Thursday, November 29, 2012

N and M's Indianized Cranberry Relish


This Thanksgiving started out special. Early morning, my Mother called. From halfway across the globe.And said "Thank You".

I was like "Ehhhhh...whaat ? Whyyy? Keno ? Shob thik ache? Are you ok ?" 

And then she said "Thank You for being my daughter". That was such a shocker that whatever remnant sleep I had in my system flipped and did a bolt out of the door. 

"Keno? Ki holo?", I asked frantically trying to think what might have caused my Mother to behave in such a manner early morning. We have never been a polite "Thank You", "Please" family reserving such atrocious behavior only for strangers and so such words coming from her sounded more alarming than endearing.

"Aajke Thanksgiving to. Eikhane FM Radio te phone kore shobai rickshaw wala ke Thanks diche. Ami bhablam toke diy( Just heard today is Thanksgiving and people are calling FM radio here in Kolkata and sending out Thank You messages even for their rickshaw wala. So I thought I might as well thank you)", my Mother, a woman of the world, tried to justify her behavior.

I breathed a sigh of relief. All was well. I am immensely Thankful for my Ma but I have never ever been able to tell that verbally. But then my FM radio blares NPR and does not give me such good advise Phewww.

Several years here and yet we have not much of a Thanksgiving tradition. I mean "not much" if you ignore the fact that most years we end up at a close friend's home driving 3 hours, 2 states away to spend the Thanksgiving weekend lounging on their couch. It is something we do without much thought.

Maybe because airports are too crowded during the four day vacation or maybe because the friend's pastel green couch and warm heart beckons to us stronger than the sandy beaches of Jamaica. Or it could also mean scrumptious free food that one does not have to cook and hence clean up after is the main motivating factor.

The point of the matter is we have never re-visited our decision as to why this has morphed as a repetitive process in our life. That a repetitive process also translates as a tradition is something that had never occurred to me until last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, BS's teacher asked the class to write something about their Thanksgiving tradition.

BigSis said :" Well ummm we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving as a tradition...ummm"

Teacher: "Is there anything you do on that day ?"

BS: "Yes, yes, every year on Thanksgiving we visit our cousin(read friend's daughter) and her family and have fun at their place"

Teacher: "Well then that  IS your Thanksgiving tradition"

A visibly relieved BS later told me that at least she had some sort of a tradition on Thanksgiving to write about, her class mate V merely stayed home and spent it like any other day and had nothing interesting to write. Well every thing you do ultimately finds a way to be useful to someone somewhere. And lets not forget the free food.


This year though unbeknownst to BS we (as in the precious group of real life friends I have here) had planned a traditional Thanksgiving pot luck lunch, a lunch before we continued on our next tradition of spending the days with the other friend. We had never done a traditional Thanksgiving meal before, the times that we had done something it was always leaning towards something Indian. This year led by a friend(we will call her M) who is a fantastic and talented cook we fell in line with a traditional Thanksgiving meal perfumed only mildly with cumin, coriander, and Mustard oil.

The said friend took upon a 19lb Turkey by herself and in face of our doubts, doubts that a Bengali soul will always have faced with a Turkey, cooked a bird which was so delicious that I will now look at Turkey --the bird that is, with renewed respect. With creole seasonings and hours of brining and marination, she had made the bird so moist and delightful and perfect that it was beyond our masoor dal-bhaat imagination. The Turkey had the prefect accompaniment in a stuffed turkey breast(by friend J), a wonderful colorful salad(N's Dad), green beans, roasted potatoes(me), gravy, cranberry relish(me), shrimp scampi( by another friend J),soup,  more vegetables and scrumptious brownie.

It was truly a beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving meal.

The heavily Indianized cranberry relish that I made following N (or was it M's ?) recipe is  super easy to put together and tastes almost like a makha kuler achaar. The concept is also kind of same, throw different ingredients together until it tastes perfect. All you need is cans of Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce to start with and then you do this


Now if you don't get Whole Berry Cranberry sauce , you can make some with fresh cranberries. If cranberries is not local to your place, don't even bother, find something else. But and take note--but if you do get cranberries in can or not, do attempt making this relish or chutney or whatever. It is really, really good. And yes, remember to wash that finger. Not that it is a must but it helps to promote World Peace.

I will end this post with words about an organization I received an e-mail about. I haven't had time to look into details but is clear that the non-profit org More Than Me, that works to lift girls off the street and into school in Liberia, West Africa is doing a worthy job. Do check out www.voteabigail.org and More Than Me.








