Tau Yu Chicken

 This is a malay/chinese/singaporean dish usually made with pork (Tau yu bak) but I didn't have pork, I had chicken. It was really tasty-- sweet, salty and really complex. I paired it with the congee but I think it would work great as a part of a chinese dinner or just over steamed white rice. Recipe adapted from a few different recipes I found on the net. The garlic in the skin were good, but if I have time I'm going to just peel and finely dice the garlic instead.

Ingredients

Marinate the chicken as below

• 600-750g chicken thighs (5-6 thighs) cut into chunks against the grain
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2-4 tablespoons oyster sauce
• chicken stock concentrate
  

Other ingredients

• 5-10 cloves garlic, either in the skin or diced
• 1-2 tablespoons of diced ginger
• 2 star anise
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 3-4 green cardamom
• 300ml water
• 4 tablespoons dark soy
• Mushrooms (I used shimeji this time)

Method

1. Marinate the chicken (the recipes I read said overnight is best, I think I managed maybe 30 minutes in total and it was still delicious)
2. Add a splash of oil to a pan and when it gets hot, add in the spices and after they bloom, then the ginger and then the garlic. 
3. Once the onion and garlic have fried off for a few minutes (edges brown and reduced but not burnt) add in the marinated chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and the reduce the heat to medium, cover and let it cook for 20 minutes
5. Take the cover off and let it reduce until it is the consistency you want. This was taking too long for us, so we ended up spooning out the chicken and then reducing the sauce over high heat and then adding the meat back in when we were ready.
   

 

Nigella's Chicken and Peas Pan bake

 

I love this recipe because you get both veggies and protein in one absolutely unctuous plate. It takes longer to make than you think though, mostly time in the oven.

Ingredients

• 1, 1kg pack frozen peas or 2, 600g packs
  
• 2 leeks chopped into 1-2 inch long peices
• 6-8 garlic cloves minced
  
• 2-3 big splashes of dry white vermouth or sherry
• Olive oil
  
• Fresh dill (we've used frozen in a pinch, fresh is obs better)
  
• 1-2 kg chicken thighs, Bone-in, skin-on
  

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C, we use 180 C since we have a forced air oven
2. Line a deep baking tray with foil/silicone then empty the frozen peas into it
3. Add in the chopped leeks, minced garlic, dill, vermouth, and salt and stir around a bit so it is all mixed. Then put the chicken thighs on top, skin-side up, and drizzle olive oil and a bit of salt over the tops.
4. Bake in the middle or lower part of the oven for 45 minutes, then remove and stir the peas around a bit so they don't dry out.
5. Bake again for 30 minutes.
6. Serve with boiled potatoes or just by themselves!
   

Khow suey

 I've grown up being told that this was a burmese dish that somehow got wildly popular in India in the 70s/80s. I'm not sure there is anyone in Burma that would recognize this dish but I love it. I recently came across another recipe called Khow soi that purports to being a coconut curry/noodle soup from Burma by way of Thailand, so the truth, as they say, is out there.

Ingredients

Soup: 

• 1 kg chicken (I used chicken thighs, bone-in or boneless, cut into smaller pieces)
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 Tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 6 Tbsp Chickpea flour/ besan
• 5 bowls water
• 1/2 - 1 cup desiccated or fresh/ frozen shredded coconut

Toppings:

• 6 eggs
• Limes
• Fried onions
• Fried Garlic
• Cashewnuts
• Salli/ Laccha

Carbs:

• Egg noodles
• Rice Noodles
• Rice

Method

1. Boil Eggs to hard, cool peel. Slice and fry onions and garlic separately to brown. Drain on paper towels. Quarter limes. 
2. Heat a table spoon of oil until shimmering hot, then add the onions and fry for about 5 minutes
3. Lower the heat to medium-low, add ginger-garlic paste and fry until fragrant.
4. Throw in salt, red chilli powder and saute for maybe 10 seconds, then add in the chicken and fry until the chicken has a bit of surface.
5. Add in the besan and then fry until fragrant (the smell changes, thats what you're looking for)
6. Add in the water and then boil until the chicken is cooked
7. Add in the coconut and boil for another 5 minutes. At this point, when we've used frozen fresh coconut before, we noticed the shreds were really long and would have been hard to eat, so we pulled out the chicken and used an immersion blender to make the soup smooth.
8. Boil the noodles/cook rice etc as needed
9. Assemble bowls: put noodles/rice in the bottom of a bowl and ladle on lots and lots of soup. Add on toppings, halved boiled egg and lots of lime (this is v. important, v. v. It really needs lime)

