Thai style Chicken and Rice bowl with fried Egg

Ingredients :

1. Chicken breast - 1 cut into thin strips as a diagonal
2. Broccoli/ mushroom/bell pepper (any one or a mix) - 1 cup sliced 
3. Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
4. fish sauce - 1 tsp
5. Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
6. garlic - 8 cloves chopped fine
7. Ginger - Julianned 1 inch piece
8. Thai Basil - 1 handfull
9. fresh ripe chilly - 5 chopped fine
10. chicken stock - 1/4 cup
11. Oil - 2 tbsp
12. white rice - 1 cup washed and drained.
13. egg - 1 per serving

Method:
cook rice adding 2 cups of water until the water is absorbed. cover and keep aside.
heat oil in a wide wok/frying pan .
add the chopped garlic,chilly and half of the ginger and saute for 1 minute.
add in sliced chicken and mix well.
Once the chicken starts turning white ( in 30 seconds ) add 1 tbsp soy sauce and fish sauce and stir well.
cook on high heat for 1 minute.
Add in vegetables - broccoli, mushroom,bell pepper.
mix well. Add remaining soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir .
Add in chicken stock , stir until hot .turn flame off .
Serve with rice and fried egg .

Sambal Udang Kering

 
Ingredients:

1. dry shrimp - 1 cup cleaned and head removed
2. Shallots - 10
3. Dry red chillies - 10 deseeded and soaked in water
4. Garlic - 5 cloves
5. Oil - 1/2 cup
6. sugar - to taste
7. Salt - to taste
8. tamarin paste - 1/2 tsp
9. Shrimp paste (belachan) - 1 cm piece

 Method:
Soak de-seeded red chillies in water for 30 minutes.
clean , wash and drain shrimp and keep aside.
Add the shallots,chillies, garlic into small jar of blender and pulse to a coarse mixture.
remove this and keep aside.
In the same blender jar pulse the shrimp to a coarse paste.
Heat oil in a nonstick frying pan .
Add the crushed chilly/shallot mixture and stirfry for 5 minutes.
Add the crushed prawns and mix well.
Add salt to taste.
stirfry this mix until it is dry and turns crispy. It will take 30 -45 minutes on a low flame.
Once the mix is starting to turn dry add the tamarind and sugar and adjust flavors.
Add more oil if required - the more oil you add the easier it is to get the mix fried.
This can be stored in a clean dry jar for few weeks at room temperature.

Thai Mango Salad

Ingredients:

1. Raw Mango - 2 medium sized (mangoes that are not too sour and  turning ripe but still firm taste best)
2. Shallots - 2
3. Green chilly - 1
4. Red bell pepper or Carrots -  2 tbsp Julienned  
5. Basil - 4 leaves torn
6. Roasted peanuts or cashews - handful
7. sugar OR Honey- 1/2 tsp (**I did not use as the mango was sweet and sour)
8. Fish sauce OR Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
9. garlic - 1 clove chopped fine
10. birdseye chili or green chilly - 1 chopped fine
11. Salt - to taste
12. roasted Black and white Sesame seeds - 1 tsp for garnish

Method :

Peel the mango and cut int into long matchstick sized pieces . If you have a zigzag peeler you can use that (Do not grate the mango on a grater ,it becomes soggy)
cut all the ingredients - carrots/bell peppers , green chilies & shallots  into thin julienne
mix together the fish/soy sauce ,sugar/honey , chopped green chillie,garlic and mix well. You can add it to a small bottle and shake to mix well.
taste for salt ,sweet and spice. adjust by adding more as needed.
toss together the salad ingredients . Add the dressing and mix in the nuts .
Sprinkle with sesame seeds .
Serve immediately.
You can prepare and keep all the ingredients ready and mix in the dressing when you are ready to serve .

