This one pot chicken and noodles is inspired by a Chinese dish called La.Zi.Ji, that one of my friends from China introduced me too. And holly molly! is that spicy! Its spicy enough for me to tear up honestly! so I used the same idea, just reduced the spices enough for me to handle it, (beware, this still has a spicy kick) and made a noodle dish out of it.

I love making Asian style food at home, these noodles and Chicken Shashlik skewers are my current obsession!

Steps to make these Spicy Asian Noodles

Tempering spices and frying garlic

I just wanted to show you a close up of all the whole spices you will need for this recipe, along with a truck load of garlic, because garlic is love ok?

This recipe only uses dried red chilies to spice up the dish. BUT, since it gets cooked in the sauce and in pasta for a good 20 to 30 mins, it basically adds a CONSIDERABLE amount of heat to the dish. So put a hold on the red chilies, if you aren’t a fan of spicy food!

Saute your whole spices and chopped garlic in oil until you get a nice golden color from the garlic. I’ve used sesame oil for this recipe, because it compliments all the ingredients perfectly!

And once you’ve fried your garlic, well that’s it my friend! Let the dumping of ingredients begin.

I start by adding chicken and veggies that take time to soften up. And then add all my seasoning. Just make sure your chicken changes color before you add the rest of the ingredients.

Dump in the rest of veggies, water, and noodles. I used spaghetti noodles, but really you can use any noodles that you like. The water quantity needs to be enough to drown your pasta in it. I added about 5 cups of water, this gives me enough water to cook the noodles and leave some water behind to make it saucy.

How much water you want depends on how you like your noodles. Add more to make soupy noodles, or dry up the whole thing if you want it to be dry. That’s really something that I will leave up to you.

Alternatively, you can also boil your noodles separately and add it in your chicken broth.

Check and adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top and dig right in!

How long does it stay fresh in the fridge?

It can survive pretty well in the fridge. For upto a week easy. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it though.

What can I serve with it on the side?

I love that these Asian chicken noodles are a meal on its own. But if you are in the mood to throw an elaborate menu together; here’s a few things I think would go really well together with these Spicy Noodles

• Dynamite prawns as a starter
• Crunchy cashew salad
• Fried rice
• Crispy Beijing beef for the rice.

Alternates, fixes and remixes

Substitutions

• You can use regular white vinegar instead of red grape vinegar
• You can use honey instead of brown sugar
• If you don’t have whole red chilies, you can also use red chili flakes instead.
• Use regular cooking oil if you don’t have sesame oil
• Use a cup of fresh chicken stock instead a chicken bouillon cube

Fixes

• If you find your noodles to be spicy, add a half cup of water with a little corn flour, sugar, vinegar and a few tablespoons of ketchup.

Remixes

• Make a full vegetarian version of the recipe, by using cauliflower bits instead of chicken.
• You can also add coconut milk to create a thai-style noodles.
• Go ahead and use any veggies that you like.
• I’ve used basic spaghetti to make this recipe, but feel free to try any noodles that you’ve got at home. Turns amazing with udon noodles btw.

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Spicy one pot Asian Chicken noodles

An easy Asian syle spicy chicken and vegetable noodle recipe, ready within 30 mins and only needs one pot to cook!

Course Pasta Dishes

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 417kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 200 gm dry noodles. half a pack of any noodle you like
• 500 gm boneless chicken cut up in 1 inch cubes
• 9 to 10 cloves of garlic 25 gm
• 8 to 9 dried red chilies 3 gm
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anises
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp red grape vinegar
• 1 cup tomato paste

Vegetables

• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup bell peppers cut up in squares
• 1 cup cabbage cut in 1 inch squares.
• Sesame seeds and chopped green onions for garnish

Instructions

• In a large pot, add oil, chopped garlic, bay leaves, dried red chilies, cinnamon stick and star anise. Saute at medium flame, until the garlic turns golden brown.
• Add chicken cubes to the pot, along with any veggies that take longer time to cook. (In my case, I added peas and carrots). Add salt, sugar, soy sauce and red grape vinegar. Saute till the chicken changes color.
• Add in a chicken bouillon cube and tomato paste. Throw in the remaining veggies and stir for a minute.
• Add 5 cups of water and your noodles. Stir around the noodles to make sure they are not clumped together. Cover the pot and let the noodles simmer at medium high flame for 10 mins.
• Remove the lid, and stir around and cover again. Cook for another 5 mins.
• Check to see if your noodles are done. You can adjust the seasonings now. You can decide to keep your noodles saucy, dry or soupy, by adding more water if need be.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds and green onions on top for garnish and serve hot.

Notes

The red chilies pack in a lot of heat in the dish. Reduce the chili quantity of you are can’t handle spices.

Feel free to use any veggies you like.

All substitute are given in the blogpost.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 680mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 16g

More pasta recipes:

Easy Chicken Chow mein
Creamy pasta salad
Pakistani mac n mince (keema macaroni)

The post Spicy One Pot Chicken Noodles appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

If you’ve been following me for a while, than you know, I am a sucker for recreating restaurant style recipes at home, and Indo-Chinese is my favoriteeee genre! This recipe joins the list of my other classic restaurant remakes like the Dynamite Shrimps, Crispy Beijing Beef and Sichuan Chicken.

What is Chicken Shashlik

The word ‘Shashlik’ means skewered grilled meat, synonymous with “Shish” kebab in Turkey. It was traditionally made with Mutton and the internet says it originated from Central Asia and Russia. The Chicken Shashlik, while delicious, is somehow not as well known as other more popular Desi Chinese dishes like the Hot and Sour soup, or the Chicken manchurian.

Like most fusion recipes, the Shashlik too, was made by restaurants either owned by Chinese immigrants in the lands of India/Pakistan or by locals serving the immigrants.

The modern day shashlik can now be made in skewers or sticks (like this recipe), or simply like usual Chinese stirfry or gravy. Both are delicious btw

What to pair it with

• This version of the recipe is great as a stand alone dish! Simply served with some spicy sichuan sauce on the side.
• You can also pair it with fried rice or simple pulav rice like matar pulao
• You can also serve it on a bed of garlic fried noodles
• On my low-carb phase, I like pairing it with a simple green salad
• Prawn crackers are a great side for these shashlik sticks.

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredients used to make this delicious dinner are super basic and easily swappable with substitutes in your pantry.

• Chicken – I used breast piece cut up 1 inch chunks. You can use thigh pieces too for a more tender and juicy chicken cut.
• Vegetables – Onions and Bellpeppers (aka capsicums) are the “crunch” of the skewer. You can swap it out for any other crunchy vegetable you’d like to thread in. The tomatoes are added for flavor that they give once they are charred on the grill pan, so I wouldn’t recommend swapping them out with anything.
• Spices – You need salt, white pepper powder, cumin powder and Kashmiri Red chili powder. This kind of red chili powder is mild but has a beautiful red color. If you’d like to cook more Indian/Pakistani food, I’d suggest you get a pack from your Asian grocery store. Or you can simply use paprika if you don’t have this in your pantry.
• Sauces – The marinade uses your typical Chinese sauces like the Soy Sauce, Red Vinegar, and tomato paste. But worry not, use regular vinegar if you don’t have the red one. And use tomato ketchup if you are out of paste! Told ya this was an easy recipe.
• Other – Then you need garlic paste for marination and vegetable oil for grilling. Use any neutral oil that you cook with at home.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities

Instructions

This chicken shashlik just needs a couple of easy steps to come together. Chop, marinate, thread and grill!

STEP 1 – Marinate Chicken in all the spices and sauces listed.

STEP 2 – Chop up the vegetables in 1 inch squares.

STEP 3 – Add the chopped vegetables to the chicken and marinate for 30 mins.

STEP 4 – Thread the chicken and the vegetables onto a wooden or metal skewer. (Don’t throw away the leftover marinade)

STEP 5 – Place the skewers onto a greased grill pan on the stove at medium heat.

STEP 6 – Flip the skewers over using a tong after 5 mins. And glaze with the remaining marinade left in the bowl.

Serve hot with your favorite pairing combo. I like to serve the sizzling grill pan directly onto the table with a mat underneath.

TOP TIPS AND ADVICE

• IF you are using wooden skewers like me, than soak them in water for 30 minutes before using. This makes them more pliable and they don’t burn easily while on the grillpan.
• Because of the tomato sauce, there will be some spluttering in the pan. IF you are new to cooking and grilling, either cover the pan with a lid while they on the stove or wear oven mittens to avoid any splatter on your hands.
• Since its been a while since I’ve been cooking, I usually just flip the skewers using my hands. But you should use tongs to flip the skewers. If you are afraid of any splatter, then remove the pan from the heat temporarily. Flip all the skewers and glaze them. Then put it back on the heat.

Recipe FAQs

More Indo-Chinese recipes

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Do you have any questions? I’m happy to help! And of course, If you try this recipe, I’d loveeeee to see it or simply hear about it! Hit me up in the comment section below and I’ll get back to asap! Happy Cooking!

