Chicken Fried Rice Indian Style | How to make Chicken Fried Rice Step By Step Recipe

The mention of Chinese Fried Rice takes me down the memory lane. It was the early 90's that the Indian Culinary world was introduced to those tempting fusion dishes from the Chinese Cuisine. Take away packs of Chinese Fried Rice with Chop Sticks was a fad. That was also when most felt that eating out was fashion. Weekend night was dedicated to eating out Chinese.

I think the invasion was through Egg Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Rice, before the Vegetable Fried Rice came into picture. There was really not much of a difference with the basic recipe being the same and you can just spice up the main ingredient and add them. With years passing, this become such an integral part of our restaurant menu that Chinese got dropped and Fried Rice became a standard item. As Cauliflower Manchurian is. Flip through any Restaurant and you will find Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, Cauliflower Manchurian without fail.

At our home these were regulars at least once a month. Needless to say Amma makes all these so very well. Somehow after my marriage these dishes took a back seat. Nevertheless they appear on table once in a while. Especially when we are entertaining guests. These dishes are also special for me, as these are few of the dishes that I end up making exclusively when cooking together with Amma. And this recipe is very much a chinese fried rice restaurant style with the smoky effect.

Today's recipe was cooked many months ago, when parents had guests for dinner. I was called for making this Chicken Fried Rice and naturally I won't miss the opportunity of clicking away the pictures. But can you believe, I actually forget to take a final picture. So you got to do with seeing how it looked at the final stage on the Kadai. When I realized this, Amma said we can naturally cook it again and take a picture. I said that can wait but the post can't. Will surely update a final picture when I get around making it again.
 

Get all the vegetables ready by chopping them into fine pieces.

Heat a wok or a kadai with oil. Saute onions, cumin seeds. Once done, add the capsicum, saute till half done.

 Tilt the kadai to a side so that the oil along with vegetables reach the flame. This will make sure it gets the smoky effects.

See how the vegetables catch flame and it lets out a good smoky smell. But ensure you are very careful with all vegetables not catching fire.

Then add rest of the vegetables and continue with the smoky effect if required
.

Next goes the cabbage, beans.

 Add the soya sauce to the vegetables, salt and ajinomoto.

 Then add the cooked rice to the kadai. Mix well

Finally add the pepper and spring onion greens.

Meanwhile pressure cook the chicken as mentioned below and remove the bones from the chicken.

Heat a pan with oil, saute the green chili sauce, then followed by the chicken pieces and pepper. 

Finally add the chicken pieces to the rice or remove the portion you want to add to the chicken and mix together.

Chinese Fried Rice with Chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients Needed:

For the Rice

Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Spring Onions - 1 bunch
Capsicum - 1 medium
Beans, Carrot and Cabbage - 2 cups
Salt to taste
Ajinomoto - 1/4 tsp
Soya Sauce - 2 tbsp
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp

For Chicken

Boneless Chicken - 250 gms
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala / Green Chili Sauce / Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp

Method to prepare:

To make the Rice:

Clean and soak rice for 15 mins. Cook the rice in a non stick pan with 4 & 1/2 cups of water. Since the rice has to be non sticky and separate, you can even reduce quarter cup of water. You can either pressure cook or cook directly on stove. Once its cooked, remove and spread it on a plate so that you have each grain separate.

Chop all vegetables finely. Onion bulbs can be chopped as circles. The stock is saved to be used for garnish at the final stage. Rest of the vegetables can be chopped finely.

Heat a wok or Kadai. Wok works out best as you an flip the vegetables to come directly in touch with flame, which brings out the characteristic smoky effect. Add 2 tbsp of Oil, to this add cumin seeds. When it splutters, add chopped spring onions. Fry well, then add all the chopped vegetables. Sauté well with the flame high. To get the smoky restaurant effect, tilt the kadai to a side and let the vegetables catch the flames. The moment the vegetable in oil gets burnt you can smell the charred or smoky smell. Tilt it back and keep sautéing till the vegetables are crisp and cooked. This dish requires the vegetables to be crisp and not over cooked.

Then add Ajinomoto, salt and Soya sauce. Sauté well. Slowly add the cooked rice and mix well. Add the pepper powder and adjust the salt. Sprinkle the spring onion stocks over the rice.

