Chicken Mince Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Sometimes I am not sure how to feel about the lockdown. Back in March of last year when DD came home and had to miss her graduation, we walked around as if on egg shells fearing if we will trigger something that is going make her feel bad. Talking philosophy and saying that she is probably better off than a lot of other people did not really help.

Time is a good healer, that phase of her life passed. We are the lucky winners of having her around for longer because of these unusual circumstances. DH with his running group experimenting new cuisines, DD with her new found need to learn cooking before she sets off into the world by herself has made mealtimes interesting. She enjoys baking, not just cakes and cookies but also meals. This stuffed poblano was one such effort.

Cooking like everything else has its own set of unique rewards. It is a creative process that gets you more and more involved in it, the more involved you get in it, the more you want to try new things to please yours and your family's taste buds.

This recipe was made earlier in the fall when there was fresh Poblano peppers. Here is my pitch for trying to eat local and patronize your local farmer :) What covid has exposed is that even in the richest country in the world there are people who cannot feed their kids and are going to bed hungry. The other problem simmering underneath but has now been exposed is the lack of access to local food systems.

Whichever corner of the world you are in, be aware of the local farmers, support them and eat locally. The further we get away from our local food systems the further we risk our health and well being. When health is lost no amount of wealth is worth it! If all of this is not reason enough for fresh vegetables, just the taste should convince you :)

Recipe in pictures,

Bake the cleaned Poblano peppers for about 5 minutes.
Prepare the chicken.
Prepare the sauce and bake the chicken stuffed peppers for another 5-6 minutes.

A fantastic light meal that is ready in just a few steps. If you do not have Poblano peppers feel free to use Bell Peppers.

Chicken Mince Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 10-15 Poblano Peppers
2. 1 lb chicken mince
3. 3-4 green chilies finely chopped
4. 2-3 garlic cloves or 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder
5. 2 tsp ginger powder or 1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
6. 1 cup of finely chopped onion
7. Salt to taste
8. 2 tsp of oil
9. 1 1/2 cups of grated pepper jack cheese.
For the Sauce
10. 1/4 cup of onions
11. 1 garlic clove minced
12. 2 tsp of red chili powder
13. salt to taste
14. 1 tsp of oil
15. 1 cup of chopped tomatoes.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. While the oven is preheating finish cooking the chicken and cleaning the poblanos.
2. In a wide mouthed pan or cast iron pan, heat oil, when hot add in the onions and chopped green chilies. Saute till they are translucent.
3. Add in the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.
4. Add in the minced chicen chicken, add salt and cook for about 8-10 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Set aside.
5. Slit the Poblano peppers ut keep the stems intact. Remove the seeds insides with a spoon. Wash and dry completely.
6. Take a cookie shet and line with parchment paper. Spray the pobalnos with oil and let them bake in a pre heated oven for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
7. Now take each poblano and stuff 2 tbsp of the chicken into the pepper. Top it with a tbsp or so of the grated cheese. Arrange them on the cookie sheets with space between each pepper.
8. Bake for another 5-8 minutes till the cheese melts.
For the Sauce
9. In a sauce pan, heat oil, when hot saute the onions and minced garlic and when start to turn brown, add in the tomatoes, salt and red chili powder.
10. Cook till the tomatoes have reduced to a saucy consistency.

Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Bananas Foster - A quick and tasty treat

I finally got out of WhatsApp for good. The hullabaloo sorrounding the terms and conditions finally made me pull the plug. What I wasn't expecting is the WhatsApp withdrawl that I had for a couple of days and then came the relief. WhatsApp had intertwined itself into my life. I can safely claim other than giving a nice and easy way to call folks back home, it wasn't all that useful. I have experienced all kinds of emotions while looking at the forwards mostly. New content is rarely created on the platform anyway. Laughter, anger, sadness and helplessness at the drivel that gets passed off as stuff people should read. Anyway it is in the past. I signed on to Signal for communicating with just a couple of groups that I need to keep my sanity.

Once I got rid of WhatsApp I started making phone calls which is a far better way of communicating and keeping in touch. Not the piecemeal communication that is the hallmark of texting.