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Chicken Shashlik Dry

An Indo-Chinese style, chicken and vegetable skewers marinated in fusion style sauces and spices, served with rice

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Diet Halal

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Resting time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8 long skewers

Calories 150kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• bbq sticks wooden or metal
• A grill pan or an outdoor bbq

Ingredients

• 500 gm boneless chicken cut in cubes
• 2 medium bell peppers cut in 1 inch squares
• 2 large tomatoes cut in 1 inch squares
• 1 large onion cut in 1 inch squares
• extra oil for frying/baking

Marinade

• 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder see notes
• 4 tablespoon tomato paste or ketchup
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon red vinegar
• 1 tablespoon oil for marination

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients for marinade in a bowl and mix. Add your chicken and coat it in the marination.
• Add the chopped vegetables in the chicken and coat it with the marinade. Keep aside for 30 mins
• Use wooden or metal skewers to thread the vegetables and chicken. If using wooden skewers, always soak in water for 10 mins before using.

Nutrition

Serving: 1skewer | Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 901mg | Potassium: 301mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1436IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Chicken Shashlik Dry appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What is Chicken Karahi

Karahi or Kadai means “wok” in Urdu/Hindi. The dish got its name from the wok it’s cooked in. These South Asian woks are usually cast iron and heavy bottom and the chicken is traditionally cooked in enough oil and tomatoes to not stick to the pan. The chicken karahi originates from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly Northwest Frontier) province of Pakistan.

The OG chicken karahi is essentially a “dry curry” cooked with minimal spices and soft, tender tomatoes. So it doesn’t hold a lot of liquid gravy as the classic Chicken ka salan does. The distinguishing features of an authentic chicken karahi are a red tomatoey base, garnished with ginger, cilantro, and green chilies

And like all great creations, the classic Chicken Karahi has also inspired a truckload of variations and fusion-style recipes. Balochi Karahi and White karahi are popular examples! Remind me to share those recipes with you too!

Normally the Karahi made in restaurants is made in a Wok and then covered by a conical lid like a Tagine. It’s a quick recipe and an active one at that. Where the chef constantly keeps stirring the chicken in oils and tomatoes on an open fire. For ease, I’ve adapted the recipe slightly to be more suitable for home cooking.

What makes karahi authentic?

With so many recipes all around the internet for karahi, it is possible that you will come across recipes that use onions and/or yogurt in their recipes. And I tell you, as a karahi purist, It IS a crime! A crime I tell you, to add onions or yogurt or any third ingredients to make the base of this curry! The variations of karahi have all sorts of ingredients and that’s fine! But if you are making the Original karahi, it needs the tomatoes to take the centre stage! It will hold a slight tang because of the tomatoes, adding onions (which are inherently sweet) balances off the tomatoes and then essentially give you a basic typical South Asian curry.

Notes on Ingredients

As I said, the ingredients used are super basic, and with the exception of maybe 1 or 2, you will probably have all the other ingredients at hand.

• Chicken – So for the traditional recipe, I would prefer you go with bone-in chicken cut into small pieces with the skin removed. You should get about 16 to 18 pieces of a normal 2 lb chicken.
  
• Spices – This recipe uses basic spices like freshly ground black pepper, salt, and cumin powder. The only 2 fancy ingredients you need are the Dried fenugreek leaves and Kashmiri red chili powder. The Kashmiri red chili powder is milder than regular red chili so you can use a larger amount without making your gravy overly spicy. It brings that beautiful red color to your dish without packing in a ton of heat.
  
• Green Chilies – The green chilies used for karahi are literally called “karahi mirchen” in Urdu. These are essentially lighter green in color and super mild tasting. They are also essentially bigger and similar to jalapenos.
  
• Garlic paste – Most curry recipes call for garlic ginger paste but for Karahi, we are going to garnish with julienne cut ginger slices so the basic paste we use is simply garlic to prevent an overpowering gingerness. (is that a word?)
  
• Tomatoes – The star of the show! My only recommendation is to go for the reddest, most ripe tomatoes available to you. Any type would do! But my insta friends in the west have recommended Roma tomatoes unanimously.
  
• Oil/Ghee – I personally prefer karahi in ghee or a combination of ghee and oil because of that added aroma it gives to the recipe. But any neutral oil works perfectly fine. Traditionally, the recipe uses a larger quantity of oil, but I have scaled it down a bit for cooking at home.
  

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Options

All ingredients used are fairly easy to find, but let me hook you up with some alternatives just in case.

• Chicken – I don’t recommend using larger pieces, but you can use boneless chicken for this recipe if you like. You will just need to reduce a little more liquid than you would need to in the case of the bone in chicken.
• Kashmiri Red chili powder – You can use paprika powder instead, in the same quantities. If you are going to use regular red chili powder, use half the quantities as Kashmiri red chili powder is milder.
• Green chilies – IF you cannot locate “karahi mirch”, your best substitute would be regular fresh jalapenos or any other mild green chilies you can get your hands on.
• Dried Fenugreek leaves – I would personally never want to skip this ingredient because of the aroma it brings to the dish, but since Karahi is an easily adaptable recipe, you can skip it on a bad day.
• Tomatoes – Ok whole canned tomatoes work surprisingly well with this recipe!

Step by Step Instructions

Preparing tomatoes

So this is an additional step if you are using fresh tomatoes, you can skip this if you are using canned tomatoes. This step will take 5 mins but will reduce your active sauteeing and cooking time by 15 mins!

Add cuts on the bottom of the tomatoes in the shape of a cross and remove the stem areas

Put the tomatoes in a bowl and let it soak in boiling hot water for 10 mins.

Drain the liquid and now you should be able to peel off the skin of the tomatoes with ease. Cut them into halves.

NOTE: The stem region of the tomatoes doesn’t tenderize well and leaves little bits of tomato flesh floating around in the karahi. This step ensures you get a nice smooth karahi base.

Making Chicken Karahi

Add your raw chicken to a pot with oil/ghee, at high flame.

When your chicken turns white, add garlic paste and saute for 2 mins.

NOTE: This step is most important in sealing in the juices of the chicken and giving it a slight sear from the pan. Don’t rush this step and allow the liquid from the chicken to evaporate completely before proceeding to the next step.

Then you can add in the spices after all the water from the chicken has evaporated.

Toss in the tomatoes, and reduce the flame to low.

Cover the lid and allow the tomatoes to soften up for about 5 to 10 mins

When you remove the lid, you will see water leached out from the tomatoes. Increase the heat back to medium-high at this point and add green chilies. Put the lid back on

After 10 mins, you will see oil separating on the sides of the wok/pot. Reduce the flame to low and add the finishing spices

Mix the karahi well. You can add the garnish in the pot/wok or when you dish it out on the serving platter.

Garnish

Normally, the garnish is simply used for decor. But for chicken karahi, the garnish is just as important as the dish itself, they add the remaining flavors to tie the dish together. We garnish the karahi with 3 main ingredients

• Julienne cut ginger slices
• Julienne cut green chilies
• Chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

Pro Tips

• While cutting the tomatoes in halves, if you or anyone in your family suffers from kidney problems, remove the seeds of the tomatoes.
• Always use a large wok/pan for chicken karahi. You want to give ample room to your chicken so that it doesn’t get crowded and they all can fry rather than steam.
• Always let the water from the chicken evaporate completely before adding the spices. This ensures there is no residual “smell” of raw meat lingering, and also ensures that your chicken has been properly seared/fried in oil.
• Follow the temperatures mentioned in the recipe, to make the best curry!
• Crushed black pepper is another key ingredient in this recipe! Make sure to use freshly ground black pepper for that top-notch taste.

Leftovers Ideas!

TBH, I’ve rarely had any karahi leftovers, but when I do, I always find myself converting it into one of these dinner options:

• Make Tahiri Rice – Simply add soaked basmati rice along with water into the leftover karahi, along with a little bit of salt to make the very popular yellow rice known as “tahiri”. An example of tahiri rice on my website is the popular Fish tahiri!
• Sandwiches – The saucy chicken bits are great for making a spicy sandwich with onions, lettuce, and mayo.
• Quick biryani – Layer the leftover karahi with some boiled rice, and sprinkle some chat masala on top with fried onions and food coloring. Cook at low flame for 10 mins and viola you have a quick biryani at your hand! See this Quick Karahi Biryani recipe for more information!

What to serve with Chicken Karahi

Chicken Karahi falls in the category of “dry curry”, where you don’t have a lot of liquid gravy. So chicken Karahi pairs really well with all desi flatbreads like Naan, Chapati, parathas, or Tandoori Rotis. Some in my house all like to pair it with good ól Daal chawal (lentils and rice), I would recommend Hyderabadi Khatti Daal for that pairing!

Related Pakistani Chicken Recipes

Hope you decide to try this Chicken Karahi recipe! Please don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below! If you take a picture then tag me on Instagram! Thank You!

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Pakistani Chicken Karahi Recipe

A classic restaurant style Pakistani chicken curry, made with minimal spices and lots of tomatoes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian, pakistani

Diet Halal

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 325kcal

Author Wajiha

Equipment

• 1 wok or karhayi

Ingredients

• 500 gm bone in chicken cut into small pieces
• 650 gm fresh roma tomatoes
• 1 ½ teaspoon table salt or to taste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 1/2 cup ghee or any neutral oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder (zeera)
• 2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder see notes
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed blackpeppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasuri methi
• 4 large Pakistani green chilies see notes

Garnish

• 1/2 inch ginger julliene cut
• 1 tablespoon coriander/cilantro leaves finely chopped
• 4 whole Large green chilies julliene cut

Instructions

Preparing Tomatoes

• Add cuts in the form of an x on the base of the tomatoes and remove the stem from the top.
• Put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour hot boiling water on them. Make sure they are covered atleast 80% in the water. Cover the bowl and let the tomatoes sit in the water for about 7 to 8 minutes
• After 7 to 8 minutes you will see the skin of the tomatoes peeling from the cuts. Discard the water. Peel off the skin of the tomatoes and discard the peels
• Cut the tomatoes into half and chuck them back in the bowl. Now using a potato masher or your hands, mash the tomatoes. They are now ready to be used.