Beef with Holy Basil/ Tulsi

Ingredients :

1. Beef - 250 gms
2. Garlic - 8 cloves chopped fine
3. Ginger - 1  inch piece julienned (thin cut)
4. Green Chillies - 5 sliced on the diagonal
5. Oyster Sauce - 2 tbsp
6. Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp /to taste
7. Fish Sauce - 1 tbsp
8. Tulsi/Holy basil- 1 cup loosly packed washed and tender leaves and shoots
9. Onion - 1 cut into thick slices (optional)
10. Green Onion - 4 tbsp chopped
11. Oil - 2 tbsp

NOTE : Use a cut of Beef that you would use for steak , it should be tender and a cut that cooks quickly . Its easier if you have the Beef pieces cut to the size of a deck of cards and then slice it as thin as possible against the grain . Freezing for a bit will help do this easily. I have used the beef sold as "undercut" in India .

Use a large pan for cooking , only then you will get the fried effect on the beef , else it will steam and boil. Dont crowd the pan , cook in batches if required.

Method:
Heat oil in a large frying pan /wok - heat it to high
Add the chopped garlic , 1/2 of the chilies and ginger and stirfry for 30 seconds.
Add in the sliced beef and stirfry on high heat until the meat changes color and starts searing slightly. Use a big pan and dont crowd the meat.
Add in the soy sauce  and stirfry , when its almost dry add in the fish sauce and oyster sauce followed by the sliced Onion and green onion.
taste for salt , add more soy sauce if required.
add in the remaining sliced green chilly and holy basil and stir .
spoon the stirfry along with gravy into a serving dish .
Add few tbsp of water to the frying pan and swirl around . Bring this water to a boil - It creates a pan sauce with all the flavors of the beef and sauces as well as adds more gravy to the dish . Pour this over the stirfry .
Served this over the Rose brand Kaima rice from Kannur . Its an absolute delight.
I have added some steamed Broccoli at the end of the cooking process.

Shrimp with Oyster Sauce and Holy Basil / Tulsi

Ingredients :

1. Large sized Shrimp - 8 Peeled deveined tail on , washed and patted dry
2. Tomato - 1 medium cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
3. Onion - 1 medium cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
4. Banana pepper - 1 cut into 1/2 inch pieces on a diagonal 
5. Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
6. Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
7. Ripe red chillies - 5 chopped fine
8. Garlice - 8 cloves chopped fine
9. Tulsi/ Holy basil - 1 handfull of tender leaves 
10. oil - 2 tbsp

Method :

Keep all your ingredients ready before you start cooking .

Heat a large frying pan/wok on high heat.

Add oil and the chopped chilly and garlic and stir fry for a minute

Add in the shrimp and stirfry on high flame for a minute , Add 1/2 tbsp of oyster and soy sauce to this. The shrimp should be barely cooked and have sear marks on the edges from the high heat frying . This gives a toasty flavour.

Pick the shrimp from the pan and keep in a plate while you cook the rest of the ingredients.

In the same pan add the onion and banana pepper and tomato and continue stirfrying on high heat for a minute .Add in the remaining soy and oyster sauce and stir well.

return the shrimp back to the pan , add in the tulsi leaves and stir everything together on high heat for another minute .

Transfer the contents to a dish .

Add 4 tbsp of water to the frying pan and scrape up the sides and bottom of the pan and reduce it to about 2 tbsp.

Add this into the cooked shrimp dish.

Serve with rice .

NOTE : Adding water to the pan while the shrimp is cooking makes the shrimp boil and loose the grilled/toasty flavor , hence I added the water for the gravy after removing the shrimp from the pan.This way you get your gravy and don't loose out on the flavor

Seafood with chilly and Basil

Ingredients :

1. Large Shrimp – 4 tail on peeled an de-veined, washed and pat dry
2. Squid – 2 medium sized cleaned and cut into rings
3. Oil – 1 tbsp
4. Garlic – 4 cloves crushed
5. Ginger – ½ inch Julienned
6. Fish sauce – 1 tsp
7. Oyster Sauce – 1 tsp
8. Soy sauce – 1 tsp
9. Ripe red chillies – 3 crushed
10. Green chillies – 1 sliced
11. Sugar – ½ tsp
12. Chicken stock –  4 tbsp
13. Holy basil leaves – 1/4 cup
14. Vegetable – optional . I used  ½  mix of broccoli,bok choy, red bell pepper,mushroom

