Beef Roast Sandwiches / Beef Chilly

I generally cook a lot of chicken. I am not too fond of beef or any other meat. But, one day this friend of mine taught me to make this delicious beef roast. I am not exaggerating, it is simply amazing. The best part of this recipe is that, you can make the beef roast and then have different variations of it. You can either make chilly beef out of the roast or beef roast sandwiches or simply have beef roast with some vegetables and mashed potatoes. So, just one simple recipe can help you prepare 3 days dinner. Isn't that so convenient?

So, here goes the recipe :

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 2-3 hours

Serves : 6 people

Ingredients:

for the Beef Roast:

11/2 lb beef eye of round

3 big onion chopped fine

3 big tomatoes chopped fine

2 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsp garlic paste

4-5 kashmiri whole red chillies

1 tbsp clvoes

5-6 cinnamon sticks

2 tbsp cane or rice vinegar (if you don't have this, even regular vinegar would do)

salt & pepper to taste

Oil

Method:

• First prick the eye of round with a fork on all sides. Then, apply salt all over the eye of round. Then, rub the ginger-garlic paste nicely on all sides. Finally rub the pepper and pour the vinegar on it and keep it aside for about 1/2 hour. (You could also marinate this the previous night and keep it in the refrigerator)
• Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. When the oil is hot, throw in the cloves and cinnamon sticks, whole red chillies and fry for a minute or two.
• Then, add the onions and fry till they turn translucent.
• Then, add the tomatoes and salt and fry for about 10 minutes.
• On top of this gravy, place the marinated beef and pour in 1/4 cup water and cover the cooker and wait for the pressure cooker to release 3 whistles.
• After the 3 whistles, lower the heat and without opening the cooker, let it cook on slow flame for about 25-30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, remove the meat from the gravy and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes.
• Increase the heat and thicken the gravy. This will take about 30 minutes to thicken the gravy.
• After the meat has rested, cut it into thin long strips and mix it with the gravy.
• Delicious beef roast is ready.

For Beef Chilly:

Ingredients:

2 big onions cut into thick round circles

2 big tomatoes cut into thick round circles

3-4 green chillies slit (depending on your spice intake)

1/2 fresh lemon squeezed to get juice.

Method:

• Place the cooked roasted beef with the gravy in a pan.
• On top of it, place the onions and tomatoes and the slit green chillies.
• Adjust the seasoning and pour in the lemon juice.
• On slow flame, keep mixing the onions & tomatoes into the beef till you see the tomatoes getting mushed and the onions turning slightly translucent.
• Remove from heat and serve it with some roasted potatoes or grilled vegetables

For Beef Roast Sandwiches:

Serves : 1

Ingredients:

1 hot dog bread

1 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp beef chilly

some shredded ice-berg lettuce

some shredded cheese (any cheese of your choice)

Method :

• Cut the hot dog bread into half and apply mayonnaise on both sides.
• On top of it, place about 3 tbsp of beef chilly
• Sprinkle with some shredded cheese of your choice and grill it in the oven for about 5 minutes till the cheese is melted.
• On top of the cheese, put some shredded ice-berg lettuce and serve immediately.

Chicken 65

I have lots of fond memories about this dish. Growing up, I remember my dad used to take us out for Company picnics and one of his colleague's wife used to make this dish and get it for us to have it our way in the train. She used to make this dish so well. I have been thinking of making this dish for a long time now but always thought that it would take a lot of effort and hence simply kept forgetting about it. But, once I visited a party here in Canada, and one of the guest had made this dish. She told me a very simple way of making it and curious that I am, I immediately wanted to try it out. So, I decided to start by making a small quantity for my family and it was an instant hit. From then on, I have made this dish for several parties and have received a lot of compliments for it.

Chicken 65 is a Hyderabadi dish. It is basically a dry dish which is prepared with lots of curry leaves and lemon juice.