Preparing the Curry

• Put a medium to large wok on medium high heat on the stove and add oil.
• Add in your chicken and saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until the chicken starts to get brown scorch marks from the wok.
• Add garlic paste, salt, red chili powder and cumin powder. Saute for another 2 to 3 mins.
• Now drop in your prepared tomatoes and saute for 2 mins.
• Reduce the heat to low and cover the wok. Cook for 5 to 8 mins or as long as it takes for all the tomatoes to leech out water.
• Once you see all the water leeched out, add green chilies and bring back the heat to medium high and cook for another 8 mins or until you see oil seperating
• Now reduce the heat to low, and add your finishing spices: crushed black peppercorns, dried fenugreek leaves and garam masala powder. Simply mix and your karhayi is ready.
• Garnish with ginger, green chilies and cilantro leaves. Serve with Naan, paratha or Rice

Notes

• Kashmiri red chili powder can easily be substituted with paprika powder. Kashmiri red chili is milder than regular red chili powder. IF you are using regular Indian red chili powder then use half the quantity mentioned.  1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder = 1 teaspoon paprika powder
  1 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder = 1/2 teaspoon Indian red chili powder
• Large Pakistani green chilies are mild and easily tolerable heatwise. You can easily use fresh jalapenos, or pablanos or any mild green chilies instead. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 209mg | Potassium: 730mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1455IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Pakistani Chicken Karahi appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

I think I am probably the 1 millionth person posting about a basic biryani recipe I swear by. I don’t blame you if you are skeptical about it, especially if you’ve tried biryani recipes before that didn’t pan out. But I will tell you this, if there is one thing people of Karachi, Pakistan know how to do, its make a Delicious biryani! and rest assured, this is a Karachi classic biryani which will not disappoint.

A typical Dum biryani has these layers:

1. A curry with some sort of protein, known as korma. This one has a Chicken korma
2. A layer of parboiled rice
3. Garnish layers with at least 1 layer containing food color.

Here’s how to make a traditional Dum style Chicken Biryani

Preparing the Chicken Qorma

I know looking at an entire rainbow-sque ingredients can seem a little daunting for new cooks. But I promise you! I will walk you through the process, and its wayyyy easier than it looks. I’m using my own biryani spice mix for this recipe but incase you feel intimidated by it, you can use boxed spices as well. (all substitutions mentioned at the end)

Start by blending yogurt and green chilies together in a blender and setting it aside.

Then add oil, mint leaves and sliced onions in a pot and fry it at medium flame. Take your onions to that beautiful golden brown color and then remove about 1/2 cup of the onions to use later for garnish.

NOTE: You can use pre-fried onions as well, skip this step and directly add mint leave in oil to fry them. And continue recipe as is.

As soon as you take the small amount of the fried onions out, add 1/4th cup of water in the pot to stop the onions from frying any more. Then add your spices and tomatoes. Saute them a lil bit. Add more water and cover to let tomatoes soften up. It will take roughly about 5 mins

After your tomatoes have softened up, simply use a hand blender and blend your qorma base to get a smooth mix. This will give your qorma a smooth masala, plus blended masala becomes more in quantity too.

You can now add the remaining ingredients. This includes; chicken, dried plums aka aloo bukhara, chicken cube, garlic ginger paste and the yogurt and chili paste. Mix everything and that’s it! Cover your chicken korma and let it simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium flame.

NOTE: Raw chicken should always be sauteed in oil first when adding to curries and gravies. Biryani is one of the few dishes where it is ok to add raw chicken to a masala base.

After 15 to 20 mins, your korma will look like this. Now we are going to add 2 ingredients that add the “biryani fragrance” to our biryani. Kewra water and a mace and nutmeg powder (jayfil javetri). You can also only add the kewra water incase you don’t have the latter.

TIP: You can also remove all the oil from your Chicken korma at this point if you want to.

Preparing the Rice

The rice in biryani with cooked chicken are always par-boiled, for a lack of better term. In reality the rice are boiled but they are boiled for a smaller amount of time and left a little harder than parboiled rice. I am using long grain basmati rice, which is the perfect choice for biryani. You wash it twice with water, drain it and then finally soak it for about 20 mins. It roughly takes about 2.5 to 3 litres of water to 3/4kg to 1kg rice.

Get the pot ready to boil water, along with all the ingredients shown in the picture, including whole spices, salt and vinegar.

NOTE: Always boil the water at high flame and let the water start bubbling before adding rice.

Add your pre-soaked rice into the bubbling hot water. It will take a couple of minutes for the water to start boiling again.

Start noting the time once your water starts boiling again. It roughly takes between 3 to 4 mins for the rice to be “parboiled”. Keep an eye on your rice and ideally, don’t multitask right now.

NOTE: You want your rice to be semi-cooked. Check a grain of rice. It must be able to break from the centre but not get mushed up when you press on it.

Strain your rice with a wide strainer and get ready to assemble your biryani.

Assembling the Biryani

The ingredients for assembly as pretty straight forward. You can skip the tomatoes if you want to. There are no lemons in this biryani. For the amber color, I mix the color with milk for easy color distribution.

• Start layering but adding 1/3rd of the rice on the bottom. Doesn’t have to be accurate, just do it with approximation. Don’t worry if some of your rice have clumped together, that’s a good thing.
• Then use 1/3rd of all of your garnish and spread it over your rice (except the color)
• Now layer half of your chicken qorma evenly all over the rice.
• Repeat till you get to the top. Add a layer of food color mixed with milk on the top in the form of a cross. And the usual garnishes.

Cover your pot with foil first to reinforce a proper seal, and then put your lid on. Put a simmer ring or a tava underneath your pot when you put it back on the flame. Turn on the flame at high for 5 mins and then at medium low for another 10 mins.

PRO TIP: Foil helps in sealing the pot properly to allow steam to be created inside the pot. You can also use a dutch oven instead or keep some weights on tops of your lid to make sure the seal is reinforced.

Remove the lid from the side slightly to check if there is steam in your pot. If you see steam, keep the lid back and turn off the flame. Let your biryani rest for 10 minutes and then open to serve.

Use a wide spatula or a flat slotted spoon or a plate to mix the biryani. Serve with raita and salad.

Subtitutes and Remixes

• Spices – You can skip the home spice mix and use boxed as well. For this recipe, I would recommend using half a packet of Shan Bombay biryani masala and half a packet of Shan Sindhi Biryani masala.
• Heat – This recipe is definitely spicy! Reduce the level of green chilies and red chili powder to reduce heat, but don’t skip either of them completely.
• Potatoes – For potato lovers, here’s what you need to do:
  – Use 1 kg rice instead of 3/4th kg
  – Increase salt and red chili powder, each both by 2 tsp each ) or to taste
  – Add potatoes and chicken together while cooking.
  – Increase 1 tomato and 1/4th cup yogurt in the Qorma
• More quantity – It’s always good to know your rice to chicken ratio in case you want to double your quantities
  For every 1 kg chicken, use 3/4 kg rice.
  For every 1 kg chicken + potatoes, use 1 kg rice.
• Garnish – You can skip the tomatoes and reduce the coriander and mint, according to your liking. But definitely include mint and fried onions in your garnish

Other Biryani Recipes for you:

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Quick Karhai Chicken Biryani

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Pakistani Chicken Biryani

A traditional spicy Karachi Chicken Biryani, made with layering spicy chicken curry with rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 650kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Qorma

• 1 kg chicken cut into smaller pieces.
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 3 large tomatoes cut into 4 slices or 1 cup of canned tomatoes
• 7 to 8 green chilies
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 7 to 8 dried plums aloo bukhara (OR dried apricots)
• 4 medium onions sliced or 1 1/2 cup brown fried onions
• 1 chicken bouillon cube optional
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp kashmiri red chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1½ tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tbsp kewra water
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp mace and nutmeg powder optional (jayfil javetri)
• 1 cup water

For the Rice

• 3/4 kg long grain basmati rice soaked in water for 20 mins
• 3 to 4 bay leaves
• whole spices: 10 black peppercorns 5 cloves, 3 black cardamom, 5 green cardamom, 1 stick of cinnamon.
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp salt

Garnish

• 1/4 cup milk mixed with orange food color.
• 1 tomato cut in slices
• 4 green chilies
• 3/4 cup coriander leaves chopped
• 3/4 cup mint leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup brown fried onions removed from qorma or 1/2 cup pre-made brown fried onions
• maze
• nutmeg

Instructions

Chicken Qorma

• Blend the green chilies with the yogurt to form a smooth paste and set aside.
• Add oil in a pot along with sliced onion and mint leaves. Fry them at medium flame till the onions turn golden brown. Reduce the flame to low and remove roughly about 1/2 cup of brown onions for garnish.
• Add 1/4th cup of water in the onions to stop frying. Add all the spices (except nutmeg and mace powder) and tomatoes. Saute for a minute and add 3/4th cup of water and cover the pot to allow the tomatoes soften up for 5 mins.
• Use a hand blender to blend the tomatoes and onions together.
• Now add the chicken, garlic ginger paste, dried plums, chicken cube and the yogurt chili mix. Mix everything well.
• Cover the pot and let the qorma simmer for 15 to 20 mins at medium to low flame.
• Remove the lid and check if the chicken is cooked. Turn off flame and add kewra water and mace nutmeg powder and simply mix.
• You can also remove extra oil at this point if your want

Rice

• In a large pot, boil water for the rice at high flame. Add all whole spices, vinegar, salt and bay leaves.
• Once the water starts bubbling, add in the pre-soaked basmati rice.
• Boil the rice for 5 mins and check a grain of rice. You should be able to break the grain of rice with fingers but the grain should still be hard and in-edible. That’s the perfect rice for Biryani layering.
• Strain the rice in a large strainer and set aside for layer.

