Chicken stir fry with Yellow Capsicum

A simple rice dish paired with a semi-gravy, almost stir-fry like dish is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a quick weeknight meal. I cook mostly vegetarians side dishes at home to pair along with rice on weekdays and try to limit eating non-veg to weekends but Manish and my little boy are chicken and fish lovers. Manish feels if he eats only veg meals two days in a row then he's on a diet :-P I donno how lil'Appu feels but he ceratinly doesn't eat his food as fast as how he does when he is served fish or chicken :-)

Anyways this dish was one of my quick experiments on a weeknight when I felt it would be good have some chicken and also make use of the lone Yellow Capsicum that got lost in the wee corners of the vegetable tray in my fridge :-) The dish pairs very well with simple Jeera Rice or plain white Basmati rice.

It's an Indianized stir fry, no soy sauce or ketchup or deep frying the chicken. I just used our regular masalas and cooked the dish without extra water and added the capsicum at the end after turning off the heat. The capsicum cooks slightly with the heat from the dish but still stays crunchy.  

It was the first time I'm trying a yellow capsicum, I've only tried the regular Green and Red variety. I must say I really liked the flavor of the capsicum which was slightly sweet yet not too overpowering. And not to mention the beautiful color it adds to the dish.

I used boneless and skinless Chicken thigh meat cut into small cubes. They cook quickly and stays soft and juicy once cooked. No extra water is added for the gravy. The dish is mildly spiced and is not overly spicy so it was perfect even for my 3½ year old to chomp down with the flavorful rice. 

Chicken stir fry with Yellow Capsicum

You’ll Need

2 or 3 Boneless skinless Chicken Thigh meat (cut into small cubes)

1 Large Red Onion , cut into large squares

1 Roma Tomato, cut into cubes

1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger –Garlic paste

2-3 Green chillies, slit lenghtwise

1 Yellow Capsicum , cut into cubes

½ teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Red chilli powder

2 teaspoons Corriander powder

1 teaspoon Garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Handful of Corriander leaves , for garnish

For tempering

1 Tablespoon Oil (I use Oilve oil)

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

2 Dry Red chillies

1 sprig Curry leaves

Directions

1.In a large pan, heat the oil and crack the mustard seeds. Then add the fennel seeds. Finally add the dry red chillies and curry leaves.

2. Add the ginger-garlic paste, red onions and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Then add the spice powders : turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala. Roast the masala spices and then add cubed tomato. 
4. Finally add in the cubed chicken pieces, give everything a stir, add enough salt, cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until chicken is fully cooked through.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, take off the lid and cook on medium heat until gravy thickens. Once desired gravy consistency is achieved add the yellow capsicum, give it a good stir and turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Rice ( I served it with spiced Jeera rice)

-Manju 

Palak Paneer ( Spinach cooked with Indian Cottage Cheese)

Hello everyone...hope you are all doing great! Things are going as usual at my end with office work, baby chores, home chores, cooking as usual, experimenting now and then with new dishes/bakes and yes, eating out and having fun with friends whenever we can. The climate's slowly getting better. We actually went for a short walk yesterday with Manish and my lil'guy  and though it was still slightly cold, it felt sooooo good to see what our neighborhood looks like after almost 6 months of chilling hibernation. I can't get enough of it and I just want it to be nice and warm soon and be out and about all the time :-D

Now coming to Palak Paneer.....who hasn't heard of this internationally famous dish? It's one of 'THE' most popular and commonly served vegetarian dishes in most Indian restaurants that I've been to and although it looks too green and kinda resembles baby food from some angles, due to the pureed spinach...hehe!...this dish is simply awesome! 

For a person who isn't a huge fan of spinach (except baby spinach) this is one dish I can wipe clean off my plate. It's so damn easy to prepare and did I mention it has creamy Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) in it, what's not to like about it then?!

Inspite of it not being my favorite green we buy it very often and it's a must in our grocery shopping list of 'veggies-to-buy'. I usually prepare thoran just like my turnip greens thoran or else sneak them inside omlettes etc. But making palak paneer is my most favorite option.

