Homemade Fried Chicken inspired by KFC

I never really wrote for myself. Though i loved writing prose from as long as i can remember. Writing a good piece made me happy, but it was never enough. I needed the high from someone else telling me how good it was. And so i never wrote without an audience in mind. Now i sit in front of the computer to update my blog and find that i have lost my audience. (understandably of course, because who waits a year and more to find out what you are up to and what eats interest you) And i realize it really is time for me to write for myself. To get lost in my words, so that they may make me happier than what i am. To find paths through my mind that will excite me, as i walk the same old roads everyday in the physical world. To accept that it's alright to not always have to be proclaimed as the best, just to be the best within your unchangeable circumstances without giving in to despair. I need to put these into written words to believe them, to read again when that despair starts to creep up.

Multi colour pasta in alfredo sauce

I stopped making pizza at home for almost a month now. Not because i was bored, but because the man in the house thought i was making pizza too healthy and the flavour was supposedly turning Indian instead of Italian. (In his defence, for my latest attempt i had replaced half the all purpose flour for the pizza base with whole wheat flour and added an extra teaspoon of ragi flour. I loved the crust that day.) Now shouldn't he have been thanking me for taking care of his cholesterol. Instead he said "Look, why don't we just eat out whenever we feel the craving for pizza". Needless to say i was shocked and mad. Because, he is the health nut in our relationship, but turns out he wants his pizza in the most unhealthy way. Most friends i have talked to preferred pizza making at home so they could control the amount of cheese they put into it. My man prefers (or used to prefer) home-made pizza for the exact same reason, only he wants more cheese than a double cheese pizza at Pizza Hut. What do i do? Simply switch to my other Italian favourite - Pasta.

Cauliflower Tomato Rice

Its been so hot in Hyderabad the last few days with the day temperatures hovering around 33 degrees centigrade. Hyderabadi winter was supposed to cool, cold even and if not until February, at least until the middle of January. Sure, its ideal weather for my home made ice cream to be gobbled up, but please believe me i was not praying for hot weather just to enjoy my ice cream. And now because i am wondering if the weather Gods are changing the temperatures to suit my cooking, I am going for a spicy hot Cauliflower rice.

I love rice. A good fried once remarked that it was my favourite not just among food items, but my most favourite thing in the world. So much did i love it, that he was considering gifting me a big bag of rice as a birthday gift. No, i ended up with a cake that year, but it wasn't out of consideration if you must know. 

Grilled Red Snapper Fillet

This dish was from a little while ago, late august if you must know. I immediately wrote up the ingredients in a draft blog post, because i was cooking many new things around that time and lest i gave you the wrong recipe a couple of days later. But for many reasons, i did not go back to it the expected couple of days later. 
I hesitated in posting this because the pictures were not what called to you. The fish tasted delicious, no problem there. We cleaned up the whole thing in less than 10 minutes, with the picky husband accepting the larger share. But i wasn't sure anyone would be tempted by the pics i had clicked. Actually i was sure many would decide my blog didn't merit another visit. I didn't want to risk that. But then i also did not want to leave it in drafts forever, such a delicious thing had to see light, especially if it has been patiently waiting for me for this long. So i came up with a compromise,

Chicken Burger with minced chicken

I have been a lover of junk food, for as long as I can remember. When instant noodles first came into the market, I had to pester my parents to buy me some. I loved the street side samosas and mirchi bajji in my hometown so much that when I came home from my college hostel during my engineering days, dad would oblige me by bringing these street snacks on his way home from office. And on such days, I would be allowed to have my fill of such deep fried ‘nothing good for you in it’ junk food to the extent of skipping home-made dinner. I haven’t changed.

Indian Chicken curry

When I call this Indian chicken curry, i mean it as opposed to Caribbean or African or Thai etc, because we now know that there is curry in so many different parts of the world. I refrain from giving a region specific name within India, like calling it Andhra Chicken curry, because i am not cooking this from any recipe and would be reluctant to pass it off as an authentic local item just because i hail from there. This rather is the curry i spoke about here, the one i learnt from my husband and the only variety of chicken curry he seems to prefer.

