Fried Chicken Kabab

I lived in Bangalore for quite a few years and one of my favourite dishes introduced to me by my cousin, was the Empire and Imperial fried Kababs. Pure evil I say with all the calories but so tasty that you'll come back for more. This is not the exact recipe but who cares... it's fried chicken after all :D
Enjoy.

Ingredients
1/2 kg boneless Chicken, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp Plain flour
1 tbsp Corn flour
1 Egg
1 tbsp Ginger & Garlic, minced
1 medium sized Lemon
1 tbsp Red Chili powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Cumin
2 Green chilies, finely chopped
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Break the egg into a bowl and beat with a fork.
   
2. Add the plain flour and corn flour and mix well. Ensure no lumps remain.
   
3. Add the chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds and garam masala to the mix. Mix well.
   
4. Add in the salt, lemon juice and green chillies. Mix well to get a thick paste.
   
5. Taste the marinade to check for seasoning. If needed, add more of any of the ingredients according to taste.
   
6. Add the coriander leaves and mix well. Then add the chicken pieces and ensure every piece is evenly coated with the marinade.
7. Marinate chicken for about 4 hours. You can cover and place in fridge.
   
8. To cook the kababs, heat the oil in a wok or deep pan and deep fry till crispy and golden brown.
   
   Serve hot. Goes great with a dash of lemon.
   

Upside down apple cake

We bought apples the other day. They were just sitting there asking me to do something. So, I decided to bake a cake. We were running low on white sugar and I was far too lazy to nip out to the store close-by and buy some. We were also out of butter and stocks were not replenished as my hubby reminded me that too much saturated fat is bad for health. I made did with what I had at home. This was the result.



Ingredients

3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup Brown cane sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla essence
2 small apples
Little butter to grease the baking pan

Method

1. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Set whites aside.
   
2. Beat the egg yolk with the sugar till well mixed.
   
3. Add in the oil to this mixture. Mix well.
4. Add vanilla essence.
   
5. Mix the baking powder, soda and flour together. If you want, you may sift them though this is not necessary.
   
6. Beat the whites and get as much air into them as possible. The reason for this is that we are not using butter and need the air trapped in the whites to make the cake soft and fluffy.
7. Add 1/3 rd of the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture. Fold in well. Add 1/3rd of the egg white to this mixture and fold in. In this manner, alternate between flour and egg white till over.
8. Peel, core and cut the apples into thin slices.
   
9. Grease the baking pan with a little butter and arrange the apple slices at the bottom
10. Pour the batter on top of the apples
11. Release excess air (if any) out of the baking pan by dropping the pan onto a flat surface like your counter top. Excess air might cause the cake to rise unevenly or fall flat in some places.
12. Bake in a preheated oven till cooked. You'll know this when a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. It would take about 20-25 mins.
    I'm not sure what the temperature is as my oven doesn't have a thermostat. But usually its 180 degrees.
    Try not to open the oven while baking at least for the first 10-15mins as the cold air would hinder proper baking.
    
    Once the cake is done, cool and invert onto plate. Cut and serve.

Thai Green Curry

Step 1- Make green curry paste

Ingredients

2-3 medium green chillies, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 shallot (button onion), roughly chopped
1in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, crushed
small bunch of fresh coriander
1 lemongrass stalk,chopped
1/2 lime, grated zest and juice
1/2in piece galangal, peeled and chopped.
1/2 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp oil

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and make into a paste.
   

Step 2- Make the curry

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp green curry paste (or according to taste)
1-2 thick stalks lemongrass
1/4 cup of Bamboo shoots(Canned)
750g skinless, boneless chicken, cut into chunks (use breast and/or leg meat)
400ml coconut milk
good shake of Thai fish sauce
small handful of coriander, roughly chopped
½-1 lime, juice only
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder and chilli powder- to marinate chicken
2-5 Green chillies (according to taste)
Black pepper & Salt- to taste

Method

1. Marinate the chicken with some salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder for about 20 mins
2. Lightly fry in a pan till the marinade loses its raw smell
   
3. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the green curry paste and cook over a fairly high heat for about a minute, stirring with the lemongrass
   
4. Reduce the heat slightly and stir in the chicken pieces until coated in the paste
5. Add in the bamboo shoots and stir for a couple of minutes
   
6. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and bring to a simmer, cooking for 25-30 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the chillies, coriander, and lime juice. Check for seasoning, adding more fish sauce if needed.
7. The curry is now best left to sit for a few minutes so the sauce becomes creamier.
   
8. Serve with white rice.