Notes

1. This recipe scales really well. Mum's rule of thumb is that you add a Tbsp of besan for every bowl of khow suey you want and about a bowl of water. At this volume as written, since the chicken and other ingredients increase the volume by around a bowl, I only used 5 bowls of water.

Coconut curry (with chicken, pork or fish)

This recipe is adapted from here. I originally made it with chicken but have tried it with pork shoulder and it tastes like it would be amazing with fish as well. I've kept the heat to a minimum by deseeding the dried kashmiri chillis and the result has been a mild and very flavourful curry.

Ingredients

• Chicken 2 kg (or pork, about 1.3-1.5 kg)
• Dried Kashmiri chillies 4-5 
• Peppercorns 16-20 
• Coriander seeds 4 Tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
• Tamarind, (if dried soak in hot water) 2 Tbsp
• Dessiccated coconut 1 cup
• Oil 3 tbsp
• Red onions chopped 4-5 
• Ginger garlic paste 1 tb
• Turmeric
• Green chilly 2 (totally optional)
• Curry leaves (if dried, add 3 times as much) 20 leaves
• Salt
• Coconut milk 1/2 cup

Method

1. Dry roast the red chillies, peppercorns, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds in a pan. Add them to a grinder jar with the dessicated coconut and add the tamarind water to make a smooth paste. If you don't have ginger-garlic paste, add fresh ginger and garlic at this step.
2. If you are using pork as your protein, cut the pork into 2" pieces and then add to a pressure cooker with salt, pepper, a dash of vinegar and turmeric. Add 2-3 table spoons of water and pressure cook the pork until half done. I used fläskkarré and pressure cooked for 15 minutes after the first whistle. Skip this step if you're using chicken. 
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the curry leaves (And green chillies, if you're using them) and then the chopped onions. Once the onions are well cooked, add turmeric and then the masala paste. 
4. Cook the paste until oil separates and then add the protein on medium heat. Add salt (I add a tsp for every kg, to begin and then adjust to taste at the end).
5.  Leave the dish alone for about 10 minutes and then stir occasionally about every 5 minutes, for a total of 20-25 minutes.
6. Adjust the final consistency with coconut milk, adding more if you want it runnier and less if you want it more dry. Cook with coconut milk for about 5 minutes on low. 
7. Very good with rice and with roti. 

Japanese Chinese-style fried chicken

This recipe is from Buzzfeed Japan's video, on youtube here. It is fantastically good and unlike a lot of their other yummy recipes does not involve deep frying. I've written it down so that I don't have to go to their video and play and pause it repeatedly every single time I want to make this! I only have access to bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs so I learned how to debone them from here.

Ingredients

Chicken Marinade:

• 8 Skin-on, boneless chicken thighs
• 4 tsp Minced ginger
• 4 tsp Minced Garlic
• 3 tsp salt
• 8 tbsp rice wine vinegar or Sake

Sauce:

• 8 tbsp light soy sauce
• 8 tbsp vinegar (I've used everything from rice wine to apple cider)
• 4 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 4-5 scallions, finely diced
• 2-3 red peppers finely sliced

Potato flour
Frying oil

Method

1. Debone the chicken and cut off excess skin and fat. Cut small gashes through the skin and meat.
2. Marinate the chicken with the other ingredients under marinade for ~30 minutes. I marinate covered in the fridge if its going to be longer
3. Mix the ingredients under sauce together to make the sauce
4. Coat the chicken thighs in potato flour. 
5. Add a couple of table spoons oil to a frying pan and heat.
6.  Fry the thighs on medium heat, first skin side down for 5-7 minutes and then flip for 5-7 minutes.
7. Cut into slices and serve on rice with the sauce on the side or on top.