Preparation Time : 30 minutes + Marination time

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

500 gms. boneless skinless Chicken breasts

3 green chillies finely cut

3 tbsp hot and sweet tomato ketchup

2 tbsp oil

For the marination:

3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

11/2 tsp salt

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

a few drops of orange food colour

For tempering:

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 dried red chillies

6-8 curry leaves

Method:

• Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients together.
• Coat the chicken with the marinade. There should be plenty of lemon juice to coat all the chicken pieces.
• Mix it well and cover and let this rest for about 4 hours or overnight in the fridge.
• Grease a baking tray with a little oil and transfer the chicken pieces to the baking dish. Put this in the oven at 400 degree F for about 15 minutes in the middle rack.
• Remove it and drain and discard all the fluid - keep only the semi cooked chicken aside.
• For the tempering, in a small frying pan, heat oil.
• When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.
• To this add 2 dried red chillies and fry for a minute.
• Turn the heat to low and add the curry leaves and cover the pan again.
• Allow the curry leaves to splutter.
• Once the leaves are well fried and almost dry, remove from the heat and keep the tempering aside.
• In a separate pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and the semi cooked chicken pieces to it. Shallow fry for about 5 minutes.
• When the chicken is almost done, add the finely cut green chillies to the pan and continue frying for about a minute or so.
• Now, add the ketchup to the pan directly over the chicken and allow it to coat all the pieces well.
• Add the tempering from the other pan to the main pan and mix it well
• Do not overcook the chicken.
• Serve hot either as an appetizer or with some vegetable pulao and raita.
  
  

Butter Chicken

Today, I was in mood to make a little exotic meal for my family. Hence, I decided to make lemon rice with butter chicken. This recipe is very simple and easy to make and very delicious. It tastes great with naan but I made lemon rice with it which also is a good combination.

Preparation Time : 30 minutes + 5 hrs marination
Serves : 4

Ingredients:

500 gms boneless chicken

for the marinade:
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yoghurt beaten well
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

for the gravy :

11/2 cup tomato puree
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp cashewnut powder
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi powder)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp butter
salt to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method :

• Clean and cut the chicken into medium pieces and keep aside.
• In a bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour it over the chicken pieces. Mix well and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 5 hours or overnight
• After 5 hours, bring the chicken to room temperature
• Put the chicken pieces (brushing off the excess marinade) on a baking tray and roast them in the oven @ 400 degree F for about 15 minutes till the chicken has got a burnt colour but not cooked thoroughly.
  
• In a pan, melt 2 tbsp butter. Add onions and fry nicely for about 5 minutes till the onions are translucent. Then, add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.
• To this add, the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and fry again for about 5 minutes.
• Then, add the tomato puree, the leftover marinade and bring the gravy to a boil.
• To this gravy, add the roasted chicken pieces and cook till the chicken is done.
• Then add the cashewnut powder, kasuri methi and mix well.
• Finally, add the cream and butter and give it a good stir
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with naan or lemon rice.
  

Grilled Chicken Breasts

As everyone was at home on Saturday, I didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking in the Kitchen. Hence, a day prior I marinated my chicken with some spices so that we could enjoy a quick and delicious meal on Saturday. I made mango salsa to go with the grilled chicken.

Preparation Time : 30 minutes + marination time

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

4 big Chicken breasts with bone

100 gms Yogurt

11/2 tbsp tandoori masala powder

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 green chilli chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

Chaat masala

1 tbsp butter

Method :

• First beat the yogurt nicely.
• To the yogurt, add the tandoori masala, chilli flakes, ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, lime juice and salt and mix well.
• Then apply this marinade to the chicken breasts nicely and keep it in the refrigerator overnight or for atleast 4-5 hours
• Heat some oil in a grill pan, and grill the chicken breasts on both sides on high heat till you see the charcoal marks on the breasts.
• Then take it out and smear some butter on it and grill them in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degree F.
• Remove from oven and squeeze 1 tbsp lime juice over it and sprinkle some chaat masala.
• Serve hot with mango salsa.