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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Giveaway Winner

Yes, yes, Yes. We have a Giveaway winner. Before I announce the winner let me just tell you how I picked the person today.

1. First I entered all the commenters in the order they had left their comment on the blog in a spreadsheet.

2. Since there were some exclusive comments on FB, I added them to the spreadsheet, inserting them in order according to date and time. So some FB comments went in between the blog comments in the spreadsheet.

3. You can see the spreadsheet here.



4. There were 47 rows in there.

5. Next I went to Random.org where I put Min=1(lowest row num) and Max=47(highest row num) and hit Generate. The random number thus generated was 18.

6. The 18th row in the spreadsheet had the name Newly Paul. Drum-roll. And she is the winner of the gift card today. Woo Hoo. Congratulations.

Newly Paul, I do not have your e-mail address.Please leave a comment with your e-mail or drop me a line at sandeepa(dot)blog(at)gmail(dot)com. Also let me know the charity of your choice and we can decide how you want me to contribute to them.

All others, thanks so much for playing along. We will have another giveaway soon hopefully and there is always a chance that you will win next.
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Monday, November 19, 2012

Bangali Chicken Keema Chop -- for Bhai Pho(n)ta




I love this time of the year. Not because it is winter which is really not my favorite season but because of the festivities which come tumbling one after the other. DurgaPujo, Halloween, Diwali, Bhai Phota, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year dazzles the calendar until December. Even while we are recovering from the aftermath of bhog-er khichuri, sondesh, nimki and naru there is a fifteen pounder turkey looming in the horizon. But being true blue Bengalis we march towards that horizon without fear. With a couple of bottles of hajmi guli we are ready to conquer every feast that any tradition can throw upon us Our only regret is that had the pilgrims known better they would have surely decided on "pathar mangsho" instead of  turkey for Thanksgiving.

But this post is not about Thanksgiving. It is about a tradition stuck in between the holidays called Bhai Pho(n)ta. It is a day when Bengali sisters deem  to protect their brothers by putting  a dot of sandalwood and yogurt paste on their forehead. A sweet ritual to reinforce the sibling bond and spread some food and cheer in the process.



Big Sis and Little Sis are blessed that they have a loving extended family of Mashis and Kakus all around them. A model elder sis to look up to, best friends who double up as cousins and younger brothers and sisters of all ages. The set up is almost as good as a joint family without the added baggage. I can let BS have sleepovers without a thought at her BFF's home because they have practically grown up together and I know these are the homes where the children are loved without judgement.

So it only natural that the two little cute and smart twin brothers whom BigSis had visited only few hours after they were born and have practically seen grow up are also the ones whom she gives Bhai Pho(n)ta. It comes naturally to her, to protect these little brothers and wish them well always. LittleSis too was initially excited to give them phota but threw a major tantrum during the occasion vehemently refusing to have anything to do with the rituals.


Along with the chanting of the rhyme, the sandalwood-yogurt dot and sweets we celebrate this day every year with lots of food. This year Kakima, my friend N's(the twin's mom) mother is visiting and so most of the wonderful food (which included a tasty salad by N's dad, shukto,dhoka and a rezala) was cooked by her. All I did was make a Roshogollar Paayesh and Keemar Chop.

Now this Keemar Chop is not really like the Mangshor Chop my Ma makes. Hers is a little more complicated where she makes an outer casing of potatoes and stuffs it with spicy mutton keema which she then dips in egg wash, rolls in bread crumbs and then deep fries in hot oil.

My Keema Chop however is simplified; like everything else I do in life. Haven't heard anyone complaining though.







Keema Chop

Start off with 1 lb of Chicken Keema

Heat 2tbsp oil in a fry pan.

Add 1 medium sized onion finely chopped and fry till it is soft and pink with browned edges.

To above add
1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, 
1/2 tsp Cumin powder, 1/2 tsp Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp Red chili powder(more to taste)
and saute for a minute

Add the chicken keema. Add salt to taste. Mix well and cook the keema with the spices until keema is no longer pink and is cooked. Sprinkle 1/4tsp of Garam masala. At this point taste and adjust for seasoning.

Once the keema is done, cool. Then add it to a blender and give a whirr to make a crumbly kind of mix. Do NOT blend to a fine paste.

Meanwhile boil 2 large potatoes.Once cooled, peel and mash with salt to taste.