Ottolenghi's Chicken Pilaf

This is from Ottolengi and Tamimi's book Jerusalem which we bought a few years ago but didn't actually like until we found this recipe recently! For modifications on the recipe I looked at this and other pages but ultimately came up with my own proportions.

The recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken but I've used boneless skinless chicken thighs both times I've made this and its worked very well. I suspect bone-in would work better. I don't like chicken skin. The original recipe calls for about 2 cups of rice and 1.8 times the amount of water cooked for 30 minutes on low, but I've found I've needed to add a little more water and cook for a little longer, averaging 45 minutes both times.

Ingredients

• 75g Cranberries
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 onions, finely sliced 
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1.5 kg chicken thighs
• 14 cardamom pods
• 0.5 tsp whole cloves
• 2 long cinnamon sticks, broken in two
• 2.5 cups basmati rice
• 5 cups boiling water
• 5 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 5 tbsp  dill, chopped
• 5 tbsp coriander, chopped
• 100g Greek yoghurt, mixed with 2 tbsp olive oil (optional)
• 1/2 cucumber grated and drained
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Marinate the chicken with the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, a tsp of salt and 1.5tsp of pepper and the olive oil
2. Fry the chicken in a dutch oven or large cooking dish for about 5-7 minutes on each side until you get a nice brown crust and the meat is about half cooked (Medium-high heat 7).
3. Remove the chicken leaving behind the oil and most of the spices.
4. Add the onions to the oil and fry for about 10 minutes, adding the garlic about halfway through (medium heat 5)
5. Now add in the cranberries and rice and fry around for a few minutes. 
6. Now add in the hot water and the chicken and about 2.5 tsp salt.
7. Push the chicken into the rice, cover the pot and lower the heat (3) and leave for ~ 30 minutes
8. Check a few grains of rice and if needed add a few tbsps more of water and cover and cook for another 15 minutes.
9. Once done, quickly place a clean dish cloth over the top of the pot and recover with the lid and leave for 10 minutes
10. Add the dill, parsley and coriander and turn the rice and meat over gently to incorporate evenly
11. Add the cucmber and a dash of olive oil to the yogurt and each on the side

Chicken, Kale and Mushroom pot pie

This recipe is from here. It was unexpectedly brilliant and I think it is going to make it to our regular rotation of dishes. The main changes from the recipe that we made were that we made more for leftovers, we will add more cornstarch next time, since it was runny and that we will make it with more puff pastry on the top.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp dried or frozen thyme
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
• 900g chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
• 500g mushrooms (brown or white, but brown preferred for colour), sliced
• 600ml chicken stock
• 200g crème fraîche
• 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 300g kale
• 4.5 tsp cornflour, mixed with 2.5 tbsp cold water
• 500g pack puff pastry, laid out in sheets and thawed
• 1 egg yolk, to glaze

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C. Heat oil at medium heat in a large vessel. Add the onion and cook for 5 mins until transparent and soft. Scatter over the thyme and garlic, and stir for a few minutes. 
2. Turn up the heat and add the chicken, frying until golden but not fully cooked. 
3. Add the mushrooms and the remaining oil and fry for a few minutes. 
4. Add the stock, crème fraîche, mustard and kale, and season well. Add the cornflour mixture and stir until thickened a little. If this doesn't thicken, add more cornstarch, this is how runny the final pie filling will be. 
5. Remove from the heat and transfer to a baking dish. Cover the top of the dish with the puff pastry lid, pressing into the sides of the dish. Bake for 40 mins until the pastry is puffed up and golden.

Slow cooker Moroccan chicken stew with butternut squash

This recipe isn't unique and a quick google search yields lots of variations, but this is how I make it, most of the time. It is moroccan themed and is warm and hearty. I probably shouldn't have added the raisins at the very beginning, but they were still yummy so thats an extra step cut out! I also added only a third of a cup of stock and the stew was quite thick, which is how I like it, but thats a personal preference. I used butternut squash in this but I suspect it would work just as well with pumpkin or acorn squash.

