Fruity Chicken [Korma Style]

Although in my family we have always used a word korma to describe this dish, I have realized that curry specialists may not approve of this so I decided to investigate the subject further. From “Ultimate Curry Bible” by Madhur Jaffrey I learnt there are three variations of korma. In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh name korma suggests a rich dish cooked with loads of yogurt, expensive spices (nutmeg, cardamom or saffron) and nuts. Malaysian version uses yogurt as well, but also coconut milk and fresh green chilies. But if you order korma in an Indian restaurant elsewhere in the world, you will most probably get a mild, creamy dish.

Comparing the below version with the three characteristics I can say it has something in common with each one: there are almonds, coconut milk and chili there and the course is pretty mild and rich, too. But there are also some unorthodox additions like raisins and bananas. Therefore calling it korma-style is a much better idea. However even though this is not a really authentic dish, this Fruity Chicken Korma Style is authentically delicious.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

1 onion, roughly chopped,

0.5-1 red chili, deseeded and roughly chopped,

2 garlic cloves, crushed,

2 tbsp mild curry powder,

1 tsp turmeric,

3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped,

2 tbsp olive oil,

500g skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2-3 cm pieces,

1 cinnamon stick,

400ml can coconut milk,

150ml stock (chicken or vegetable),

150g raisins,

50g ground almonds,

2 small bananas (not soft), peeled and cut into half-slices,

Chopped fresh parsley.

METHOD:

1. Put the onion, chili, garlic, curry, turmeric and ginger to a food processor or blender and whizz everything together until you get a paste. You may have to add 1 tbsp of olive oil, if the paste is too difficult to whizz.
2. In a heavy pan heat up the olive oil, add the paste and fry it stirring for 1 minute.
3. Add the chicken pieces and fry them for 5 minutes on medium heat stirring often to coat in the paste and also to prevent from burning.
4. Add the cinnamon stick, coconut milk and stock, bring everything to boil and cook for approx. 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the raisins and almonds, check the seasoning and add bananas.
6. Serve with rice sprinkled with chopped parsley.

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Chicken Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cashew Nuts

This is a very important dish for my family because it introduced my pretty-small-then daughters to the Chinese (or at least Chinese style) cuisine. The girls were very picky eaters and there was a very narrow variety of products they would be happy to eat. But - probably like majority of mothers - I tried to slowly introduce them to new ingredients. When finally they seemed to be ready, I made this stir-fry and they loved it (OK, I still had to pick out carrots from one of the portions but at least my daughter didn't mind that the carrots touched other ingredients so it was a great success after all!). The only complaint was about the small amount of cashews so from then on I always added more of them.

When I cook this dish nowadays, I add slightly more oyster sauce to it to give a more distinct flavour. So if you cook for older children or adults, you should put 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce instead of the 2 mentioned in the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 tbsp wok oil,

500g chicken breasts (or thigh fillets), skinless, cut into bite –size pieces,

1 clove garlic, crushed,

1 leek (approx. 200g), thinly sliced,

1-2 carrots (approx. 150g), cut into julienne (matchsticks) strips,

250g broccoli, cut into small florets,

1 tsp cornflour,

125ml chicken stock,

2 tbsp oyster sauce,

100g roasted, unsalted cashew nuts.

METHOD:

1. Heat up 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok.
2. Add the chicken in 2-3 batches, stir-fry till cooked through and golden; put aside on a plate.
3. Heat up the rest of the oil in a wok, add the garlic, leek, carrots and broccoli; stir fry until the vegetables are cooked through but still crunchy; add the chicken.
4. Dissolve the cornflour in the stock, add to the wok together with the oyster sauce and cashews and cook till the sauce thickens.
5. Serve with cooked rice.

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1 Hoisin Chicken Wrap 2 Go

As I have mentioned earlier on this blog, I couldn't be a proper vegetarian because it would be too difficult for me to give up some of my favourite meat dishes, and Peking Duck is one of them. I love having it in a restaurant; I do prepare it myself from time to time. But “time” is a key word here: sometimes there is simply not enough time to either wait for the duck to marinate or to make pancakes.

This is when these wraps come in very useful as they will be ready in approx. 35-40 minutes if made from scratch. But when leftovers from a roast chicken are used, then the time needed to make them will be even shorter. They are great as a snack, but if served with a salad, they will be also very good as a complete dish for lunch or even a light dinner.

Please click link to see how to quickly make these wraps.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

500g chicken thighs, skinless and boneless,

1 tbsp olive oil,

0.5 Iceberg lettuce,

1 cucumber,

3 spring onions (only green parts),

4 wraps,

4 tbsp Hoisin sauce,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees.
2. Season the chicken thighs, rub them in the olive oil, transfer to a flame-proof dish and put to the hot oven for 25 min.
3. Tear the Iceberg lettuce into small pieces, cut the cucumber into long strips and chop the spring onions.
4. When the chicken thighs are done, cut them into strips, add the Hoisin sauce and mix well.
5. In the middle of a wrap put some lettuce, cucumber, chicken and spring onions. Roll tightly and serve.

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Thai Style Chicken Stir Fry with Broccoli and Snow Peas

I love stir fries. I love cooking them because when you have all ingredients ready, they only take minutes to finish which means you can freshly prepare the dish for your guests and they will not even notice you are not with them at the table. And I love eating them, as quick stir frying of vegetables keeps them crunchy and appealing because their colours stay vivid and bright.

This stir fry, like all the other ones, can be served with rice but I have recently started to use rice noodles more often. They are cooked in a very short time (some types don’t even have to be cooked but only soaked in boiling water) and taste almost like wheat pasta. And this is great information for people who either cannot eat wheat products, or – like me – try to keep their love for pasta under control.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

500g chicken breasts,

1 tbsp lime juice,

1 tbsp olive oil,

1tsp honey,

0.25 tsp chilli flakes,

Salt and pepper,

1 broccoli cut,

250g snow peas,

2 cloves of garlic,

1 tbsp grated ginger,

3 tbsp lime juice,

5 tbsp sweet chilli sauce,

0.5 tbsp honey,

200g rice noodles,

1.5 tbsp olive oil.

METHOD:

1. Cut the chicken breasts into long strips.
2. In a bowl mix the marinade ingredients: 1tbsp olive oil, 1tbsp lime juice, 1tsp honey, chilli flakes and a bit of salt and pepper; put the chicken to the marinade and mix well to cover. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
3. Cut broccoli into small florets (the rest could be used in a vegetable soup), cut endings of snow peas and if possible remove strings.
4. Mix the lime juice and the sweet chilli sauce.
5. Heat 0.5 tbsp of olive oil in a wok, add marinated chicken and stir-fry till it is golden, place on a plate and keep in a warm place. To make sure the chicken is nice and crispy, divide it and fry it in two batches.
6. Cook the rice noodles per the packet instruction.
7. Heat the rest of the olive oil; add the garlic and ginger fry till they release their aroma.
8. Add broccoli, stir fry for 3 minutes, add the snow peas, stir fry for another 2 minutes.
9. Add the chicken and the mixed lime juice and chilli sauce, stir, add the cooked rice noodles and give it another stir.

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