[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Not in India, I guess. Here it only started the Mutiny (along with Beef Tallow). I think we were gorging on stuff made with mustard and peanut oil, as well as Ghee (till the Cholestrol scare started).

Not The Mutiny as far as we are concerned.
Rather, The First War of Indian Independence.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by brraj

Who can tell me the recipe for the below attached chinese chicken.
....

Raj, this could be chicken in black bean sauce.
You do need to keep Black Bean Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Sesame Oil (toasted, Asian style, not Indian Til Oil), Dark and Light Soy Sauces, Rice Wine, some vinegars etc. for success at Chinese dishes at home.

Do check this recipe; it seems to be what you're looking for: http://www.recipemama.net/chicken-bl...-sauce-recipe/

[brraj]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

This is the way I make this dish and it tastes good to my palate. It is an Indian-ized Chinese Chilly Capsicum Chicken with Onions.

Ingredients:
Half kg of cubed chicken boneless. Marinated overnight in a little turmeric and red chilly powder, pepper, salt and white of one egg. 2 tbsp soya sauce and 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce. Half tbsp vinegar too. Even 1 tbsp vinegar wont hurt.
4 capsicums sliced nicely with the inner white bits removed.
6 mid size onions quartered and diced.
6 green chillies longitudinally slit without removing the seeds.
Add 2 tbsp soya sauce later to taste
Add 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce later to taste.

Method:
Heat a shallow amount of oil in a wok and toss in the chicken marinade and fry until cooked with a slightly crisp crust. Add a little more red chilly powder and salt while frying.
Separately take the quartered, diced onion, longitudinally slit green chillies and capsicum and stir fry them lightly for a bit. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don't let the veggies go soggy. Ensure they remain crunchy. Next put the chicken and the veg together in the wok and stir fry/ toss them nicely together for a minute or two on high heat. Add the two sauces at this time and plate and serve.

Tasting notes:
Chicken will be flavoursome. The onion will leaven out the sharpness of the chilly seeds and add to taste. The capsicum gives the crunch. You can cook it in olive oil or regular vegetable oil but ideally add a small knob of butter for super taste! Olive oil is a bit of an acquired taste though...

Serve with/ Accompaniments:
Ideally serve this with those tiny little bakery buns, slightly warmed up on the oven. In particular the residual oil in this dish is very spicy and tasty accompanied by bread!

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Raj, this could be chicken in black bean sauce.
You do need to keep Black Bean Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Sesame Oil (toasted, Asian style, not Indian Til Oil), Dark and Light Soy Sauces, Rice Wine, some vinegars etc. for success at Chinese dishes at home.

Do check this recipe; it seems to be what you're looking for: http://www.recipemama.net/chicken-bl...-sauce-recipe/

Thanks guys, will try out and let you know.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Raj, this could be chicken in black bean sauce.
You do need to keep Black Bean Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Sesame Oil (toasted, Asian style, not Indian Til Oil), Dark and Light Soy Sauces, Rice Wine, some vinegars etc. for success at Chinese dishes at home.

Do check this recipe; it seems to be what you're looking for: http://www.recipemama.net/chicken-bl...-sauce-recipe/

I second Anup's suggestions of using Black Bean Sauce, Hoisin Sauce and Toasted Asian Sesame Oil with Sesame seeds in it.
Ref Vinegars and Different Soy Sauces, there is a plethora available in the gourmet stores these days on account of the expats in India. So getting stocked up on the right ingredients will not be a challenge.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Not The Mutiny as far as we are concerned.
Rather, The First War of Indian Independence.

The rebellion or mutiny of 1857 was a precursor or trigger for what was later (post Independence in 1947) called The First War of Independence. In itself it was just a rebellion by the Indian sepoys in the East India Co.'s army.

We are severely OT here - let us get back to cooking!

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The rebellion or mutiny of 1857 was a precursor or trigger for what was later (post Independence in 1947) called The First War of Independence. In itself it was just a rebellion by the Indian sepoys in the East India Co.'s army.

We are severely OT here - let us get back to cooking!

Ha ha! Why bother with cooking. Just go and eat!
Those pictures of chilly capsicum chicken make me rather hungry!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Not in India, I guess. Here it only started the Mutiny (along with Beef Tallow). I think we were gorging on stuff made with mustard and peanut oil, as well as Ghee (till the Cholestrol scare started).

Sorry, that was meant to read for the Western world, non vegetarian cooking. In India we were primarily cooking in Ghee. A few dishes used Mustard oil in Easter and Northern India and Coconut oil in south. Some regions also used Til oil.

Peanut oil is a late comer to India popularized after independence.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Aroy

... Coconut oil in south. Some regions also used Til oil.

Peanut oil is a late comer to India popularized after independence.

LOL That is a typical North Indian assumption, where peanut oil never became popular (due to the 'funny sweet flavor' it imparted to dishes) till 'refined oil' came along in the '70s! My mother, who was born in Delhi and had gone all around India during her childhood (maternal grandfather was in Railways for 40+ years before independence) used to talk of the funny tasting pooris and other dishes made with peanut oil everywhere in South India. That was in the '30s.