Now on to the recipe,
We always have bananas at home and genrally at any point of time a few are over ripe. I normally freeze them and use them for making banana bread, or they are good in smoothies as well if you can tolerate the brown color. Compared to doing all of that, this recipe is by far the quickest, easiet and tastiest. All you need is a couple of over ripened bananas. It can be used as a topping for ice cream, pancakes or crepes. Who needs a recipe for banana, sugar and butter but the process of documenting it, is so much fun so had to write about it here.

Recipe in pictures,

Cut the bananas, and melt the butter in a wide mouthed pan.
When the butter melts, add the brown sugar and let it carmelize slightly.
Now place the bananas in the pan and cook on one side for 2 minutes and the other side for another 2 minute..

See it is just so much fun to make this :)

Bananas Foster
Preparation Time:5 minutes
Cooking Time:10 minutes
Ingredients

1. 3 - 4 bananas
2. 1/3 - 1/2 cup of brown sugar
3. 1 tbsp of butter
4. 1/4 tsp of vanilla essence(optional)

Method

1. Peel, trim the end and slice bananas vertically and then into halves.
2. In a wide mouthed pan, add the butter and let it melt.
3. Add in the brown sugar and let it mix and depending on the quality of brown sugar, the sugar should caramelize nicely in about 2-3 minutes.
4. Now add the bananas flat side first and let cook for 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

A sweet tasty treat is ready to be spooned on whatever you fancy. We had it with Vanilla ice cream.

Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Coimbatore to Srinagar - Ninth Stop - Pathankot - Punjabi Mutton Curry

This virtual journey continued to its ninth stop in Pathankot, Punjab. If the recipes look familiar to US Indian restaurant eaters, it is because most of the food available in most Indian restaurants is from this Indian state - Punjab. The restaurants always mix it up a bit but adding a lot of butter, cream and stuff which makes it a lot richer than the way most people cook on an every body basis.

This Punjabi mutton curry made just the perfect meal for a Sunday. Delectable and a nap is called for after enjoying it. Pretty easy to make. Depending on the quality of the goat meat, cook the goat before proceeding with the recipe. If the goat is delicate and cooks easily, proceed with precooking.
The recipe is based off of this recipe, link here.

Mutton pieces mixed with turmeric powder. Cooked curry.

Punjabi Mutton Curry
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:30 minutes
Ingredients

1. 2 lbs Mutton Curry (used rib meat cut into riblets)
2. 2 cups of chopped onion
3. 4 garlic cloves grated or chopped fine
4. 2 tbsp coriander powder
5. 2 inch piece of ginger grated
6. 1 cup of tomatoes chopped
7. 1/2 cup of yogurt
8. 2 tbsp corianader powder
9. 1/2 tbsp chili powder
Whole Spices
10. 1/2 tsp pepper corns
11. a small piece of cinnamon
12. few cloves
13. a couple of cardamoms
14. 1 tbsp oil
15. 1 tsp garam masala
16. salt to taste

Method

1. Take the mutton in a pressure and cook for 4-6 sounds. You can skip this step and cook the mutton on the stove top if you like or pressure after all the spices and onion have been sauteed.
2. In a pressure cooker heat oil and when hot add the spices followed by the onions. Let the onions get nice and brown.
3. Next add the grated ginger and garlic and saute till the raw smell is gone. Do this on low heat so as not to burn the ginger.
4. Now add in the coriander powder and chili powder and mix it well.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook till it is mushy and the oil separats from the mixture.
6. Add teh cooked mutton pieces into the masala mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes till it is well coated.
7. Reduce the heat whisk the yogurt to smooth and add to the mutton along with salt and cook for another 5-10 minutes. If you did not precook the mutton, you have to cook the mutton for 25 minutes or so for it to be well cooked.
8. Add the garam masala powder and coriande leaves and turn off the heat.

Serve with naan or rice. Tastes so good.

Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Spiced Radish Raita - Mullangi thayir pachadi

I didn't quite think I'd like radish but as I have already sang its praises in this Radish Masala Rice, I will go straight to the recipe.

