Spicy Chicken with Cashewnuts

This is an easy riff on the traditional kung pao chicken. It's super easy to make too. 

                                (terrible photo, sorry. Didn't have time to take a good shot before serving!)

Spicy Chicken with Cashews

3/4 kilo Chicken, boneless and cut into bite sized pieces or smaller
2-3 cloves Garlic, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Cornflour
1 Spring Onion, chopped
A pinch of black Pepper powder
1/4 cup Cashews

Marinade: Mix together the soy sauce, salt, sugar, cornflour and pepper. Coat the chicken with the marinade. Cover and keep aside for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat a pan with the sesame oil. Add the garlic and saute. Then add the cashew and stir until slightly browned. Now add the chicken. Cook, stirring, for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a bowl. Garnish with the spring onions. 

Serve hot with brown rice, or noodles. 

Spinach with Corn

This is dedicated to a dear friend. She recently started to cook. And she has slowly started to enjoy it, but is still afraid of the "unknown" ingredients and "cooking techniques".

And then I began to think what she would definitely need in her kitchen - its a clean slate as far as Indian cooking is concerned. What would one who was cooking everday Indian food, absolutely need in the kitchen? What are the spices? vegetables? grains?

I came up with this list:

Mustard seeds
Cumin
Turmeric powder
Chilli powder
Tamarind
Green Chillies
Garlic
Ginger
Dals: Urad, Toor, Masoor and Moong

Is that a fair list? What is the bare minimum you have to have in your kitchen at all times?

And then I went to the recipes part of it. I found the 10 recipes that I took with me to the US, as a student, were invaluable. I've posted two of them before: Spicy Potatoes and Bell Pepper with Gram Flour. This is a 3rd recipe. It's so easy that its almost a no-brainer, but the flavors blend so well together and everyone always enjoys it.


Spinach with Corn

1 bunch Spinach, cleaned and chopped
1 cup Corn, cooked
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
Salt, to taste

In a saucepan, heat a little bit of oil. Add the mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter, add the cumin. Brown for a minute. Add the spinach and salt and cook until it begins to wilt. Now add the corn and mix well.


That's about it. And it's always a hit!




This is off to Shriya of Spicy Tasty's Fortune Cooking Contest. This is my favorite way of eating greens.




So here we are at the end of the Recipe Marathon - it was one of the most fun events I've taken part in. Not only did we manage to cook up something everyday and post about it (which, you must admit, is a HUGE feat!), we also managed to find lovely friends in such a short time. If anyone has any doubt of whether to join this the next time around, I hope you won't hesitate - it really was so much fun. Now onto the food!

DK made fantastic sabudana vadas - oh-so-delicious! Divya made mattar paneer - an all-time favorite. Swati professed her love for...eggs.
Check out Siri's and Bhags' contribution. Lakshmi made some great looking rice. Raaga posted tons and tons of recipes! Ranji made a refreshing watermelon juice. Valli used the entire ridgegourd!