Assembling

• Use a large pot for assembling the rice. Usually this is the pot used to boil the rice.
• Add 1/3 of the rice to layer the bottom of the pot.
• Garnish the rice with mint, chopped coriander, slices of tomatoes, 1 green chili. Sprinkle a little maze nutmeg powder.
• Add 1/2 of the chicken qorma on the rice spreading it out as evenly as possible.
• Add another 1/3 of the rice on top of qorma
• Repeat same garnish.
• Layer with the remaining chicken qorma
• Finish off with the remaining rice.
• Drizzle the rice with milk and color mix in the form of a cross.
• Garnish the top layer as well, this time including fried onions as well.
• Cover the pot with foil and then add the lid to make a strong seal.
• Place an insulator below the pot on the stove, like an old pan, a tawa or a a flat griddle pan.
• Turn on the flame at high for 5 to 6 mins, then reduce to medium low for another 10 mins.
• Remove the lid and open the foil slightly to check if you can see steam (be careful to not burn yourself. If you can see steam, that means your biryani is done. Cover the foil again and place the lid back on. Let the biryani rest for another 10 mins before serving.
• If you don’t see steam, increase the flame for 2 to 3 mins.
• 
  Serve with raita and salad.

Notes

If you don’t want to use home made biryani masala, you can also use half a packet of Shan bombay biryani masala and half a packet of shan sindhi biryani masala,

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 650kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 61g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 45g | Cholesterol: 177mg | Sodium: 980mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 21g

The post Pakistani chicken biryani, Karachi special appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

What is the difference between Indo-Chinese & Traditional Chinese Hot and sour soup?

The traditional Chinese recipe uses pork, tofu, dried Shiitake mushrooms, dried lilies and other Asian ingredients and creates a strong umami and sour flavored broth. This is the soup you get when you order from any Chinese restaurant outside of South Asia.

The Indo-Chinese aka Desi style hot and sour soup has a tomato-ey and chili base broth. It has a characteristic vibrant red color that sets it apart from all the other soups of the region. One of the popular street style food available in India and Pakistan. It is served with a special spiced vinegar that has green chilies cut in it! But don’t worry, you can totally control how much chili you want in your soup. This recipe is of the the Pakistani style Hot and sour soup that I’ve eaten in countless restaurants and food stalls and that makes us expats feel nostalgic living away from Pakistan.

Hot and Sour Soup – Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chicken broth
• Chili oil
• Chili garlic sauce
• Vegetables & Mushrooms
• Assorted seasonings, sauces and thickener

Chicken Broth

I make my own Indo-Chinese style broth that I use for all similar Asian recipes. For this recipe, I only took 4 to 5 pieces of bone in chicken to prepare the broth. But if you already have some broth at hand, you can totally use that. Ready-made broths or vegetable broths can also be used.

The shredded chicken for this soup comes from the broth. But, if you are using pre-made broth for this recipe, you will need 3/4 cup of shredded chicken to go with it.
You can Use any leftover chicken or marinate 1 chicken breast
with salt, pepper and garlic, saute and steam cook. Shred it to use.

Chili Oil

Chili oil is a Chinese condiment that adds a subtle layer of heat to the dish. It takes hardly 5 minutes to prepare. Plus its super versatile so you can later use it for any other grilling, cooking purposes. Click here for the recipe of chili oil.

If you don’t want to make it yourself, you can also buy ready made chili oils
OR use regular oil as well.

Chili Garlic sauce

This is one of the main ingredients of the recipe, it gives the soup its color and brings heat. Chili garlic sauce is a type of ketchup that has tomato paste, garlic and chili in it. The one I use is from Knorr and easily available in South Asian stores.

Make your own chili garlic sauce by mixing these together:

• 1/3 cup of tomato paste / ketchup
• + 2 tbsp of any red chili paste (like Szechuan sauce, sambal oelek)
• + 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic

Vegetables and mushrooms

You will need thinly cut bell peppers, cabbage and shredded carrots for this recipe. I personally really like fresh shiitake mushrooms for this soup but only had the canned ones when I made it from the blog. These are the standard veggies that goes in the recipe but feel free to go ahead and personalize the veggies you want in your soup.

Sauce, seasoning and thickening

The soup uses all the basic condiments like vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. I didn’t add any extra salt because all the sauces and the broth carry salt with it, but you can add more if you need to. To thicken the soup, all you need is a cornstarch slurry made by mixing cornstarch with a little water.

How to make Desi Hot and Sour soup?

1. Making the Chicken broth

Like mentioned above, I make my own chicken broth for this recipe, and you are welcome to use any alternatives mentioned.

I sear the chicken with spices and chili oil and allow the chicken to brown and release all its juices. Then I simply add water and let it simmer for 20 to 30 mins while I prep the veggies for the soup.

Searing the chicken first with spices and oil brings out more flavor from the chicken and gets rid of any raw smell that poultry and meat usually carry.

Once the broth is ready, strain and set the broth aside. Discard all the whole spices and shred the chicken.

2. Sauteing veggies and mushroom and chicken

Stir frying the vegetables, mushroom and chicken at high flame in the oil removes all the water that they carry. It also kills and microbes in the ingredients. It adds more flavor to the dish and helps increase the shelf life of the soup.

3. Adding all the seasoning and sauces and broth

The sauces, seasoning and broth can all go together in the pot and cook at high flame. The recipe calls for a higher vinegar level, but don’t be alarmed. Yes you DO need that much vinegar.

Thickening the soup

Last step of your soup making. This soup is thickened by cornstarch. Simply make a cornstarch slurry by mixing it with water and you are donezo!

Serving And FAQS

The soup is usually served with vinegar spiced with sliced green chilies, prawn crackers and some soy sauce on the side for people who need to top off with some more.

You can serve the hot and sour soup with some spicy Chicken Shashlik skewers to make a full meal!

Can I drink Hot and Sour Soup if I am clean eating?

Cooking at home already makes your food THAT much nutritious because you’ll be using fresh real ingredients to make it. Most of the ingredients of this soup are nutritious in general, like veggies and mushroom, and will be perfect if you are trying to eat clean nutritious food. Here are some things you can make to the rest of the ingredients to create a clean Nutritious Hot and Sour soup

• Making the Chicken broth at home with organic or grass fed chicken.
• Use low sodium Soy sauce and Natural vinegar for the recipe.
• Make your own chili garlic sauce at home with the measurements provided.
• Use fresh vegetables and mushrooms.
• You can use oats instead of cornflour as a thickener for your soup. Simply grind some oats to make powder and add 1 tsp to your soup. Let the oats cook for 10 mins and you will have a nice thick soup. Add more if needed.

How long can the soup stay fresh? What can I do with leftovers?

• This soup has fresh vegetables and mushrooms in it, it should be ideally consumed within a day or two. Keep any leftover soup straight away in the fridge as soon as it cools down. Use an airtight container to store the soup.
• You can easily throw in some boiled noodles in the leftover soup to create a spicy noodle soup or dry it out a bit to create a saucy noodle stir fry.

Can I make the soup in advance?

If you want to make this soup for a gathering, I would not recommend preparing the full soup a day before. You can definitely make the broth in advance and prepare the vegetables and mushrooms. Just assemble on the day of the event.

More Indo-Chinese style recipes

Dragon Chicken
Spicy one pot Chicken Noodles
Saucy Szechuan Chicken

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Indo-Chinese Hot and Sour soup

A restaurant style Indo-Chinese version of the traditional hot and sour soup,

Course Main Course, Snacks, Sides and Starters

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 221kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken broth (see note 1 for substitutes)

• 5 pieces of bone-in chicken
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 to 4 dried whole red chilies
• 5 cups of water
• 2 tbsp chili oil see notes

Other

• 2 tbsp chili oil see notes
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup julienned green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup sliced mushrooms canned or fresh
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 2 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/2 cup chili garlic sauce see note 2
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 2 cup water

Instructions

Chicken Broth

• In a pot, add chili oil, chicken, garlic, bay leaves and red chilies.
• Sear the chicken and garlic for 2 mins at medium high flame.
• Add salt and black pepper, saute for another 2 mins.
• Add water and once it starts to boil, cover the pot.
• Check after 15 to 20 mins to see if the broth has reduced to roughly half.
• Remove the chicken and shred it. Strain the broth and discard all the whole spices. Set both aside.

Preparing the Soup

• In a pot, add chili oil and all the vegetables, mushrooms and shredded chicken. Saute at high heat for 3 to 4 mins.
• Reduce flame to low and add all the sauces. Mix everything together.
• Add your chicken broth and turn the flame back to medium.
• Add 4.5 cups of water and allow the soup to start simmering.
• Mix cornstarch with about 1/2 cup of water to make a smooth slurry and add it to the soup.
• Cook for another 2 3 mins and allow the cornstarch to cook through.
• Adjust seasoning and add salt if needed.
• Serve with prawn crackers, soy sauce and vinegar with sliced green chilies cut into it.
  