Next with your hands mix all of the the following
mashed potatoes
the prepared keema
a clove of garlic minced
2-3 green chili finely chopped
little beet noon or rock salt
a pinch of sugar

Scoop out small portions of the above mix and fashion them into thick disc shapes or oblong shapes.

Here comes Deep Frying

Now prepare for frying and set up the following
Egg Wash i.e two eggs beaten with a tbsp of water --> A flat platter with Seasoned Bread Crumbs --> Hot Oil for deep frying
Note: I season the bread crumbs with garlic-pepper powder

Dip the chop/croquette in egg wash --> roll in bread crumbs --> fry till golden brown on both sides. Note: I have noticed that after the chop/croquettes have been rolled in brad crumbs if you let them rest in the refrigerator for half hour , the coating is better.

Sprinkle the croquettes/chop with some chat masala or beet noon and serve with chopped onion, mustard and Ketchup

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The giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow night. You still have time to participate.

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Saturday, November 17, 2012

Aloo Tikki Chaat -- or Ragda Patties


While everyone else was making sweets and wearing silks on Diwali I was making this aloo tikki chaat in yoga pants that has seen better days.And why ? For the simple reason that I had soaked some yellow (or was it white?) vatana in the morning to make ghugni and suddenly just a ghugni for dinner did not seem right on Diwali. I am ashamed to say but that was the most I could do. In light of all your karanjis, besan ladoos, gulab jamuns and murukkus my struggle to put together a plate of  "pick-me-up-and-have-a party-in-your-mouth" aloo tikki chaat seems to fizzle out like a damp cracker.

But guess what ? It was okay. At least I thought it was okay. Only I cribbed about the fairy lights that would go on the front porch in our old home and that still remained in their cardboard box, resting, probably itching to get out and spread some light. We weren't able to put them up here. Not yet. Those lights will have to wait till we figure out how to put them up in this front porch with a different facade.It is the lights I worried about most. For Diwali to me is more about flickering, twinkling, bursting lights on a dark autumn night than anything else.



Now to the aloo tikki chaat which as everyone and their neighbor's dog knows is a famous Indian street food. Only thanks to my street food phobic mother I never tasted it at a street-side. I have spent many school afternoons looking longingly at the tikki wala standing behind a huge disc of greased tawa--flat discs of aloo tikkis  and green chilies adorning its periphery--stirring around a ghugni with a non-chalance that was enviable. Bevy of school girls, usually the high schoolers surrounded his cart as he went tan-tan with his steel ladle on the iron tawa. I have no idea how it tasted, all I can remember is my Ma talking about the steel plates he used not being properly washed and some such reasoning to prevent me from having it.

At this point I can only thank my stars that Ma was not that strict when it came to phuchka or egg roll. Phewww...can't imagine what my life would have been otherwise.



So the point of the matter is I have always had aloo tikki chaat at sanitized surroundings, in small restaurants, a step away from the street, and it has tasted as good as it can in that surrounding. I have nothing to compare it against. Same goes about mine. It is good. Pretty good. But I have a niggling doubt it is not as good as that tikki wala's who sat outside the huge green gates of my school.

There are several recipes of aloo tikki chaat or ragda patties. The aloo tikki is a spicy potato patty which is shallow fried and the ragda is a spicy peas curry kind of thing. The aloo tikki chaat can be just the potato patties itself topped with all the tamarind chutney, sev and other chaat paraphernalia.My girls love the aloo tikki by itself, at least BS does. The patties also make great sandwiches.It can also be made into an aloo tikki chole chaat where instead of peas curry there is a garbanzo beans curry.

I like all the variations and for most of the time my ragda is more in the lines of a Bengali ghugni and does pair beautifully with the aloo tikki. It is a comforting dish, makes a complete meal and heals any pain you may or may not have in absence of twinkling fairy lights.






Aloo Tikki Chaat -- Ragda Patties
Make Aloo Tikki

Boil 3 large-ish potatoes.

Cool the potatoes and then peel.Now mash the potatoes very smooth.

Next take 3 slices  of bread, remove the sides, dampen by sprinkling water and add to potatoes.

To the above mashed potatoes and bread add
1 tsp Amchoor
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
2 clove of garlic minced
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
salt to taste
some Beet noon or rock salt or kala namak

Mix all of the above with the potatoes and make a smooth dough. Take a little and taste. Something missing ? More spicy ? Less salt ? Adjust and add more of the spice that is missing.

