12 October

Do you also get those sudden cravings when you feel you want to eat something gourmet but don't want to slog in the kitchen? Or you want a quick fix for your weeknight dinners with some protein side? Or just want to have something to pair with your wine on those moody evenings when you just want to sit and binge watch Netflix? All of those emotions I am sure you must have encountered at some time or the other because I have. And especially in this lockdown. 

I always liked a good chicken steak and used to always think, it would be a whole lot of work to make them, right from the point of sourcing good chicken breast to roasting them in the oven. It was just during the lockdown when ordering from restaurant became a no-no and I wanted to make a chicken pizza one day did I try and make the pan seared chicken for the first time. And from then on I have practically been in love with this easy peasy dish. I have made it at least ten fifteen times so far if not more and most of the times just ended up eating them as is even without anything to go with it.

And now I feel stupid that all those times I have been spending a bomb on those chicken steak sizzlers or chicken salads, when I could have easily made them at 1/4th the price I paid. 

The most important part of this recipe is that you need to have the bones removed. The chicken needs to sit flat on the skillet to get properly seared. Bones are a total no-no here. Either you ask the butcher to do it for you or just grab a packet of chicken breast that online grocery stores have these days. Or the last option do it yourself. I just bought the nice and juicy breasts from the online grocery store. 

This easy failproof pan seared chicken is going to change your weeknight chicken cravings. It is so easy that you will feel a bit stupid as to why you spent time in roasting the chicken in the oven for your meals. Just kidding. Every approach has its own benefits. But I really really love this, because it takes a flat five to ten minutes to get the whole thing done. When you are in mood for just some chicken side paired with a a chilled glass of wine, this is just perfect.

I have made at least a gazillion different variations in marination for this dish and everyone just turned out great. Here I am going to talk about one of the basic recipe you can try out at first before you let your imaginations loose.

Tips for making good pan seared chicken

1. Marination time is important. It will help get the seasoning into the chicken.

2. Sear the chicken in a mixture of oil and butter. The butter will help in browning and the oil will help keep the butter from burning. The butter also add a nice flavor to the chicken breasts. 

3. Cook the chicken lid on and on medium flame. It will help cook the chicken to the core.

4. Allow the chicken to rest for a couple of minutes after cooking and before removing from the skillet to cut. This will allow the juices to redistribute and ensure a juicy boneless chicken breast. 

Marination Time - 2 hours minimum

Ingredients for Chicken:

• Boneless Chicken Breast - 1
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Lemon - 1/5th 
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/4th tsp
• Fresh Garlic minced / Garlic Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli flakes - 1/4 tsp
• Rosemary - handful (Fresh / dried) - Optional
• Salt
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Refined oil - 1 tbsp

Ingredients for Chili oil:

• Red Chilli powder - a pinch
• Butter - 1 tsp
• Bird's eye chilli - 1, finely chopped 

Equipment:

• Heavy bottom Skillet

Method:

1. Wash and pat the chicken breast dry with paper towels. Add salt, lemon juice, pepper, red chilli powder, minced garlic and 1/2 tsp of oil. Toss the chicken in the marinade to coat it and give it a leisurely massage. Now put the bowl in the refrigerator and let it marinate for at least an hour or two.

Tip: Use freshly cut chicken breast for the maximum juiciness.

Note: You can either use skin-on chicken breast or without skin. Since I don't prefer chicken with skin, I always use the skinless version.

2. Take a heavy bottomed skillet preferably non stick. Heat it on medium. When the pan is hot, add the oil. When the oil is hot, slide in the butter. Tilt the pan to coat it with butter. Swirl the butter until melted and bubbly. Add a sprig or two of Rosemary or thyme. This will add a nice flavor to the oil.

3. Shake off the extra marinade and lay the chicken breast flat on the skillet. If you are using more than one breast at a time take care there is enough gap between two and not overcrowd them.

4. Turn the chicken over a couple of time to coat it in the warm oil and butter. This will ensure the chicken will not stick to the pan. Now let it rest on one side and let it brown. It will take about 5-6 minutes. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium.