Notes

Note 1:

For the chicken you can also use:

• 3/4 cup of leftover chicken shredded
• Grill 1 chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic, then shred it to use

For the broth you can also use:

• 3 cups of premade broth
• Any homemade broth
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes with added garlic powder.

Note 2

Substitute for Chili garlic sauce

• 1/3 cup of tomato paste / ketchup
• + 2 tbsp of any red chili paste (like Sichuan sauce, sambal oelek)
• + 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic

Other notes

• I didn’t add any extra salt for the soup, because the broth and sauces carry enough of salt. If you are using low sodium products, you may have to add 1/4 or 1/2 tsp salt.
• You can use regular oil instead of chili oil. Click here for recipe of chili oil

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 980mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g

The post Chicken Hot and Sour soup appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Of Course Panda express was the first place that introduced us to the world of orange chicken. And it really is our go-to place when we want to quickly grab a take out. But lately I’ve been trying to make all meals at home to have more control over the ingredients that goes in to my food. Like the level of salt or the quality of orange juice or the type of soy sauce or oil. With this at-home fake-out, I also add cabbage which honestly goes so well with the dish! And that, folks, is my “why” for making this recipe at home. Now lets dig right into the deets.

How to make easy orange chicken

Step 1 – Coating and frying/baking the chicken.

The first step of this recipe is to coat the chicken and fry it. The ingredients for the coating are very basic. You simply dump all the ingredients for the coating in a bowl and whisk it together to form a batter! It’s that easy! Then you drop your chicken in the batter and let it sit in it for 15 to 20 mins. Not shown in the picture is a little bit of orange zest, that I like to add to the batter to give it a little orange-y kick.

After your chicken has rested, its time to fry it. Pick up your chicken, letting the excess batter fall back into the bowl and drop it in a deep fryer with hot oil. Fry until they get a nice golden brown color. And remember to fry at high heat.

Remove the fried chicken from the oil and set aside in a plate lined with kitchen towel.

Alternate cooking methods

For air frying or baking, I’d recommend to coat the chicken cubes into a light layer of all purpose flour and then cook them. Just take a box with a lid, add a cup of flour, toss your battered chicken, close the lid and shake the box. Your chicken will be coated!

• Air frying
• Oven baked – Lightly grease a tray and place your chicken on it. Spray the chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425 F for 25 mins. Flip the chicken over after 10 to 12 mins.

Step 2 – Preparing the orange sauce and assembling

Moving on to orange sauce. Making the sauce is just as easy as making the batter. Put the honey, cornflour, spices, seasonings, sauces and orange juice in a bowl and mix together till you get a smooth liquid.

Now to assemble the dish. In a wok or a deep saucepan, throw in your chopped garlic with oil and saute till it gets to a golden brown color.

Then add in your chopped cabbage. I used cabbage because I think the flavor works really well, but you can use any veggie that you like, or skip the veggie altogether.

Saute the cabbage for a minute or so and then throw in your fried chicken and sauce. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes at medium flame or until it thickens. Top it off with sesame seeds and chopped green onions and viola! your orange chicken is ready!

Serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

TIP: You can freeze the remaining batter in a ziplock bag and use it later for another marination. You can also use it to marinate any number of things you like, fish, prawns or cauliflower.

Healthy Alternates

• You can always air fry or bake the chicken instead of frying.
• You can also skip the coating altogether and simply marinate the chicken in seasoning and grill it on a grill pan
• You can use low sodium soy sauce for the sauce.

Remixes

• You can try the same recipe with fish or prawns if you want sea-food
• Use cauliflower instead of chicken if you are in the mood to make something vegetarian.
• Try adding more paprika and hot sauce to create a spicy version.
• Skip the sauce altogether and use the fried chicken as an appetizer served with honey mustard.
• Throw in noodles and a chicken cube to create orange chicken noodles.

Other recipes that you may like:

Szechuan Chicken
Apple Chicken Stir fry
Dragon Chicken
Dynamite Shrimps
Crispy Beijing Beef

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Orange Chicken

An Asian recipe, consisting of boneless chicken cut in bite size cubes, coated in a batter and deep fried or baked. They are then tossed in a sweet and tangy orange sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 420kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade and Coating

• 500 gm boneless chicken cut up in 1 inch cubes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup starch
• 2 tbsp of cornflour
• 1/2 tsp orange zest

Orange sauce

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• orange food color optional
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 2 cup of cabbage cut in 1/2 inch squares 180 gm
• 2 tbsp oil

Garnish

• Sesame seeds
• Chopped green part of the green onions.

Instructions

• Mix all the ingredients for the chicken marinade and dump the chicken pieces in. Coat the chicken well. Let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 20 mins to a few hours
• Deep fry the chicken in oil until they are golden brown, take them out and set aside.
• For the sauce, mix cornflour and water to form a slurry, in a bowl. Then add all the spices and sauces needed to make the sauce in that bowl and set aside.
• In a wok, add oil and chopped garlic. Saute for 1 to 2 mins or until the garlic turns golden brown. Add chopped cabbage and stir around for about a minute.
• Add the prepared sauce in the bowl to the wok along with the fried chicken.
• Cook for about 2 to 3 mins or until the rawness of the corn starch disappears.
• Top it off with sesame seeds and chopped green onions

Notes

to bake – toss batter coated chicken in a tupperware with a cup of flour, close lid and shake to evenly coat chicken in flour. Bake at 425 F for 25 mins, flipping chicken halfway through. Grease the pan generously.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 420kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 158mg | Sodium: 698mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 26g

The post Homemade Orange Chicken Stir fry appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Creamy handis and white handis have been all the rage since the early 2000s in Pakistan. White chicken handi and similar recipe have swooped the internet and the restaurants obliged with the demand and produced more white curry recipes. Of Course it also got my creative juices flowing too. And thus came into being this malai chicken kofta recipe. I am also pleased to report that I’ve tested this recipe on a big batch of people before I introduced it to the world! (yes my dinner guests are lab rats to me and they all know it by now)

How to make Malai Chicken Kofta

I assure you, the recipe is super straightforward and perfect for dinners, dawats and lunches. I’ve even had this with fettuccine and it didn’t disappoint. My ideal combo was naan and chicken malai koftey. But go ahead and pair it with any flat bread of your choice!

Here’s a little eagle eye view of all the ingredients you need to make this recipe.

Making the Meatballs

You can make the meatball mix IN a food processor itself! Just dump all the ingredients in and press on! IT’s that easy! Just throw in the onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies first to get them fine. Then add your chicken breast or mince with all the spices. And press on again! As easy as ABC.

NOTE: The green chilies I am using are of moderate heat and large. So I went for 4. The smaller serrano green chilies are spicier and if you can’t handle spicy food, reduce the quantity to 2.

Now oil your hands and start making meatballs. I took roughly a heaped tsp of mix to make the meatballs for a medium size. Got around 22 cute ones. You can pop them in the freezer for a few minutes before they are needed again.

Making the curry for Malai Chicken Kofta

Preparing almonds

Start off by soaking your peeled almonds in hot water for 10 mins. If they aren’t peeled, soaking them will loosen up the skin and will become easier to remove. Then boil these almonds in water for another 10 mins.

TIP: Get started with the almonds in the background when you are preparing your meatballs.

After your almonds are boiled, drain the water and blend them with milk to make a paste. Set aside to use later.

NOTE: You can also use almond butter if you have some at hand, and skip this step.

Saute Meatballs

I saute the meatballs in 2 tbsp of ghee in the same saucepan that I will use to make the curry. Just saute them for about a minute or 2 to get a golden color. I like the golden color of the meatballs peaking through the curry. Remove the meatballs from the saucepan and set aside.

TIP: Using ghee or butter instead of oil for this recipe will bring out the flavors of the dish beautifully.

Preparing curry

Now we prepare the curry in the leftover ghee. Add whole spices and garlic ginger paste and allow it to turn golden brown.

Reduce the flame to medium low, and add all the spices mentioned in the recipe along with a little all purpose flour. Saute the spices in the ghee for a minute to get rid of that raw spice flavor and flour taste. Now reduce the flame to low and add the almond paste. I love the way my kitchen smells at this stage. Its just awesome cooking!

Stir the almond paste (or bhoonofy) till you see it reduces and becomes clumpy. Now we add a cup of water and bring back the flame up to medium. The simmering water allows the clumps to break up and from a smooth gravy. Then add milk and the meatballs. Cover it up for 15 mins and let it cook at medium low flame. Since its chicken, it’ll be done in 15 easily.

Add beaten cream and mix and just give it a minute or 2 to simmer. And your dish is 50% ready! If your sauce seems thin, don’t worry about it! It’ll thicken up as it cools down.

The other 50% of flavor of this dish is in the garnish. So pleaseeeee DO NOT SKIP! I beg you! A dollop of ghee/ butter on the top, with julienne cut ginger, green chilies slit in half. And then finally, squeeze of lemon on top when you are going to dig in with that naaan, OMG its heaven! sorry I’m salivating, gotta go make some! Have fun with it!

p.s. Don’t forget to read the remixes below, they are KILLER!

What does Malai Chicken Kofta tastes great with?