You must be referring to Palm Oil (Palmolein) which was popularized by the Govt. in late '50s / early '60s after importing from Malaysia. There used to be a severe cooking medium shortage then due to deficient dairy and agricultural production. In the '30s, private enterprises brought in the ultimate ghee substitute: vanaspati ghee (hydrogenated vegetable oils) made from Palm Oil, e.g. Dalda (which has a palm tree as a logo). This used to produce crisp fried stuff like samosas, that wouldn't wilt even after reheating, as opposed those fried in conventional oils.

Peanuts or Groundnuts appeared in India in the early 18th century by the trade routes: from Africa to western India, from Phillipines to southern India and from China to Bengal (chinay-badam? that is not a misnomer).

The traditional use of peanuts was always for the oil. Even now, unlike SE Asia, peanuts are not used in India in dishes other than in fried form added to breakfast dishes and snacks for crunch. Only in the arid regions of Karnataka and Andhra, peanuts are used in the wet ground form in cuisine, like the gravy for "stuffed brinjals in gravy", and dry / wet peanut chutney. In the Bangalore region, boiled peanuts are popular as a snack, more than the roasted / fried ones.

Peanuts have been cultivated in the Bangalore region for the last 250 years or more. There is a street market called Kadalekai Parshe (kadalekai = peanuts in Kannada), which has been around for a couple of centuries. It is held every December for 4 days in front of Bull Temple (which is 400+ years old), and the cops have to block the street at either end to accommodate the crowds. Apparently bulls used to wreak havoc in the fields, and the farmers would come to the temple to offer peanuts to Nandi to seek protection.

Coconut oil is popular for cooking only along the coast - Kerala, and some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Not in the interior regions as soon as one gets up the ghats, where coconut consumption is primarily in fresh grated form, not copra or oil.

Til or Gingelly Oil is popular for tadka only because of it's flavor and sweetness. Produces too much 'heat' in the body if used for normal cooking, as people say, which in extreme cases can cause shauchawagamanam.

[rohanjf]

I tried a very simple Pesto today. Blended just basil leaves and walnuts with a little garlic, black pepper and olive oil. Mixed it with fusili and sprinkled some grated cheese on it and ate it all!

It's probably the simplest Italian dish I have ever tried.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Blended just basil leaves and walnuts with a little garlic, black pepper and olive oil.

Next time, instead of Walnut try to use Cashew-nut paste. This would give it a much more better flavour and thickness needed.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I tried a very simple Pesto today. Blended just basil leaves and walnuts with a little garlic, black pepper and olive oil. Mixed it with fusili and sprinkled some grated cheese on it and ate it all!

It's probably the simplest Italian dish I have ever tried.

The garlic and other spices are uncooked?

[bblost]

Originally Posted by archat68

The garlic and other spices are uncooked?

All these ingredients taste great in the raw state as well.

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I tried a very simple Pesto today. Blended just basil leaves and walnuts with a little garlic, black pepper and olive oil. Mixed it with fusili and sprinkled some grated cheese on it and ate it all!

It's probably the simplest Italian dish I have ever tried.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by traveloholic

Next time, instead of Walnut try to use Cashew-nut paste. This would give it a much more better flavour and thickness needed.

Sure. But cashew nut is more Indian, isn't it? The original pesto should have pine nuts. The pine nuts they show on TV are white, but the ones sold in Total Mall are brown. So they need to be soaked in hot water and peeled (like almonds) I guess.

Originally Posted by bblost

All these ingredients taste great in the raw state as well.

Thanks mate. Yes, the raw taste is great. But you have to be careful not to put too much garlic. I put 3 small cloves after completely filling the chutney jar of the mixer with basil and walnuts (I guess all chutney jars of mixers have similar sizes).

Next time I'm going to sun-dry some tomatoes (by cutting them in half and rubbing salt on them and drying) and try pesto with that.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

Sure. But cashew nut is more Indian, isn't it? The original pesto should have pine nuts. The pine nuts they show on TV are white, but the ones sold in Total Mall are brown. So they need to be soaked in hot water and peeled (like almonds) I guess.



Thanks mate. Yes, the raw taste is great. But you have to be careful not to put too much garlic. I put 3 small cloves after completely filling the chutney jar of the mixer with basil and walnuts (I guess all chutney jars of mixers have similar sizes).

Next time I'm going to sun-dry some tomatoes (by cutting them in half and rubbing salt on them and drying) and try pesto with that.

The recipe seems to be simple yet tasty dish .
Another question - can I use fresh Indian Tulsi leaves or shall I use the dried basil?

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by archat68

The recipe seems to be simple yet tasty dish .
Another question - can I use fresh Indian Tulsi leaves or shall I use the dried basil?

Tulsi has a strong flavour compared to the usual Basil. So you would need to use far less quantity. But that will also reduce the amount of sauce you will get.

Dried basil does not have the flavour of fresh basil. You can't really make a sauce with it. You can only use it for seasoning.

I don't know how it would turn out, but what if you use Tulsi and blanched spinach (because spinach has more or less a neutral flavour)? I have tried a blend of cashew but and blanched spinach mixed with plain stir-fried mushrooms and that had turned out well.