Food. Love. Life. With a dash of spice.

Goodie Bag from Bangkok!

2011-10-30T09:22:00.002-04:00

The loot!
Clockwise from top right: Glutinous black rice, shrimp paste, fish and oyster sauce, Thai sriracha and Chinese 5 spice powder.

A friend of mine went to Bangkok recently and so of course I sent him a small list of spices and condiments I want from Thailand. He bravely ventured out into the Bangkok markets and after a lot of hilarious hand gestures and deliberate pronunciations he finally managed to get me my nam pla and sriracha.

And then he decided to abscond with my loot for over 2 months. That seems like an eternity when all you can dream about is Som Tam or sticky sweet black rice pudding.

He finally came to Bombay this week and unloaded all the stinky sauces and spices on me.

So after a long, torturous wait, I finally got my hands on the stuff. :)

Thanks for getting everything Oj!

Wonderfully pungent shrimp paste. My mother refuses to touch the stuff. :P

Gloriously fragrant 5 spice powder.

My mind is humming with endless possibilities now:
Singaporean curry laksa using the shrimp paste and fish sauce?
Honey and 5 spice roasted carrots?
Fish cake burgers with sriracha mayo?

Any other suggestions would be welcome :)

Quick, One Bowl Banana Walnut Bread

2011-08-25T06:37:00.009-04:00

Officially, monsoon in Mumbai is supposed to get over in the 3rd week of September. The relentless showers are supposed to slow down by the last days of August easing the way for a pleasanter, less waterlogged September.
Of course nature doesn't give a hoot about 'official' estimates and will do as she pleases. .
It's almost September and I've seen no sign of the 'reduction in intensity of showers' as was promised to me by the weather bureau.
Also, apparently last year it rained all the way till December.

Rain is a lot like snow. Not in the obvious way like they are both forms for H20 but the emotions they bring about in people.
For the first few weeks everyone is happy to pull out the umbrellas, snow boots, gloves and gumboots. We all revel in the joy of drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows by fireside or hot tea with bhajias while sitting in a balcony watching the rain wash away the last of the dusty summer.
But then the reality of late trains, potholed roads and squelching through icky, muddy roads catches up with us we go all like,
"Alright God, we both had our fun! We got to get drenched in the rain, you got to fill up the water reservoirs. You can make it stop now!."

No really. Make. It. Stop.

Worst thing about the monsoon has to be the mind boggling amount of diseases it brings with it. Everyone falls sick at some time during the monsoon. Some people get off lucky and just get the common cold or flu, others are stuck with the scary sounding dengue or leptospirosis

Either way, it's a miserable thing to be stuck at home when you're sick, whiling away a potentially productive day wrapped in blankets and imbibing a record- breaking quantity of hot soups and teas to keep further infection at bay.
But I guess we all have to go through this ritual sometime or the other during the course of the year. So bring on the teas!
And maybe a slice of this banana bread, which is easy enough to whip up even when you're sick.

Banana Walnut Bread
3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1.5 cup all purpose flour*
1 tsp baking soda
3-4 ripe bananas
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
Demerera sugar to sprinkle on top.
Optional:
1 tbsp rum
1 tbsp melted unsalted butter

Line a baking pan with parchment and roast the walnuts on it for 10 min at 300F (150C)
While the walnuts are roasting, sift the flour and baking soda Keep aside.
In a large bowl, peel and mash the bananas with a fork till they are completely pulverized. Add the beaten egg along with the butter, cinnamon, essence, sugar and molasses. Whisk everything together till it's thoroughly mixed.
Gently fold in 1/3rd of the flour mixture into the bananas so that no lumps remain. Repeat the process with the remaining flour, folding it in batches.
Stir in the chopped walnuts and pour the batter into a buttered and floured bread pan. Sprinkle demerera sugar on top.
Bake at 350F (175C) for 30 minutes.
Let it cool and brush the rum and butter on top.

* You can substitute up to 3/4th cup of whole wheat flour in place of the AP flour.

Guess what the lil snackies are

2010-10-06T23:28:00.000-04:00

I made some snackies a while ago for a girls night out/sleepover but I never got around to blogging about them.
Guess what they are...

New cookbooks!

2010-10-05T23:24:00.000-04:00

Check out my new cookbooks!

P.S. Yeah I know I should've written a longer post. NaBloWriMo is harder than I thought it would be :(

Sabudana Vada (Pearl Sago Fritters)

2010-10-04T17:11:00.000-04:00

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people write recipes which call for '1 tbsp curry powder'. People, there is no such thing as a generic, one-size-fits-all curry powder. There are a gazillion different combinations of spices which are made with different techniques, each blend with its own distinct flavor. They range from the basic dhania-jeera powder (coriander seeds and cumin ground together) to more complex mixes like garam masala that may call for 10 or more spices. A blend might require you to individually roast and then separately grind more than a dozen spices. Some could have a mix of whole roasted spices along with freshly ground ones. Others might have dried coconut or sesame seeds added for extra flavor.

If you were to go to a grocery store in India and ask for curry powder you will, most likely, be directed towards a wall filled from the ceiling to floor with dozens of colorful spices and spice mixes each meant to be used in specific dishes.

It can get overwhelming when faced with a shelf groaning under the weight of all the exotic spices with unpronounceable names. Honestly, even I don't know how to use many of the spices. So, I tend to stick to a basic few which I actually can put to good use. You would be surprised how many different types of authentic Indian dishes you can cook with only 4 or 5 spices on hand.

One of those dishes is Sabudana Vada. Sabudana, pearl sago, can be found in any Indian store or in the international aisle of most grocery stores. Since it's gluten-free, it is usually eaten on religious holidays, when the consumption of wheat is forbidden. Vada refers to any patty or dumpling that is fried.

This recipe for Sabudana Vada is my mom's recipe. She made the whole thing from start to finish, while I hovered around and took notes. It's one of my favorite snacks and it goes perfectly with a cup of hot masala chai.