Tandoori spiced chicken legs

My go-to chocolate cake is in the oven as i begin to write this. I needed to do some baking so i could coax myself back to cooking. Back from the short holiday, i have become a reluctant cook. Suddenly i want to be served hot food without having to cook it. Not that i had to start cooking as soon as we came back. I wasn't even asked to cook the day we returned. We went out for lunch and the husband generously bought me my favourite biryani even though it wasn't his favourite. Or maybe it was (t)his pampering that turned me into the reluctant cook. To see how much more pampering i could get away with! Didn't have to wait long to find out. I had to cook lunch yesterday and today but we have plans for Sunday. (We finally booked our tickets to watch the Harry Potter finale in 3D on the largest screen in Hyderabad. I can't wait!) So to get me through the rest of today and tomorrow, i am baking. Somehow baking has always felt like fun. Unlike cooking that can sometimes be a chore, especially when cooking the same curries for lunch repeatedly week after week. And it is not the repetition that i am complaining about, because i can bake the same chocolate cake every week and not get tired of it. Any thoughts on why that is?

I was digressing. Anyway, about the whole reluctant cook thing, last night the husband surprisingly understood my predicament and said he would cook the tandoori chicken legs by himself for dinner, the chef didn't even want a helper. And i think for the first time in two years, i accepted the leave granted and sat in the living room watching the new season of Masterchef Australia.

Since i didn't go into the kitchen, i don't have clicks of the husband's masterpiece from last night, though he repeatedly told me what delicious juicy chicken he had prepared. The pictures you see here are from a few weeks ago. And i was so hungry at that time, i could not bring myself to get an extra clean plate for the final pic. Excuse the laziness, please.

Lemon and Herb Grilled Chicken Breasts

Chicken happens to be our favourite non vegetarian item. Lamb, fish, shrimp and squid are only occasional boredom busters. Most Indians i know (at least those living in India) only cook chicken into different curries to be eaten as a side dish with rice or rotis. Almost never as the main dish to be eaten with a side salad or vegetables. I was like that too until a year ago. But because we like chicken so much, we are always looking for new ways to cook it. Our current favourite is the soy grilled variety, that's how most of the chicken breasts that gets into our fridge finally end up on the table these days.

One day i was watching the food programme Gourmet Central on ndtv goodtimes channel where the chef Vicky Ratnani made a herb marinade. All i remembered about it later was that it was green, and had coriander, mint and lemon it. Then i made up my version in a week to experiment on chicken. And you get to see my recipe here. Oh, i forgot to tell you that i really enjoyed the chicken, although if i have to be honest, soy grilled might still be the favourite.

Chicken fajita with grilled bell peppers

I had lived outside India in the developed countries of the world for more than two years during those single and carefree days and probably cooked chicken 5 times or even less. And once married i found out that my husband cooked chicken 500 times or something - more often than any other food cooked during his bachelor years in America. This meant that he considered himself a better cook than me - definitely for cooking his favourite chicken curry - and insisted on teaching me. 

The shy bride and ever humble student that i was, i meekly complied. What this means today is that i have totally unlearnt my way of cooking chicken curry (i faintly remember there used to be a yogurt based marinade) and have learned his way (with no diary based products in any cooking. But, of course we eat cheese. Who doesn't eat cheese!?). By the time i had mastered 'his chicken curry', - and was going to get all smug about it - he had come up with suggestions for experimenting with more chicken recipes - different kinds of marinades, and different cuts of chicken and the types of veggies that go well with chicken. This turned out to be one of those successful dinner ideas.

As promised in my previous post, here's another chicken dish that is now a regular in my home. We have it once a week or definitely once within a fortnight. Give it a try with your own variations and find out what works for you.