I have prepared palak paneer several times and the one thing I have observed is that it tastes great if the dish isn't overly spiced. Just a subtle hint of spice makes the dish's flavor shine out. And the masala made with onions-ginger-garlic-greenchillies-tomato gets a good smooth texture if minced very finely, unless you plan to puree it all with the spinach (like how I do usually).
For the Paneer, I buy frozen store bought paneer and they taste just fine to me, but you can definitely make your own. I prefer creamier chunks of paneer contrary to the fried pieces that's usually added, to avoid breaking the paneer pieces, but that's a personal choice and a better choice when making in large quantities for a party or potluck where there's more chance of the paneer crumbling up with too much stirring. When fried they hold their shape.

Palak Paneer is so easy and simple to prepare and you hardly need any fancy ingredients. It's best served with plain rice, jeera rice, naan or roti. I prepared some simple Jeera Rice with the jeera (cumin seeds) sauted in some butter for some flavor and served it with the palak paneer. The combo was so delicious that my lil'Appu also ate up his whole plate.

My recipe is very simple and so quick to prepare and as I said, very mild on the spices, so it's just perfect for feeding little kids as well and yet not at all compromising on the flavor. Manish really loved it and we finished the whole dish in two days :-)
I did not have coriander powder at home the day I made it and still it tasted great, which is why I have mentioned it as an optional ingredient. I bet it would taste twice as good with a little extra flavor from the coriander powder as well!

Palak Paneer


You'll Need
Fresh Spinach (chopped) - 2 bunches of spinach (as found in Indian stores) or 6 cups approx
Paneer- 8oz (cut into cubes)
Oil – 1tblsp + 2tblsp
Onions – 1 medium (diced finely)
Ginger – 1" pc, minced
Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
Green Chillies - 1 or 2, minced
Tomatoes – 1 large, chopped up  
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 tsp (optional)
Red Chili Powder – a pinch or to taste
Salt - to taste
Heavy Whipping Cream – 6 tblsp or to taste
Hot Water - as needed

Directions:
1. Wash well and pat dry the fresh spinach leaves with a clean kitchen towel. Cut into smaller pieces.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet and add 1 tblsp oil and saute the spinach leaves until cooked through and soft. Allow to cool down and keep aside.
3. In the same non-stick skillet add 2 tblsp oil and add the minced onion and cook until it's pink and soft.
4. Then add ginger-garlic and saute for few minutes. Finally put in the tomatoes and cook until the oil starts to release from the sides and makes a fine masala. Let this also cool down.
5. Now take the cooked spinach along with the  masala and blend it into a fine puree.
6. Add this puree into the skillet and add the spice powders - garam masala, turmeric powder, coriander powder (if using), and a pinch of red chilli powder and salt, give it a stir and cook on medium-low heat for 5 mins.
7. If gravy is too thick add some hot water (1 tblsp at a time) until desired consistency is obtained and cook it until it simmers slightly.
8. Now keep the heat on low and add in about 6 tblsp of cream (heavy whipping cream) and stir it well.
9. Finally add in the paneer and gently stir it around and turn off the heat and serve hot!

Suggestions:
1. I prefer a smooth & creamy (non-chunky) gravy so I puree the whole batch of spinach and masala, but if you prefer a chunkier version, only puree the spinach and leave the masala as it is at step #5.
2. Adding hot water at step #7 is to reduce the cooking time needed. If we add cold or room temp water cooking time will increase.
3. For a healthier option you can substitute Heavy cream with Milk. 

Other options:
1. Another way of cooking the spinach leaves is to blanch the leaves...i.e. Cook the leaves in a vessel of boiling hot water for 2-3 mins and quickly transfer the leaves to a bowl full of ice water. This will shock the leaves and quickly stop the cooking process and also provide a beautiful bright green color for the dish. 

2. You can shallow fry the paneer on both sides in oil. Drain them on paper towels and add the fried paneer into a bowl of cold water. Squeeze out any excess water before adding it to the gravy. This will keep the paneer soft yet less prone to breaking up.

3. For Vegan options substitute Paneer with Tofu and Heavy cream or Milk with Soy Milk or Almond Milk. 
4. Can use baby spinach or frozen spinach instead of fresh spinach.

This is one of my favorite ways to eat spinach and apparently my lil'Appu too doesn't mind eating Green rice ;-) I usually mix his rice with the palak paneer making his rice look all green before I give it him....that way he has no choice of eating only the white rice and has to eat everything and it definitely tastes better too. Clever huh!

Do try out Palak Paneer sometime and you'll see why it's such a commonly served dish at parties and at restaurants and inspite of the richness from the cream and paneer its a very healthy dish as well.

-Manju