• Of Course there is your standard naan, chapati, roti, paratha and flat bread.
• Meatball sub! With the gravy and only adding cheese. You’ll thank me later.
• Pasta! Omg! If you have leftovers, this is what you do. Just boil some fettuccine, add some cheese, oregano and pasta water in malai kofta and stir in your fettuccine! OMG best fusion pasta ever!
• Puff pastries! If I have leftovers, I smash the meatballs in the sauce and fill my puff pastries with it. ohh man! revelation!

Substitutions

• If you need a dairy free option for milk, go for nut milk or almond milk. They work fine with the recipe. Just use 3 cup of nut milk and don’t add any water.
• Cream – A good dairy free option is to use coconut cream.
• Almonds – Use 1/3 cup of almond butter
• Reduce the green chili quantity of you aren’t a spicy food person, although the overall taste of this dish is not spicy

Popular Fusion and similar recipes for you:

Saucy Asian chicken meatballs
Chicken Handi
Nauratan Chicken
Chicken Tikka Nuggets
Chicken Tikka Biryani

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Malai Chicken Koftey

A fusion style Pakistani meatballs made in a creamy white curry.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 22 meatballs

Calories 96kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

For Chicken Meatballs aka Koftey

• 500 gm Chicken Boneless or Chicken Mince
• 4 to 5 whole green chilies more if needed
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp roasted and ground cumin
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger

For White curry

• 3 tbsp ghee or butter
• Whole spices: 10 whole black pepper 5 cloves, 5 green cardamom, 2 black cardamom
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 2 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp all purpose flour maida
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
• 2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp green cardamom powder elaichi powder
• 1 tsp roasted and ground cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 cup cream

Garnish

• Green chilies slit open into half
• Ginger julienne cut
• Ghee
• Lemon

Instructions

Chicken koftey or meatballs

• In a chopper, add green chilies, onions, garlic and ginger. Chop finely.
• Add boneless chicken into the chopper along with all the spices and all purpose flour. Process to get a smooth mix.
• Remove the chicken mince into a ball. Grease your hands with oil and make meatballs from the chicken mince. I took roughly 1 tbsp of mixture for each meatball.
• Place the meatballs in a plate and into the freezer for about 10 mins. In the mean time start working on the curry

White Curry

• Boil almond in water for about 5 to 10 mins. (soak almonds in hot water for 10 mins to remove peel if they aren’t peeled already)
• Drain the boiled water and Process the almond with 1/2 cup of milk and all purpose flour in a food processor to get a fine paste. Set aside.
• Bring out the saucepan in which you will make the curry. Add 2 tbsp of ghee.
• Bring out the meatballs from the freezer and toss them in the ghee at medium flame. Toss the meat balls around in ghee just to get a color on them. Around 2 mins.
• Remove meatballs in a plate.
• In the ghee left in saucepan, add whole spices and garlic ginger paste. Saute till the paste turns light brown.
• Add all the spices and salt and saute for a minute. Add the almond paste and saute for a minute.
• Add the remaining milk and mix well.
• Drop the meatballs back in the saucepan and cover. Let the meatballs simmer for 10 minutes at low flame.
• After 10 mins, remove the lid and stir the meatballs around.
• Add beaten cream to the meatballs and let it cook for another minute or two.
• Sprinkle some garam masala powder, garnish with ginger, chilies and dollop of ghee and wedges of lemon to sprinkle on top
• Serve with naan or roti or alfredo pasta.
  

Notes

The spice mix for the meatballs and the curry is exactly the same except for extra salt and green cardamom powder in the curry. You can measure the spices out together to make your work easy.

You can use 1/3 cup almond butter instead of almonds (see post for more substitutions)

Nutrition

Serving: 1meatball | Calories: 96kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 358mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 212IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 0.2mg

The post Malai Chicken Kofta – Creamy chicken meatballs appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

And even though, conventionally Sajji is made in an open fire, you can still make a kickass sajji in your own homes! All you need is an oven, some marinade and the will to make it! In this post I am going to tackle Chicken Sajji, and hopefully put up a post for lamb sajji soon!

How to make Chicken Sajji

Selecting the chicken for the best Sajji

For making the perfect Balochi Sajji, use chicken with skin on, with no cuts. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE this part ENOUGH! skin on my friend! SKIN ON! It will make the WORLD of a difference and give you the REAL authentic taste of a chicken Sajji. And here’s why

• Traditional Balochi Sajji is made on open fire right, for which an equivalent would be a slow roasted chicken in the oven. The skin will help to keep the juices of the chicken intact.
• A crispy outer skin and a soft and juicy meat on the inside is characteristic of a good sajji, which will only happen if you have the skin on.

If, for some dietary reasons, you are going to use chicken without skin, you’ll need to add cuts to the chicken along its length and on thighs, like you would do for a Lahori chargha. But other than that, IF there ISN’T a gun pointing to your head, you better get the chicken with skin on

(I will mention cooking methods for both kinds of chicken)

Step 2 – Brining the Chicken

Clean your chicken thoroughly, making sure you clean the cavity of any blood etc. Use your hand or a toothbrush to clean the cavity properly.

I DO NOT want you to skip this step. (imagine me with crazy eyes while I say this) Take the time and just do it! Brining adds moisture and salt to the chicken.

To make this brine I used salt, vinegar and enough ice cold water to submerge the chicken completely. Make sure all your salt is dissolved in the water. You don’t need to add other spices at this point, because we are going to add that later on.

Why are we brining the chicken?

• Brining ensures that your chicken will take up water and salt from your water bath and become super juicy and succulent.
• It also adds flavor to the flesh of the chicken because of the salt.
• It prevents your chicken from drying out when it is being slow roasted in the oven.
• The vinegar in this brine gets rid of any raw chicken smell and left over blood.
• Using cold water for brining helps to keep your chicken meat stay intact and avoids bacteria propagation.

How long should you brine for?

Ideally, a minimum of 5 hours of brining is needed for a whole chicken. For this sajji, brining time would be

A whole chicken less than or equal to 1 kg – 8 to 12 hours or overnight
Chicken for above 1 kg – 12 to 18 hrs.

Step 3 – Making the Sajji masala or Spice mix

For the spice rub, we will need the ingredients shown above. You can also use packet Sajji masala if it is available in your region.

• Start by dry roasting the seeds: Carom seeds (ajwain), Cumin seeds (zeera) and coriander seeds (sabit dhaniya). And then grind it coarsely.
• Then mix all the other dry ingredients in this seed mix: Salt, black pepper and cardamom powder (elaichi powder). This is your Sajji masala. We will use half of this masala for marination and reserve the other half to sprinkle on top once the chicken is cooked.
• Make a paste of lemon juice, green chilies, garlic ginger. Then add half of your spice mix to it. Your marinade is ready.

Step 4 – Marinating the chicken

Remove the chicken from your fridge and drain the brine. Rinse your chicken with COLD water inside and out. Pat your chicken down with a paper towel to absorb any moisture. Then marinate it with the spice rub we’ve made. Make sure to get all nooks and crannies and the cavity of the chicken.

You don’t need to let it marinate for long. Just 15 20 mins, till the chicken comes down to room temperature.

Step 5 – Roasting the chicken

Before roasting the chicken, you need to tie your chicken properly with a kitchen thread. This is calling Trussing your chicken. Here’s a video link to show you how you can truss your chicken properly. I used the regular thick embroidery thread to do so. But you can also use dental floss or layer a regular thread 3 to 4 times to thicken it and then use.

Roasting chicken with skin

For Chicken with skin we are going to go for slow roast. You can either use a rotisserie rod to attach your chicken to for a more even color. Or bake it in a baking tray. Either ways, keep your oven temperature to about 160 Degree C (320 F). It will take roughly 40 to 50 mins for your chicken to cook.
If you are baking it in a tray, flip your chicken over at the 20 to 25 min mark. (no covering the chicken or greasing the pan needed)

TIP: If you decide to use your rotisserie for the Sajji, place a tray or a pan below the chicken to catch any juices that may drip from the chicken.

You can even air fry it.

Roasting chicken without skin

For chicken without skin, grease a baking tray with oil and place your chicken. Cover the tray with foil and bake at 200 C (400 F) for 30 mins. Take the chicken out, remove the foil and slather some ghee or butter on the chicken. Place the chicken back in the oven and turn the top grill on for some color and bake for another 10 mins.

How to Check if the chicken is cooked properly?

The ideal way to check if the chicken is cooked, is by inserting a cooking thermometer in the thigh of the chicken. The temperature should read anywhere between 165-170 F or 75 C. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can pierce the chicken between the thigh and body and a clear juice should ooze out from the body.

Sajji is Served!

Let your chicken rest for 10 to 15 mins before cutting it open. Sprinkle some lemon juice and more sajji masala on top before serving. And dig in! Some people love Sajji with a good rice pulav, others (like me) enjoy with palak raita (spinach yogurt) and roti. and ofcourse sliced onions dipped in lemon.

Other great similar recipes to try at home

Lahori Chargha (Spicy roasted chicken)
Grilled Chicken Tikka
Spicy fish fry

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Balochi Chicken Sajji

A traditional mildly spiced recipe for a whole chicken from the province of Balochistan in Pakistan. Ideally made on open flame, this recipe is adapted to make Sajji at home.