Sabudana Vada (Pearl Sago Fritters)

1/2 cup (4oz) sago

1 medium (4oz) potato

1-2 Thai chilis, minced

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely ground

Peanut or vegetable oil for deep frying

Optional add-ins:

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 sprig fresh curry leaves, chopped

1. Rinse the sago with cold running water and drain well. Put it in a container and add water just till it covers the surface of the sago. Cover it and keep aside for at least 4 hours and up till 12 hours. You can keep it soaked overnight.

2. Pierce the potato all over with a fork and boil it's soft. Peel the potato and mash it in a medium bowl with the minced chilis, cumin, salt and sugar. The mixture should be smooth with no lumps of potatoes. Add the soaked sago along with the coarsely ground peanuts (add the cilantro and curry leaves at this stage if you plan on using them).

3. Slightly knead the mixture till it comes together. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

Vadas before frying.

4. Divide the mixture into 8 small or 4 large equal sized portions. Flatten them slightly with your palm till they are disc shaped.

5. Heat the oil in a small wok on medium high heat. After a couple of minutes, test the oil with a small piece of dough. It's hot enough when the dough sizzles and rises to the top. If it settles at the bottom of the wok, wait for a couple more minutes and test again. If it browns as soon as you drop it, turn the heat down a bit.

6. Place one or two patties carefully in the oil. If you have a larger wok, go ahead and put couple more, but make sure not to crowd the wok.

Let it fry on one side for 2 minutes, then flip it and cook on the other side for 2 minutes. Flip it one last time and cook for a minute longer. Increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes if you plan on making larger vadas.

Drain on paper towels. Serve with ketchup and/or mint chutney.

Serves 2-3 people as a snack.

Look what I found!

2010-10-03T23:38:00.000-04:00

I was in the international aisle at my local grocery store yesterday, looking for chipotles in adobo, and look what I found! I love wafers and probably ate my body weight in chocolate, pineapple and strawberry wafers as a kid but I had never seen Dulce de Leche ones. I was really excited and obviously had to get a packet.

At first I thought they were filled with real stuff, like the super sticky, gooey maddeningly delicious dulce de leche but it's actually an artificially flavored cream. Bummer.

They were alright though. Just tasted like very sweet dulce de leche, a little short of cloyingly sweet. They're pretty good on their own but amazing with frozen yogurt. And for 79 cents, they were quite a steal!

Note: Goya is not paying me to advertise. As far as I know, there's a 99.999% chance that Goya doesn't even know I exist.

Pain d'Amandes (Belgian Almond Cookies)

2010-10-02T16:50:00.001-04:00

I was going through my collection of books a few weeks ago separating the old, unused, dusty ones from the ones I actually read. Sadly there were a lot of the former and very few of the latter. It was then that I realized that I just have one cookbook. Just one lonely cookbook woefully lost in the sea of tomes. Given the amount of time I spent reading, talking or even thinking about food, you would think I had a whole room full of books. I needed to remedy the situation and fast! Since I'm still very new to cooking and baking, I wanted to get books which would contain encyclopedic amounts of information. The kind of book where you can find practically every recipe under the sun. But I also wanted authentic, tested-till-death kind of solid recipes.
After a lot of thought, I settled on Lidia Bastianich's 'Lidia's Italy', Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's 'Becoming a Chef', Maida Heatter's 'New book of great desserts' and Rick Bayless's, 'Authentic Mexican'
Maida Heatter's New book of desserts is totally my kind of book. It's a massive book with nearly 470 pages and has recipes for everything from the simple three ingredient Strawberries with Cream to an impressive looking Zuger Kirsch Torte (a tall, moist 9" yellow cake brushed with kirsch and sandwiched with alternate layers of almond meringue and kirsch buttercream and topped with toasted almonds) whose ingredient list and directions run more than 4 pages long.
I have to admit, I was more than a little intimidated at the size and the sheer amount of information crammed into the book. But once you start baking, it's very hard to stop. Nearly everything I've made from it has been ridiculously good. You take a bite and wonder 'Why in the world have I not made this before!'
There's also some really cool sounding recipes too. Stuff which I have never even heard or read about anywhere. Jalousies anyone? Perhaps a couple of Joe Froggers for the road?
While I do plan on making (and posting) the cool recipes, I decided to stick with the simple, elegant pain d'amandes for now.
Maida describes them as 'crisp, crunchy, chewy, very delicious and very popular' and I have to say, I definitely agree.

Pain d'Amandes (Belgian Almond Cookies)
Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups (10oz) blanched almonds, whole
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp brandy/ whiskey
8 tbsp (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.
In a food processor or a grinder, process one cup of almonds till it is finely ground. Reserve one cup whole almonds.
Add the ground almonds and sugar to the dry, sifted ingredients.
Pour the milk, brandy and melted butter in the bowl of sifted ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon to mix till the dough starts to clump.
Turn the mixture on to a smooth, clean surface and knead to mix the ingredients thoroughly. The dough will be a little soft at first but it will become firmer as you knead it.
Add the reserved cup of almonds and knead the mixture to evenly distribute the almonds.
Place a long piece of parchment on the work surface and shape the dough into an oblong measuring 13 inches long, 1 1/2 inches high and 2 1/2 inches wide on the parchment. Cut it in half lengthwise. Wrap the oblongs in the parchment and freeze for several hours or overnight. The dough must be frozen.
Preheat oven to 350C when you are ready to bake.
Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment. (Use one baking sheet if you plan to use one log)
Remove the logs of dough from the freezer and unwrap them. Use a sharp finely serrated knife or paring knife and slice the log into 1/4 inch thick slices. One small log should yield around 26 cookies.
Place the cookies on the baking sheet around 3/4 inch apart. Bake for 18-20 min. Rotate sheet halfway through baking. The cookies should be golden on top and darker on the edges when done.

Makes 52 small cookies

I know without pictures, this post seems a little bare but I promise I'll have them up as soon as I can.