Whenever I make some chapathi and a dry curry some members in the house hold would like something moist or liquidy, so I make raitas with beets or sauteed onions and tomatoes. So when I had these radishes it felt like the perfect way to try out this raita. It tastes good and would go well with rice as well. This is a very easy recipe. Here in pictures,

Shred the radish, prepare the coriander,green chilies, ginger, cumin paste. Season oil in a wide mouthed plan.
Add the radish to the seasoned oil, add cumin powder. Saute till radish is cooked.
Add the coriander,green chilies, ginger and cumin paste to the yogurt.
Add the whisked spiced yogurt and the cooked radish together.

Spiced Radish Raita
Preparation Time:15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cups of grated radish
2. 2 cups of yogurt
3. 1/2 cup of coriander leaves
4. 2-3 green chilies
5. 1/2 inch piece of ginger
6. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
7. salt to taste
8. 1/2 tsp of cumin powder
9. seasonings : cumin seeds, mustard seeds
10. 1 tsp oil

Method

1. Peel and grate the radish and set aside.
2. Take the coriander leaves, green chilies, ginger and cumin and blend to a paste with addition of a tsp of water.
3. In a wide mouthed pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds and cumin and let the mustard pop.
4. Add in the grated radish and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the cumin powder. (Radish does not have to be cooked all the way through, so cook as much or less as you want).
5. Take blended coriander paste with the yogurt, add salt and whisk together till smooth.
6. Add in the cooked radish and mix it well.

Serve as a side with any Indian bread or with rice. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!

Coimbatore - Srinaga - Eighth Stop - Bathinda- Amritsari Fish

If you want to know what this Coimbatore - Srinagar, is all about, start here. The group is still going strong with their walking/running routine. The complaint that most people have for lack of exercise and sometimes even cooking and eating proper foods is that there is no time. While this is partially true, having time or not having is mostly in our hands isn't? While it might look like there are a lot people whose jobs do not give them the flexibility to take time away from their desks, but with a little planning and will power I certainly think regular exercise and proper eating can fit into a schedule.

There are many benefits to exercising with a buddy or a group. There is a group to keep you motivated and you feel responsible for not letting the group down ensures that you get up and exercise daily. While social media and WhatsApp create a lot of social problems, there are definitely benefits when used for purposes like this.

What has worked for me is to get out to exercise very early in the morning. If I postpoe it, the rest of the day's activites take over and it is kind of hard to get motivated. So finding the right time is the first step.

In that journey, the next stop was Bathinda and the dish they chose to make was Amritsari Fish. Ingredients are very similar to making a bonda/bajji was my first thought. Personally I would have replaced besan with just 1/4 the quantity with corn flour to make it lighter. There was no deficiency in taste though, it was pretty delicious but slightly on the heavier side in the stomach.

We used monk fish but any firm fleshed fish will work. I avoid using Tilapia because it is not as flavorful and most of the time the fish is farmed in ways that don't feel right to me but choose the fish as per your preference.

The recipe is based off of this recipe.
/tr>

Mix the fish into the masala and get it well coated. Heat oil and start frying in batches.
Remove when golden brown and drain.

Amritsari Fish
Preparation Time:20 minutes
Cooking Time:20 minutes
Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 lbs Monk Fish
2. 1 cup besan (substitute wiht 1/4 corn starch for a lighter coating)
3. 1 tbsp red chili powder
4. 1/2 tsp ajwain (omam) powder
5. 2 tbsp of ginger & garlic paste
6. 1 lime/lemon
7. salt to taste
8. Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Cut the fish into bite sized pieces. Wash and
2. Mix together all the ingredients other than the oil, lemon juice and fish with a hand whisk.
3. Now squeeze the lime juice, break the egg, whisk it together, add the fish and let the pieces be coated.
4. Heat oil in a kadai/wok and add the fish, 3-4 at a time. Let it cook till it becomes golden brown.
5. Remove and drain in a colander. Line with paper towels if needed.

Serve with wedges of lime.

It is a fantastic appetizer. Or can be a side dish for a rice dish. Like what you are reading? Subscribe!