Course Main Course

Cuisine South Asian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Additional Time 18 hours hours

Total Time 19 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 2lb chicken

Calories 405kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken with skin on

Chicken Brine

• Cold water as needed
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 tbsp salt

chicken marinade

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Green cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp carom seeds
• 4 green chilies
• cloves of garlic
• 1 inch pieces of ginger

Instructions

Brining the Chicken

• Clean the cavity of your chicken and wash it well.
• Place your chicken in a deep bowl or pot.
• Add salt and vinegar.
• Add enough cold water to submerge the chicken completely
• Make sure all the salt has dissolved. Keep the chicken in the fridge overnight or atleast 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, bring out the chicken and drain the brine. Rinse the chicken once and pat dry.
  

Chicken Marinade

• Dry roast coriander seeds, ajwayen and cumin seeds in a pan until coriander seeds turn slightly golden brown.
• Grind the spice mix coarsely. Add salt, black pepper powder and cardamom powder to the spice mix and mix well. This is your Sajji spice rub.
• In the same grinder, add lemon juice, green chilies and garlic ginger and blend well to form a paste.
• Mix only half of the spice mix with the chili paste to make a spicy paste.
• Coat the chicken with the spice paste well, covering the cavity and nooks and crannies.
• Let the cold chicken sit out marinated while it comes down to room temperature. (roughly about 15 to 20 mins)

Roasting The chicken

METHOD ONE – Rotisserie Chicken

• Truss the chicken with a thread or dental floss, trying its legs well and tucking the wings in.
• Secure the chicken to The rotisserie rod of your oven.
• Turn the oven on at 160 °C or 320 ° F and let the chicken cook for 40 to 50 mins or until the skin turns golden brown.

METHOD TWO – Oven Baked Sajji with skin

• Truss the chicken with a thread or dental floss, trying its legs well and tucking the wings in.
• Preheat the oven at 160 °C.
• Place chicken in a pan. And keep it in the middle rack of the oven.
• Bake for 20 mins on one side and then flip and bake for another 20 mins.
• CHICKEN WITHOUT SKIN
• Preheat the oven at 200 °C or 400 °F.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper or spray with oil
• Place your chicken in the tray and cover with foil.
• Bake for 30 mins. Remove chicken sajji from the oven and remove foil. Coat the chicken with butter or ghee.
• Place chicken bake in oven with the top grill on. Bake for another 10 mins, flipping halfway through for even color.
• 
  To check if chicken is done, insert a cooking thermometer in the thigh of the chicken. It should read 165 to 175 ° C. Or you can also insert a knife in the partition between the thigh and breast, if clear juices ooze out, your chicken is done.
• Take the chicken out and let it rest for 10 to 15 mins before cutting in. Sprinkle the left over sajji spice mix and some lemon juice on top and serve.

Notes

More details can be found on the blog post.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 1200mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 11g

The post Best Balochi Chicken Sajji at home appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

WHAT are SAMOSAS?

Samosas are fried or baked pastry which has savory or sweet fillings in it. There are different ways you can fold a samosa. Most popular ones include the triangles, moon shaped or boxed. You can either make the wrapping pastry from scratch or use ready made sheets. This recipe uses ready-made samosa sheets.

Ingredients

Chicken Tikka Filling

• Chicken – For this recipe you need boneless chicken fillets, thigh or breast. If you are making it with regular bone-in chicken, make sure to pick of all the bones before shredding the chicken.
• Chicken tikka spice mix – I used my homemade chicken tikka spices to season and flavor this recipe. But you can also use the boxed ready to use spice mix available at most grocery stores. Follow the instructions on the box and just add an additional 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 cup additional yogurt to the marinade to compensate for the additional onions and mint that is going to go in the filling.
• Cream – This recipe needs about a dollop of cream. You can use any cream available to you, including the canned ones, fresh, tetra pak or cooking creams.
• Onions and Mint – The onions help in forming the bulk of the filing so that you can make more samosas (life hack!) but also, they add to the tikka-ness of the filling, it that even makes sense lol
• Charcoal – A small piece of coal to give that smoky flavor to the tikka chicken filling. If you are sensitive to smoke, you can also use 1/2 tsp of liquid Smoke. It is essentially a smoke essence that you can use with ease to flavor your dishes.

Wrapping

• Flour slurry – You need a DIY edible glue to keep the folded samosa edges intact. A mixture of flour and water is the most popular choice, but you can also use just water as well. I personally prefer the flour slurry because I feel like it flows into small nooks and seals those as well.
• Samosa Wrappers – These are long rectangular dough sheets that are easily available in South Asian or Mediterranean stores. You can also make them at home if you are willing to put in the effort. You can also use square spring roll sheets and cut them into 3 strips. Each strip can be used to fold samosas. Here in the Middle East, the brand that I use is called Switz which is way better than others available in the market.

Instructions

When you make the chicken marinade, and marinate the chicken, you will notice that the marinade is more than needed. That’s ok! You need the leftover marinade to season the onions.

The chicken only needs a 20 mins marination time.

Simply grill the marinated chicken pieces in a pot or on a pan at low flame. Add 1/2 cup of water as well towards the end. Cook the chicken covered and pierce the pieces to check if they are cooked.

Now remove the pieces of tender chicken in a bowl and shred them. I find using a hand mixer does the job within 2 mins! Simple use an electric beater or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and see the magic happen!

Now come back to the pot with another tablespoon of oil and add in your onions, mint and leftover tikka marinade. You need to cook these for about 10 mins at low flame or until all the water from onions have dried out.

NOTE: Always dry out water from onions or any other vegetable for samosa fillings, because excess moisture can leach out while frying and cause the oil to splatter or make your samosas soggy.

Add the shredded chicken back in the onions with a bit of cream and mix well. Now I heated up some coal on the stove and added it to the chicken with a tablespoon of oil on top of the coal and covered it for about 10 mins. This gives your filling a nice smoky flavor.

PROTIP: Use an aluminum muffin liner to hold your coals safely on top of the chicken.

After your filling cools down, you start assembling. You’ll need your samosa wrappers, your flour and water slurry, a plate lined with foil to place all the folded samosas in and some extra foil. If you are new to folding samosas, HERE’s a tutorial you can watch which is quick and easy!

Cooking methods

Now you can decide if you want to fry them straight away or freeze them for a later date. To freeze, simply put the samosas in the freezer and once they harden up you can put them in a ziplock back and store.

Frying – Simply heat some vegetable oil (or any oil of your choice) and shallow fry the samosa at medium flame until golden on both sides. Remove them and place them on towel papers to blot any extra oil.

Airfryer – Preheat to 350 degree F or 175 Degree C and Coat each samosa with oil and arrange them in your air fryer basket. You’ll need about 15 to mins of air frying time. Depending on the size of your basket, you may need to do this a couple of times.

Baked – To bake the samosas, preheat the oven at 350 degree F or 175 Degree C and grease a baking tray. Place your samosas on it and use a brush to coat it with oil. Bake for 20 mins, flipping over at 10 min mark. Remove when they turn a nice golden brown.

Tips

• Make sure to dry out all the water from onions to make a nice water free filling. If your onions will retain water, after you fry your samosas, they can turn soggy OR produce oil splatters
• Never overcrowd your plate while freeze the samosas to harden up. Always leave enough space in between so that your samosas don’t touch. Or else the can get stuck together and break when you try to seperate them. Once they are hard enough, then you can easily store them in a ziplock back
• Same tip for frying, air frying or baking. DO NOT over crowd your pans, or airfryer basket, to get nice crispy samosa.

FAQS

Can I use leftover Chicken tikka from last night to make this filling?

Absolutely! In Fact that’s how I made these samosas for the first time. Just use half of the marinade quantity mentioned and start the recipe from shredding the chicken!

Can I reheat leftover fried/baked samosas?

Yes you can! IT won’t be exactly like it was when freshly baked or fried but it’ll be VERY close. Heat a frying pan at medium flame and then turn it to low. Simply place the samosa on a frying pan (sprayed with cooking oil) and leave at low flame for 10 mins, flipping halfway through. They should be ok!

I don’t like onions very much, can I skip it or substitute it?

The onions help this recipe in 2 ways, they add bulk to the filling so you’ll have more filling than you would with just chicken. And it also bring about a mild sweetness. IF you are not a fan of the onions, you can skip it and use boiled and grated cauliflower instead. IF you want to skip vegetables completely, then reduce all the spice quantities mentioned by half.

Can I use the filling in other recipes?

Wraps, sandwiches, open sandwiches, puff pastry or for stuffed buns. These are all amazingggg options to use the tikka chicken filling in. You can also add the filling to boiled and mashed potatoes to make potato and chicken cutlets.

Similar Recipes

As you can see, I am little obsessed with this spice blend!

Chicken Tikka Biryani
Grilled Chicken Tikka
Chicken Tikka Nachos
Chicken Tikka Sandwich
Tikka flavored chicken nuggets

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Chicken tikka samosas

A tikka flavored chicken and onion filling for samosas

Course Appetizer, iftar, Snack

Cuisine Fusion Food, pakistani

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 33 medium samosas

Calories 45kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

• 500 gm boneless chicken fillets
• 2 tbsp cream fresh / canned / cooking or any that is available
• 4 cups sliced onion or 240 gm (or 4 medium onions)
• 1/2 cup mint leaves about a handful
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 30 samosa sheets.
• 2 pieces charcoal to give smoke.

