Sweet and sour chicken wings

You Need:

To marinate:Maida - 1 tsp
Corn Flour - 1 tsp
Rice flour - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp

Red Chilly Powder - As per spice level for chicken.

To Fry:

Soy Sauce - 1 tsp
Garlic chopped - 1 tsp (optional)
Soy sauce - 1 ½ tsp
Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbspGreen chillies - 1 no ( chopped)

Corn Starch - 1 tbsp (diluted in little water)
Salt - As needed
Oil - As needed

Clean the Chicken Wings and dry it thoroughly. Make a marinade with all the ingredients mentioned in the ‘to marinate’ section and marinate the Wings; keep it aside for 20 minutes.Heat at least 2 inches of Oil in a pan on medium high heat and deep fry the Wings until crispy.Drain the excess Oil on a paper towel.

In another pan heat 2 tbsp of Oil on medium high heat and saute the Onion, green chillies and chopped garlic and saute for few min. Take care not to burn it.
Add Soy Sauce, Ketch up and mix well. Add little water and let it cook for few min.

Once mixed well, drizzle the Corn Starch Water and combine as fast as possible. You will get a thick paste like consistency. In this stage, Add the fried Chicken Wings and mix well. Once coated well, move it to a serving dish and serve hot.

Note: While making the sauce, add Salt only after adding all the sauces as most of them contains Salt.
Do keep everything ready before you start making the sauce as the whole process is very fast.

Yummy Baby Corn Manchurian is now ready to be served.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I adopted this recipe from one of the food blog and did little variation to suit to my hubby's taste. 

You Need:

Chicken - 1/4 kg ( Use boneless chicken breast pieces)

Onion - 2 nos (Finely chopped)

Capsicum ( I used red ones) - 1/4 of one piece.

Tomato sauce - 10 tsp

Soy sauce - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - As per required spice level

Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp ( Just for flavor)

Garlic - 2 nos (Finely chopped)

Corn flour - 2 tsp

Maida flour - 1/2 cup

Salt - To taste

Oil - To fry

Wash and cut the chicken breast into small chunks. Take a bowl, mix maida, salt and chilli powder and make a paste by adding little water. Dip the chicken pieces in this maida mixture and deep fry till golden color in very low flame. Make sure you don't burn them.

Drain the excess oil using tissue paper and keep aside.

For the curry: Chop the onions, garlic and capsicum. Take a pan, heat 2 tsp of oil. Add onion, saute  till translucent. Add garlic and fry till raw smell goes. Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, chilli powder, pepper powder, salt and one cup of water. Wait till it boils. Add the capsicum and cook covered for few more mins. Check the spice and salt level in this stage and add if needed. Add the chicken bites and mix well.

Meanwhile, mix corn flour in water and add to the curry. This is for thickening the curry. Let it cook for few more mins. The curry would have thickened well. Switch off the flame once the desired consistency has come.

Tips: Add more chilli powder to overcome the sweetness of tomato sauce.
Add 3 tsp of rice flour in maida mixture to get crispy texture to chicken bites.

Sweet, sour, spicy and crispy chicken curry is now ready to be served with pulav or with plain rice. 

Momos (Dumpling)

MOMOS - as the name sounds different, this recipe tastes great. Very easy and different snack recipe. I have tried both Chinese and Indian version.

You Need:

For filling (Chinese version)

Boenless Chicken - 1/4 kg
Onions - 1 nos (Finely chopped)
Green chillis - 3 to 4 nos (Finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 no small piece (Finely chopped)
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste

For Filling: ( Indian version)

Veggies ( Potato, Carrot, cabbage) - 1 cup ( Finely chopped)

Onion - 2 no ( Finely chopped)

Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt - To taste

Soy sauce - 1 1/2 tsp

For Dough:

Maida flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt - A pinch
Water - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Prepare the filling first.

Chinese version:

Cut the chicken into small pieces. Take a non stick pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. Once heated, add green chillis  ginger, chicken and salt. Stir well and add soy sauce as well. Cook covered in medium flame by adding little water  till chicken becomes tender and cooked well. The water should be evaporated and it should be dry.

Let it cool down. Shred the chicken pieces by hand. Alternatively you can coarsely grind the mixture.

Indian Version:

Chop all the veggies and keep ready. Take a non stick pan, add 3 tsp of oil. Once heated, add chopped onion, ginger - garlic paste and stir for one min.

Add all the veggies and stri fry for few min. Then add all the spice powders and mix well. Adjust spice powder depending upon your liking. Add salt and soy sauce. Add little water for veggies to cook. Cook covered till all the water is evaporated and mixture is dry.

Remove from flame and allow it to cool.

MOMO's:

Mix flour, salt, oil and water. Make a soft dough by kneading vigorously for about 15 to 20 min. Do not let the dough to dry out. It will become hard.
Divide the dough into small balls. Roll it to 4" dia and keep the filling in between. It should neither be thick (may not cook properly) nor be thin (it will be transparent).

Now cluster the edges towards center so that the filling is completely covered and gently twist like a money bag. You can steam it for 10 min or deep fry.

Be creative and prepare your own filling.

Serve these steamed or fried version as evening snacks to your kids. They taste absolutely great.

Gobi Manchurian (Dry)

Its the most popular appetizer served in almost all Indian restaurants back in India and now too. Where ever we go, me and my hubby search for this in the menu card:)

Both my first and second trial of Gobhi Manchurian are similar and needless to say it turned out great. What I've tried is dry version. Will soon try wet version and post soon. 

You Need:

Cauliflower - 1/2 kg ( Cut into bite sized Florets)

Besan Flour - 1/2 cup or 6 tbsp

Corn Flour - 1/4 cup or 4 tbsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 tbsp 

Soya sauce - 1 tsp for Batter, 2 tbsp for Sauce

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Onion finely chopped - 1 small 

Tomato Ketchup - 4 tbsp
Green Chilli's - 2 nos (Optional)

First Try

Second Trial - Dry

Gobi Manchurian - Sauce coated

Cut the cauliflower into small florets and wash well in cold water. Pat dry. Now take a bowl and mix together besan flour, corn flour, ginger - garlic paste, soya sauce, chilli powder and salt with some water to form a thick batter. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Dip each floret in the batter and fry till it becomes crispy in very low flame.  Lay them on a tissue paper to drain the excess oil.

During my second trial, I used kashmeri chilli powder and hence the appealing color. You can use normal chilli powder and use pinch of kesar color if desired.

Sauce: ( Prepare just before serving)

Heat oil - 1 tsp in non stick tawa, saute the finely chopped onions. Then add ketchup and soya sauce and mix well. Add small pieces of shopped green chilli's (I have used during my first trial only). Add little water and cook in medium flame. Add the fried cauliflower and mix well until it's coated well with sauce.

It tastes delicious when served with sauce coated and caramelized onions. Serve these tongue-tinkling as evening snacks.