5. Now turn the breast over and brown the surface in the same way. Spoon some of the melted butter and oil onto the chicken. This will keep chicken moist.

6. Make a deep slit in the thickest portion of the breast to check if its cooked. If not, cover and cook it for some more time.

7. Remove the chicken breast to a plate and rest it for a couple of minutes before serving it or cutting it and using for some recipe.

8. Making the oil : In the same pan add the butter and let it melt. Now once bubbly add the chilli powder and the chopped bird'd eye chilli. Sauté it for 30 seconds on medium. The oil is ready. Now pour it over the chicken breast and serve.

Serve it hot off the pan as is or with a side of buttery mashed potato. You can also use it as pizza toppings, salad, sandwiches, sizzlers, rice bowls, burritos, rolls and practically in anything you want to add roasted chicken.

Sondesh Cheesecake Made using DIY Homemade Springform Pan

28 October

We have the festivals starting and I wanted to make a cheesecake with some traditional twist to it. The only problem - I didn't have a springform Pan which is what you need to make a cheesecake. And to make things difficult I didn't even have a round mold or a cookie cutter or anything that resembled that shape. Now I was making this for a collaboration entry in Instagram and didn't have the time left in which I could order something from Amazon. 

I did the next best thing I could - created a DIY Spring foam pan with some basic things available in your home. So check out this easy solution mentioned below.

Please note: I was making a mini cheese cake and hence the proportions are mentioned accordingly. If you want to make a full size cheesecake, scale up according to your need.

Materials Required [for 1 mini cheesecake mould]:

• A thick chart paper / any paper which is a bit sturdy [ even the edges of a box of sweets would do] - 2.5 inch x 10 inch [6 cm x 25 cm]
• Foil paper - 10 inch x 12 inch [25 cm  x  30 cm]
• Cello tape [medium thickness] - 1
• Scissor - 1

1. Start by cutting the chart paper in a size of 2.5 inch x 10 inch [6 cm x 25 cm]

2. Now cut the foil paper in 4 times the height of the chart paper . i.e. in dimension of  10 inch x 12 inch [25 cm  x  30 cm]. Lay the chart paper flat on the foil paper and start folding from one side just like the picture below. Continue till you have wrapped the whole foil paper around the chart paper. It should be around 4 folds. 

Tip: Foil paper will ensure the mould has a smooth wall and it will be very easy to demould the cheesecake.

Note: If you have a thin chart paper which is not so sturdy then you can go for more layers of foil paper. You can even go for more layers of chart paper and lay them one on top of another before you cover it all with a foil paper.

3. Once the foil paper is fully wrapped around the chart paper, fold in the extra edges and put a cello tape on each side to hold them together in place like the picture below.

4. Now take any flat surface like a table ledge. Place the wrapped chartpaper piece on the edge so that it will form an L shape and slowly press it with fingers. Do same for the complete surface area of the strip at little intervals. It will give a hammered feel to the overall strip. This will help in the next step when we want to make a perfect circular mould. Do this very carefully without applying too much pressure otherwise the foil paper might tear

Tip: pressing the chart paper all through will make it more malleable and will shape easily. This is an optional step but I recommend it.

5. Now make a circle of this strip with the cello taped side on the outside. There should be a 1 to 1/2 inch overlap where both the sides meet. Put a cello tape there to hold it in place. Your circular mould is ready.

6. Springform pan also has a layer below. What I did in this case was take a small circular steel plate, place the circular mould on it with some space remaining, and then tape the mould to the plate with a cello tape again. This tape will make sure the circular mould is held in place.

Tip: if you do not have any steel plate you can take a big square cardboard of about 8 inch x 8 inch dimension and cover it with foil paper and then use it as the base instead.

Top View

Now you can go ahead and make your cheesecake as usual in this DIY Springform Pan. It is easy, cheap and fun!

I have made a sondesh cheesecake in it and the recipe will be up soon!

How to Demould?

1. We have used so many celloptapes just to make the demoulding process easy. Start by removing the take that holds the mould to the plate.

2. Take the mould off the plate and now cut through the celotape that holds the sides of the mould together. Now slowly and carefully peel off the mould from the body of the cheesecake. Ta-Da! You are all done!

