Pan grilled chicken with home made pesto sauce & a side of grated carrot

Its a simple weekday dinner in a  slightly healthy version (subsitute cheese for coconut milk in pesto sauce & instead of mashed potatoes a side of grated carrots) 

For pesto sauce (without cheese)

Fresh basil leaves - 1 bunch 

pine nuts  1/4  cup- toasted slightly
garlic cloves - 3/ 4
olive oil - one generous spoon full
salt to taste 
table spoon of coconut milk

For Chicken 


Make small incision in chicken pieces with knife  (instead of breast , i went for a large thigh piece,more succulent),  rub 3/4 of pesto sauce all over and leave it to marinate for an hour or so

After an hour in a non stick pan ..add a tea spoon of olive oil, add chicken piece and cover and cook each side of 10 mins on medium heat

Remove cover add remaining pesto sauce and cook on high for couple of minutes each side so it browns all over 

After an hour in a non stick pan ..add a tea spoon of olive oil, add chicken piece and cover and cook each side of 10 mins on medium heat 

For Side dish 

I love mashed potatoes with chicken , i mean who doesn't , but mashed potato definitely doesn't fall into the healthy food criteria so instead i used a side of grated carrot. I had it for the first time in one of the tiny restaurant in Auroville and have been making it since then. Not as great as mashed potato, but a close second.

Grate a large carrot  mix salt , a tablespoon of lemon juice & olive oil. Keep aside for 5 mins so all the flavour mix well.


Serve it with chicken once done.

Tasty & healthy weekday dinner ready to be served ! 

From Mum's kitchen - Homestyle Chicken curry

Simple homestyle chicken curry, perfect for weekdays when want you want a recipe high on flavor and low on effort .

You need

Serves 2 

Chicken - 500 gm - medium size
Onion - 4 medium- sliced thinly
Whole Red chilli 2-3 (adjust for taste)
Whole Cumin - 1 teaspoon
Whole coriander - 1 teaspoon
Peppercorns  10-12
ginger - crushed or chopped -1 full teaspoon
garlic - crushed or chopped - 1 full teaspoon
Garam masla - 1/4 teaspoon
mustard oil - 2 table spoon (can substitute for any cooking oil you prefer)
salt - to taste
turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

Heat  kadhai (wok) and add cumin, coriander, peppercorn, red chillies and saute for 2 mins. Remove from the kadhai and grind this in a pestle roughly

In a pressure cooker add chicken, half of sliced onions, half tea spoon garlic, half teaspoon ginger and half of the roasted ground masala. Cover and cook for 1 whistle. Turn off the heat and remove from stove.

At the same time in the kadhai, heat oil, add onion fry for 3-4 minutes, add remaining ginger, garlic, ground masala, turmeric ands saute for 4-5 mins.

Turn the flame to lowest and cover and cook till the time your chicken is cooked in pressure cooker, keep checking the masala mixture in case its sticking to  wok adjust water .

Once the steam releases from the cooker , add the mix to kadhai, add salt, mix well turn the heat to medium and cook for 5 mins, adjust for water as required.

Chicken should be almost done (90-95%) by now.

Add garam masla, mix well  and cover and cook on low flame till done (another 5 mins)

That's it home style chicken curry ready to eat .

Best served with hot rotis

Quicky lunch for one - Chicken Tikka Masala

I know chicken tikka curry doesnt  exactly sound like a quick and easy meal, but if you have been entertaining like crazy for last few days and now have refrigerator full of tupperware boxes with leftovers just sufficient for one/ two  person, this could be a easy meal.

What you need

Few pieces of left over chicken tikka ( super easy , will share recipe in next post )

Onions - roughly chopped or if you are using smaller onions like  i did , just cut in halves.

Tomatoes (2, preferably pureed - boil in water for couple of minutes, remove skin , blend )

Chicken curry masala (i usually perfer making my own masalas for gravies but for a working day these can be real life savers)

And ofcorse, oil, salt & turmeric


Now the easy part.

Step 1 :

Heat oil in kadhai, add chopped onions, fry for few minutes. Once onion become slighly translucent add pureed tomatoes, cook for few minutes on medium heat (no need for continuous stirring , just make sure it doesn't stick to pan, add water if required . This whole process should take about 5-7 minutes.

Step 2 : 

Now add turmeric powder, salt (be mindful, tikka would have salt of its own so adjust accordingly) and chicken masala powder, mix well and stir for couple of minutes, add water , turn the heat to simmer and cover and cook for 5-7 minute ( this is when you answer few calls, reply to emails :) ) 

Step 3  ( you can skip if you want , in that case leave it on heat for few more minutes so onion and tomato gets a right gravy consistency) 

Once gravy cooks thoroughly, turn off the heat, using a hand blender ( in case you dont have one wait for it to cool a little before transferring it in blender jar ) , mix this in kadhai itself for  a minute. 

Step 4 : 

Turn on the heat , add your chicken tikkas, cook for couple of minutes on high heat. Check salt 

And serve with rice / chappati ...comforting meal for one is ready !