Chicken pot pie

Ingredients (Serves 2-3 people)
1/2 cup of butter
3 drumsticks of chicken (along with the skin)
1 small finely chopped red onion
1 cup of potatoes cut in cubes
2 pods of finely chopped garlic
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 cup of finely chopped brocolli
2 cups of chicken broth
2 layers of uncooked Pie crusts
Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Heat a pan with butter. Add chopped onion and garlic in the pan. Add the remaining veggies and saute until the onions have turned golden brown.

Step 2: Add the chicken drumsticks and let it cook in 2 cups of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of milk for 30-35 minutes.

Step 3: Add salt and pepper to suit your taste. Separate the bones and the chicken skin from the chicken meat if there are any.

Step 4: Set the pie crust on a round pan. Pour the prepared mixture.

Step 5: Add the second pie crust on top. Make a few slits of the crust to let the steam out.

Step 6: Bake it for about 40 minutes until the crust has turned brown. Serve hot.

All Indian flavors

Rasika
633 D Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Rasika is one of the finest Indian dining restaurants in Washington DC. Its dishes feature a subtle blend of Indian spices to ensure they appeal to both western and Indian palates.  

Fish in a banana leaf at Rasika

The dishes are characterized by exotic fusions of Indian and western flavors. For appetizers, we tried the kathi roll (a roll stuffed with goat meat) and patra ni macchi (fish cooked in a banana leaf with a side of potato cooked with cumin). Entrees included duck gucchi korma (duck cooked in a mild green curry) and lobster peri-peri (lobster with a vinegar-based red sauce on a bed on quinoa). We capped our meal with a chocolate and coffee bonet for dessert. 

Each dish was sumptuous and flavorful. The portions were just adequate. 

Lobster Peri-peri at Rasika

In terms of price, Rasika is comparable with most fine-dining restaurants. You can expect to spend between $100-150 for a dinner of two with drinks (including tip). However,  there is also a pre-fixed tasting menu that likely offers similar variety for prices similar to the ala carte menu.

Jewel of India, 
10151 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD, 20903. 

Located just outside the capital beltway, Jewel of India offered a very authentic yet diverse  menu of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes in their weekend buffet for around $15 per person. Their multi-ethnic clientele was a testimony to the widespread appeal of the buffet selection, which included Indo-chinese dishes. 

 I would give a 4.5 out of 5 stars to their goat biryani, chicken curry, fish chilli and chicken manchurian. 

The ambience was spacious but cozy, while the staff provided excellent service. Specifically, our glasses were never empty, which, given the spicy nature of the food, is critical to ensuring an enjoyable dining experience for many customers. 

My friend Debasree contributed to this post. 

Chicken soup

Ingredients (Serves 1-2 people)
1 pound chicken
3 tablespoons of butter
Finely chopped 1/2 onion
1 pound of split chicken breast and skin (cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup of chopped carrots
2 small red potatoes cut into cubes
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon of crushed ginger
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cube of chicken bouilon
2 cups of water
2 finely chopped thai chili peppers (green chillies)
1 cup of milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian parsley, oregano to taste
Stalks of brocolli ground into a thin paste (You can use chopped cauliflower instead)- Optional

Step 1: Heat a large pan. Once hot, add butter, garlic, ginger, chillies and chopped onions.

Step 2: Grind the brocolli stalks (with some chicken stock) and add them into the pan.

Step 3: Add the remaining vegetables, along with a cup of water and a cup of chicken stock.

 

 Step 4: Add the chicken and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Add one cube of chicken bouilon. 

Step 5: Let the soup simmer until the chicken falls off the bones. Add the remaining chicken stock and milk. Add salt, pepper, and the remaining herbs to your taste.

Step 6: Separate the bones after the soup thickens a bit. You can also get rid of the chicken skin if you would like.

Step 7: Enjoy the soup with some bread.

My restaurant week update

Rainbow trout

Bastille is a small fine-dining French restaurant in Alexandria. I took the opportunity provided by the Restaurant week to try their fixed menu and was very pleased.