Roasted Eggplant and Quinoa Salad with Pomegranates, Walnuts and Parsley

2010-10-01T10:38:00.002-04:00

It's October 1st!! First day of my first NaBloWriMo.
For those of you who don't know, NaBloWriMo or National Blog Writing Month is an event where bloggers sign up to write a post everyday in the month of October.

Since I'm probably not the most regular blogger, I hope this will help me to sit my butt down and get a-blogging.
Today, I'm posting about a recipe that is truly my own, no adaptations, no inspiration, nil, nada. It actually came to me when I was sleeping. I dreamt that I was eating a wonderful quinoa salad chock full of eggplants, fresh tomatoes, pomegranate seeds and walnuts. So, the next morning I got up and made some for lunch. And it was wonderful! There were so many textures and flavors that went together beautifully.
I've made it a couple of times after that and I've tried to perfect it to suit my taste. It has a faux Persian-Mediterranean flavor profile.
The best part about it is that since it's a salad, you can add whatever you like and adjust it to your taste.

Roasted Eggplant and Quinoa Salad with Pomegranates, Walnuts and Parsley

1 small eggplant (~10 ounces)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
kosher or sea salt to taste
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup (4 ounces) walnuts, roasted
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
2/3 cup pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp lime juice

Heat the oven to to 350C. Meanwhile, slice the eggplant lengthwise and score it with a knife. Rub the olive oil, paprika and cinnamon evenly over the two halves. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a knife goes smoothly through the flesh. If you don't have roasted walnuts, place them on a separate sheet and bake them for 10 minutes along with the eggplant.
While the eggplant is baking, rinse the quinoa and put it in a saucepan along with the warm water, cumin and salt. At this stage feel free to add any other spices if you want to. Cover and let it steam through. Do not open the lid till it is done ( you'll know it's done, when you see little white sprouts curling out of the quinoa).
Fluff it with a fork and set aside in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, parsley, tomatoes and pomegranate seeds.
When the eggplant is done, gently dice it and add it to the rest of the salad.
Drizzle the lime juice and mix the salad so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Taste and adjust the salt or lemon is necessary.

Serves 2 as a main, 3-4 as a side.

Pesto Trapanese: A delicious version of Sicilian Pesto.

2010-08-31T18:27:00.010-04:00

I've always wanted to have a green thumb. It just sounds so cool. Okay it's probably not cool in the way being able to juggle knives is cool. It falls squarely in the 'dorky-cool' category. But you have to admit, it's a nice quality to have. I imagine someone with a green thumb lovingly water all the beautiful plants every morning and maybe make a delicious salad for lunch with stuff picked from their garden My mother is the kind of gardener who naturally posesses a green thumb. She has a massive garden in which she has been growing everything from ornamental plants to herbs, vegetables and flowers for years.

Literally everything she touches seems to flourish. Too bad a green thumb isn't passed down from one generation to another. Or maybe it's like one of those traits that skips a generation..because I certainly haven't inherited my mothers green thumb or any other nurturing qualities for that matter.

Everything she touches flourishes, anything I touch dies.

Case in point: last summer I desperately wanted to make home-made pesto after seeing beautiful pictures of pesto popping up on everyones blog. It looked so delicious, pretty little jars filled with the green pesto and a glistening layer of olive oil on top. I felt as if the jars were calling out to me, demanding me to fill my own little jars with glistening green pesto. So I marched to the nearest farmers' market to buy myself my own basil plant from which I could make pretty pesto.

I walked past the farmers selling the produce and the lady who sells awesome home-made pastas to the guy who sells seedlings. There were rows of oregano, sage, lemon-thyme and of course genovese basil.

I fell in love with the basil the moment I saw it. Delicate green stems with fragrant leaves spouting from its tips. It was perfect in every way. The basil and I got along smashingly well for the first couple of weeks. I took decent care of it and in return I got sweet basil leaves for pastas and salads. But soon enough all the leaves started to turn yellow and my precious basil died. I was heart-broken and mentally cursed the kind farmer who sold me such a bad seedling.

From then on I lavished all my attention on the other seedling of lemon thyme I had picked up. Thyme generally tends to be a sturdier herb. From what I read about it, with little care it can survive pretty much anything. Anything but me of course. The thyme died a premature death under my care just like the basil did.

Reason# 3145 why people like me (or rather just me) should never have kids.

This year, though, was different. Just like last year I bought a seedling of basil and one of peppermint. Basil obviously for the pesto and the mint because I dream of making mint-chip ice cream someday.

I hovered over both the plants for months, anxiously repotting, replanting and extra-fertilizing. And lo and behold, I am proud to say that they are both alive and kicking even after 3 months.

Yaay me!

Needless to say, I finally made pesto. Except, instead of the pretty emerald one, I made a pesto trapanese which found in Lidia Bastianich's book 'Lidia's Italy'. The 'trapanese' comes from Trapani, a city on the west coast of Sicily.

As much as I love genovese pesto, I really think I like this one better. I love the pairing of basil, tomatoes and almonds. It's definitely richer than the genovese kind as there is a higher proportion of nuts and has a slight tang from the tomatoes. Lidia stresses on the importance of using the best and freshest ingredients for the pesto and I have to agree. I didn't have almonds on hand when I made the first batch and I scrounged around in my pantry till I found an open bag of old almonds. The pesto was passable but nothing to write home about. I used new almonds the second time and the pesto was so good I ate nearly a quarter of it just by itself.

Pesto Trapanese

Adapted from Lidia Bastianich's 'Lidia's Italy'

3/4 lb (2 1/2 cups) of ripe cherry tomatoes (I used yellow cherry tomatoes)

12 large basil leaves*

1 large clove of garlic

1/3 cup of lightly toasted almonds*

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt or to taste + 1 tbsp for the pasta

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 lb (~1/2kg) spaghetti (or any other pasta)

1/2 cup grated grana padano or parmesano reggiano

Rinse the tomates and basil and pat dry.