Chettinaad Chicken

Yesterday while browsing the net, I came across Sanjeev Kapoor's website and there I saw this recipe of "Chettinaad Chicken". I thought of giving it a try and modified it a little bit. The original recipe requires the chicken on the bone but I just had boneless chicken breasts and hence decided to go with it. I also altered the spice level a little bit as my daughter is not fond of spicy food. But overall, I must say the recipe turned out to be a success. I also made neer dosa to go with the chicken. So thanks to Sanjeevji :)

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 packet (750 gms) of boneless chicken breasts

5 tbsp oil

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

5 Whole dry red chilli

3/4 cup fresh coconut grated

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red kashmiri chilli powder

salt to taste

12 curry leaves

1 big onion chopped

1 inch piece ginger chopped

4-5 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbsp crushed pepper powder

2 tbsp lime juice

Method :

• Heat oil in a pan and roast coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry red chillies, coconut and fry till the coconut turns golden. Set aside to cool.
• Clean and cut the chicken in to cubes and marinate it with turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and 2 tbsp of oil and keep aside for about half an hour.
• In the meanwhile, grind the coconut mixture to a fine paste adding water as required.
• Heat the remaining oil in another pan. Add the remaining cumin seeds, curry leaves and onions and fry till the onions turn golden brown.
• Add garlic and ginger and fry for another minute or two.
• Add the ground masala and fry it nicely for about 5 minutes.
• Then add the chicken, crushed pepper powder and lime juice.
• Cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or till the chicken is done. If required add a little water so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Serve hot with neer dosa.

Beef Meatballs in a thick spicy gravy

This morning after a busy day at home, I decided to watch my favorite food network channel. I saw Jamie Oliver teaching people to cook spaghetti and meatballs and that gave me the idea for today's dinner :)

I didn't have spaghetti at home so decided to make this delicious spicy gravy with potatoes and beef meatballs. This recipe does not have a lot of gravy and is ideal to eat with rice, plain parathas or also as a sandwich.

So here goes the recipe...

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

for the meatballs:

1 pkt of ground beef

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 small egg, beaten

1 tsp of cornstarch

3 green chillies finely cut

1 tsp soy sauce

salt to taste

vegetable oil

for the gravy:

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 medium tomato finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 potatoes cut into quarters

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp patak's madras curry paste or any curry powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp of fresh coriander finely chopped

Method:

• Place all the ingredients for the meatball in a bowl and combine very lightly with a fork. Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have about 15 meatballs depending on the size.
• Take a frying pan with little oil and shallow fry the meatballs and keep aside
• Take a non-stick pan. Heat some oil. Add cumin seeds to it. When it crackles, add the onions and fry nicely. Then add the green chillies and the ginger garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes.
• Then add in the tomatoes and the tomato paste to it.
• To this mixture, add the patak's curry paste and fry nicely. Also add the chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste.
• To this, add the potatoes and some water and allow it to cook for about 10 minutes.
• Then add the fried meatballs and again cook for another 5 minutes.
• Then garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• You can serve this with pulao or plain parathas.

Note: If you don't have enough time to make the meatballs, you could also make this dish with readily available meatballs. I have tried preparing this dish with the Swedish meatballs available in the Walmart's frozen section and it turns out equally good.

Grilled Lamb Chops

The past few days we have been eating a lot of chicken. So, for a change today, I decided to cook lamb chops. I saw this recipe on television one day and found it so simple to make that I thought I definitely should give it a try. Believe me it is so delicious that it simply melts in the mouth. My husband is not a great fan of lamb, but he simply loved eating these chops and it gave me great pleasure to watch him enjoy his food.

I also made some nice mango and mixed bell pepper salad to go with the lamb and some tzaziki which is a greek yogurt and cucumber dip. So here goes the recipe...

Grilled Lamb Chops

Lamb chops marinated with dijon mustard and some herbs and grilled to perfection

Preparation Time : 2 hours

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serves : 3

Ingredients:

1 tbsp of minced garlic

3 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped finely

1/3 cup chopped coriander leaves (about 1/2 bunch)

2 tbsp dijon mustarn

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp pepper

6 lamb chops

1 lemon, squeezed for juice

salt to taste

Method :

• To prepare lamb combine garlic, rosemary, coriander, Dijon mustard, olive oil and pepper together in a medium mixing bowl and smear on chops. Cover and let marinate for at least 1-2 hours.
• Just before grilling, season the lamb chops generously with salt. Grill on high heat, 5 minutes on each side, including the fat side. Squeeze lemon juice over chops while cooking.
• Remove from heat and let it rest
• Serve with some pulao, salad and tzaziki.

