Prawns In Hot Garlic Sauce

Going out to have Chinese is something we do often, unless it can be created at home. Fried prawns cooked in hot garlic sauce is delightful in taste and will make a great side dish with Chinese fried rice, noodles or just plain steamed jasmine rice.

Ingredients

45 to 50 counts - Medium size prawns

Marinate prawns with

1 tbsp - Cornflour

1 - Egg, beaten well

Salt to taste

For the Sauce

20 to 25 flakes - Garlic, finely chopped

2'' pieces - Ginger, finely chopped

4 to 5 stalks - Spring onion

6 tbsp - Tomato ketchup

4 tsp - White vinegar

4 to 5 tsp - Red chili paste

1 tbsp - Soya sauce

1 tsp - Sugar

2 tbsp - Cornflour ( dissolved in little water )

Salt to taste

sesame or groundnut out

Method

1 ) To marinate the prawns - Mix cornflour, egg, salt to taste and mix well with the prawns. Marinate for 15 minutes.

2 ) Cut the spring onion - Separate the onion and greens. Chop the greens separately for final garnishing. And the onions, chop them and keep ready for the sauce. In a bowl, mix tomato ketchup, vinegar, chili paste, soya sauce, sugar and keep mixed sauce ready.

3 ) Heat a kadai/ wok, pour some oil for deep frying the prawns. Add the marinated prawns into the hot oil and cook on both sides in medium heat till prawns turns white in color. Once the prawns is cooked transfer to a plate draped with paper napkin to drain off excess oil. Fry all the marinated prawns this way.

4 ) To the remaining oil( add more oil if needed) add ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then add the onion and sauté till translucent. Then add the previously mixed sauces to the kadai and stir fry for a minute.

5 ) Now add the fried prawns and stir-fry for a minute. Then add salt to taste and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and cook for few seconds. Then add the dissolved cornflour in water to the kadai and stir fry for 15 seconds. Turn off the stove, garnish with green onion and serve hot.

Serve hot with chinese fried rice, noodle or steamed rice.

To make red chili paste -

Soak 6 whole dry kashmiri chili in little water for 1/2 hour. Then grind to a paste with little water in which the chili was soaked in.

Chili Mango

If you love sweet and sour dishes and also love to cook with ripe mangoes, then go for this Chinese sweet and sour dish, Chili Mango. It has the balanced sweet and sour taste, once the dish has cooled down a bit and the flavors have settled in. This will be a good side dish along with chinese fried rice or noodles. But then i just ate the chili mango and didn't need anything to go along with it. Try it and you might also like it.

Ingredients

2 big - Ripe & firm mangoes, cut to small pieces

1 medium size - Onion, chopped

1 - Capsicum, chopped

1 - Green chili, chopped

1 tsp - Finely grated ginger

1 tsp - Finely grated garlic

1/4 tsp - Red chili powder

3 tsp - Red chili sauce

3 tsp - Tomato sauce

3 tsp - Soya sauce

1.5 tsp - Vinegar

1.5 tsp - Cornflour

Garnishing

1 stalk - Greens of the spring onion, chopped finely

Method

1 ) Mix and combine the sauces - Red chili sauce, tomato sauce and soya sauce in a bowl. Then in another bowl mix and combine cornflour, vinegar and 2 to 3 tbsps of water.

2 ) Heat 2 to 3 tbsp butter in a pan, add onion and fry till it turns pink in color in medium heat. Then add ginger, garlic and green chili. Fry for a minute then add capsicum and fry till capsicum is fried lightly and still crisp.Add chili powder, lower the heat and then add the mixed sauces and stir in well with the ingredients in the pan. Then add the cornflour mixture, salt to taste, stir and mix well

3 ) Add mango pieces, mix well and cook on very low heat for a minute. Let the mango not get over cooked. Now when still hot i was not so keen on the taste, but when it cooled down a bit and flavors got balanced, it really tasted good. Serve into a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion.

