Giada's Grilled chicken with Basil Dressing

Soon after I have had some deep fried goodness I go on a guilt mode. Isn't that sad ? I mean if life has come to a stage where I have to feel guilty of eating deep fried stuff, is that life even worth anything ? And hello, I am not in my seventies or something. My Hajmola eating, ever burping grandma did better than this.

Also when I am on the guilt mode, I eat crap.Not.

So on one of my such modes and on a weekday with very little time I decided to do a grilled chicken. Now there is nothing wrong with grilled chicken and we do a lot of that during the summer months. It is easy, less mess, I do the marinade, D stands on the deck, far from the madding crowd aka the family and turns chicken on the gas grill enjoying the light summer breeze and the peace that loneliness on the deck can bring.

But this time I wanted to use my Basil infused Olive Oil and more Basil with the chicken. A few Google clicks later I settled on Giada's Grilled Chicken with Basil Dressing. Now I love Giada. Ok, not exactly love, because I have seen her only maybe four times on Food Network. But I like her. She is very pretty. In fact I liked her enough to suggest that D start watching pretty Giada instead of brainy Alton Brown.

But he likes brainy guys and I like pretty girls.We have a happy marriage.

So I kind of followed her recipe, altering only a little bit. I used Basil Infused Olive Oil instead of just Olive Oil. And I must tell you, my infused Olive Oil wasn't smelling very great after a week in the refrigerator. I have no clue what happened.

I also reduced the lime juice and added a little honey and red chili powder.

The basil dressing was very good I must say. A little on the bland side for folks like us so should have added more chili but it was very refreshing. I served the chicken with grilled veggies.
The next day I added some Corriander Chutney from a bottle to the same marinade and used it for salmon. That made it totally delicious though.

While on the Grilling topic, I have updated the page Blog Hopped Recipes with two delicious recipes of grilled chicken that I tried from Malluspice and Aayis Recipes. Do check them out.


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Grilled Chicken with Basil Dressing

Original Recipe

Whisk
1/3 cup of oil(I used less),
2 tablespoons of lemon juice,
1 tsp garlic paste,
1 & 1/2 tsp of powdered fennel seeds,
salt,
1 teaspoon pepper in a heavy-duty re-sealable plastic bag. Add 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts and seal the bag. Massage the marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day, turning the chicken occasionally.

Blend
1 cup of basil leaves,
2-3 cloves of garlic,
1 tsp lemon zest,
1/8 cup lemon juice,
salt,
1 teaspoon pepper in a blender until smooth. Gradually blend in 1/3 cup oil. Season the basil sauce, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired. I added honey and some red chili powder to this dressing

Prepare the barbecue for medium-high heat or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to plates. Drizzle the basil sauce over and serve.

Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

BS lost her very first tooth last week, last Wednesday to be precise. Major excitement ensued.More than the tooth, it was about the Tooth Fairy and the cash she would bring.

I had no clue that Tooth Fairies brought wads of dollar bills.

A shiny quarter was all I knew. Apparently I am wrong, as suggested by little neighbor girl.

The little neighbor girl has raised the bar pretty high saying Tooth Fairy got her thirty dollars. T-HIRT-Y DOLLARS for a baby tooth !!! What was TTF(The Tooth Fairy) thinking. I am guessing there is a scam going on and it might involve Goldman but really T-HIRT-Y Dollars ?

Since this was BS's very first tooth, I did not want her psychologically snubbed by TTF's bias and so she got Fifteen dollars from TTF next morning, crisp 5 dollar bills under her pillow.

Later I learned that little neighbor girl might have duped me. Tooth Fairy still gives out single dollar bills so there I am the stupid adult.

To quickly retract my sin of giving too much cash to a 6 year old I made BS buy ten dollar worth of craft supplies with that money and now BS is left with 5 dollars which she has promised to give to her Mom when the need arises. In fact BS thinks her Mom can become rich herself if she loses her own tooth too.

