Lemony Tofu Stir Fry

I’m mostly someone who loves routine or rather even if I might not love it so much…my life is more or less predictable on most days….infact both me n’ my husband are like that….i wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that we are both Capricorns…either ways…we are alike in a lot of ways….ok I won’t tell you all the details….i might just shock u with how often we prefer to eat the same food…:)...so anyways i decided to move out of the comfort zone today....n' decided to try this recipe...

I also know that my/our favorite cuisine is Indian, Pakistani, (a little bit of )Italian n’ Chinese ( I don’t know if I’m talking about the Indian version of Chinese food as I have never tried the authentic version I think….or so I’m told ;)…in any case I don’t think I have tried too many cuisines to say that I don’t like something…but I guess u might rarely (if ever) find anything which doesn’t fall under this category on my food blog….i kind of find baking a little intimidating so I don’t know when I will start trying that…

Anyways coming back to this recipe….i kind of stay away from buying fancy things n’ trying out fancy recipes which require fancy things (my definition of “fancy” being anything which isn’t easily available or sometimes not at all available in India...also I have noticed that once I buy some “fancy” ingredient for one recipe….i fail to use it again as most of my cooking might not need it….so I think it’s a waste of money) Which explain my limited knowledge on things with fancy names….. i was under the impression Tofu n’ Paneer (cottage cheese) are more or less the same thing….but they are not….if you wanna learn more about that…check this website…

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070723071217AA9aJNa

So my veggie food adventure quest made me buy some tofu…..and the dish has come out so much better than I expected it to…..I honestly don’t know where you can buy Tofu in india so those who think tofu is “fancy” I’m sorry….this recipe is really simple n’ I had to give it a go…now I better get on with the recipe….so here you go…

Ingredients:
1. Tofu: 350gms (cut into cubes)
2. Soy Sauce: 1 tsp ( I used light soy sauce)
3. Oyster Sauce: 1tsp
4. Lemon Juice- 1 ½ tsp
5. Onion- 1 (cut into cubes)
6. Ginger Garlic- 1 tsp (crushed)
7. Red Capsicum- 1 (cut into cubes)
8. Green Chili- 3 (Sliced- 1 cut into 3 pieces should do)
9. Mushrooms- 3-4 Sliced (optional)
10. Noodles- I don’t know how to mention how much I used as this is meant more to add some character to the dish than as a must…..but I must have used enough for some 4tbsp of cooked noodles…
11. Salt- to taste
12. Olive Oil- 2tsp (yeah I used only so much…but up to u if u want to add more do so…)

Method:
Step 1: Marinate the tofu cubes adding soy sauce, oyster sauce n’ lemon juice. Keep it aside for atleast 15mins.

Step 2: Heat Olive oil in a pan n’ add onion n’ ginger garlic paste n’ fry it till the onion turns light brown.

Step 3: Add the capsicum cubes n’ sliced green chilies to this. Stirring it occasionally let it cook well.

Step 4: Add the cooked noodles and mushroom to this. Mushrooms will ooze out water….keep the flame on medium to high so that the gravy reduces a little. You can add salt at this point, again keeping in mind that the sauces used for marinade will be salty.

Step 5: Add the marinated tofu cubes n’ the mixture to the above n’ stir fry it for a while to allow the tofu to soak up the flavors n’ turn slightly golden brown.



Best served with plain rice, fried rice or noodles, this recipe is enough to serve only 2 people so depending on the number of people you are making it for, please increase the measurements.

Baby Corn Manchurian

I don’t think I have bought baby corns after moving to Bahrain. So its safe to assume its been almost 2yrs since I last had them…..atrocious rite???

Anyways now the situation sort of demands me to eat more veggies and I considered cooking something with some Baby Corn. Being a Mal there is not tried n’ tested family recipe for this and I had to get some help from the internet. I just typed ‘baby corn recipe’ as my search title n’ most of what I got were baby corn Manchurian recipes….honeslty I have never had them before n’ I decided to try…..just coz it was really easy…i love easy recipes…I mean I’m really lazy most of the time…but sometimes the whole ‘josh’ of cooking becomes a little overpowering and I end up trying something new…. this recipe is a combination of three recipes….kind of had to judge what can I avoid n’ what’s a must……I love doing this…:D so here you go….

Ingredients :

1.Baby Corn- 300gms
2. All Purpose Flour (Maida)- 3/4th of a cup
3. Corn Flour- 1tbsp
4. Chili Powder – ½ tsp (I used kashmiri chili powder)
5. Pepper Powder- ½ tsp (reduce the qty if u don’t like spicy food)
6. Ginger Garlic - 2tsp (crushed)
7. Salt- to taste
8. Water- ½ cup
9. Oil- ½ cup ( for deep frying)
10. Soy Sauce- 1tsp ( I used light sauce)
11. Oyster Sauce- 1tsp
12. Red Chili Sauce- 1tsp (use less if you don’t share my love for spicy food ;)
13. Tomato Ketchup- 1tsp
14. Onion- 1 big (sliced thin) or (2 medium ones)
15. Spring Onion- 1 Stem (add more if you like to)
16. Vinegar/ Lime Juice (optional)- a drizzle
17. a pinch of ajinomoto (optional)- I added Maggie Noodles taste maker (1packet) instead…;)

Method:

Step 1: Cut each baby corn into 3 slices, and boil the same in water adding a little salt….(i add very little water most of the time while boiling… instead of covering the vegetables with water I toss the pan to cook it evenly). Once cooked drain the baby corn n’ keep it aside. (Don’t throw the water we can use the same later)

Step 2: Mix the flour, corn flour, chili powder, pepper powder, 1 tsp of ginger garlic crushed, soy sauce (just a few drops) and salt.

