Veg Manchurian

(For Chicken Manchurian, see Helpful Hints section at the bottom)
Cooking time: 20 min | Difficulty level: Easy
 

Ingredients:

2 cup shredded cabbage

2 cup grated carrots

1 large bell pepper (capsicum), chopped

1 cup green onions (spring onions), chopped

2 tbsp corn flour

1 large egg (for binding, optional)

1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

3-5 garlic cloves, crushed

3-4 green chillies, chopped 

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp vinegar (optional)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup water

salt to taste

oil for deep frying and sautéeing

Cilantro (coriander) for garnishing
(For Chicken Manchurian, substitute cabbage and carrots with 200 gm boneless chicken pieces)

Method:

1. Mix the carrots and cabbage. Leave a fistful of this mixture aside and make balls out of the remaining mixture, about 1 inch diameter, squeezing out as much water as possible.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix the corn flour and egg (optional). Add a pinch of salt and red chilli powder to the mixture. Add some water, spoon by spoon, mixing constantly to achieve the desired consistency of a batter.
3. Dip the balls in this mixture, covering them completely and deep fry in a wok or kadhai. Fry until light brown and then remove them on a tissue paper to drain off excess oil.
4. In a vessel, heat 2 tbsp oil. Sauté the garlic, green chillies, green onions, bell peppers and the shredded carrots and cabbage that we kept aside, for 2 minutes.
5. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and tomato ketchup and water. Mix 2 tsp corn flour in 1 tbsp water and add that to the sauce to thicken it. Keep stirring to avoid any lumps.
6. Add the black pepper and salt to taste.
7. When the sauce begins to boil, add the veg balls and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with rice or noodles

 Helpful Tips:

• Wait till the end to add the salt as the soy sauce may make the sauce salty
• For chicken manchurian, in step 1, substitute the cabbage and carrots with boneless chicken pieces, ideally marinated with garlic paste
• Although it is wasteful to throw away so much oil used for deep-frying, avoid reusing it as this oil has carcinogenic free radicals and can be potentially harmful.
• For that restaurant taste, you can add a pinch of Ajinomoto (MSG) but it is advisable not to

Mushroom in White Sauce

Cooking time: 15 min | Difficulty level: Easy

Chili chicken (Or tofu/paneer chili)

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Difficulty: Moderate

Having grown up in India, Indian-Chinese food is one of my all-time favorites. Being devoid of this cuisine in India, my Mum once told me this recipe to satiate my Chili-Chicken/Manchurian cravings. Since then, it became an absolute favorite of mine, so much that I thought it was necessary to share it :)

Strawberry Shrikhand (श्रीखंड)

Preparation time: 15 minutes | Difficulty level: Easy

An all-time summer favorite, I remember Mom making lots and lots of Shrikhand (sweetened Indian yogurt with saffron, cardamom and pistachios) and serving us a scoop of it in waffle cones on warm summer afternoons as a healthier alternative to ice creams, kulfis and popsicles. As a variation, she would occasionally make Amrakhand (with mangoes) or Strawberry-khand (with strawberries) instead of the conventional ingredients to make for a refreshing change.

Pecan Pie

Cooking time: 15 minutes + 50 minutes baking time | Difficulty level: Easy

I chose this as my first post for a very special reason. This recipe of Pecan Pie comes from a very loving lady and a great cook, in a sense my "Foster Mom" who is my mother and my family, away from home.

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 tsp. salt (you can avoid this if the butter is salted)

1/2 cup water

For the filling:

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

about 1 cup pecan halves or enough cover the base of a 9" pie dish

Method

1. Add the butter and salt to the flour and while steadily adding water, knead a dough out of the mixture. Chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes-1 hour. 
2. For the filling, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add corn syrup, sugar, vanilla extract and salt to this mixture and mix well. 
3. Using a rolling pin, flatten out the refrigerated dough on a lightly floured surface to make a base approximately 11" in diameter and about 1/8th of an inch in thickness. 
4. Carefully line the inside of a 9" pie dish with this dough, lightly pressing it down evenly to line the bottom corners of the pie dish and covering the edges of the pie dish. 
5. Lay the pecan halves at the bottom of the dish to completely cover the base. 
6. Pour the filling over the pecan halves, making sure to completely cover all pecans with the filling. The pecans will float on top. 
7. Bake this mixture in a conventional oven for 10 minutes at 450F. Turn down the heat to 325F and bake for another 40 minutes. Take the pie dish out of the oven using oven mittens and let it sit on the counter top for about 30 minutes. 
8. Once the pie cools down, it is ready to be served.

Helpful tips:

• If kneading the dough in a food processor, it's ideal to use the pulse mode.
• Refrigerating the dough is not a necessary step. Most of the times I just skip this step altogether but chilling the dough makes the crust flakier.
• Your baking time needs to be adjusted according to the size of your oven. This recipe assumes a 30" gas oven, but if you are using a smaller (counter-top) oven, you may need to bake the pie at 300F for a total of 40 minutes.
• Use a pie server or a pizza cutter to cut the pie. You can use a serrated knife in case you don't have a pie server.
• Pecan pie can be stored on the counter top for up to 10 days without refrigerating.