Classic fettuccine with mixed vegetables and Chicken

We had planned to have some of Emily's friends sleepover on Sat, so when I was at the grocery store, I picked up two packets of fettuccine (flat pasta) and planned to serve the kids a pasta feast for dinner.

These kids seem to love pasta because they get to play with noodles. and by throwing in some vegetables, its an easy way to get them to have their fill of healthy nutrients.

Fettuccine pasta served with sautéed mixed exotic vegetables and stir-fried chicken breasts.

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

For the pasta:

1 pkt of fresh fettuccine pasta

3 litres of water

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of salt

For the sauce:

1/2 cup of good tomato based pasta sauce ( I used the classico brand)

1 cup of baby spinach

1 cup of broccolli flowers

1 cup of thinly sliced mushrooms

1 cup of sugar snow peas cut into half

1 cup of fresh bean sprouts

2 chicken breasts

1 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tbsp of butter

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method:

• Heat 3 litres of water in a pan. When it starts boiling, add the salt and the oil and then add the pasta to it. Stir continuously and cook for 5 minutes. Then quickly strain the water and add some olive oil to it in order to prevent it from sticking
• In the meantime, marinate the chicken breast with salt and pepper and keep aside for 10 minutes
• Fill another small pan with 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil. When it starts boiling, add the broccolli, snow peas and salt and allow it to cook for 5 minutes. Then strain the water and keep aside.
• Take a frying pan and shallow fry the marinated chicken breasts till they are no longer pink in the middle. Then cool them for a while and cut them into thin strips.
• Finally, take a wok, add some butter to it.
• Then add the mushrooms and fry them nicely for about 3 minutes. Then add in the boiled brocolli and snow peas and mix well. Then throw in some baby spinach and bean sprouts and keep cooking for 2 minutes
• Then add in the chicken strips, soy sauce, salt to taste and remove from the stove.
• Take a plate. Put some fettuccine pasta in the centre. On top of it, add some of the mixed vegetables and chicken. Then put 2 tbsp of pasta sauce on it. Garnish with some chicken strips.
• Delicious pasta is now ready to eat

Note: Once the pasta is cooked, strain the water from the pasta and then quickly pour some cold water over the pasta. This will prevent it from cooking further. Then strain the water again and quickly add oil to the pasta to prevent it from sticking to each other.

Busy Saturdays

The first weekend after the holidays always seems to be the busiest. This morning I had a long list of things to do and groceries to buy. When I finally made it to Price Chopper's it was already 1 o'clock and I was wondering what to do for lunch.

I saw tortilla bread and that gave me the idea of making crunchy tortilla wraps.

Crunchy Tortilla Wraps

A Mexican pita bread filled with lettuce, bean sprouts, and chicken mixed with mayonnaise.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Ready in : 5 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

4 Wheat Tortilla Wraps

1 Chicken breast

2 cups of shredded ice-berg lettuce

1/2 cup of fresh bean sprouts

20 raisins

2 tbsp of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of shredded monterey jack cheese (you can alternatively use any cheese of your choice)

1 green capsicum cut lengthwise

4 tbsp of hot salsa sauce (I used the taco hot salsa sauce)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 tsp oil

Method:

• Lightly oil a frying pan and warm each tortilla on either side for approximately 1 minute till slightly brown. The tortilla should not get too warm else it will be become crisp and you won't be able to wrap it.
• In the meantime marinate the chicken breast with salt and pepper and keep aside for 5 minutes
• Then take some oil in a pan and shallow fry the chicken. When done, allow it to rest for a while. Then cut it roughly in strips lenthwiise.
• Take a bowl, add the lettuce, raisins, chicken, capsicum and mayonnaise and mix well. Add salt to taste.
• Take a plate and place a tortilla on it. Take one spoon of the hot salsa sauce and spread it evenly on the tortilla. Fill about 2 tbsp of the chicken lettuce mixture on one edge of the tortilla. On top it add some fresh sprouted beans and grate some cheese over it.
• Roll it while folding in the ends.
• Cut in half along a diagnol