Step 3: Coat this batter on the Baby corns and deep dry the same. Keep it aside.

Step 4: Remove as much oil as possible (leaving maybe arnd 1tbsp…add a little more later if required) and in the same pan add the sliced onion n’ the remaining 1tsp crushed ginger garlic. Let it cook for a while until the onion turns pink….

Step 5: Once the onion is cooked to your satisfaction, add all the sauces to this (soy, oyster, chili and tomato ketchup) again….let is cook for a while….

Step 6: Add the taste maker to the above once the same is cooked. As all the above (sauces n’ tastemaker) is a little salty, take care while adding more salt to this. Add the spring onion slices now (so that it doesn’t get overcooked)

Step 7: Add the water that we had kept aside from boiling the baby corn (not too much just enough for a light gravy). Add the fried baby corns to this….and stirring/folding it occasionally let it be on the fire for atleast 5-10 more mins…(so that the baby corn get the flavor of the gravy) and its ready to serve…

I think it will be best served with fried rice or plain rice.

Healthy Maggie Noodles & Chili Mushroom with a Dash of Honey

Yup, i have the nerve to call this Maggie Noodle dish a healthy recipe. ;)... I never use their taste maker and avoid using ajinomoto in my cooking....Also, i just love chinese food or should i say 'the indian version' of the chinese food...:)

Anyways, i do use chinese noodles once in a while or even rice noodles and follow the same recipe. But this time i decided to use this favoured brand. Just before we left india Nestle had launched a Shahi Puloa flavoured Maggie and i used to just love it....i can't find it anywhere in Bahrain. Anyways getting back....i like to make this recipe without beef or chicken strips but i guess one can add it if you want. So here we go...

VEG NOODLES

Ingredients

Noodles : 2 or 3 packets
Water: more than the instructions given
Oil: 1 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp

Spring Onion: 1 stem
Red Capsicum: 1 (cut long)
Green Capsicum: 1 (cut long)
Onion: 1 (juliened)
Garlic: 2-3nos (chopped)Green Chili- 2nos
Oyster Sauce- 1tsp
Soya Sauce- 1tsp
Schezwan Sauce- 1/2tsp (optional)
Oil
Salt
(Adding Carrots, Beans and Sprouts is optional)

Method
Step 1: Boil water, as soon as it’s boiled, add oil and salt and to this. Add the dry noodles. Turn off the fire and check the noodles to see if its cooked. As soon as its soft strain it and keep it aside. (this will ensure that we don't end up with lumps!)

Step 2: Heat the oil and add the chopped garlic and the spring onion. This is will change the aroma of the oil and will smell really nice.

Step 3: Add the onion and green chili to this.

Step 4: As soon as the onion is cooked, add the red and green capsicum to this (any other veggies or meat pieces if you are using can be added at this stage). You might need to change the proportion of oil according to the amount of extras used.

Step 5: Add all the sauces to this. Ensure it’s not cooked till the veggies soften too much. It's best if it’s still a little crunchy. Add more salt if required, keeping in mind that the noodles already has salt.

Step 6: Add the cooked noodles to this, toss it to mix it well.

Even though it has enough sauces i don't like eating it without any curry ;)...so here's my simple and easy Chili Mushroom...

I have always disliked adding batter (as is a practice in some chinese dishes) to the mushroom before using them and i never do it....

CHILI MUSHROOM

Ingredients
Mushrooms- 2pkts (250 gms each)- chopped
Ginger- 1/2 inch piece (finely chopped)
Garlic- 3nos (finely chopped)
Dry Red Chili- 3-4nos (chopped)
Onion- 1 (chopped)
Soya Sauce- 1 tsp
Oyster Sauce- 1 tsp
Schezwan Sauce- 1/2 tsp
Tomato Ketchup- 1 1/2 tsp (adding this will give good color and helps if the dish has turned out to be too spicy)
Fresh Black Pepper- Ground- 1/2 tsp
Salt- as per taste
Oil or Butter- 1tbsp
Honey- 1 tbsp

Method
Step 1: Heat oil/butter in a wok and add chopped garlic ginger and red chili.

Step 2: Add chopped onion. Fry till lightly brown.

Step 3: Add all the sauces and salt except the tomato ketchup.

Step 4: Add chopped mushrooms. Let it cook a while as the moisture from the mushroom will create a light gravy while it cooks.

Step 5: Let the mushrooms soften and keep tasting to check how spicy it is before adding the pepper powder. Add as required.

Step 6: Add the tomato ketchup to this. By now it should have a thick gravy. Drizzle the honey on top and its ready.

At the end of all this last night i was feeling so good...i mixed up some fresh apricots, fresh cherries, Cream and Chocolate cake and made something...yet to decide what i should call it...;)