Tip: I brushed butter all along the sides before setting my cheese cake in this, it helped in the demoulding process.

Can the mould be reused?

 

Yes it can be. You just need to dispose the foil paper on top of the cardboard each time, as it might tear a bit during the demoulding process. Keep the cardboard strip, and everytime you want to make a cake you just put a fresh foil paper and go about it.

5th October

I am not very fond of thick soups and prefer clear soups. So much so that I don't even like any traces of cornflower or any such thickening agent in my soups. When I say clear it needs to be a clear light soup. Thus when asked to make pumpkin soup for an ongoing contest in Instagram, I was in two minds. Pumpkin soup is rarely clear, rather never clear, its usually a thick creamy soup. And as I said, I am not very fond of thick soups. So the question was how to make it palatable so that I will not hate it after I make it. I started looking at traditional pumpkin soups on the net. 

That's when I came across is amazing Thai version of the pumpkin soup. The creamy soup is a very interesting. Instead of the popular American pumpkin soup, the Spicy Coconut Pumpkin soup which traditionally made in Thai cuisine and loaded with fresh citrusy flavors from the lemongrass and kaffir lime.

It ticked all the boxes of the flavor profile I felt I would love- sweet, spicy, tart and a lil salty. It is made with pan fried onions, red pumpkin, pepper cloves, a hint of cinnamon, star anise, galangal, coriander root, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, chunks of fresh coconut, turmeric, garlic cloves, birds eye chili, lemon juice, fish sauce and finally coconut milk. It is filling, warm and comforting. It eventually turned out to be just a perfect autumn soup after all! 

Even if you miss a few ingredients here and there just do a dare to yourself and play around with some of the herbs to get something even more appetizing and unique.

Ingredients :

• Red Pumpkin - 1 cup, peeled and cubed
• Onion - 1 sliced
• Garlic cloves - 3-4 , chopped
• Ginger/ Galangal - 1/2 inch, finely chopped
• Lemongrass - 1/3 rd stalk , bruised
• Bird's Eye Chilli - 2
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp or Turmeric Root - 3/4th inch
• Kaffir Lime Leaves - 4-5
• Coconut - 6 -7 pieces
• Peppercorn - 4-5
• Star Anise - 1 petal of the star
• Cinnamon powder - 1/4th tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp or Coriander Root - 1 tbsp. , diced
• Thick Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
• Fish Sauce -  2 tsp
• Lime Juice - 2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Sugar - 3 tsp
• Refined oil - 1 tbsp.
• Vegetable Stock - 2 cups (approx.)

Method:

1. Cut all the vegetables as mentioned above and keep it ready for next step.

Note: I used two different types of pumpkin here as you can see in the image. One with a light yellow shade and the other red. You can use any color of pumpkin to make this soup but the more it is pigmented the more vibrant the soup will look.

2. Take a pan and heat the oil on medium. First add the sliced onions. Sauté for a minute.

3. Then add the ginger, garlic and bird's eye chilli and sauté again for a couple of minutes.

4. Now add the remaining - dry red chilli, coconut pieces, pepper corn, star anise, pumpkin pieces. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes and let the pumpkin start to sweat.

Note: I have added two different type of chillies. The dry red ones for color mainly and the bird's eye chilli for the heat. You can vary the spice level as per your taste. The one I made was considerably spicy and maybe too much for kids.

Note 2: If you are using turmeric root, add at this stage and sauté it with rest.

5. Add 2 cups of vegetable stock or water to the pan . Add salt, sugar, kaffir lime leaves, bruised lemon grass, turmeric powder, cinnamon powder, coriander and fish sauce. Fold everything in and bring it to a boil.

Note: we are not adding too much liquid at this point because pumpkin itself also gives off water.

Note 2: If you feel that adding both kaffir lime leaves & lemon grass might be a bit too much citrusy, you can skip either of them and add only one.

6. Turn the heat down and let this simmer covered for about 10 - 15 minutes or till the pumpkins are mushy or easily break under the pressure of a spoon.

Note: If you are using raw turmeric root, then remove it now. Also remove the lemon grass.