Every step in this needs to be cooked on high flame.

To make the Chicken

Pressure cook the chicken, along with salt to taste, turmeric powder and Ginger Garlic paste.

Once it is done, remove the bones and keep the boneless chicken pieces aside. We normally don't add water for pressure cooking as chicken will let out water. If you are not making any gravy, you can cook the chicken to make it dry.

Heat a pan with oil, add chili paste/ red chili powder, whichever you are going to use. Sauté in the chicken pieces, sprinkle pepper powder and garam masala if you are going to use that. Once it is dry, add the chicken pieces to the rice.

If you want to make sure vegetarian eat,  make sure you remove a portion and add the rest to the chicken pan.

Enjoy with Cauliflower Manchurian

 

Badusha Recipe | How to make Badhusha Step by Step Recipe

It feels good to be back at the desk typing out this post. Peddu is doing better now. School reopened yesterday and they were supposed to wear their Deepavali attire. We felt so bad that he was missing out the fun. Chinnu was saying he will go to school only if Peddu goes with him, finally agreed knowing he will get to wear a "colour dress". Konda's school never follows this custom, so it was a pleasant surprise hearing that the boys school at least follows. Reminded me so much of my childhood, when we used to wear our Deepavali dress to school. Somehow I always remember having a day off after the festival.

Maybe it is with me growing up, but I have been feeling that festivals these days seem to have lost the glam and clam and serene feeling that comes to you. These days it always seem to be so hurried, people seem to be interested in lot other things like what's special on TV rather than actually going out to meet friends and relatives. Since we don't have any relatives living in the same city, it is only friends that we visit or who visit us. Somehow the Diwali day seem very long, long because we used to get up as early as 3 or 4 in the morning and it just goes on and on.

Amma used to start the Deepavali Snacks preparation some ten days ahead. She used to prepare so much for distribution and for ourselves. It was always Athirasam, Kaja, Rava Laddoo, Gulab Jamun as special on the menu. Athirasams and Kajas get done ahead while she normally prepares her killer Rava Laddoo and Gulab Jamun the previous day. Savory snack were always Ribbon Pakoda, Muruku and Mixture. It used to be a full time eating parade! Apart from this list other items are added on ad hoc basis.

As a child, I don't remember any Deepavali being spent not having any of these items on the day. But as years passed, the list got shorten, so much so that Dad sometimes suggests we buy outside. Amma would never hear any of it. She continues to make these but in smaller quantities.

After marriage, especially after blogging, Amma makes sure she asks me what special to make on each festival day. And Athamma never fails to remind me that we will have to try a new dish for the blog. It was the same this year too, only we couldn't execute what was planned. I was happy that at least we got to make Badusha. This was one sweet which we never tried ourselves.

It was during my college days that we got to know a cook who was specialist in making Festival Sweets and Savories. Amma used to call her for making Kai Murukku, Laddoos, and Badushas. She used to come couple of days ahead and make it all at home and what fun it used to be! The way she used to twist her hand to make the Kai Murukku was simply such a great art. It was a Murukku that is completely shaped with fingers. And her Badushas were melt in the mouth, filled with sugary syrup that can make you crave for more. The sweets stay good for 10 days, of course only if you don't complete them all before that shelf life

Amma had this recipe with her for long time, every year planning to make it, somehow never doing it. So we were determined we should do it. With the discovery of Meenakshi ammal's book, she had double resource to cross check. Since it was a first time experiment, we tried out with only 4 cups, which yielded about 30 medium or small Badushas.

We planned to make it when Peddu was sleeping, so it was hurried job, I managed to get this through most of the steps. But before frying the entire batch, Peddu woke up, so had to give the camera to Konda to click the pictures. Yeah I have a budding photographer at home, who takes pretty pictures of the dish on hand, including many poses of herself in between. In between each shot there was one accompanying picture of Konda with varying expressions and she managed to click some of Amma too.

I made out plain Badushas and Corner Pleated ones. Out of the two, the pleated ones turned out more soft and sugary. If you want to know to the pleating is done, check out Raji's excellent tutorial on how to do it, so wonderful that she has a video of it now. She is a pro at making it.