Heat a non-stick pan lightly greased. Very, very little oil is needed and spraying a non-stick pan with oil or greasing with your fingers works best

Now take a scoop of the mashed aloo, flatten on the palm of your hand and put on the pan. If you are using a large pan you can do about 7-8 patties/tikkis at the same time. At medium heat cook for 5 minutes and flip. You will see that the side has deep brown spots. Next cook other side for 4-5 minutes.

Remove and arrange on a serving plate. You can later make a chaat out of it or serve it to kids just like that with some ketchup

Make the Ghugni or Ragda

Soak 1&1/2cup of dried White peas (white vatana) in water overnight.

Next day rinse the peas. The peas will now have swelled to almost 3 cups

Heat oil in a Pressure cooker
Temper with
1 heaped tsp of Cumin seeds
2-3 cracked dry red chili
2 clove of garlic minced

Add the peas. Sprinkle a tsp of turmeric powder, a tsp of Red chili powder and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Next add enough water so that peas are all submerged(about 3-4 cups),  2 tsp of grated ginger, salt to taste and close the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook for 5 mins at ful pressure.

Once you can open the lid add a tsp of Amchur/Mango Powder, some finely chopped coriander leaves, squeeze of little lime juice and adjust for salt and spices. I often add a little beet noon or kala namak to finish off. If you like more heat add some finely chopped green chili.

Assemble The Chaat

To serve the chaat arrange 2-3 aloo tikki on a plate. Ladle few spoonfuls of ghugni/ragda over the tikki. Drizzle a little Tamarind Chutney. Next drizzle little whipped yogurt. Sprinkle sev liberally on top. You can add some more chopped onion and green chili to finish.



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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Giveaway -- come join the fun

As I have been subtly hinting in my last two or three or maybe four posts there is a small something I wanted to do for the most important part of this blog today. Yes, that is Google, I am talking about. You know they host my blog on blogger and give me nifty tools like analytics to play with. Ahem.

Okay, okay...who am I kidding. It is not about them. It is about you, "The Readers", as in you human drumming on the keyboard with your fingers or tapping on your phone with grotesquely long nails and looking at my blog page with a look of utter boredom. "Really, this woman", you are probably thinking, "how she wastes her time, cooking masoor dal and then writing about it. Huh!" Or you could also be someone settled down with a cup of chai in the corner couch and reading through my post, ready with perfectly sweet, polite comments to pep me up.

I love you both. I like you all. I also want to thank you and you. So whoever you are stay put because the next few words I write can change your life forever. Okay, maybe not but we can hope.

Now today being a sunny Wednesday and yesterday being a rainy Tuesday in my part of the world and the fact that it is also Diwali (or rather day after Diwali) and that good always wins over evil and that I love you in the theoretical sense, I would like to gift you a FIFTY DOLLARS gift card from Amazon.



Now ideally I would have loved to give all of you and myself  that gift card but in real world that is not possible. So I am going to have to pick one single person who can then splurge his or her way on Amazon.And splurge you can with a $50 amazon gift card.

Also as we all know that happiness doubles on sharing, I will also be contributing FIFTY DOLLARS to a charity of the winner's choice and the contribution will be made in the name of the winner. Note: The charity should be a registered one and should be able to receive online payment.

Here are the rules of the game.

1. Like this blog's page on FaceBook ("Like" only if you like this blog and not because I am telling you to)

2. Spread the word about this blog and giveaway on Facebook and Twitter. My Twitter handle is @BongMomCookBook. Shameless plug in I know but I think more people deserve to know about Indian and Bengali food, there is a whole range of tastes to explore.

3. Once you have done 1 and 2 leave a comment finishing the sentence "If I would go bungee jumping, the last dessert I would eat is ___________". If you are not comfortable doing 1 and 2, fine, just leave a comment. Please leave your e-mail so that I can contact you in case of a win.

4. The winner will be picked from those who leave a comment, using Random.org and will be announced on November 20th

**The Amazon gift card is a global card and can be used wherever you are. However depending on your location Amazon may or may not ship certain things. That you can check with Amazon.You can also use it for buying digital entertainment stuff like apps and books for kindle.
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Monday, November 12, 2012

Fourteen Lights and Begun diye Palong Shak


Earnestly working on painting clay lamps

Bhoot Chaturdashi, the day before Kali Pujo, Bengalis have a tradition to light fourteen lamps and place them in fourteen dark corners of their home.Choddo Prodeep we call it.

