The little fellow was taking too long to finish the last drawing he was making before leaving school today and I asked him to hurry. Later in the car, on the way back home, he says, "mamma, I'm tired of making mother's day presents for you. It's very hard work."
Thing is, their school celebrates Mother's Day on the International Women's Day i.e. 8th March. And they have some big plans for involving the mom's for the day and all the kids have been busy making cards and drawings and things for the last 10 days or so. I wasn't overly surprised when he said this 'coz I've been getting something scribbled on little pieces of paper everyday religiously for the last 10 days as a Mother's Day present; But I was definitely amused. :)
So I told him it was okay and that he can just give me a big hug for mother's day instead and he looked at me as if I'd lost my mind!
And then qualifies it by saying, "A hug is a hug, but a gift is something you wrap and give mamma, really!"
I couldn't help the chuckle that was out before I could stop it.
Kids, I tell you!
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Back to the food now. :)
My fondness and logic for combining Indian and Chinese flavours in my kitchen is well known by now. :) And here I give you another one of those attempts that turned out quite successfully.
Now mind you, I did start out with boiled chicken and used the broth I boiled the chicken in as my liquid for the sauce in this dish, but you can start with raw chicken and use ready-made or home-made chicken stock for this. Just make sure you cook the chicken well before adding the veggies.
The dish is juicy and crunchy all at the same time and goes really well with steamed rice on a cold day. Definitely our kind of comfort food!
Note: For a vegetarian version, try it with Tofu, Soya nuggets or Paneer in place of the Chicken!! Also, you may or may not want to use mushrooms to give this dish a slightly different twist.
Chinese Curry with Almonds and Chicken
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced into bits (or diced and uncooked)
1/3 cup almonds
6-7 garlic pods, minced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced into tiny bite-sized pieces
1 carrot, diced into tiny bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup green beans, chopped into same size as the other veggies
1-2 tbsp plain flour or cornflour
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp hot sauce (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp soya sauce
salt to taste
1 tbsp honey (optional)
Green onions for garnish (optional)
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
Heat the oil in a wok and add the stir fry garlic and almonds till aromatic.
Add the chicken and stir fry (till it loses its pink shade if you're starting with raw chicken)
Add diced bell peppers, carrots and green beans and stir fry some more.
Add soya sauce.
Make a mix of plain flour or cornflour, chicken broth, rice vinegar, curry powder and hot sauce and add it to the chicken and veggies.
Cook till the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened.
Add more chicken stock or water if you want more gravy in the dish.
Add honey if you like at this stage before turning off the heat. I used honey 'coz it turned out to be a little more spicy than what my toddler is used to. But it'll be equally good without the honey.
Garnish with green onions and serve over hot rice or noodle.
Thing is, their school celebrates Mother's Day on the International Women's Day i.e. 8th March. And they have some big plans for involving the mom's for the day and all the kids have been busy making cards and drawings and things for the last 10 days or so. I wasn't overly surprised when he said this 'coz I've been getting something scribbled on little pieces of paper everyday religiously for the last 10 days as a Mother's Day present; But I was definitely amused. :)
So I told him it was okay and that he can just give me a big hug for mother's day instead and he looked at me as if I'd lost my mind!
And then qualifies it by saying, "A hug is a hug, but a gift is something you wrap and give mamma, really!"
I couldn't help the chuckle that was out before I could stop it.
Kids, I tell you!
----------------------------------
Back to the food now. :)
My fondness and logic for combining Indian and Chinese flavours in my kitchen is well known by now. :) And here I give you another one of those attempts that turned out quite successfully.
Now mind you, I did start out with boiled chicken and used the broth I boiled the chicken in as my liquid for the sauce in this dish, but you can start with raw chicken and use ready-made or home-made chicken stock for this. Just make sure you cook the chicken well before adding the veggies.
The dish is juicy and crunchy all at the same time and goes really well with steamed rice on a cold day. Definitely our kind of comfort food!
Note: For a vegetarian version, try it with Tofu, Soya nuggets or Paneer in place of the Chicken!! Also, you may or may not want to use mushrooms to give this dish a slightly different twist.
Chinese Curry with Almonds and Chicken
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced into bits (or diced and uncooked)
1/3 cup almonds
6-7 garlic pods, minced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced into tiny bite-sized pieces
1 carrot, diced into tiny bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup green beans, chopped into same size as the other veggies
1-2 tbsp plain flour or cornflour
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp hot sauce (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp soya sauce
salt to taste
1 tbsp honey (optional)
Green onions for garnish (optional)
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
Heat the oil in a wok and add the stir fry garlic and almonds till aromatic.
Add the chicken and stir fry (till it loses its pink shade if you're starting with raw chicken)
Add diced bell peppers, carrots and green beans and stir fry some more.
Add soya sauce.
Make a mix of plain flour or cornflour, chicken broth, rice vinegar, curry powder and hot sauce and add it to the chicken and veggies.
Cook till the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened.
Add more chicken stock or water if you want more gravy in the dish.
Add honey if you like at this stage before turning off the heat. I used honey 'coz it turned out to be a little more spicy than what my toddler is used to. But it'll be equally good without the honey.
Garnish with green onions and serve over hot rice or noodle.
2 comments:
Finally you post!!
Recipe looks simple enough.. whats the cooking time? When do you add the sauces? And I dont have curry powder.. what are the contents?
It is a simple recipe. The actual cooking takes less than 30 mins. the cutting and chopping adds to the prep time though.
You can add the soya sauce with the chicken. mix the rest of the stuff in a separate bowl and add it once the chicken is half cooked and the veggies are still crisp.
use chicken masala if u dont have curry powder. works wonderfully well.
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