P.F. Chang's Dynamite Shrimp (Copy cat Recipe)

                   Whenever we have a dish from the restaurant which we all loved, and long to have again, I try to find its recipe from the web and try to perfect it with my own trials and errors. That way, you could have it anytime, whenever you crave for it, without having to spend a fortune on it. So copycat recipes are always in demand and they tend to be on the much explored list.



                  P.F. Chang's China Bistro is a popular American Chinese restaurant chain which has its branches in other countries too. Though I like Indo Chinese dishes more than American Chinese,one of the dishes we really liked from P.F.Chang's in Kuwait, is the delicious appetiser, 'Dynamite Shrimp'. But it actually costs around 150 dollars to have half a dozen of shrimp coated in that delicious, creamy, tangy and zesty sauce from the restaurant. It is better to make it at home, if you can help it.

                    That set me in search for a perfect recipe, but most of the recipes I tried from the web, turned out to be too sour or too bland.So I set forth to do experiments of my own with various ingredients and I found out a recipe which was quite similar to the original one.
   Let me share it here...
Am still working on perfecting the recipe. If I come up with a more exact one I shall upload it InshaAllah.. :) Till then, Enjoy cooking!

Wanna see the Recipe..?
Go ahead..

Capsicum Chicken (with minimal oil)

              This is one of those chicken dishes which I prepare whenever I am in short of time and has to make the lunch or dinner with haste. As it involves less ingredients and less procedures, it is one of the dishes which always comes handy when you are pressed for time. And also, it uses very little oil; yet has an excellent taste. So it is healthy too..

              I was introduced to this very simple preparation of chicken through my father in law. I  don't remember if I have mentioned earlier, about my father in law's exuberant enthusiasm towards cooking. It is one of those traits which most of the men from his generation lack on all accounts. Sometimes I tease Mr.KB asking why he didn't inherit his father's charm in cooking..

            As for him, my father in law is an excellent cook, an enthusiast in making simple dishes, as well as the most jovial person I have ever met in life! So I had enjoyed every moment of cooking together and learning the basics from him during my early days of marriage.

             My mom in law used to tell that all the ladies in the family had envied her for having a man who knew a great deal of cooking and helped her in it with unadulterated zeal, whenever he was at home.. :) No wonder they did!! I tell Mr.KB that if he was like his dad, I wouldn't have to hiss and hum in the kitchen like a pressure cooker ready to explode whenever we have guests at home ;) And Mr.KB would display a killer smile to the comment as if he was hearing some philosophical joke!!
        So here is the recipe of my father in law's Capsicum Chicken...

Sweet corn Chicken Soup (Restaurant Style)

"Soup is liquid comfort. "

~Author Unknown

 



 

               Now that the temperature is still dropping, we are getting into the thick of soup season here. What more! the low temperature has made a lazy brat like me even lazier. So after sending the husband and son off to office and school respectively, I find it a waste of time to make breakfast for myself.
        Recently, I have found a queer interest in brunch! You guessed it right. I have the advantage of discarding all those extra works which comes in making breakfast and lunch separately and in time.

         What else? I have lately found a great interest in soups for brunch. Now, you always guess right! Again less time waste and less work.
         Yuck! Don't look at me like that! I'm not that lazy... It's the weather, you know.. I won't forgive you if you think, I am a disgrace to the food bloggers ;)
        So brunch is now adays filled with all kinds of warm comfort soups. And the kids too love it.

                If there is anything, the children would have with ardent appetite on our visits to  the restaurants, it is the sweet corn chicken soup. Each bowl would be licked clean before the main course came( though the main course is not welcomed with equal zeal):) I remember that being kids, we too used to love this soup so much that our dad had to order a bowl for each of us on every visit to the restaurant.
           When I tried it at home, I found it too easy to make and was horrified at the price they put up for it at the restaurants. No doubt, restaurants are good business. Should seriously plan about starting a restaurant,some day ;)

Cheesy Bread Sticks

       This is an easy, delicious and nutritious snack for the children to nibble on. It is a snack/ appetiser you can prepare with easy ingredients whenever you have left over bread. I got this recipe from one of the South Indian Cooking magazines and got hooked with their picture. So I prepared it with some left over bread and my son enjoyed it immensely..

Cheesy Bread Sticks Recipe

Things you need:

Bread slices                        - 4

Egg                                     - 2

Grated mozzarella cheese      - 1/2 cup

Finely shredded parsley       - 1 tsp

Finely shredded green chilli   - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder          - a pinch

White flour/ maida                - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Frying oil                              

Method:

• Remove the margins of the bread slices and slice them into thin fingers. Keep aside.
• Beat the egg together with all other ingredients except oil, in a bowl.
• Dip the bread sticks one by one in the egg mixture and fry in the oil until golden brown.
• Serve the crispy bread sticks with tomato ketchup.

