Roasted stuffed chicken is must at my place during feast & special occasions.This was one of the menu of Easter .We enjoyed it with dry fruits pulao,mutton kurma ,fugiyas, beef roast

This roasted stuffed chicken is just too yummy simply finger licking good..the stuffing is of chicken liver ,vegetables,giblets,nuts potatoes & croutons.

Ingredients:
For the  Marination
 Chicken( mine weighed 1.5 kg after cleaning)
1 lime
1 tbsp heaped ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Kashmir chilli powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
salt to taste
1 tsp oil


For the stuffing
2 chicken giblets
3 chicken liver
3-4 med onions
1 cup green peas
1 med carrot chopped
2 potatoes
1 cup croutons
1 cup nuts(i used cashews,raisins,walnuts & almonds)
1 tsp garam masala powder
4-5 green chillies finely chopped
5-6 garlic minced
1 inch ginger chopped
1 tsp lime juice
salt to taste
2 -3 tbsp oil.

Method: Clean the chicken well from inside specially the cavity. Wash it well ,drain all the excess water.Make some slits on the chicken so that it marinates well. Mix everything under the marination and rub it on the chicken both from  inside as well as outside. Keep aside for 4-5 hours or Overnight refrigerate it if keeping it overnight. Preparing the Stuffing Fry the almonds,raisins and cashews ,walnuts and keep aside. Boil the potatoes,green peas and the carrot together with some salt . Boil the giblets and the chicken liver adding some salt and pepper and cut into pieces. Use the same oil to fry the boiled cubed potatoes and also slightly fry the carrot and peas. In a vessel add oil and fry the chopped ginger garlic and chillies on low flame. Fry the chopped onions till the raw smell goes off and the onions turn translucent. Add the boiled liver & giblet mix well . Now add the croutons & the  garam masala powder and the lime juice. Mix the fried dry fruits and add salt if needed. Stuff this filling in the inside cavity of the marinated chicken and stitch the opening of the cavity with a thick needle & strong thread.You can keep the remaining stuffing and serve it with chicken. You can roast the chicken in pre heated oven for 1-1 1/2 hours at 180 degree Celsius in the prepared baking tray. flipping the chicken half way through ensuring it cooks from all sides. Or Roast it on a very low flame  heating 1 tbsp oil in a Deep wide Non stick Pan.  I covered the Non stick Pan with its glass lid which helped the chicken cooking perfectly well from all sides.It took bout 50 mins .I flipped the chicken half way so that it cooks well from either sides.You can keep it on low flame for about 50 min -1 hour. Cut the thread and Carve the chicken and serve with the stuffing.

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Wishing all my readers and friends a very Happy & Blessed  Easter .May you have a fun filled & joyous day.
Its feels just like yesterday when Lent started and so soon days of fast is over & the day most awaited has come.
Easter eggs /Paschal eggs are decorated eggs either made from Marzipan & Chocolate .Easter Eggs symbolizes the tomb of Jesus .The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus rose to life..

Made these cute  marzipan Easter Eggs and decorated with royal icing..

you can either make this with cooked/no cook marzipan ,the no cook version can be found in my blog here and here

ingredients

250 gm cashew powdered/soaked 

500 gm sugar

2 egg whites beaten 

rose water as needed

1 tbsp ghee/butter

1/2 tsp almond essence

food colours

1 egg white

1 12/2 cup icing sugar/confectioners sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Soak the cashews for 3 to 4 hours

grind with rose water to a smooth paste ,you will need about 1 tbsp rose water or more 

Beat egg whites till stiff

Mix egg whites,sugar and the cashew paste and the essence  well in a thick bottomed vessel/pan

Once mixed well switch the flame on

On a very low flame cook the marzipan while stirring continuously with a wooden spatula/spoon.

Keep stirring so that it doesn't stick to the bottom

Add ghee and stir 

When the mixture is almost ready it will leave sides

you can test by rolling a small portion into a ball ,if it rolls it means its ready

Pour it on a stainless steel plate/thali or on your work station

Apply ghee to your hands and knead while its still warm 

Divide the dough into equal balls and add a tiny drop of desired food colour 

Use the greased easter eggs moulds to shape them,you can use use a spoon too.

Decorate with royal icing flowers.

method for making royal icing

Beat egg whites with lemon juice  using hand/electric mixer you can use whisk too ,it will take a little longer.

