Chicken Fry & Stir fried mixed vegetables

I was in a cooking mood again today so I decided to make something that I didn’t have to eat with rice. And I was sure in the mood for something spicy so I ended up making ‘Chicken Fry’ and ‘Stir Fry Mixed Vegetables’ healthy fast and don’t require a lot of preparation. I have made the chicken dish before and I liked how the coriander just puts everything together. In this part of the world cilantro is known is coriander so its all the same thing in which ever form its in be it fresh, seeds or powder and this is one of my favorite spices because of its strong fragrance.

Anyways I thought id share this recipe seeing that its really yummy. I actually found it at allrecipes.com … I added a few extra ingredients to suit my taste feel free to try the actual recipe or the ones with added ingredients … The extra ingredients are yogurt water & coriander seeds – the yogurt makes the chicken moist and gives it that tangy taste at the end and the water gives it more gravy where as the coriander adds more texture ..

Chicken Fry (for 5)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 onion, sliced

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste

2 green chili peppers, chopped*

3 teaspoons ground coriander seed *

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon chili powder *

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro, for garnish

salt to taste

½ - 1 cup yogurt

1 tbsp coriander seeds

Water (depends on how much gravy you want)

Method
1. Marinate chicken pieces in yogurt for about 30 -45 mins.
2. Heat oil in a pan.
3. Add onions, green chilies, garam masala powder , ginger-garlic paste & half of the table spoon of the coriander seeds. and fry until onions turn golden brown.
4. Add chicken pieces, turmeric, nutmeg, pepper and chili powders and let cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add water at this stage to desired consistency.
5. Add salt and additional coriander powder and coriander seeds to taste and cook until done. 6. Garnish with cilantro if desired, and serve.

** I added extra chili powder and chili peppers seeing I really like it spicy. I also added a teaspoon of coriander powder at the first stage of frying.

Another recipe id like to share is one I think everyone knows how to make. Its simple its fast and its healthy. The vegetables used in this recipe is entirely up to you. In addition to that I omitted salt seeing the vegetable stock and oyster sauce makes up for the salt. I love stir fry its good on its own and good with the chicken recipe too .. So here is the recipe ..

Mixed Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients
1tsp cooking oil

One carrot

2 -3 shitake mushrooms

3-4 baby corn

4 cauliflower flowers

One green bell pepper (you can use any yellow or red) A

few snap peas

1 Onion

2 inches Ginger

3 cloves Garlic

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tsp Vegetable stock in powder form.

Method
1-Cut the vegetables to desired sizes.
2-Slice the onion ginger and garlic finely.
3-Heat the oil then add in the sliced ginger, garlic and onion.
4-Sautee for a minute or two then add in the hard vegetables.
5-Stir for a few seconds before adding in the oyster sauce and vegetable stock.
6-Add one teaspoon water before adding the rest of the vegetables. Stir till its evenly mixed remove from heat.
7-Don’t over cook or else the vegetables will get soft and soggy.

I chose to slice instead of dice the ginger and garlic cause I like a little texture in my food. I love the taste of ginger too so when its diced you don’t get much of the taste. You can adjust the amount of vegetable stock and oyster sauce to your taste buds.

The chicken fry is actually an Indian inspired dish and the stir fry is a Chinese dish. Nice isnt it if how food has evolved, traveled and come together. Anyways most of the spices can be bought at Asian food shops if you are not from Asia. The Indian spices can be found at Indian shops depending on where you are living.

If anyone tries the recipe tell me how it goes k .. Happy trying!