NOTE : Its best to make this dish in small batches of 1 or 2 servings at the max. Cook on high heat and quickly else the seafood overcooks and steams and the vegetable loses its crunch. Keep all ingredients ready before you start cooking . The dish will be ready in 5 minutes once cooking starts.

You can use any seafood of your choice - mussels,crab,clams,cubes of boneless fish , Scallops etc.

Method:

In a large frying pan/Wok , Heat the oil on high and add crushed chilly, garlic and ginger and stirfry for 30 seconds.

Add the squid and shrimp and stirfy on high flame for 2 minutes . 

As the pan gets dried out keep adding the sauces  starting with the fish sauce , oyster sauce and soysauce.

Add the vegetables if using and sliced green chilly and fry for a minute .

Add the chicken stock and sugar and mix well. Scrape up the bits stuck to the pan with stock .

The gravy should be thick . Add in the basil leaves and turn the flame off.

Add fish sauce if  salt is less when you taste it.

 Mix well and serve immediately over white rice.

Four Flavored Thai Sauce

This Sauce can be used as a dip, in stir fries, in soups to add flavor to noodles or fried rice etc.

Its a blend of sweet,spicy,salty and sour , you can adjust the balance as per your preference , I like it less sweet and hence reduced the amount of jaggery to 2 tbsp. White sugar is sweeter than jaggery so if you are substituting it ,use a bit less as per your taste.

Ingredients:

1. Ripe red chilies – 20 washed and stems removed (chopped fine or pulsed in a processor to a rough paste) . The chillies I used were extremely spicy , so for colour and body ,I added ½ of 1 red bell pepper.
2. garlic cloves – 10 large or 15-20 medium (chopped fine or pulsed in a processor to a rough paste)
3. Shallots – 8  medium (chopped fine or pulsed in a processor to a rough paste)
4. Cilantro Roots and stem -  chopped fine – 5 tbsp or ½ cup
5. Jaggery or Palm sugar – 2 tbsp
6. Water – ½ cup
7. Fish Sauce – 1/3 cup
8. Tamarind pulp – 2 tbsp
9. Vegetable Oil – 3 tbsp

NOTE : You should have approximately equal quantity by weight of chilly, garlic and Shallots and about ½ of that amount of corriander root and stem (eg 50 gms each of chilly,garlic,shallot and 25 gms of cilantro – to give a rough idea of the ratio)

Method:

In a nonstick pan saute the garlic-shallot-cilantro-chili paste/mix in the vegetable oil over medium-high heat just until fragrant.

Add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat to maintain a simmer.

Reduce the sauce down until its slightly thick ; remove from heat .

Store the cooled sauce in a glass jar and refrigerate for upto a month.

Steamed Perl Spot with the 4 flavored Sauce 

Stir Fried Chicken with Basil

Ingredients:

1. Chicken – Breast of 1 whole chicken sliced very thinly
2. vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
3. Garlic – 5 cloves chopped
4. Chillies (mix of red and green for color) – 5 sliced
5. Ginger – 1 tsp Julienned
6. Long beans – 2 cut into ½ inch pieces (optional)
7. Fish sauce – 1 tbsp
8. Oyster Sauce – 1 tbsp
9. Sugar – ½ tsp
10. Low sodium Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp
11. Chicken stock or water – 6 tbsp
12. Thai basil – 15 leaves
13. Broccoli – 8 florets
14. Onion – ½ a small onion sliced.

 Method:

Keep all the ingredients ready before you start cooking .

The whole coking process only takes 7-8 minutes and you need to add the ingredients fast.

