Nepali Style Spicy Chili Chicken

January 12, 2017February 14, 2017Leave a comment

Yummy and simple dinner idea! Chili chicken is so simple and so yum. It takes about 30 minutes to prep and cook. Quick and easy. Everything in life should be like this, stress free. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 chicken breast, boneless
1/2 red onion
1 green pepper
2 tomatoes
3-4 dried red peppers
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon of paprika powder
1 tablespoon garam masala powder
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon of mustard seeds, fennel seed, and fenugreek seed
4 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste
1 tablespoon of Salt to taste (or as needed)
4 tablespoon of soy sauce
About 4 tablespoons of oil to fry (of your choice)

Preparation time: 30-45 minutes

Serves: 6 people

Step 1: Chop the vegetables into small cubes and set them aside for later.

Step 2: Cut the chicken into small cubes (about 1 inch)

Step 3: In a bowl, add the cut chicken. Marinate the chicken with 4 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of salt, paprika powder, garam masala powder, and turmeric powder. Put it aside till later as well.

Step 4: Now you are ready to cook. In a wok or a large frying pan, add your desired amount of oil to fly the chicken. Add 1 tablespoon full of mustard seed, fennel seed, fenugreek seed, as well as another tablespoon of cumin seed. Then add the dried red chili peppers.

Step 5: Once the peppers and the seeds look brown, add the marinated chicken. Fry the chicken till it is also crispy and golden. It will take about 10-15 minutes.

Step 6: Add a tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste, 4 tablespoon of soy sauce and chili powder as needed. Mix it all well and let it fry till it is golden in color.

Step 7: Finally, add all the vegetables into pan. Mix it all well. The tomatoes will melt and create a little bit of curry. If you want it dry, keep frying for another 10 minutes. The chili chicken is ready to be served over rice. Enjoy!

*Garam masala is a blend ground Indian spices, usually has cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, coriander seed, cumin seed, and many more. You can buy this product in an Indian stores.

Please do check out my quick video on making chili chicken.

Planting, potting, blogging..

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016Leave a comment

Taking advantage of living in the Southern States means gardening is okay in winter. Harvesting your own produce means having fresh vegetables and herbs right in your
backyard, without worrying about what pesticides was used on it or how it was
transported, saving you money and time. Seriously.

You can use seeds or replant the vegetable or herbs that you can buy from a nursery. It’s really up to you. I am a beginner in gardening; so seeding is something I will wait till my mom visits us. I usually just use rosemary, thyme, cilantro and mint in my dishes, so I repotted those herbs. My husband loves spicy peppers, so I made a separate pot of chili peppers for him. I think it will take the peppers few more months before we can taste it. The herbs will be ready to use in just a week. I just need to make the roots feel “at home.” It will take little maintenance and I can clip off the leaves as needed. Wonderfulness growing in my patio!! This is exciting!

Please do check out my short video of my son and I potting!

Herbs:

-Rosemary

-Cilantro

-Thyme

-Mint

*Chili peppers

Average Costs:

Herbs: $25

Pots: $14

Miracle Grow soil: $8

Total Cost: $47 (one time cost)= long term saving and time!!

Strawberries Going Bad?

October 28, 2016November 29, 2016Leave a comment

It’s only been a week, and the strawberries are getting gushy and bad!! No worries. Wash them, take off their tips, and finally ziplock them to go into eternal freeze mode in the freezer!!

Next time you want to make strawberry smoothie or milkshake; the strawberries are right inside the freezer. I recommend using the strawberries within the next month. This process can be done with most fruits and berries!! Saves you time and $$$!! Enjoy!

Dessert: Rabri

October 21, 2016October 28, 2016Leave a comment

Rabri or Rabdi, is a sweet milk dessert most famous in Uttar Pradesh in India or Nepalgunj in Nepal. This dessert is mostly made during festivity and/or celebrations. It is one of my favorite desserts, and thankfully it is very simple to make. It has the right amount of sweetness and creamy texture that just melts in your mouth. Adding nuts to Rabri brings out even more of the taste. I usually don’t use nuts, because of allergies.

Ingredients:

6 cups of milk

3 tablespoon of sugar

8-10 pieces of cardamom

Preparation time: 1.5 hours

Serves: 4 people

Step 1: Shell and grind the cardamom then put them aside till the end.

Step 2: In low heat, pour all the milk into a large pot. Stir for about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Watch carefully, as you do not want the milk to boil out of the pot. Turn the heat to medium. Carefully separate the top layer of the milk and put it aside, either on the same pot or onto a different bowl.

Step 4: The milk should decrease to ¼ of its amount. At this point, add the cardamom and 3 teaspoon of sugar into the boiling milk. Mix them carefully. Do not try to break the layers too much.

Step 5: Pour it all into a bowl. Let it cool off in room temperature for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate for an hour.

Step 6: If desired, add cashews or pistachios to garnish the dish. Serve and enjoy!

Please do check out a quick picture video on making Rabri!!

A cup of tea

August 23, 2016August 25, 2016Leave a comment

A cup of tea.. relax.. it looks like it will be just fine…

My Nepali Style Chai Tea:

Tea, it’s a simple way to bring people together. In Nepal, tea is served at all times, in any occasion, literally, any of time of day. Tea truly is a source of hospitality and conversation.

Everyone has their own style, which is okay. Some like it with a lot of masalas (spices), some don’t. Some make a large batch of just the black tea with masalas and just add milk as needed. I prefer it to make it fresh each time. It only take about 10 minutes to make the hot and savory Nepalese chai tea.

Chai (serves 3-4 people)

2 cups of milk

1 cup of water

2 tablespoon of brown sugar (add as needed)

1 tablespoon of freshly, chopped ginger

2 teaspoon of black pepper

4-6 pieces of cardamom and cloves (slightly crushed)

½ piece of a cinnamon stick

2 table spoon of black tea (If you cannot find Assam loose tea—Tetley tea bags are fine)

Step 1: In a medium size pot, pour all of the milk and water. The stove should be in medium to low heat.

Step 2: Be cautious, as milk heats up quickly. Allow the liquids to boil and then add the sugar. Stir occasionally.

Step 3: Add the tea, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, and the cinnamon stick. These are essentially called the tea masalas.

Step 4: Once all the masalas are added, the liquid should stop boiling. Within 5 minutes, once it starts boiling again, turn off the stove and let the tea sit for few minutes.

Step 5: Strain into the cups, serve, and enjoy!