Ingredients:

1 Small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1kg Chicken thighs (~8, bone-in, skinned)
2 small onions, diced
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1" piece of ginger, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup stock
squeeze of tomato puree
Raisins
Spices (garam masala, paprika, chilli flakes, cumin powder, nutmeg, cinnamon)

Method:

1) Brown the chopped onions, garlic and ginger in a little oil on high heat (~7 minutes)
2) Add everything to the slow cooker. The only thing I was careful about was that the chicken wasn't on the very bottom.
3) I added the spices by eye, but it was perhaps about a teaspoon of garam masala, salt, cumin powder and 1/2 and teaspoon of paprika and chilli flakes and a shake of nutmeg and cinnamon powder.
4) On high for 3.5-4 hours.
5) Garnish with chopped parsley and eat with crusty buttered bread. It also works really well with couscous. 

Chicken pot pie

I've made this recipe twice now. Its brilliant because I can just use rotisserie chicken straight from the store and because it tasted wa-ay richer than it actually is while still feeling like comfort food. The recipe is from here although I do not use their crust at all. The first time we made it we used frozen butter pastry to enclose it, which made it much richer. This time we covered the top with biscuit and it tasted so wonderful that I suspect this is how we will be making it. The biscuit recipe we used is the one logged here. We should probably have a little more biscuit than what we made to cover the pie completely, but the calories are calculated according to the proportions below.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup chopped carrot 

1 cup chopped onion 

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)

3 cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth (I used water and a little salt)

2 1/3 cups cubed red potato 

1.5 ounces (about 1/3 cup) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup water

2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken 

1 cup frozen petite peas

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F or 200 C.
2. To prepare filling, heat oil over meduim-high heat. 
3. Add carrot, onion, and thyme; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are soft. 
4. Add water, salt and potato; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. 
5. Combine flour and 1/3 cup water in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. 
6. Return potato mixture to a boil. Slowly drizzle flour mixture into potato mixture, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens. 
7. Stir in chicken, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. 
8. Spoon chicken mixture into an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. At this point we popped this in the oven and started making the biscuit dough since the filling should cook longer than the biscuit (40mins vs 15mins). After the dough was ready we pulled out the dish and carefully put the biscuit dough on top. 
9. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes.

Nutrition

As written, this dish makes about 8 servings of 470 kcals each. 

Asian marinated baked chicken

This was super simple and absolutely delicious. It is probably getting added to our regular rotation. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs but the recipe says that bone in, skin on chicken would work better. We only marinated it for an hour (maybe) but the recipe calls for 12-24. If it was this good after an hour of marination, I can only imagine how good it would taste after 12! I found this recipe on Yummly after googling around looking for a good chicken recipe that would use up my scallions as well. I think the original recipe is from Chow.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup soy sauce (I used half dark soy, and half malaysian sweet soy)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tbsps fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped, from 1, 3- to 4-inch piece)
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic (finely, from about 5 medium cloves)
• 2 tsps toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp ground black pepper (freshly)
• 3 lbs bone in skin on chicken thigh (drumsticks, or breasts, or a combination of all three, I used boneless skinless chicken thighs)
• Scallions (bunch, I had 6) chopped 

Instructions

1. Place everything except the chicken in a 13-by-9-inch broiler-proof baking dish and whisk to combine. If I was actually going to marinate this recipe overnight I would probably do this entire marination in a big ziplock. I also added a drizzle of some hot and sour dipping sauce I had because some of the original comments suggested it needed some chili flakes.
2. Lay the chicken in a single layer in the marinade and turn to coat. Add half the scallions as well. Cover, refrigerate, and marinate at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours, turning the chicken at least once during the marinating time. (The one hour, room temp marination also yielded mind-blowingly yummy chicken. I suspect longer marination would be better for bone-in, skin-on chicken.)
3. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. (This step is not necessary if using a ziplock bag for the marination.)Meanwhile, heat the oven to 475°F (250C) and arrange a rack in the middle.
4. Turn all the chicken pieces skin-side up in the dish (if you’re using drumsticks, just turn to recoat them in the marinade). Bake until the chicken is starting to turn a dark brown color, about 40 minutes. (We started with the dish covered and then removed the foil 20 minutes in and also turned the pieces over once while baking since mine were skinless.)
5. Set the oven to broil and broil until the chicken skin is crisped, about 3 to 5 minutes more. Skipped this step. Added remaining scallions over the top and ate with boiled white rice with the sauce drizzled over the top.