Pazham Nirachathu / Stuffed Plantain

                Mom in law had sent a bunch of plantains which grew in the kitchen garden. I was on the eager wait to get them ripe. We ate the first batch, steamed and mixed with coconut milk. It is one of my hubby's childhood favourites. I hadn't decided what to do with the next batch, when my better half suggested, "you haven't prepared Pazham Nirachathu for us yet. Why not try it now?". So it was going to be Pazham Nirachathu, another Malabar Dish which is usually made during Iftars or on special occasions.

               Slitting the plantains and filling them proved to be challenging for me. When I had watched my mom do it, I had thought it to be too easy. But when I filled one slit and moved over to the other, the filling from the previous slit was slipping out. So I made only three slits in the plantain (Some people makes four) and was with  much efforts that I managed to hold everything in place until I covered the slits with the batter and deep fried them. And was really happy with the outcome. It looked like Pazham Nirachathu perfectly made and tasted quite the same... :)

              Pazham Nirachathu is almost similar to Unnakkaya which I had previously posted. But in Unnakkaya, steamed and mashed ripe plantain is used unlike in Pazham Nirachathu which uses the whole plantain as such. So it's easier to prepare Pazham Nirachathu than the other.

Here is the recipe..

Things you need:

2 medium sized ripe plantains
1 Egg
25 g Cashew Nuts, broken to small pieces
25 g Raisins
3 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp grated coconut
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp pure Ghee / Clarified Butter
2 tbsp All purpose Flower
1/2 cup of Veg. Oil

Method

1)   Beat the Egg with Sugar and keep aside.
2)   Heat Ghee in a pan and add the Cashews and Raisins and saute until cashews turn brown and raisins are puffed up. Add the grated coconut to this and saute for a couple of minutes. Then add the egg and sugar along with cardamom powder and saute with until the egg is cooked and granulated. Remove from heat and keep aside.
3)   Peel the plantains and make 3 slits on each of them length wise with a knife in such a way that the slits join each other at the center along seed part and stops just before the two ends of plantains.
4)   Now fill these slits with the filling previously prepared taking care not to over stuff them.
5)   Mix the flower with adequate water to form a thick batter. Using this batter seal the slits of the plantains until the filling is not visible.
6)   Heat oil in a wok and carefully fry the filled plantains in it until all sides are equally brown and done.
7)   Take out from the oil and drain on a kitchen tissue. Serve hot by slicing the plantains into small circles. Each circle will have three slits of filling on them.

Sending this to Charitha's A-Appetisers event.

Unnakkaya / Kayada (Banana sweet pocket fritters)

              Bananas have always been part of the culinary culture in Kerala.. especially in Malabar. Houses with out a couple of plantain trees were rare in the gone decades and hence there are many out standing Malabar recipes made with ripe as well as raw plantains.. The ripe plantain which is quite different from the various kinds of bananas seen world wide, is used both cooked and uncooked in preparations.. Those who are familiar with Malabar cuisine wouldn't need an introduction to Unnakkaya, the widely popular and delightful delicacy. It has lured a lot of loyal fans to it in the past and still rocks..

              Thinking about banana's nutritional extravaganza, no health nut can ever resist it. More than being a good source of fibres, potassium and vitamin C, it has all the 8 amino acids our body cannot produce itself.. Musing about the yum yum dish, I think I would rather have these amino acids every day even it be in excess ;) I should say my family shares my views.. ditto :)

             The only thing which push me into a dilemma is how to keep the banana adequately ripe for the dish. The recipe needs medium ripe bananas, that is.. with the skin just yellow and a little brown with no traces of green. It should not be over brown or over ripe too. If it is, you are sure to have a cooking disaster. If the banana is adequately ripe for the recipe, it would work like butter.

            When I got bananas with the 'so said' qualifications from the market last day, I had to give it a try immediately or it would go naughty right under my noses... Good thing that US Masala is hosting the Veggie/ Fruit a month event with banana , this time, earlier conducted by Priya.  I think I am luckily on time. So this Malabar delight goes off to the Veggie/Fruit a month event.

                                                      

Things you need:

     Makes 10 Unnakkayas..

3 medium ripe plantains
1     egg
25 g of cashew nuts, sliced into small pieces
25 g of raisins
2 tbsp of grated coconut
4 tbsp of sugar
4 tbsp of pure ghee/clarified butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
1 cup of vegetable oil

Method:

    Cook the ripe plantains with a little water or by steaming. Drain it properly.  Peel, seed and mash it with a pestle or potato masher until a smooth pulp is formed . Kneed it with hands until dough like with no lumps and keep it aside. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews and raisins until brown.Add the coconut and 1 tbsp of sugar to it and saute in medium heat until the coconut becomes crisp. Remove from heat and keep aside. Beat the egg with the rest of sugar. In another pan heat coconut oil and scramble the eggs in it. Add cardamom powder to it and mix with the cashew raisin filling. Now oil your palm lightly and take a small portion of banana dough, about the size of a lemon and flatten it on your palm. Put a teaspoon of the filling on the middle of it and roll the dough into the shape of unnakkaya as shown in the picture. Smooth it out. Now heat a kadai with vegetable oil and deep fry the Unnakkayas until it turns brown. Drain on a kitchen towel and serve hot or cold.