Blend the tomatoes, basil, garlic and almonds and blend for a minute till it is coarsely ground. Scrape down the blender bowl and season with red pepper flakes and sea salt. Blend till it reaches desired consistency. You can puree it finely or leave it a little coarse. Taste the seasoning and add more if needed.

With the blender on, slowly drizzle the oil in a steady stream till the pesto emulsifies.

You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, but I recommend freezing it if you aren't going to use it immediately.

While you are blending the pesto, bring a large pot of water to boil along with a tablespoon of salt. Add the pasta when the water comes to a rolling boil.

Cook the pasta till its al dente. Toss the pasta and the pesto in a large bowl till mixed. Add the cheese and toss again. Serve hot with more parmesan on top as garnish.

Serves 4-6

Notes:
1) I used nearly a cup of basil (~20 leaves)

2) I soak the almonds overnight, skin them and then bake them at 250C for 10 min

3) You can also make a double batch of the pesto and freeze it. Lightly oil the inside and pour a thin layer of oil on top before freezing. It helps preserve more flavor.

Mini cheesecakes

2010-08-18T14:57:00.003-04:00

Summer is here! Actually its been here for a while now, I've just been too lazy to actually write a summer post. Or even a spring post. Or even an end-of-cold-dreary-weather post. Basically I know I've missed a ton of important bloggable days. But I am back with a bang!!
Or cheesecakes, if that's what you prefer :)
I have a confession to make..I love any food tiny food. Like tartlettes, mini cakes and pies. They have the same flavor as their regular-sized versions and they're just so much more cuter to eat! I''ve always wanted to make some mini snacks just for myself and eat them daintily. Like while wearing a pretty paisley dress and a ridiculously large hat and drinking tea with my pinky curled. Of course that is just a fantasy. Reality is me shoving down food down my gullet like a garbage disposal truck while I'm wearing my filthiest pajamas.
But that's what awesome about these cheesecakes, you can eat them whichever way you like. They can be decorated prettily with berries and chocolate curls and served on a silver platter for a fancy tea-party or scarfed down from the refrigerator after a rambunctious, boozy night. They taste great either way. :)

Mini Cheesecakes
adapted from Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mini-Cheesecakes-III/Detail.aspx

For the crust:
1/3 cup graham crackers/nilla wafers
1/3 cup walnuts (or any other nut of your choice)
1 tablespoon sugar

For the cheesecake:
2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/5 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F (165C).
Pulse the ingredients for the crust in a food processor for 1-2 min or till it is crushed.
Line a 12 cup muffin tray with wrappers and scoop one tablespoon of the crushed mixture into each wrapper and press firmly.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes. Remove and let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350F (175C)
In a medium bowl beat the cream cheese till it's fluffy. Beat in the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, essence and lemon zest (if using) for 2 minutes or until thoroughly combined.
Fill the muffin cups around 3/4 full and bake at 350F for 20-25minutes.
Let cool in pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
Top with filling of your choice or eat it as it is.

Note: Options for filling:
Fresh fruit with a glaze
Chocolate ganache
Fruit preserves
Whipped cream with chocolate shavings
This is the kind of dessert you could make for a party and have a cheesecake bar with a large platter of cheesecakes and bowls of different toppings so everyone can personalize their own cheesecake.

Homestyle Fried Chicken Dinner.

2010-02-20T21:42:00.008-05:00

The past week here has been awful. Cold, dreary weather and some crazy wind added in for extra fun. Yaay me! NOT. Yesterday was especially bad. I woke up pretty late (around noon-ish) and it was already getting dark at like 3pm! It was kind of day that makes you want to curl up in your bed and watch reruns of old TV shows with a bucket of fried chicken by your side and forget about all of your worries. Now I don't know about you, but the local (read: multi-national- blood-sucking corporation) fried chicken joint serves horrid fried chicken. Shame, since its the only one within walking distance. So, instead of subjecting myself to another styrofoam bowl of soggy, greasy meat parading as fried chicken, I decided to make it at home, Plus I just needed an excuse to whip out my uber-cool Lodge cast-iron skillet. Okay lets get to nit-picking the food.
The best part about it? It's Art Smith's fried chicken recipe. Art Smith. 'Nuf said. I mean, people willingly shell out like 20 bucks to eat fried chicken at his restaurant. I don't know about you but if I'm ready to pay that kind of money for 2 pieces of fried chicken, it better be some really good chicken! Oh..and did I mention he was Oprah's personal chef for like 10 years? In my eyes, this man can do no wrong. Atleast with fried chicken he can't!
Now the worst. Time. It took a lot longer than I expected. Yes, I know that the recipe clearly states that it is 'Two-day Marinated Fried Chicken', but two days seems like a lot when you're desperately craving fried chicken. Although I did kind of cheat. I brined it overnight, but I rinsed it in the morning before class, left it soak in the buttermilk mixture all day and had it for dinner. And lets not forget the cooking time. When it comes to cooking chicken, I'm pretty much used to dumping some in a curry or tossing it in the oven and walking away for 20 odd minutes. Relax a bit, clean up, catch up on some Heroes, Grey's Anatomy..whatever. Do anything BUT anxiously hover over a pan full of hot oil, a dish-towel in one hand, tongs in another, trying to figure out if the chicken is done and dodging the splattering oil all at the same time. Since I have an itty-bitty 8" skillet I had to fry my chicken in two batches. 20 minutes per batch multiplied by 2 batches. That's 40 minutes of hovering people! Do you have any idea how many episodes I could have watched in that time?? Well just one. But that's not really the point. The point is that it's time-consuming and more than a little stressful.
But is it worth it?
Yes. Totally worth my time.
Why?
Because when the chicken was (finally!) done, it was purr-fect. Nice, crispy, well-seasoned crust. The chicken itself was very tender and juicy and oh-so-good. Well worth the wait and stress.
I had it with some buttered corn, mashed potatoes and pan-gravy and parsley biscuits on the side.
Mmmm...it's enough to make even a hardcore vegan drool.