The lamps that were painted and decorated by BS and LS

I remember rolling cotton wicks in the palm of my hand and helping my Ma light the fourteen clay prodeep which had been washed and dried in the sun all morning and were waiting ready, filled to the brim with golden Mustard oil. After the lamps were lit, came the next step, the most interesting one in this process. We had to find the darkest corners of the home to place the lamps, corners where darkness was thick and black like a blueberry jello and a flickering lamp could merely make a feeble statement .

There would be one placed near the tulsi plant, one on the outside window sill of the bathroom, a third by the choubachcha -- the water tank in the backyard, and then the rest by the doorstep of each rooms. This day was all about darkness and flickering clay lamps unlike the day of Deepavali when rows of slender wax candles would be stuck around the front verandah and lighted up to dispel any essence of darkness.



Bengalis also have a tradition to cook and eat fourteen different kind of greens on this day. Choddo -Shaak it is called.

Now I can understand the logic of fourteen lamps to dispel the darkness and bring light or to pay homage to fourteen ancestors, whichever theory you live your life by. But I have never understood the worthiness of fourteen greens. I mean you buy fourteen different kind of greens, which itself is a daunting task, then you chop them up, scary prospect and then cook fourteen different kind of dishes with these greens. Why ? Really why ? Am I consuming the year's worth of Vitamin A on this single day ?




So anyway the choddo shak never excites me, too much work.I would rather light lovely lamps, have a nice cup of hot tea and take pictures of both lamp and tea instead. Most that i try to do is, to cook one or two leafy greens and maintain traces of a ritual that has it origins. This year it was the simple Begun diye Palong Shaak, a classic Bengali recipe where Spinach greens are cooked with cubed pieces of eggplant in mustard oil and a Pui Shaak cooked with pumkin, eggplant and potatoes.

The star of the night however were the lamps, four of which were painted and decorated by Big Sis and Little Sis. They had much fun painting them and sticking them up with jewels. It is really an easy craft project for small kids and requires plain clay diyas,some paint and self stick rhinestones. The girls do not care for the fourteen, and we rarely light oil lamps, so this involvement in the whole prodeep thing charged them up and they waited and waited till evening fell and we lighted fourteen lamps.




Begun Diye Palong Shaak

Wash the spinach greens well and chop fine

Next chop an eggplant in small cubes. The idea is to have about 2 cups of cubed eggplant for a bunch of spinach

Heat mustard oil to smoking. Temper the oil with Kalonji, Dry Red Chili and a clove of garlic minced

Add the eggplant and saute till eggplant is soft.

Now add the spinach mixing it with the eggplant. Add little salt to taste, a few green chili slit and let the spinach cook. The greens will release a lot of water. Stir intermittently and let all the water dry up. Once the spinach is cooked and the dish looks dry add a little kashundi if you have some. If not finish off with a little mustard oil.

Serve with white rice.

Wishing you all a Happy Deepavali. Stay tuned for there is a giveaway coming up.

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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Kolkata Style Chilli chicken -- the way Ma-in law makes it


Kolkata Style Chilli Chicken | Chinese Chilli Chicken

Indian Style Chinese Chilli Chicken is a hot, spicy favorite of almost every Chicken eating Indian. It is not authentic Chinese but an Indian adaptation which is immensely popular in Indian restaurants



Phewww...the last two weeks have been a tough week for folks in my part of the world as we are still reeling in the aftermath of the hurricane Sandy that made a landfall about 80 miles from my home. We felt the power of nature as huge gusts of wind rattled windows, my neighbor's tall willow tree swayed and finally fell, fences flew around like dry leaves in my front yard and we lost power.

Chilli Chicken



People have lost homes and much more and so it doesn't sound right for me to start cribbing about my loss of power for several days. I guess the power became more of a problem since no one here has a backup power source and steady supply of electricity and water is taken as granted.Schools were off, traffic signals refused to work, most businesses, stores, including gas stations were unable to operate for the first couple of days.

The kids were the ones who made most of this situation though. They made up games to play by the flashlight, had many fun sleepovers, spent two happy days with an aunt which would normally have not happened during school week and lived life beyond the usual routine.


And it is in this chaos that I found many reasons to celebrate. That we were safe. That we had food . That we have great friends to tide us through the powerless days. That we got back power in time for election. That Little Sis can now clean her own bum.... Yes, yes that last one took me by so much surprise and admiration for LS.

