Roast Chicken - Indian style

Ingredients
5-6 large pieces of chicken
3 tablespoons of yoghurt
1 tablespoon chilli, turmeric and coriander powders
1 large red onion
4 tablespoons of ghee
2 bay leaves
4 cloves, pepper corns, cardomom pods
4 pods of garlic
4-5 almonds or cashews
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Coriander leaves/Caramelized onion for garnish
Vegetable oil for frying

Step 1: Marinate the chicken with yoghurt, 1/2 tablespoons of chilli, turmeric and coriander powders, salt and pepper for an hour. Shallow fry the pieces lightly in vegetable oil. Don't let them cook fully.

Step 3: Dice the whole onion and saute it in ghee, with bay leaves, cloves, pepper corns and cardomom pods. [In a separate pan, for caramelized onions, fry diced onion in oil until they turn fully brown].

Step 4: Add the chicken pieces, the remaining spices [chilli, turmeric and coriander], whole garlic pods and let it simmer in some water.

Step 5: Grind the cashews or almonds in some yoghurt and add it to the gravy.

Step 6: Let it cook for 15-20 more minutes on medium heat until the chicken is cooked. Garnish with some coriander leaves and caramelized onions. Serve it with white rice/pulao.

Crabmeat wrapped in smoked salmon

Ingredients
Readymade pacific smoked salmon
1/4 cup crab meat
1 teaspoon mustard sauce
1 teaspoon horseradish
2 tablespoons mayo
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 bell pepper (finely chopped)
1/4 onion (finely chopped)

Step 1: Mix all the ingredients well (except smoked salmon) in a bowl.

Step 2: Place the mixture in between two pieces of smoked salmon.  Place a toothpick on each piece to hold it together.

Step 3: Serve cold as an appetizer.

Squid Fry

Ingredients
1/2 pound squid cut into rings
1 egg
1/2 cup gram flour
2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon chilli and turmeric powders each
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Step 1: Mix the ginger garlic paste, egg, chilli and turmeric powders, salt, pepper and gram flour in a bowl.

Step 2: Cut the squid in rings and marinate them in the mixture. I left them overnight.

Step 3: Shallow fry the squid in vegetable oil.

Step 4: Serve hot as an appetizer.

Goan crab cakes

Ingredients
Coconut oil for frying
1 cup crab meat
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 teaspoon each of chilli and turmeric powders
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 egg
4 teaspoons rice flour 
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
Rawa for frying
Coriander leaves (optional)

Step 1: Mix all the ingredients together and roll them into small cakes into rawa.

Step 2:  Shallow fry them in coconut oil. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the cakes to cook for around 5 minutes until both sides are done.

Step 3: Serve hot with a sauce of your choice.

P.S. Sheela Kelekar contributed this recipe to the blog. 

The food truck season

Crab wontons 

Spring and summer is the time to enjoy road side food. We had the opportunity to do just this when we attended the Bull Run Food Festival in Northern Virginia.

While we sampled a variety of wines from different wineries in the region, we quickly gravitated towards the food trucks camped on the hill overlooking the festival. The cuisines on offer included Puerto Rican, Greek, Vietnamese, Venezuelan, Cajun, and southern American.

Borinquen's lunch box offered traditional Puerto Rican cuisine. We tried their chicken empanadas and were delighted. They represented a steal at a price of 4 dollars a piece and were, as far as i could tell, authentic.

Arepasone specialized in Venezuelan. We ordered the arepas - grilled crunchy corn patties made of corn and stuffed with chicken salad, shredded cheddar and avacados. At Deliciousdisheva, we tried the crab wontons made in a American Asian fusion style. We washed all of this down with Wildbills olde fashioned soda pop Co., which offered endless refills of root beer, vanilla soda. All are recommended if you are looking for an inexpensive, but flavorful option for your lunch hour meal.

Kismoor

Ingredients
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 cup dried shrimp
2 cups grated coconut
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon tamarind juice
1 teaspoon chilli powder, turmeric
1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander
Pinch a salt

Step 1: Saute dried shrimp in coconut oil and set aside.

Step 2: Saute onion in coconut oil, add the chili, turmeric powders, and tamarind juice. Add grated coconut and salt. Sprinkle the coriander on top.

Step 3: Mix the two portions just before serving.

P.S. Sheela Kelekar contributed this recipe to the blog. 

Peter Chiang

Scallion Bubble Pancakes

Peter Chiang,
11424, W. Broad Street, 
Glen Allen, VA 23060

We visited Peter Chiang, a gourmet Sichuan style Chinese restaurant in Richmond. The dining experience can only be described as delightful.

For appetizers, we tried their scallion bubble pancakes, and crispy pork belly. Both were light and delicious. The pancakes were an Indian fusion and were similar to the Indian styled pooris.

The portions were large and could easily be shared by two or more people. On the high end of the spice spectrum, we tried the bamboo fish and shan city chicken. They were both authentic and delicious.  We also tried the duck in stone pot, which was very filling.

There was absolutely nothing that we could complain of and I would not hesitate to visit either the Henrico County location or any other Peter Chiang establishment, particularly the new establishment in Arlington.