Art Smith's Two-Day Marinated Fried Chicken
Slightly adapted from Food and Wine (and of course Art Smith)

1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 quarts cold water
One 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 quart buttermilk
2 tablespoons Tabasco
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying

In a pot, dissolve 1/2 cup of the salt in the water. Submerge the chicken in the brine; refrigerate overnight.

Drain and rinse the chicken. Rinse out the pot. Add the buttermilk and Tabasco, submerge the chicken in the buttermilk and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, Old Bay, cayenne, black pepper and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken, then dredge in the flour. Dip the chicken back into the buttermilk and coat again in the flour.

Meanwhile, in a large cast-iron skillet, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil to 375°. Fry the chicken in batches until golden and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve.

A word about these biscuits. They're great! Okay so that's two words. But whatever...
I was a little apprehensive as I've never made biscuits from scratch before. It took me just under 10 minutes to prep them and they are so much better and more healthier than the stuff from the can. The parsley adds a nice flavor too.
I doubled the batch and froze it last night. And if you were to drop by today and demand freshly baked biscuits, I would have to (very politely) turn you down because I kind of ate them all.
All 24 of them. In one night.
All by myself. Well almost by myself; my awesome housemates did help out a bit :) So make these, pretty please!

Parsley Biscuits
Adapted from Homesick Texan

Two cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of sugar (can add more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 stick of butter, cold (8 tablespoons)
3/4 cup of buttermilk, cream or half-and-half
1/4 cup parsley coarsely chopped*

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Mix all the dry ingredients together.
Cut the stick of butter into pieces, and work into the flour mixture with your hands or a pastry blender until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
Add the liquid, mixing until a bit loose and sticky.
Pour dough out on a floured surface, and knead for a minute. Dough should be smooth and no longer wet. You can sprinkle more flour on the surface if you find it’s sticking.
Take dough into a ball, and hit it with a rolling pin, turning it and folding it in half every few whacks. Do this for a couple of minutes.
Roll out dough until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick, and then fold it in half.
Using a round cutter (can use a glass or a cup if don’t have a biscuit cutter) cut out your biscuits from folded dough.
Place on a greased baking sheet close together (so they rise up not out), and bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Makes 10-12 biscuits.
* add the parsley before adding the buttermilk then proceed as directed.

Saga of a salad-convert and a delicious salad recipe.

2010-02-12T06:13:00.001-05:00

[Warning: Rong, Lambling Post Ahead ;) ]

I used to work part time in a food court on campus last year. It was one of those minimum wage, low skill jobs. The kind you have to do in school to pay off the bills.First day on the job, my manager asked me if I had ever made wraps. I thought about all the different ways my mom had taught me to roll vegetables in a roti for a quick snack and nodded yes. If I could roll rotis, how hard could a wrap be?
Oh boy was I was in for a very rude shock! Making wraps was nothing like wrapping up a small roti.There was a science behind it. You have to have real skill in order to take an order for a wrap, successfully roll up a gazillion meats, vegetables, cheese and dressings in a paper thin 12" tortilla, and hand out the drinks and chips all within 90 seconds (yes, that was the time we were given for one customer). On my first day, I entered the kitchen and watched in amazement at the flurry of activity around me. Some people were at the front making the wraps, some were restocking the chiller, some were refilling the drink machines, some were prepping for the next day. Everyone seemed to be doing something!
Except me. I just stood there, gaping.
Not for long though. I was handed an apron and some gloves and was shoved right up front to make the wraps. I really pity the first few people I served. If you were ever served a tattered wrap at Ellicott, with most of the filling on the plate, possibly some on the ground and the wrap reduced to a soggy sorry-looking mess, by a brown girl with a splattered shirt, I apologize.
After I mastered the art of making a perfect wrap, the job become boring. I was on my feet for hours a stretch mechanically asking people the same "Lettuce, mayo, tomato?" questions. The sweltering heat of the kitchen and the constant running around didn't make my life any easier. Neither did the dorky uniforms. To put it bluntly, my job sucked. The only good thing about it was the free food. We could order anything we wanted from the foodcourt during our lunch break There was a wide variety of pizzas, pastas, subs and burgers to choose from. Typical college fare. But after around 8 months on the job, I had tried practically everything on the menu atleast twice and was bored of it all. The only thing on the menu I hadn't tried were the salads. And I didn't really intend to eat a salad anytime soon.
You see, I used to be one of those people who hated salads. Actually hate is too strong of a word, maybe indifferent might be the right word. Yeah, I was indifferent to salads. Honestly I just didn't see the point of salads. To me they were just weeds. Green and purple weeds that tasted weird and had funny names like rappi and frisee. Who would voluntarily eat a large bowl of weeds when there are char-broiled burgers on the menu? Burgers with free bacon on top! And as everyone knows it's a criminal offense to pass up bacon, free or not. And passing up free bacon? Sacrilege!

Ahh...bacon. Oh how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
Mouth-wateringly crispy, salty strips of pure joy.
Harbinger of peace and happiness to my belly.
*Sigh*