The pictures were taken as we cooked and there are no pretty pictures to share. I never got around taking them. And ten days later is not exactly the time to click pretty pictures of the sweet, even if some managed to stay put.

Step By Step pictures of making Badusha.

 Measure out the flour

 Add the baking soda and shift well

 Add the butter to the flour

 Crumble well to get this texture..

 well more like this..

 Knead to a pliable dough.

 Pinch out small balls

 Flatten between your palms and make a dent in the middle like the above.

 Deep fry the badusha in batches on medium heat.

 To make the badusha with pleats or folds, flatten the ball like the above,

 Start folding from a point in and out like above.

 You will have something like this..

 Deep fry these again in hot oil over medium flame.

Meanwhile have the syrup cooking

 Dip the fried badhushas in the hot sugar syrups

Allow them to cool over a plate like above.

Makes : 25 mini Badurshas.

Ingredients Needed:

For the Badusha

Maida / All purpose Flour - 4 cups
Butter - 175 gms
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1 & 1/4 cups

For Sugar Syrup

Sugar - 1 & 1/2 cup
Cardamom  a pinch
Water - 1 & 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 tsp (opt)

Oil for frying (you can add 3 tsp of ghee if you so wish)

Method to prepare:

To make the Badusha

Shift the flour along with Baking soda.

Get the butter to room temperature if it was refrigerated. Crumble the flour with the butter well until you know the flour is completely mixed with the butter.

Slowly add the water and start kneading the flour into a dough. Keep kneading until you get a dough that is very soft but elastic in texture. When you punch it, it should punch back. It is very important to have the dough very pliable and soft.

We didn't rest the dough but you can allow it to rest for 10 mins, if you need.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a Kadai or Pan.

When you are set to fry the Badushas, pinch out small balls from the dough. Circle them between your hands to form a perfect balls. Then using your palm, press them down to form a circle. Then press your index finger in the middle to make a dent. It mostly punches back, but make sure you press the hole down.

Now I don't know the reason why this dent is made. But I am guessing it is basically to give a shape and look, plus the required shape to get cooked differently in all sides.

How to make the pleated Badushas.

To pleat the corners, after you have made the circles, start from one side, press out and press in. Continue doing this to join the start line. You will end up having a disc that looks like pleated on the outer edge with a bulge in the middle.

Once you have about 4 to 5, fry them in batches on medium flame. Ensure the heat is maintained at the same level so that it gets cooked in the inner well.

When it is cooked on both sides, drain them on to a kitchen towel.

How to make the Sugar Syrup:

Mix the sugar with water and melt it. I normally strain it to remove the impurities. But you can add 1 tsp of milk which will get the impurities to surface to the top, which can be easily removed.

Continue cooking till you get one thread consistency. This can be checked by touching the syrup between your index and thumb. You will see one thread formed when you move your fingers away from each other.

At this stage add the cardamom, let it cook for few more seconds and switch off the flame.

To make the sugary Badushas

Dip the cooked Badushas into the hot syrup, press down well using a ladle. Allow couple of minutes of standing time, remove out of the pan. It will absorb syrup when both are quite hot.

If the Syrup gets cold, you can heat it again on low flame. If required add little water to thin it.

Once all the Badushas are done, spread them on a plate, allowing it to cool down a bit.

These are normally supposed to stay good for 10 days when stored well. But you never know that exactly when it comes to sweets right!

I know this is pretty long post. If you have read through this to reach here, I am so glad..:)

Do share your Deepavali experience.

I wish to thank all my friends and readers who wrote back reading this post. I was overwhelmed with the wishes.

An update...

With so many preparations for Diwali done at home, we finally never realized when it came and went! We plan something and something else, completely out of norm happens. Diwali wasn’t as grand as usual or as how we wanted it to be, with Peddu being down with fever. It’s been over ten days since he’s got fever. The reports are not clear enough to rule out Typhoid or just a viral fever; we are still waiting for the final report to come in, even as they started on Antibiotics and that has controlled his fever to great extent.

Its 4 days since we have been in the hospital. With Hubby dear shuttling around his work, home and hospital, I have completely taken off from work, trying to handle through phone calls. It’s been one hectic week that I can happily forget!