Slowly add in the icing sugar and beat on low speed until you see a ribbon like pattern when you lift the beater/whisk

Add colour of your choice and immediately transfer it in piping bags or store in airtight container.

The icing hardens up pretty quickly so store the unused icing in air tight container/ with a plastic wrap.

Pipe or make designs of your choice using any tips 

1. I just shaped the marzipan using the egg form & then just decorated with royal icing.

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Made this sweet & sour beef for my dearest hubby he loved it to the core .It tasted  really great .We relished it with garlic noodles .You can make this with mutton too..The recipe is quite simple so do give it a try.

Ingredients:
Beef Steak 1/2 kg
1 tbsp ginger  garlic paste
1 tsp vinegar
1tsp black pepper crushed
salt to taste.

2 capsicum ( I used 1 green 1 red)
1 cup chopped spring onion both  green
spring onion
2-3 green chillies slit
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornflour mixed in 1/2 cup water
oil 2 tbsp + for frying the beef

 Method:
 Cut the beef into long thin strips Wash it well & drain excess water.

Marinate the beef with salt,ginger-garlic paste,pepper ,vinegar & keep aside for 30min
.
Boil the marinated beef with  1 cup water  in a pressure cooker for 15 min.

Release the pressure open the lid  remove the beef (keep the remaining water for the gravy)

Heat enough oil to fry the beef ,fry the beef till brown & crisp.

Use the remaining oil for the gravy .

In the oil  add slitted chillies,spring onions,capsicum & fry for 5 min .

Then mix in the sauces ,ketchup & the fried beef and saute till the beef is coated with sauces.

Mix in the spring onion greens.

Now add the water which was reserved after cooking the beef.

Then lastly add the cornflour mixed in water.

Cook till the gravy thickens ,switch off the flame .

Serve hot with rice/noodles it even tastes good with bread.


Linking this to Monu's and Haffa's event:Meat Lovers Month

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A simple yet delicious Chicken fry is our family favourite .Its always made as a side dish when Chicken /Mutton is prepared. Tastes good hot or cold . There are many different ways in which we fry chicken this being the simplest yet very tasty one.

 Ingredients:
1/2 kg chicken cut in pieces
1 tbsp heaped ginger garlic paste
juice of 1 lime/as needed
1 tsp bottle masala/kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
oil to fry
salt as needed.

 Method:

• Wash the chicken pieces well ,drain the excess water.
• Marinate with all the ingredients except oil & leave it for 1-2 hrs.
• Heat oil & shallow fry on both sides till well cooked.
• Drain on absorbent paper .
• Serve hot with some fries /with Chicken /Mutton Curry & Rice.

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This beef chilli is very delicious & very quick to prepare .Its loved by everyone in my family & friends they always keep asking me to prepare this .I made this recently on request of my cousin .The roasted beef makes this beef chilli very tasty .I have already posted the recipe for Beef roast earlier.

Ingredients

500 gms  Beef  roast
1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste.
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp crushed pepper/ to taste.
2 capsicum cut into dices
3-4 spring onions chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 -2 tbsp green chilli sauce
3 green chiilli slit
7-8 garlic cut fine
1 inch ginger cut in julienne
1 tsp cornflour mixed in 2 tbsp water
1/2 cup oil.
 salt to taste.

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan add slit chillies then add garlic and ginger.
• Now add the chopped spring onions & capsicum saute for 3-4 min.
• Then add the  beef roast & saute for a while.
• Add the sauces and vinegar.
• Give it a good toss if needed add salt.
• Add cornflour slurry, if needed add water.
• Serve with fried rice/bread of your choice.

 Linking this to Monu's and Haffa's event:Meat Lovers Month

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Chole Bhature is one dish that's very famous in India.Its one of my favourite Punjabi dish .Usually we make pooris with chole but last month i tried making bhatures at home .It turned out to be too good went very well with the chole.

Ingredients:
1.5 cup kabuli chana /chick peas (soaked overnight in water)
1 large onion chopped finely
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1" ginger cut into juliennes
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp amchur/dry mango powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste.