I digress. Bacon has that effect on me people you know.
Where were we?
Right..salads!
"They're just leaves dressed up in some fancy-shmancy sauce," I scoffed whenever I saw someone nibbling away on a bowl of salad, "Why can't people eat vegetables the REAL way?"
The 'real' way according to me was either cooked to death with butter or smothered with a smorgasbord of oil and spices. Obviously both these ways completely masked the actual taste of the vegetables. Which is exactly why I liked them in the first place. And I'm not the only one. In her book, Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century, Laura Shapiro says that, "Salad greens, which did have to be served raw and crisp, demanded more complicated measures. The object of scientific salad making was to subdue the raw greens until they bore as little resemblance as possible to their natural state" (italics mine). Apparently, in the fifties, Americans used Jello to mask the flavors.
Aha! So I wasn't the only one who thought that the only way to force a bowl of salad down my gullet was to camouflage its 'greenness'. But hey, atleast I used ranch dressing and not Jello to do that!
But lets go back to that fateful day, when sickened by the parade of ground meat and cheese, I decided to order a salad. I listlessly scanned the menu, trying to find something I could eat without gagging, when I found the "Fire-roasted chicken salad: Grilled chicken with cherry tomatoes and bacon on a bed of romaine.' Bacon in a salad! Score!
That salad was a revelation to me. It will go down in history as the first salad which I truly enjoyed. And as cliched as it may sound, I felt so great after eating it.
I didn't even suffer from Beached-Whale Syndrome (a state of mind and body after a heavy meal when you all you can, or want to, do is sit in one place moaning and groaning; to act like a beached whale)
Today I woke up and it was (surprisingly) a nice sunny day. The snow had melted off the rooftops and everything was bright and cheery. If you didn't step outside the house you would almost believe its summer!
So to celebrate that I decided to make a light salad for lunch. And what a salad it was. If the Fire-Roasted Chicken salad was the first one I've enjoyed, this was probably the best one I've ever had. It had the perfect balance between sweet and bitter and crunchy and soft and the Tangerine Vinaigrette really brightened it up.

Lookie at these little radishes! These are so different from Indian radishes in both flavor and appearance. They have a very mild peppery taste. Although they were really good, next time I'll go for slightly stronger radish. Their mild flavor kind of got lost in the citrusy salad. But they're so pretty!
I also found some end-of-season Honey Tangerines. They're actually more sour than regular tangerines but I prefer the slight tartness. It made for a wonderful vinaigrette.

Spring Salad with Tangerines, Radishes, Walnuts, Bacon and a Tangerine Vinaigrette.
Serves:2 to 3

5 oz/ 4.5 cups mixed greens
3 oz/ 2 cups baby spinach
3 strips of bacon
3 medium tangerines/clementines, peeled and pitted
3 - 4 small bulbs of radishes
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 oz/ 0.5 cup roasted walnuts
salt and pepper to taste

Wash the the mixed greens and the spinach and dry the leaves.
Fry the bacon rashers on medium heat for 2-3min on each side until most of the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy. Keep a close eye on them and don't let them burn.
In the meanwhile, roughly chop up the segments of one tangerine. Chop off the tail and the top of the radishes and thinly slice them.
In a small bowl, juice the 2 leftover tangerines, extracting as much juice as you can. Whisk in the Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle the extra virgin olive oil into the bowl whilst continuously whisking the vinaigrette.
Toss the salad leaves, chopped tangerines and sliced radishes in a large bowl with most of the vinaigrette. Crumble the bacon and add it to the salad along with the roasted walnuts and toss again.
Serve immediately.

Friday night party!

2010-02-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

Woooo! It's Friday night! You know what that means right? Par-tay baby!
It's time to forget your weeks' worries and let loose after a long hard week. Call up all of your crazy friends and decide to go out and have fun!
Perfect way to start your night, of course, is by taking a nice long hot shower and washing away the grit and grime of the classroom and office. Turn off the shower when you've exhausted all the hot water (and are starting to look like a long lost member of the prune family). Then spend hours going through your closet to find that perfect outfit. Moan about not having ANYTHING to wear while sitting on a mountain of rejected clothes. Suddenly you see it. The perfect outfit. You know which one I'm talking about. The one that's cute but just a little sexy.
Maybe add on some fishnet stockings? Knee-high boots, perhaps?
Blow-dry your hair and curl it just so. Quickly slap on some makeup. Spend more time correcting your makeup than the time it took to actually 'slap it on'
Stand in front of your mirror and mentally go through your checklist.
Party outfit? Check
Makeup? Check
Invited all BFFs? Check!
A spritz of perfume here, a final touch of mascara there... et voila! You are ready to go out and party with your best buds!

Of course my friday night is a lee-tle different...
Party outfit? Do sweats count?
Makeup? Au naturel ma cherie...
Invited all BFFs? Sure!

Check out the people I'm partying with tonight. They are so friggin awesome!

Especially this guy..he is such a hoot! I'm planning to be by his side all night long. We're going to have such a GREAT time together!

Ha! Okay now that we've established that the only place I'm gonna go party is in my dreams, lets get down to the food part of this post.
I really didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking today because, as you can see, I have way too much work to do. After brainstorming for a bit, I came up with the brilliant idea of curd rice for dinner. It's quick, filling, healthy and yummalicious!

Curd rice, for those of you who don't know, is basically plain yogurt mixed with cooked rice. It's generally eaten at the end of the meal right before dessert.
There are so many variations to curd rice, every family has their own way of making it. But the basic spices that everyone uses are mustard seeds, ginger, curry leaves and dahi mirchi.
Dahi mirchi (shown above) which is literally translated as yogurt chili, are mild chilies that have been soaked in spiced buttermilk and then dried. You can find them at most Indian stores.You can substitute dried red chilies in place of dahi mirchi in the curd rice.
You could also add nuts, pomegranate seeds and other spices. Since this is a very versatile dish, feel free to experiment with the spices and let me know how it turns out!
The proportions I've given below serve two as a side. Please double the recipe if you would like to serve it as a main dish.

Curd Rice (Yogurt and Rice)
Serves 2

1 cup leftover rice
2/3 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp heavy cream
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp minced green chilies
1 tsp minced ginger
3-4 dahi mirchi
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
salt to taste

Whisk the yogurt, milk and heavy cream together till smooth. Add the rice and stir it till it's incorporated in the yogurt mixture. Depending on the consistency of your yogurt, you might need to add more milk. You should have a smooth and creamy but not runny mixture.

Heat the oil on high in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds and wait till they start popping. Quickly add the minced green chilies and ginger and turn the heat down to medium. Crush the dahi mirchi into two or three pieces and add them to the hot oil. Fry it till it's brown and crispy (~30sec).
Carefully pour the tempered spices in the rice mixture and stir. Add salt to taste and Chill for 20 min in the refrigerator. Add some more milk if the rice seems dry.
Garnish with fresh coriander before serving.