 I always wondered how one will spend the day off when the entire day is at one’s dispose. Believe me it is terrible. For one, it is extremely heartbreaking to tend to a sick child, who is happy one moment becomes cranky the next moment with the fever setting in. When the fever subsides, we have the TV for the entertainment. It has been ages since I have actually watched Tele. I was able to manage the TV dose only for a day. Finally hubby dear decided to get my laptop, hoping that it will give me company when Peddu sleeps.

We are hoping to get back home tomorrow. He didn't get fever since morning and his doctor was clear that he will not let us go home unless Peddu does not get temperature today and tomorrow. It was heart warming to see how well Chinnu was taking this separation from us. He has been on his best behaviour or so claims Athamma. While Konda is mature enough to understand still keeps asking when we will get back

My Sils’ families came to visit us for Diwali. It wasn’t much fun with Peddu being unwell. Still we wanted the rest of the kids to enjoy the day. They had sorts of celebration at home. But nobody had the mood to do much.


With guests visiting, Amma wouldn’t think of treating them with store bought stuff. I managed to pinch in when I could. It was the usual fair of Coconut Burfi, Panasa Thonalu , Mysore Pak and new dishes like Badusha.

I will write about the recipes once we get back home.

I have recorded how we have our Deepavali Celebrations every year, it makes me sad there isn't a post this year to mark the occasion. But more important than that we will have celebrations when we get back home with Peddu all well.

Do share in your diwali celebrations. With the whole time on hand, I would surely love to read elaborately on every note.

Thenkuzhal Muruku | Thenkuzhal Recipe | Deepavali Snacks

Thenkuzhal is one of my favorite Muruku varities. This Diwali we wanted to make Thenkuzhal along with few other muruku varieties. Sweets will follow tomorrow. I always enjoyed eating this Thenkuzhal and was surprised to find that the proportion that Amma normally uses is almost the same except of course you add some and minus some!

For making the murukus, follow the exact same method as seen in the Jantikalu or Muruku. I am going to list out only the ingredient proportion as the making method is the same.

Before I forget, I had a wow moment this evening. While browsing through our cookbook collection, I happened to look into those old books I remember Sree buying. We always made sure to visit the annual Madras Book Fair. And every year, we used to add some to our collection. While I used to buy Tintin and Asterisk, Sree used to buy different genre, at times it also used to be cookery books for Amma. So one such collection, especially when he thought he might have to teach himself to cook, he had got some set of collection.

Until this evening, I never realized it was "Meenakshi Ammal Samaithu Paar". As it was called Cook and See, it never struck me to translate. How fantastic! I was jubilant. Imagine having heard so much about this author and always had her collection. Deepavali has always been special for the times I spent with my brother, planning on how early we should get up for the firecrackers. Its been years since we actually did it. But every year I never fail to remember our childhood days, every year it used to be the same. It makes it all so nostalgic, I miss my brother. Diwali is not as special if one doesn't not remember the good days spent as a child with siblings.

I am sure he is making the festival a grand remembrance for my niece and nephew as we are making it for our kids. And it was one of the reason why even when Peddu is down with fever, we want to make sure others don't feel let out. And this festival of lights will surely brighten him.

Wanted to share the first batch that was done today. Made Thenkuzhal, Buttermilk Muruku and Amma made Coconut Burfi.

Thenkuzhal Muruku | Thenkuzhal Recipe

For the dough

Raw Rice flour  - 5 cups
Urad Dal flour - 1 cup
Water - app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 50 gms

Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:


In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well. Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.

Whether you use Asafetida powder or the solid ones, you got to mix it in water, make sure it is dissolved before adding to the flour. If its not dissolved properly, when deep frying the muruku, there are chances for the hing to burst our due to air bubbles.

Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter. Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture. Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.

Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.

Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper or slotted spoon and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai.

Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

This normally stays good for weeks.

Pappulu Kajjikayalu or Pappulu Karjikayalu Step By Step Recipe | Deepavali Sweets | An Anniversary to Celebrate!

There are days that you ought to make sure you remember and make memories even if the days are made hard. An Anniversary is not something you forget, you are made sure you remember. Last year Hubby dear made sure he treated me with a trip I will never forget, by taking me to a place that was my favorite. We celebrated our decade of marriage last year with a trip ahead of the day. This year we didn't plan for a trip as I was already away for a while and wasn't prepared for another one.