She is the proverbial second child, the one whose potty training just happened without my breaking my head because I waited and waited until she was ready, the one whose reading or writing I don't worry about much as I have learned that a child attending a school will eventually do those, the one who eats more candy that her sister did at this age and I just give in tired of picking up any more battles, the one who is still the baby and gets away with a lot of tantrums I wouldn't have allowed otherwise. So the fact that LS cleans her own bum at school made me really proud. At home though she refuses to do that job. Yet.




She also likes "jhaal chicken" aka "spicy hot chicken". Big Sis also likes "jhaal chicken". So once we got back power "chili chicken" and fried rice was made for dinner. Indian Style Chinese Chilli Chicken is a hot favorite of almost every Chicken eating Indian I have ever met. The first time I had a hot, hot Indian style Chinese chilli chicken was many many years ago as a second grader at a small restaurant in the mountain town of Kalimpong. I knew very less about China at that time (not that I know much now) but my respect for the country had gone up just because of this single dish. I imagined a country where people ate Hakka Noodles, Chilli Chicken and Manchurian Fried Rice non stop for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What is not to respect.


Nowadays every time I make this Chi-ll-i Chicken, I feel very very sorry for the Chinese. I mean here I am getting annoyed if someone makes alu posto in olive oil and here is the poor Chinese who is getting credited for a dish that has nothing, nothing except Dark Soy sauce as the Oriental ingredient. That is if I am in the dark about Huen Tsang's love for loads of green chilli and hot spicy chicken.

With due apologies to the Chinese here is my Ma-in-law's version of the Indian Chilli Chicken. Cook it, enjoy it and never forget it.












Ma-in-law's Chilli Chicken




In a mortar pound
2 clove of garlic
2 green chili
to make a paste

Marinate 1-- 1.5 lb chicken cut in small pieces with
garlic+chili paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp White Vinegar
and salt for an hour or half. If you can cut the chicken in 1" pieces it is best

When you are ready to cook add
1 beaten egg
1/4th tsp of Black pepper
to the chicken pieces and combine well.

In a shallow bowl mix
& 1/4th Cup of Corn flour
1/4th Cup of AP Flour

Add the chicken pieces to this flour mix so that the pieces are well coated

Heat Oil in a wok or kadhai or a saute pan. Oil should be enough for frying.

Add the chicken pieces in a single layer and fry till they are golden brown. Remove the lightly fried chicken pieces and keep aside. The fried chicken will be like popcorn chicken and ready to eat. But don't eat them!

Usually the remaining oil will be too much for the gravy so take out most of it and use 2 Tbs sp of it for the next steps.

To the oil, add
2 clove of garlic finely minced.
1 tsp of minced ginger.
and 4 green chili chopped in rounds

When you get the flavor of garlic( careful don't burn the garlic) add 1 cup thick sliced onions. Fry till onion is pinkish brown.

Add 1 red/yellow/green bell pepper thinly sliced. Saute for 2-3 minutes. This step is optional and can be skipped

In a bowl make the sauce as follows.
1 Tbsp of Soy sauce + 1 tbsp of Maggi Hot&Sweet + 2 tsp green chili sauce + 2 tsp of red hot sauce + 1 Tbsp of Vinegar and mix. Note: Soy sauce has salt so careful. Instead of green chili sauce add Sambal Olek or if don't have any of those add couple more hot green chilli finely chopped.
Add this sauce to the wok/frying pan

In about 3/4th cup of warm water mix 2 Tbsp corn starch and make a smooth mix. Add this to above and mix well.

When the gravy starts simmering add the fried chicken pieces & fry at medium high for couple more minutes combining the sauce and veggies till chicken is totally done and the gravy is thick and clinging.

Garnish with chopped spring onions if you have those and serve with Noodles or Fried rice


Chinese Style Fried Rice

Wash 2 cups of rice in water and let it soak for 10 mins. Cook rice in enough salted water. Once the rice is cooked drain in a colander.

Now heat Oil in a wok. You can use the oil that you have remaining from making the chilli chicken.

To the hot oil add 2 cloves of minced garlic and some black or white pepper powder. Follow with finely chopped carrots and green peas.  Add some soy sauce, salt to taste and cover and cook till veggies are done. Now add the cooked rice gradually tossing it with the veggies and sauce. Add little more oil if necessary. Finish adding all the cooked rice tossing so that all the rice is coated with the sauce and oil. Garnish with spring onion.

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