Unlike most French fine dining restaurants that are usually over-rated and over-priced I thought Bastille offered some great food for the price. The portion sizes were just large enough to satisfy.

We tried their rainbow trout, duck, a pork belly salad, and fried cod. We would definitely recommend the pork belly salad and rainbow trout. Dessert consisted of creme brulee and a chocolate truffle cake. You can't go wrong with either! 

Eggplant Parmesan

Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients  
Olive oil
1 large eggplant (brinjal)
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup mozarella cheese
Finely chopped basil (I used cilantro)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of dried basil, 
1 teaspoon of oregano 
1 teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)

Ingredients for the sauce

1/4 finely diced onion

2 chopped tomatoes

6 small carrots

5 pods of finely chopped garlic

1 bay leaf
1 cup of water

2-3 finely chopped black olives (Optional)

1/2 cup of finely grated mushrooms (Optional)
1 cup chicken stock (Optional)

Step 1: Chop the eggplants into thin rectangular pieces, sprinkle them with some salt and pepper. Let them bake on a sheet greased with olive oil for about 25 minutes until they are soft. Keep them aside. Alternately, you could fry them lightly in olive oil.

Tomato sauce

Step 2: If you are making your own sauce, saute garlic and finely chopped onions in olive oil. Add the tomatoes, carrots, bay leaf and let it boil in some water and/or chicken stock. Add some black olives and finely chopped mushrooms, if you have any.  Add parsley, oregano and let it cook for about 1-1.5 hour until it reduces to a thin sauce.

Layers of cheese, sauce and eggplant

Step 3: The next step is to layer the prepared sauce, eggplant, mozarella and parmesan cheese, along with some cilantro or basil into a 9" baking pan.

Step 4: Let it bake for about 30 minutes until the cheese completely melts.

Step 5: You can have it by itself or with some bread and white wine!

Ready to eat

Chicken Lollypop

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

My leftovers from Momos Nepalese Food included fried chicken. I decided to put them to good use by making chicken lollypop.


Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 fried chicken legs
1 small red onion
4 pods of garlic
2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 Tablespoon cilantro chutney
1 tablespoon tamarind chutney
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of chilli and coriander powders
Chopped cilantro

Step 1: Finely chop the red onion and garlic.

Step 2: Saute them in olive oil (or any oil of your choice).

Step 3: Add the tomato ketchup, green and tamarind chutney, soya sauce, fish sauce, coriander and chill powder, salt and pepper. Add the cilantro. Saute it until it has reduced to a fine mixture.

Step 4: Add the chicken legs and let them simmer in the prepared mixture for about 10 minutes.

Small Countries, Big Flavor

Kottu Roti and Fish Curry

Shakthi, South Asian Cuisine
3807 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA, 22301

This newly opened restaurant in Northern Virginia is one of the only places in the DC region that offers Sri Lankan cuisine. Their menu also includes Indian and Thai dishes.

My last experience with Sri Lankan cuisine was at Sigiri in New York city. Shakthi did not have everything Sigiri offered. The ommission of the Dutch influenced Chicken Lamprais was especially disappointing, though I was told it would be added to the menu at a later date.

On a positive note, I did have the chance to try chicken Kottu Roti, a popular Sri-Lankan street dish, for the first time. It is cooked with chopped roti made of white flour and stir-fried with veggies and chicken.

Their fish curry was a bit watery but was otherwise decent. However, I did not think salmon was the right choice of fish for a South Asian curry. The rolls stuffed with goat meat and potato that we tried as an appetizer were better. They were moderately spicy and went well with the chutney.

Fried chicken momos with chutney

Momos Nepalese Food,
6304 Springfield Plaza
Springfield, VA 22150

If you are in mood to try some "momos" (spicy dumplings), Momos Nepalese Food is a good place to visit. This is a small-take out establishment in a strip-mall in Springfield. It is reasonable-priced. Their menu includes fried/steamed vegetable and chicken momos served with a delicious tomato-based chutney. I also enjoyed their goat curry and butter chicken. Definitiely worth the trip, despite the inconvenient location.