Before that happens her Mom decided to celebrate the occasion by making Chingri Pakora or Shrimp Pakoda. It did not matter that BS did not even want to take a bite, everyone else enjoyed it to the bits.

Update for Indo: The toothless girl did not fancy pakodas on that particular day. She has her very own independent food ideas that change each day !!!

Fry some up, they are perfect on a rainy day with a steaming cuppa. Ok, they are good on any day and we will also serve it as a bhaja (something fried) to go with rice and dal. If you don't eat shrimp, don't lose heart, you can use sliced paneer or mushroom and they will taste as good.


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Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

This recipe makes about 15-16 pakodis with 15-16 shrimp

Clean and de-vein shrimp. If using frozen defrost them. Remove shell and the tail. Toss the shrimp with 1/4 tsp of lime juice, 1/4 tsp of Roasted Cumin powder and salt. You can also add a little garlic paste and Red Chili powder, I usually don't. Keep the shrimp marinated for 10-15 minutes. If shrimp is large in size, chop in bite size pieces and then marinate.

In a mixing bowl add

1 cup of Besan/Chickpea flour
a pinch of Baking Powder
1/4 tsp of Red Chili Powder
salt to taste
Add 3/4 cup--1 cup of water gradually to above, mixing with a fork to make a smooth batter.

Note 1: You can add a tsp of rice flour to the batter to make it more crispy
Note 2: Sometimes I will add an egg to the batter. If you do that add less water.

To the batter add about 1/4 cup of finely chopped onions and 2 green chili finely chopped(optional) and mix well
This time I added 2 tbsp of crispy fried onions(the kind you can put in biryani etc.) to the batter and it tasted heavenly

Heat enough Oil for deep frying in a kadhai. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a little batter into it.

Dip a shrimp in the batter so that it is well coated. With a tablespoon scoop the shrimp along with some batter and gently drop it in hot oil. At this point heat should be high-medium. After a minute reduce the heat to medium. When the pakoda starts turning golden at edges flip and fry the other side. Approx. it will take 2-3 mins on each side. This is enough for the shrimp to get cooked.
Note: When you are doing several at a time, carefully separate each pakodis in the hot oil so that they do not lump together.

Once the pakoda looks brown and crunchy, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel

Sprinkle Amchoor or Chaat masala on the pakodis and serve with a Hot & Sweet Ketchup

Miss Masala by Mallika

A very dear blogger friend has written a book.

She is funny, witty, charming, chic and a terrific cook. Oh, wait and she is a fellow bong.

Can you guess who she is ?

Ok, she is already famous and you all probably know about her book. She is Mallika from Quick Indian Cooking, who blogs here at Quick Indian Cooking. Of course.

Book: Miss Masala
Author: Mallika Basu
Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: Collins (April 29, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007306121
ISBN-13: 978-0007306121
Buy from Amazon

She had very kindly sent me some copies l--o--o--n--g back. But they got lost in transit and after much travel only two of her gorgeous books landed at my door.

Did I say they were gorgeous ? They were absolutely pretty and purple and pink and with the most charming pages(or settings or whatever the publishers call them). You know the kind of lined pages where you jot down your notes. Her book is like that, has that well thumbed feel of a recipe journal about it. And yet just like her it is witty, charming, chic and sexy.

It is filled with those terrific recipes which you must have got a glimpse in her blog and is filled with witty anecdotes. I have been enjoying reading it so much that I am yet to cook from it. In fact I had intended to do a review only after I cooked a couple (and it is hard to pick just a couple) of dishes from the book. But then I remembered she has a book tour all over India this week and I wanted to get the word out as quickly as possible.

Please,please check out her book tour and go visit if possible. Also buy your own personal copy. I was supposed to give out one but my Mom has taken over one copy and refuses to part with it. Me, I am not going to let go mine either. So go get your own and meet Mallika in her book tour if possible.