Annnnd..today is World Nutella Day!

So in honor of this very very special day I made a quick Nutella dessert.

Banana Nutella Sandwiches

All you need is:

1 banana
2 slices of bread
2 tbsp Nutella (or the whole jar..whatever keeps you happy)

Slather Nutella on both slices of bread with a knife.
Lick Nutella off the knife.
Arrange the banana slices on one side.
Place the non banana-ed slice of bread on top of the banana-ed slice.
Devour.

A Party and Pasta alla Norma (Pasta with Fried Eggplant)

2010-01-14T04:12:00.000-05:00

School finally started on Monday. It's just the third day of classes and I'm already overwhelmed. Man, is it going to be a hectic semester. Besides the 6 classes I'm taking, I'm going to be working on campus for atleast 15h/week and volunteering at a restaurant off-campus for a few hours each weekend. That along with the 600+ pages I have to read per week for my classes and other homework/exams/assignments that will be handed out is going to make for a super-busy semester. This is exactly why I hate spring semesters. The school tries to cram in 4 months of coursework in 3months. So, its the same amount of schoolwork in much less time.
The colossal amounts of snow that is dumped on us everyday doesn't make it any easier either. Neither does the 30mph wind. Winter over here is so depressing! Just imagine waking up everyday to this:

Ugh.
Look at me grumbling away like an old woman. Let's talk about some exciting things!
I cannot wait for this weekend! First long weekend of the year (since Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Day).So my house-mates and I have decided to throw a house party! Unlike my old house, where we used to have house parties almost every other weekend, we haven't had any in this house. Everyone was too busy with classes and work to actually plan a party. We finally decided to have to have the first party this weekend before everyone gets caught up in the madness of this semester. Oh and have I mentioned that my house-mates are awesome? Besides volunteering to be guinea pigs for my kitchen experiments and eagerly eating everything (including hockey puck-esque cookies and burnt chicken), these guys are known for throwing mean parties.
So, all of us met in the kitchen today to discuss to details of the party. It's going to be BYOB, but since no one really BYOBs..we have to provide massive amounts of alcohol to fuel the party. Planning a college party is actually really easy. Just spread the word that there's unlimited booze and free food and people will swarm to the house like bees to honey. Of course we're going to put in a little bit more effort than that. We're planning to have a full bar, hookah corner, beer pong/flip table. We're also combining all of our music together so we're going to have an eclectic mix of hip-hop, pop, R&B, spanish, jamaican, bhangra and techno.
This party is going to be EPIC man!
Anyways, here's a little something I whipped up in the kitchen while we we were deciding which table should we convert to a bar table and which throws should we put on the mattress in the hookah corner. It's one of my favorite pastas because it's so delicious and takes so little time to make. Plus it has fried eggplant! Traditionally the eggplant isn't breaded before being fried, but I like a crunchy crust on my eggplant. I've also used dried herbs instead of fresh because it's kind of hard to find fresh herbs over here in the dead of winter. Substitute it with fresh herbs if you can, it makes a world of difference.

Oh yeah and my awesome housemates have given this recipe a 11/10, so please try it out! :)

Pasta alla Norma (Pasta with Fried Eggplant)

For the eggplant:
1 small eggplant
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil for pan frying.

For the pasta:
1 tbsp of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 16oz can of crushed tomatoes (approx 3 medium fresh tomatoes)
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup ricotta salata*
8oz of dried pasta
water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse the eggplant and pat dry. Cut into 1/2 inch thick round slices. Arrange them on a plate and brush the olive oil over the slices. Evenly sprinkle 1 tsp of salt. Keep aside for 5 min.
2. In the meanwhile, add the rosemary and remaining 1 tsp of salt to the breadcrumbs and mix well.
3. Squeeze out excess water from the eggplant slices and coat them in the breadcrumb mixture.
4. Heat oil on a non-stick saucepan and fry the eggplant, a couple of minutes on each side until its fork tender and golden brown on each side.
5. Blot the excess oil with paper towels and keep the eggplants on a warm plate.
6. In the same pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and heat it through. Add the garlic and the onion and saute it's soft and fragrant..
7. Add the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, chili flakes, oregano and basil. Salt and pepper the sauce. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for around 15-20 min.
8. Boil water in a large pot of water and salt it generously. When the water comes to a rolling boil add the dried pasta and cook for 6-8 minutes or till its al dente.
9. Add the pasta to the sauce and cook it for a couple more minutes till done.

To serve:
Plate the pasta on a plate and spoon any extra sauce on top. Top with the fried eggplant and grated ricotta salata.

Serves 2.

Note: I used store-brought parmesan as that was the only cheese I had in my fridge. Someone really needs to go grocery shopping!
Oh and don't worry you'll get a lot more eggplant slices than I've shown in the picture. I eat most of them after I fried them. They are irresistible!

XOXO!
Chait

Moving Out And An Easy Brownie Recipe

2010-01-06T10:58:00.000-05:00

It's been more than four years since I struck out on my own. Not financially of course. Daddy is still very much the banker (thank god). But for the past four years I've been living in hostels, dorms, in a house with friends etc etc. I haven't stayed at a home for such a long time. Like stayed permanently, and not just used it as a place to go to when school's done and I'm too broke to pay rent. After all these years, it's hard to imagine how it would be like if I had to go back and live with my parents again. I'm sure they would love it if I decided to live with them. But me, not so sure. Don't get me wrong. I love my parents to death and they are the best parents any kid could've gotten. But, they still are my mom and dad. I imagine it'll be an extended version of my summer vacation.
I make my annual darshan to Mumbai every May. The first couple of weeks at home amazing. I get to see my friends, family and my beautiful city after a year and I'm having the time of my life stuffing my face with as many paani puris and vada-pavs my body can handle. On my parents part, the prodigal (read only) daughter has just come home and must have all the laad-pyaar in the world bestowed upon her. Being hindus, there's no killing of the fatted calf and all but ya can't have everything, right? Anyways, it's like I can do no wrong and it's all rainbows and butterflies. Good times all around. Atleast during the first week.
It's sometime during the second week that the problems start. Something as innocuous as coming home a few minutes past curfew ignites the arguements It starts off with a simple 'You're never on time' then goes on to 'Why are you guys so strict?' escalates to 'Friends are more important to you than family' and the grand finale 'You both will never understand me!' *door slam*. It's almost operatic!

