from her child! I had to pay tribute to the departed soul, at first I thought of baking a cake! I dug out half a large packet of desiccated coconut that crossed the expiry date, it went to the dustbin! I did have in stock another fresh packet! All of a sudden, I felt too lethargic to go through the process of baking! I have to have the right mind to go for the labour! Then this idea popped up & I took no time to go ahead with it!

WHAT IS THIS APPLE CINNAMON DESICCATED COCONUT MISHTI?

May I tell you, it was such a pleasure to cook through the entire process! Thats what I enjoy these days, cooking easy with few ingredients! Okay, we need to stir cook in minimal heat for a longer period for the dough to bind well! It is for the required amount of binding & stickiness that we need a bit of jaggery & sugar in the recipe, else the apple added makes it sweet enough! I cannot leave having sweet stuffs, at the same time I cannot have too sweet items! I wished to keep this sweet / dessert APPLE CINNAMON DESICCATED COCONUT MISHTI, a vegan & gluten-free treat, else the use of a spoonful of ghee / clarified butter can be a flavour enhancer!

Few other similar recipes from the blog can be the following; CHIRER LADOO, BAKED BEET ER DOI, CHAMCHAM

INGREDIENTS : 

APPLE : 1 BIG SIZED

DESICCATED COCONUT : 1 COFFEE MUG [YOU CAN USE FRESH]

JAGGERY POWDER : 2 TBSP

SUGAR : 1 TBSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1 TSP

OIL : 1 TSP

Garnish with a choice of toasted dry fruit!

PROCEDURE :

At first, you are to peel, wash, chop the apple! You will powder the desiccated coconut, then add the chopped apple pieces to the blender! You have to  blend both onto a smooth paste!

Take a clean wok in which we do not cook curries, not anything that uses turmeric! Add the sugar, jaggery & 2 tbsp of water!

The white sugar is added to get a better stickiness! Brown sugar does not help me to get the mixture sticky!

Once the mixture melts,  add the apple & coconut paste, fold in well! The heat would remain at the minimal!

At this stage, some patience is required! At least for 15-16 minutes you have to keep stirring to get the mixture sticky! 

Add 1 tsp of oil & the cinnamon powder, stir cook for another 3-4 minutes & transfer to a plate! You can use ghee instead of the oil for a desi aroma! Make any shape & garnish with a choice of dry fruit before serving & having!