7. Now slowly add the coconut milk and give it a stir to mix in. Let it simmer for about a minute on low flame.

8. Now take it off heat and let it come to room temperature before blending it. Add the lime juice now to the blender. Preferably first pulse it in batches and then one final time blend it all in. You can add more water/ stock if you want a runny soup.

9. Now sieve the entire thing through a juice strainer to get that beautiful smooth finish.

Garnish it with some roasted pumpkin seeds, bird's eye chili and a nice swirl of coconut cream. Serve it hot or cold as per your liking.

Pro Tip: Sweet potato or carrots can also be used in this recipe replacing pumpkins. It can also be paired with roasted shredded chicken or prawns for some additional proteins.

2nd October:

We are into October already and it still feels like monsoon. The Met department says that rains will go late this year. That means more gloomy days ahead. So anyway, this week I was doing some recipe Contest on Instagram and the recipe that we had chosen to create were fall recipes. But unfortunately I checked that I didn't have any fall décor with me in the house. Amazon India also didn't have much to offer if I wanted a quick delivery within two days. So I decided to go back to the drawing board and make some fall leaves myself. 

In case I haven't already talked about this, I love making any kind of crafts from a very young age and I had started painting frequently after moving to my own house last year. I hadn't painted much during the lockdown, was focusing more on creating new recipes. So when I started this fall leaf project, I was totally overjoyed. Painting always makes me feel happy. That's the power of creation.

In the end it turned out to be one fun project that you can do with your kids and this is very less messy too, at least under the guidance of an adult. So bring out your color and papers and lets make some beautiful fall leaves.

Materials Required:

• A4 sized white paper - 2
• Newspaper - 2 full sheets ( 1 sheet having two joined pages)
• Acrylic or water color - Orange, red, yellow, brown
• Water - 2 small cups
• Brush - 1
• Pencil - 1
• Scissor - 1

Remember you need to start the project at least a day before you want to use the paper leaves. I started two days before.

1. Take about 2 tbsp water in each of the small cups or saucers and add one color in each. Mix them well with the water with the help of a brush. E.g. I went ahead with the following colors together:

Paper 1 : Brown + Orange

Paper 2 : Yellow + Red

You can also have other combination like : Magenta + Red, Red + Brown, Green + yellow etc.. Just use your imagination according to the theme you want.

2. Spread the newspaper first on the floor or the table wherever you are making the craft, remember we don't want messy stains. Now place the two A4 papers at a distance form one another

3. Now as suggested above, take the brown color water and gently at an angle pour it on the first A4 paper. Now on top of that pour the orange color water. Now gentle hold the paper on either sides in your hands and first tilt it to the right so that the watery colors start covering the right side of the page and then tilt it to the left. DO these very gently, as we want the colors to mix creating some light uneven patterns. You can repeat the tilt a couple of times to cover the entire paper. If you still feel the colors haven't covered the paper, you can use your brush to coat the white areas. Let the color texture be uneven, don't use brush all over the page. That will give a realistic feel to the final leaves.

Note: Please not the papers will be very soft at this point so handle with care or else it might tear.

4. Now repeat with yellow and red for paper number 2. 

5. Leave these papers to dry overnight. 

6. Next morning we continue on the project. Now fold the paper just the like the picture into 1.5" folds (each side of fold to be 1.5"). The white part to be folded over so that we can draw on it. This will yield maximum of a 2 inch diameter leaf.

Note: You can scale up the size of the leaves as per your requirement, just make the folds bigger.

7. On the half start drawing the outline of a leaf. It can be a simple curve or pointy edges ones. Go creative with the leaf shapes. Basically you need to just draw one half, when we cut it will give us symmetrical similar shape for the other half too.

8. Cut the papers along the drawn line. If the kid is small to handle scissor, any elder can help with the cutting. Now you will see you have got a beautifully textured leaf. Start drawing the veins with a black pen or pencil as I have done.

Additional Tip : Use a punching machine to punch some hole into the paper leaves to give a moth eaten feel

That's it you have your perfect DIY paper fall leaves. Use it as your photo props or decorating the house for Halloween.