Jokes apart, I really do miss my family and friends back home. It's hard being all by yourself in a strange place and not having an adult to turn to when something goes wrong. But it gets easier with time and experience. Plus, staying away from your parents... in a land far, far away is just so exhilirating. You can spend all day in bed, eat your dinner from a coffee cup while watching re-runs of _____ (insert your favorite serial) and no-one says anything at all! It's so liberating to know that you can do anything you want to anytime you want to.
Wanna play super loud music? Go ahead..it's your room.
Too lazy to put sheets on your bed? Don't.

Of course, there is a flipside. You have to do everything by yourself too. You have to clean up your own room if you mess it up. But that's optional. My room is generally in varying degrees of mess. Ranges from Cleaned-Yesterday-But-Getting-Messy-Again to Pig Sty. And also cook, if you plan on avoiding death by starvation. Oh and the worst chore of them all..the one that every person dreads.
The L word.
Laundry.
It's everyone's worst nightmare come true when you wake you, take a shower and realize that you have no clean underwear left. You frantically rummage through your drawer, praying for atleast one pair to magically appear. 'Just one pair God..that's all I'm asking for. Bas ek!' Of course it's not going to happen, because all of your clothes are sitting in a pile waiting for their turn in the washing machine. So you are forced to go about your day, chaddi-less, and you swear to yourself that you will be more organized and get all of your chores done on time from tomorrow onwards. Yeah..that's so going to happen.
But, back to my favorite. The main reason I started this blog. Cooking! When I first came to Buffalo, all I could do was boil eggs and make one sabji. I couldn't even make maggi properly. Kind of a sad situation. One of the first things I ever learned were brownies. The best thing about this recipe is that it just takes an hour (including baking time) to make these babies. Plus it doesn't hurt that they are rich and chocolatey. This recipe makes for a dense, moist brownie. If you like cakey brownies bake it for a few extra minutes (not more than 5). If you prefer fudgy brownies then slightly underbake it.

Basic Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter
1.5 cups fine granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease and flour a 9X13 baking dish (or two 8 inch cake pans) and keep aside.
2. Melt butter over low heat in a pan or in a large bowl in the microwave. Don't let it brown.
3. Mix the melted butter with the sugar and vanilla essence till combined.
4. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat well after every addition.
5. Stir in the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
6. Gently fold the flour into the mixture. Be careful not to overmix the flour otherwise the brownies will turn out hard. It's okay if you have few lumps of flour in the batter.
7. Bake it in the oven for 20 to 30 min. It's done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out with a few crumbs attached.

Serves 6 to 8 (or one Chait :P)

Sizzling Chicken Fajitas

2010-01-03T05:13:00.000-05:00

Ola! My first post today is going to be sort of an ode to Mexican/Tex-Mex food. Not the kind of 'mexican' food they serve in Taco-Bell or in our horrid dining halls. I'm talking about the real deal here. Like, the kind of food that you would get at a tiny hole in the wall restaurant, in the middle of nowhere, where the menu is in Spanish and margaritas are cheap and plentiful.

For me, the experience begins as soon as everyone is seated and the servers bring in baskets of fresh tortilla chips and salsa. You pick up the chips, still hot from the fryer, and dunk it in the bowl of salsa and shove it in your mouth. The crunch of tortilla chips gives way to the fiery salsa that nearly numbs your tongue and renders you, literally, speechless. Then of course, you put out the fire in your mouth with a sip of cold, slushy margarita. Mmmm..and that's just the appetizers! Don't even get me started on the actual meal.
No, seriously. Don't. I won't shut up about it unless you make me.
There's just something about Mexican food that makes it so yummalicious...the freshness of the ingredients, the use of wonderful spices and just the way the words sound. Words like fajitas de pollo, pico de gallo, carnitas, chile relleno and arroz mexicano sensually roll off your tongue while leaving a trail of drool behind.
Out of all those, fajitas is one of my favorites. Sure, its not on top of the list but it comes in pretty darn close. The best part about fajitas is that you can whip 'em up in 30 min and if you have leftovers (which I doubt you will), no worries! They taste even better the next day. I think it's the perfect winter nosh. A delicious, hot meal in less than 30 min. Who would want to spend a whole evening slaving away in the kitchen when it's -22F outside and you've spent a long hard day ~~at the mall~~ at work?

Chicken Fajitas

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 medium onions
1 large bell pepper
1/4 lb (4oz.) mushrooms
2 tbsp oil

For the fajita seasoning:
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp mexican oregano
salt to taste

For serving:
Tortillas
Sour cream
Salsa
Cheese (optional)

1. Slice the chicken breasts into strips and put them in a non-reactive bowl. Add the fajita seasoning and mix it well. Let it marinate for atleast 10 min.
2. In the meanwhile, thinly slice the onions and keep aside. Slice the bell pepper and mushrooms in thick strips.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy cast-iron or non-stick pan on medium heat. Add the marinated chicken (reserve the remaining marinade). Cook the chicken on high heat, stirring it occasionally, till it's cooked through. Remove from pan and keep aside.
4. Saute the onions in the pan till translucent and push them together at the back of the pan. Now, add the green peppers, mushrooms and the reserved marinade (if any) and saute them for a couple of minutes. The vegetables should be cooked through but still remain crunchy.

To serve : Pile the chicken and the vegetables on a warm tortilla, add some salsa, a dollop of sour cream and some cheese. Roll it up and devour.