Method:

• Soak the chanas/chickpeas overnight  in enough water .
• Next day wash the chanas well before boiling.
  Pressure cook the chanas with salt and 1/2 tsp sugar (optional) for about 5-6 whistles /till soft.
• Heat oil in a kadhai/vessel ,add bay leaves,cumin seeds, chopped  ginger and saute for a min.
• Then add the chopped onions and saute till onion turn soft & translucent.
• Add the chopped tomatoes  and fry till oil separates .
• Now mix in the powdered masalas & the cooked chickpeas/kabuli chana.
• Add water depending on how thick you want the gravy.
• Let it come to a boil then simmer and cook for 3- 4 min.
• Serve hot with bhature/poori.

sending this to first anniversary event by mykitchenodyssey
sending this to Haffa's event ..Back to School

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This is typical East Indian style prawn curry  which is made without the use of coconut .I have already posted prawn curry with bhindi and Prawn Kanji curry before which are very famous in our cuisine but they both have coconut in them.We use a lot of coconut in our fish & meat curries also in our vegetables & foogaths .At times I get bored of the coconut curries then we make such simple curries like this .I have also posted before one simple recipe of  fresh  bombay duck fish curry chichavani  which are very simple curries but yet very delicious and taste absolutely divine with some hot piping rice.

This curry is pretty simple & easy to prepare there is no grinding needed .The key ingredient is the  Bottle Masala which is prepared in bulk for the rest of the year during summers in  every East Indian Catholic family  .I will be posting the recipe soon in coming  month. The bottle masala makes the simplest curry tasty we use it for fish ,meat and vegetables too.You will easily find it in any cold storage & markets in Mumbai.

This curry also taste  good with fish masala too if you cannot find the bottle masala you just will need to add some coriander cumin powder ..

 Ingredients:
10-15 prawns deveined
1 tbsp bottle masala/fish masala
3 green chillies slitted
5-6 garlic chopped
1 inch ginger chopped
a sprig curry leaves
2 potatoes cut into quarters
1 tomato finely chopped
2 onions finely chopped
1 tsp tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp turmeric powder/haldi
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil

 Method:

• Devein the prawns   ,wash, drain the excess water Marinate with salt &turmeric powder.
• In a vessel heat oil  then add the curry leaves.
• Put the chopped onion & saute till soft then add chopped ginger garlic & saute till raw smell disappears.
• Add the slit  green chillies & fry for 3-4 min.
• Then add the tomatoes & fry well till the oil separates & it turns mushy.
• Now add the marinated prawns & fry for 5-7 min.
• Then add the  bottle/fish masala & saute well over low heat for 4-5 min.
• Add water & potatoes cover the lid & let it come to nice boil.
• Simmer the heat & continue to cook till the potato is boiled.
• Now add in tamarind pulp 
• Lastly add chopped coriander leaves .
• Serve hot with rice/bread/chapatti/handbreads.

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Besan Ladoos are one of the most popular and loved diwali sweet or mithai .Melt in mouth delicious ladoos are made with just few ingredients namely besan/gram flour ,ghee, sugar and garnished with nuts .Besan ladoos happen to be my most favourite ladoo 😜😛

I love Indian sweets one of my most favourite is besan ladoos .Besan ladoos are soft delicious melt in mouth ladoos which I bet you can't stop eating if you taste one...I'm totally addicted to these from childhood and so we always prepare a large batch of it. Recently I was craving for some Christmas sweets but since its lent and most of Christmas sweets contain egg and are time consuming I made these ladoos.Its very easy to prepare and can be easily done under 30 -45 min. So give it a try and you will love this for sure.

Ingredients:

• Besan/gram flour 2 cups
• Powdered sugar 1 cup
• Melted Ghee/Clarified butter 1/2 cup to 2/3 (100 to 150 ml approx)
• Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
• Chopped almonds /cashews 2tbsp
• Raisins 10-15

 
Method:

• In a kadhai/heavy bottomed vessel ,dry roast besan over low flame for about 12 to.14 min till the colour changes and it emits a nice aroma.

• Add the ghee in two to three additions continuously stirring the besan tpo avoid browning. 
• After stirring further for 12-14 min switch off the flame and take the kadhai down.
• Make sure the besan is roasted well and you see ghee releasing.
• Spread the mixture on a large thali/plate and add the powdered sugar ,nuts and cardamon /elaichi powder.
• Mix it well with a spatula so that no lumps are formed.

• Once its warm enough to handle shape it into ladoos.
• Gently press almond/raisins on top of each  ladoo.
• Let it cool completely before storing it in airtight container.

Notes

Use pure / desi ghee for best results.

Start with 1/2 cup add more only if required 

Make sure the besan is roasted well it else the ladoos will have raw taste.

You may add 1 tbsp rava /semolina while roasting the besan this will give a little crunchy taste .

You can add any nuts of your choice I love adding raisins almonds and charoli. 

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