Heat the pan on high heat and add oil garlic, ginger and chilli and stirfry until fragrant (about 30 seconds)

Add in the chicken breast and long beans and stir around quickly until the chicken  changes color and becomes opaque/white.

Now add the fish sauce, Oyester sauce , sugar and stir .

Add in the Broccoli and onion . Stir for a minute.

Add the chicken stock and mix well.

Add the basil leaves , stir for 30 seconds and turn the flame off.

Serve with rice.

Steamed Whole Fish with Three flavored Chilly sauce

Ingredients:

Whole fish cleaned and gutted – 1 approximately  ½ kg  . The one I used weighed 350 gms .(Good choices are – Pompano, Pomfret,red snapper, trout, perch,sea bass etc ) use the freshest fish you can get ,steaming works only with fresh fish.

To steam the fish :

1. lemongrass  - 2 stalks bottom part bruised
2. Green Onion – 2 bulbs chopped
3. Ginger – few strips julienned
4. Green chilly – 2 sliced
5. Fish sauce – 1tbsp
6. Banana leaf / Bok Choy/ aluminium foil – to lay the fish on and steam

For the Chilly sauce :

1. garlic – 12 cloves chopped
2. Fresh ripe red chili peppers  - 10/12 chopped
3. chopped cilantro root and stem  -  2 tbsp
4. Shallots – 8 chopped
5. fish sauce - 3 Tbsp
6. Sugar – 1 tsp
7. Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
8. vegetable Oil – 2 tsp
9. Chicken broth  - 1/4 cup chicken broth  or water

Method:

Clean, wash and prepare fish by making slashes across the fish, about  1  inches apart on both sides, using a very sharp knife.

Bring 2 inches of water to boil over high heat in the bottom of the steamer.

On the plate that you are going to steam the fish arrange the leaf (I used bok choy). Place the fish on top and stuff the gashes and cavity of the fish with lemongrass,green chilly,ginger,1/2 of the spring onion chopped and 1 tbsp of fish sauce.

Place this into the steamer . Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam for 12 - 15 minutes.

In a bowl mix together the chicken stock,tamarind,sugar and fish sauce – stir well and taste to adjust the balance .It should be a balance of sweet,sour and salty. Add more of the sauce ingredients as necessary.

While the fish is steaming, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the chopped shallot,red chillies,garlic, corriander root/stem and saute until fragrant .Add the sauce mix and simmer for 7-8 minutes.

When the fish is cooked ,remove the chopped herbs that you stuffed on and around the fish as much as possible and using 2 flat spoons lift the fish slowly without breaking it apart and place on the serving dish. 

Add the sauce that has formed in the plate on to the fish (there will only be about 2 tbsp sauce). Sprinkle the fish with fresh spring onion and corriander leaves .

Spoon the prepared chilly sauce over the fish and serve hot.

Shrimp Pad Thai

Ingredients :

1. Oil - 4 tbsp
2. Garlic - 5 cloves crushed
3. Shrimp - 12 medium large sized cleaned,shelled ,deveined with tails left intact.
4. Thick rice noodles - 1/2 pack , approx 250 gms dry
5. Pad Thai sauce - 8 tbsp
6. Eggs - 3
7. Green Onion - 8 bulbs with leaves
8. Onion - 1 large
9. Mushroom - 8
10. Lime - 1 cut into wedges
11. Corriander leaves - 2 tbsp picked and torn roughly
12. roasted and crushed peanuts - 4 tbsp
13. bean sprouts - handful ( it wasn't available here , so I haven't added)

For the Pad Thai sauce :

1. tamarind paste/ concenterate - 2 tbsp
2. Sugar - 5 tbsp
3. Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp
4. Fish Sauce - 5 tbsp
5. Chilly sauce - 2 tbsp (recipe in the method section)
6. Water - 1 cup

For the Chilly Sauce :

1. Dry red chillies  - 10
2. Garlic - 3 cloves
3. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
4. salt - to taste
5. shallots - 4
6. sugar - 1 tsp
7. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method for making chilly sauce  :

Soak the dry red chillies in boiling water for few hours .
drain the water and add  the chillies , along with all of the other ingredients except oil into a blender and blend until mixed and crushed well. It should be a semi smooth paste .
Heat oil in a nonstick pan and add the ground paste and cook stirring in between until the sauce is thick and the oil starts showing on the sides of the pan.
Cool and store in the refrigerator . You can keep this for more than a month without getting spoilt.