When we thought we can safely forget, family and friends won't accept it anyways. Lataji remembered to wish me even while she was traveling. Friends make the occasion so much so wonderful. So a cake and special lunch is a must. With Peddu being down with a viral fever, we didn't want to do anything. But kids insisted on a cake. Eleven years is not that comes every day.

An Eggless Blackforest Cake was ordered for the occasion. Not something that I could ignore that easily!

After a tiring lunch, we wanted to retire for a nap. But the Diwali fever has caught the neighborhood already and since morning there was insistent firecrackers played with. There are times when you feel silence can be so overpowering. I felt this at my Sister's place at San Jose. There was no a drop of sound, not even a bit. All I could feel was my own heart beat. And here I was trying to catch a nap amidst a commotion that was inconceivable. Finally I thought I might just ignore napping..

As a continuation of making something for the Diwali and for the special day today, Athamma wanted to make Kajjikayalu, but with a different stuffing.

Step by Step making of Pappulu Karjikayalu

Get the dough ready and let it rest for 15 minutes

 Grind the stuffing together and keep it aside

 Roll out the dough and place the stuffing on the discs

 If you making the half moon shapes, take the rolled out disc on your palm,

 Place a spoon of the stuffing in the center.

 Close your palm and bring the sides together, slowly close it

Once you close the entire sides, press strongly to close together

 Roll one side inside, continue doing like that as shown in the picture.

Continue doing it with the rest.

 For the full shaped discs, roll out the dough into a small circle, with the stuffing in the center.

 Place another rolled out disc over this and press the sides.

 Firmly press the sides like this.

 Now you have all the shaped ones ready

Heat a pan with required oil for deep frying these Kajjikayalu, fry them on slow flame.

Once they are cooked on both sides, drain them on a kitchen towel.

Ingredients Needed:

For the cover:

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Water to knead

For the filling:

Fried Gram Dal - 1 cup
Dried Coconut/ Copra - 1/2 cup
Jaggary - 1/2 cup or (you can increase as per your taste)
Cashew nuts - 10 whole
Cardamom - 2 nos

Oil for Deep frying

Method to prepare:

Kajjikayalu are normally made in half moon shapes. There are many ways to make this. You can even make these in the molds available.


To make the dough


To make the dough, take the flour, salt and ghee in a bowl. Mix well. Then slowly add water to knead into a stiff dough. If you want to get a crispy cover, the dough has to be stiff. When you allow it to rest, it will get soft again. So either you mix some more flour before rolling out. Or you knead and roll out immediately


To make the filling

Grate the Copra or the Dried coconut. This tastes great and also stays longer as the fresh one might get spoiled.

Pulse the fried gram dal and cardamon in a mixer, then add the jaggary and pulse again. Chop the cashew nuts into small pieces. This will be a dry mixture.

Making the kajjikaya on the rolling board.

Once you are ready to roll out, divide the dough into small equal balls. Using the rolling pin, dust the balls, flatten them into small circles, like the puris.

Scoop a spoonful of the dal filling and place on the middle. List one side of the dough, bring to the other side and press well. You can dab some more flour and press well so that the filling doesn't come out.

Making it in your palm.

Once you roll out the cover, take it on to your left palm. Hold it while you scoop in the fillings. Now gently cover both open sides. You will end up having a half moon.

In all shapes, to get the design, you have to turn the sides like tuck in and then press. Then again tuck in. As shown in the picture.

Round Kajjikaya.

This is much easier way to make. Roll out two small puri size dough. Place the filling in the middle. Place the other puri on top and press down well.

Once you have all the Kajjikaya filled and ready, Heat the oil for deep frying. Once the oil is hot, simmer and gently drop in the kajjikaya. Fry in low flame, only then the outer layer will be crispy.

Turn to the other side, when its cooked on one side. Once its done on both sides, drain them on to a kitchen towel.




The dal stuffing will be more than what you need. You can make so many other varieties with it.

I am hoping to get some more sweets to be featured..stay tuned!

Have a great week ahead!