Delish.

Calories: As written, this marinade contains 577 calories (excluding the ginger, garlic and scallions as minimal.) As written, the entire dish contains 1617 calories (0.9 kg boneless skinless chicken thighs at 1000 calories) and probably yields about 4-5 servings (big eater servings :blush:) at 400 calories each. Add rice calories separately. Keep in  mind that you probably won't eat the entire marinade. We had most of it left over after drizzling some onto the rice. So I think a more accurate per serving calories count would be somewhere in the 300-350 range. 

D-licious proscuitto wrapped chicken thighs, Garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli

Both recipes are from allrecipes.com.

Chicken with Mushrooms, Prosciutto, and Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 6 chicken thighs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 slices prosciutto (thin sliced)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Drizzle butter into a casserole dish. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon garlic. Wrap chicken thighs in prosciutto, and place in casserole dish. Sprinkle mushrooms and remaining garlic on top of chicken.
3. Bake in a preheated oven until juices run clear, about 1 hour. Remove chicken to a platter, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
4. Pour drippings from casserole into a skillet set over medium-low heat. Whisk in wine and sour cream, and cook until warmed through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Pour over chicken, and serve.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 medium head garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper.
4. Remove the garlic from the oven, and cut in half. Squeeze the softened cloves into the potatoes. Blend potatoes with an electric mixer until desired consistency is achieved.

Kashmiri Chicken Curry

This turned out really awesome with rice and kachumbar.
Ingredients:

• 1 small chicken abt 750-800g - skinned and cut into 8 pieces 
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 4 black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 cardamoms
• 2 cloves
• 1 large onion - diced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 3/4th cup yoghurt
• 2 green apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• A handful sliced roasted almonds and chopped cilantro for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a thick-bottom nonstick wok.
2. Fry the onions to pink and then add the whole spices and cook for 1-2 mins.
3. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 3-4 mins.
4. Lower the heat and add the garlic, ginger, salt, garam masala, ground almonds and red chili powder - stir fry for 2-3 mins.
5. Beat the yoghurt and add it in, stir cook for another few mins.
6. Add the apples and chopped coriander, cover and cook for 10-15 mins.
7. When the chicken is cooked, transfer into a serving dish and garnish beautifully with toasted almond flakes and chopped coriander leaves.

Harpal Singh Sokhi's Chicken Biryani

This we got from Sanjeev Kapoor's Youtube channel.

Rice:

• Rice 1-1.5 cups soaked for 30 minutes
• In cheese cloth:
• Black cardamom 3
• Green cardamom 6
• Cloves 6
• Black Pepper 6
• Bay Leaf 2
• Cinnamon Stick 1 inch

Tie up bag, add to boiling water. To water, add shahi geera (caroway seeds 1tsp), salt to taste, and then cook the rice till it's 3/4 done.

Marinade:

• Chicken 800 g (w bone for extra taste)
• Ginger garlic paste 2 tbsp
• Red Chili Powder 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Yoghurt 1 cup
• Garam Masala 1 tsp
• Green Cardamom powder 1 tsb
• Brown Onions 1 cup
• Pure Ghee 4 tbsp
• Freshly chopped coriander 2 tbsp
• Mint leaves 10-12
• Green chili 2 broken ones
• Turmeric
• Lemon juice from 1 lime

Massage chicken with marinade and let sit for 1 hour.

When the rice is 3/4 done, layer the half rice over the chicken (and let some of the water come along). Sprinkle some coriander (1 tbsp) , mint leaves (6-8), brown onions (2 tbsp), garam masala (1/4 tsp), green cardamom powder (1 tsp) over the rice, and then layer the rest of the rice on top after straining it. On top, add brown onions (1 tbsp), garam masala (1/4 tsp), cardamom (1/4 tsp), saffron soaked in milk (1 strand). Finally, 5 tbsp of melted ghee on top!

Put the biryani on the stove, and seal the pot using dough. Once the steam escapes from the dough seal (about 15 minutes) the biryani is done.