Serve as a side dish with chinese fried rice or noodles.

Chicken Manchurian

I was so carried away by the beautiful blooms in my little garden, i was more focused on capturing the flowers in the frame rather than the chicken manchurian. Just love the picture to see the blooms. Coming to the recipe, a popular Indian chinese dish called chicken manchurian goes well with chinese fried rice. A manchurian implies, a sweet and salty brown sauce and you can read more about the origin of indian - chinese cuisine here.

Ingredients

1 kilo - Boneless chicken, cut into small pieces

1 - Egg white

1 tbsp - Cornflour

To marinate chicken

2 tsp - Red chili powder
1 tsp - Black pepper powder

2 tsp - Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

For Sauce

8 big flakes - Garlic, crushed & chopped finely

2 - Green chili, chopped

2 to 3 stalks - Spring onion, chopped

1/2 tbsp - Vinegar

1 cup Water

1 tbsp - Corn flour

1 tbsp - Soya sauce

1/2 tsp - Sugar

1/4 tsp - Pepper powder

Method

1 ) Marinate chicken pieces in ingredients listed for marination. Marinate for 3o minutes. Mix egg white and cornflour well. Add this mixture to chicken pieces and mix well.

2 ) Heat enough oil to deep fry. When the oil is hot, add chicken pieces in batches and fry till brown and done. Drain off the oil and set aside.

3 ) To make the sauce - Mix cornflour, vinegar, soya sauce, sugar, salt, pepper powder to one cup water and keep aside.Heat some oil in a pan , add garlic and green chilies and saute till garlic looses its raw smell, then set aside some spring onion for final garnish, rest add to the pan and saute for a minute. Then add the mixed ingredients in water to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Simmer and add the chicken piece to the sauce and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, closed with a lid. Once the sauce has thickened and coated the chicken pieces, take off the stove and serve garnished with some chopped spring onion.

Serve hot as a side dish with chinese fried rice.

Note - I have suggested boneless chicken pieces, but i have done with chicken with bones. Also to enhance the Chinese flavor, a pinch of MSG, know as ajinomoto can be added, which is optional.

Chilli Paneer

This is quiet a delightful dish with fried paneer, capsicum and mushrooms. Different color capsicum can be used to enhance the look. It's a dry stir fry dish, quick and easy to make.

Ingredients

14 oz /400 gm - Paneer, cut to small cubes
2 tbsp - Cornflour
8 oz /227 gm - Mushroom, washed and chopped
1 - Green Capsicum, sliced length wise
1 - Onion, sliced length wise
4 big flakes - Garlic, crushed
1 to 2 - Green chili,chopped
1/4 tsp - Black pepper powder
A dash of - Garam masala powder
2 to 3 drops - Vinegar
2 tsp - Tomato ketchup
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Sprinkle cornflour on the paneer pieces. Shake to coat on the paneer. This will help the paneer from sticking to pan when frying. In a skillet heat oil on low flame, add paneer and fry to a light golden color, little at a time. Take off the oil and drain.

2 ) In the same oil, add garlic and green chili, fry for a minute. Then add onion and stir fry lightly. Onion should be crunchy, add capsicum and stir fry for a minute.

3 ) Meanwhile, microwave mushrooms placed in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes. Take out and add to the skillet and stir fry.

4 ) Add black pepper powder, salt to taste, a dash of garam masala and mix in. Add vinegar and tomato ketchup and mix in. Add fried paneer and saute.


Serve as a side dish with fried rice or even chapati.

Note - If you have left over, then don't microwave. Place in oven and bake with some grated mozzarella cheese.

For a slight gravy dish - Add 2 tsp corn flour to 1/2 cup of water and dissolve it. To this add 1 tsp soya sauce and above said amount of vinegar and tomato ketchup. Mix well and after adding black pepper and salt step above, add this cornflour mix and stir to coat the paneer. Cook on a medium high heat till the sauce thickens and coats. Turn off the stove and serve.