Chicken Marination (to use boxed spices see notes)

• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder zeera
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder all spice powder
• 1 tbsp Garlic ginger paste
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• 3 pinches of orange-red food color
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 tbsp Vinegar
• 1/2 cup yogurt

Instructions

• Mix everything together from the chicken marination list and marinate the chicken in it for about 20 mins.
• In a pot or a pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and turn it on at medium flame.
• Tap the chicken pieces to make sure the extra marinade stays in the bowl and add the chicken fillets in the pot. Sear lightly on both sides for 5 mins. Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the lid to cook the chicken through for another 10 mins.
• Turn off the flame and remove the chicken in a bowl. Use the paddle attachment in a stand mixer or a hand held electric beater to shred the chicken within 2 mins. Set aside.
• In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp of oil at medium low flame and add onions, mint leaves and left over chicken marinade.
• Allow the onions to cook for around 10 mins or until all the water from the onions dries up.
• Add the chicken and cream back into the onions. Mix at high flame for 2 mins. Turn off the flame and allow the chicken to cool down.
• Assembling
• Make a flour slurry by mixing flour with about 1/2 cup of water. You can also use plain water if you like.
• Use a tablespoon of filling to fill each samosa wrapper and sealing with the flour slurry.
• Place all wrapped samosas on a plate and fry/bake directly or freeze for later.
• Frying/Baking
  Airfryer OR Baked- Preheat airfryer or oven at 350 degree F or 175 Degree C and Coat each samosa with oil and arrange them in your air fryer basket. You’ll need about 20 to min to get a nice golden color, flipping the samosas at the 10 min mark. Depending on the size of your basket, you may need to do this a couple of times

Notes

• You can also use Boxed or packet pre-made chicken tikka spice mix instead of using all the ingredients mentioned in the chicken marination, simply follow instructions on the box and add 1/2 tsp extra salt.
• To freeze samosas, allow them to harden up on a plate in the freezer without touching each other, and then put them in a ziplock bag and freeze for about 3 to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1samosa | Calories: 45kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 56mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 65IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.3mg

The post Chicken Tikka Samosa appeared first on Butter Over Bae.

Saucy Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet ‘n Sour chicken is a classic restaurant style Asian main. The chicken is lightly coated tossed into a classic sweet and tangy sauce along with some veggies to balance the flavors. I love making fake-outs at home! It gives me so much more control over the taste.

Here’s why making this recipe is MORE NUTRITIOUS than ordering it in!

• It is more nutritious because you are skipping the MSG (Chinese Salt) that restaurants use.
• The takeout Sweet ‘n Sour is usually loaded with artificial orange food coloring, that WE are going to skip
• This version of Sweet ‘n Sour is rather saucy (like saucy Asian meatballs) rather than dry and works perfectly with chow mein noodles or rice
• You can use low Sodium sauces when you cook Chinese at home.
• The chicken! When you cook at home, you have the option to bake or fry the chicken, which again adds to my health narrative.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make the perfect Saucy Sweet n Sour chicken

• Veggies – Bell Peppers and onions are non-negotiable guys! sorry! And yellow bell pepper is even better! You can ADD pineapples and delete carrots if you want, but the onions and bell peppers balance the flavors, so no way are you skipping that ok?
• Boneless Chicken –
• Sauces – Oyster sauce, Soy sauce and Sriracha Sauce
• Dark Brown sugar – Brown sugar brings out a slight bitterness along with sweetness in the recipe. Don’t you dare use white sugar for this recipe!
• Cornstarch – You will need this to coat the chicken and to thicken in the sauce. I’ve experimented with all kinds of coating for this recipe, the cornstarch and egg coating works the best. Its light, and holds well whether baked or fried.
• Egg – You will need this for coating the chicken
• Garlic and Ginger – Lifelong flavor enhancers, need I say more? You can also use galangal instead of ginger.
• Seasoning – Your usual salt and black pepper
• Garnish – I use the usual scallions (green onions) and sesame seeds to garnish this recipe. But I also use the bulb or the white portion of the green onion in the gravy.

Substitutions

• Eggs – Some of you have mentioned time and again that you avoid eggs due to dietary restrictions. If you can’t add eggs, simply skip it. Eggs adds a slight binding element to the batter, but you can do without it if you need to.
• Tomato Paste – You can totally use regular ketchup instead of tomato paste in this recipe
• Sauces – You can use hot sauce (half quantity) instead of Sriracha and a dash of BBQ sauce instead of Oyster sauce.

Instructions

Here’s a simple rundown of all the steps you’ll come across while cooking, so that there are no surprises!

You marinate chicken in egg, spices, vinegar and cornflour for 10 mins and fry it in oil until its golden brown.

I also baked a small batch of chicken to show you that you can opt for both. This chicken is not crispy, but it has a specific texture that comes with the coating. Its light and airy. The best part is, it doesn’t become soggy or “doughy” once it hits the sauce.

You can set the chicken aside and start with your sweet n sour sauce. Simply saute garlic, ginger and the white bulb portion of green onions in oil. After it turns golden, add tomato paste with water

NOTE: Tomato paste sputters when added to oil, make sure you add about 1/4 cup of water before adding the paste to avoid excessive sputtering.

And then everything just goes in 1 by 1. I like to mix all the sauces with cornflour to make a slurry rather than adding it 1 by 1 to the dish.

Add water and vegetables to your tomato garlic base. Allow it to boil and then drop in cornflour sauce mix and the chicken pieces.

Give your cornflour some time to thicken up and your chicken pieces to heat up again. And thats it! Do a taste test and serve warm with garnishes!

FAQS

Can I make this recipe Vegetarian?

Totally! Like all recipes, this one is totally adaptable. You can use tofu or cauliflower florets insteads of chicken.

Can I make this recipe with some other protein like beef or fish?

Ofcourse! Sweet ‘n Sour Fish would turn out amazing! You can follow the same instructions for fish. For beef, if you are using flank beef, then you can use the same steps. If you are using a more tough cut of the beef, boil it for 20 mins in salt, black pepper and garlic and then proceed the recipe as is.

Can I reheat it in the microwave?

Yes! Most cornflour based gravies tend to clump when they are kept in the fridge. But this recipe has enough water content to prevent that from happening. So yes go ahead heat it up in the microwave.

Can I make a Lite version of Sweet and Sour chicken?

Ofcourse! Here’s what you can do to make this recipe Lite

• Use Low sodium Soy sauce instead of regular one.
• Use fresh organic tomato paste.
• Bake the chicken instead of frying.
• Use tapioca flour instead of cornflour
• You can also use Pink salt instead of regular table salt

Expert Tips

• While frying, make sure your wok or pan is wide enough to allow the chicken pieces to fry separately.
• Keep everything chopped and prepared before starting to work on the sauce. Things happen very quickly once you start prepping the sauce so it’s best that you have everything ready by your side.
• Use good quality tomato paste!
• For dinners or parties, you can prepare the chicken a day in advance and simply prepare the sauce on the day of the event.

Similar Recipes

Asian Chicken meatballs
Dragon Chicken
Dynamite Shrimps
More Chinese/Indo-Chinese Recipes

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Sweet And Sour Chicken

A saucy Indo-chinese chicken main, made with crispy coated chicken stirred into a thick sweet and sour gravy.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Chinese/Indo Chinese

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 176kcal

Author Wajiha

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade

• 400 gm boneless chicken breast cut up in 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 pinch of baking soda see notes
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper powder
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• Oil as needed or frying or to grease for baking

Sweet ‘n Sour Gravy

• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 White end of green onion sliced
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp Sriracha Sauce
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 5 tbsp Vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp cornstarch see notes
• 1 cup bell peppers cut in 1/2 inch squares
• 1/2 cup shallots cut in 1/2 inch squares
• 1/2 a carrot thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• sesame seeds for garnish
• chopped green onion for garnish

Instructions

• In a bowl, add all the ingredients for the chicken marinade. Mix everything together and coat the chicken well. Set aside for 10 mins
• Cook the chicken by frying or baking. To fry, add the chicken in hot vegetable oil and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and set aside. Make sure to have a large enough frying pan so that the chicken pieces don’t stick together. To bake, preheat the oven to 220°C (430 F). Grease a large baking tray and place your chicken pieces on to the tray, making sure the pieces don’t touch. Spray with an oil spray and bake for 20 mins, flipping the chicken pieces after 10 mins. Set the baked/fried chicken aside
• In a bowl, mix vinegar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sriracha sauce and cornstarch. Set aside.
• In a wok or a large deep pan, add oil, chopped garlic and ginger and sliced white end of the green onion. Saute at medium flame until the ginger garlic turns light golden brown.
• Add a splash of water, tomato paste, brown sugar and salt. Stir for 2 mins to allow tomato paste to cook for a bit. Add more water if the paste splatters a lot.
• Drop in all your vegetables and saute for another minute.
• Add 2 cups of water and allow the the water to come to a boil.
• After the water boil, add the cornstarch sauce mix and the fried/baked chicken.
• Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until gravy thickens.
• Turn off flame and sprinkle sesame seeds and green onions for garnish
• Serve with fried rice.

Notes

• You can use regular tomato ketchup instead of tomato paste
• You can also add more cornstarch if you feel you need a thicker gravy.
• You can prepare the chicken a day in advance and keep in the refrigerator and just bring it out on the day of assembly. Just give it 2 3 extra minutes to cook so that it heats up.
• You can use any veggies that you like. Fruits like pineapple or apples both go very well in this recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 176kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 1834mg | Potassium: 521mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1035IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Easy Homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken appeared first on Butter Over Bae.