For the Pad Thai Sauce :
Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil .
Boil for 5 minutes and taste - Depending on the concentration of the ingredients you use , adjust the sour,salty,spicy  and sweet flavor.
The sauce should be equally sweet, sour ,spicy and salty .
Cool and store in refrigerator for 3-4 weeks and use as needed.

To make Pad Thai:
Soak the rice noodles in slightly hot water (not boiling but comfortably hot water) for 5 minutes . drain and keep aside and use for cooking immediately.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large wok or frying pan . Add the garlic and stir-fry until golden brown. Add the shrimp and stir , Now add 2 tbsp of the pad thai sauce keep stirring until the shrimp changes color (Approximately  3 minutes on high heat). Remove the shrimp to prevent overcooking and set aside.
Add the remaining oil to the same wok and add the onion and mushroom and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Now add the noodles. They will stick together so stir fast and try to separate them. sprinkle a bit of  water, stirring a few times. Now add the 5 tbsp Pad Thai sauce, and keep stirring until everything is thoroughly mixed. taste and add more pad thai sauce if required .The noodles should appear soft and moist. Return the cooked shrimp and garlic mixture to the wok.
Push the contents of the wok up around the sides to make room to fry the eggs. If the pan is very dry, add 1 more tablespoon of oil. Add the eggs and spread the noodles over the eggs to cover. When the eggs are cooked, stir the noodles until everything is well mixed. Add the spring Onions and stir . Turn the flame off. Garnish with crushed peanuts, corriander leaves and bean sprouts. Serve hot with a slice of lime .

Chicken Satay

Satay or sate is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meats, served with various dipping sauces.It is usually made of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish or tofu.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast - 3 sections (from 1 whole chicken and 1/2 of 1) sliced into long thin pieces ; To get perfect pieces freeze the chicken breast for 30 minutes and slice when it is very cold/semi frozen.
2. Wooden skewers - 20 soaked in water for 30 minutes.
3. Shallots - 2
4. Garlic - 4 cloves
5. Lemon grass - 2 tbsp chopped (I used lemon grass shrimp paste since I did not have fresh lemongrass)
6. Red chillies - 3
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
8. Galangal - 2 tsp chopped
9. Cumin - a pinch
10. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
11. Fish sauce - 3 tbsp
12. Brown sugar - 3 tbsp
13. Oil - 2 tbsp
14. Spring onion - 1 chopped
15. Soy sauce - 2 tbsp

Method:
Add all ingredients other than chicken and bamboo skewers into a food processor and process until it is blended to a smooth paste.
Add washed and drained chicken pieces into the paste and marinate in the refrigerator for couple of hours of overnight.
An hour before you are ready to cook the Satay squeeze a tsp of lime juice on the chicken and mix well.
Thread the chicken on to the bamboo skewers and discard the excess marinade.
Grill or saute the satay until it is cooked. About 5 minutes.Take care not to overcook the chicken as it will turn dry.
To saute to a pan - heat a cast iron skillet on medium high and smear some oil on it.
Place the skewers on the skillet and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes ,Turn over and cook the other side.
Serve with Sliced cucumber, onion, green chillies and dipping sauces.

Shrimp with Chilly and Garlic

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp - 15 medium large (shelled , de-veined ,washed and pat dry)
2. Shrimp stock** - 1/2 cup
3. Shallots - 2 sliced
4. Green chillies - 5 sliced
5. Garlic - 5 cloves shopped fine
6. Ginger - 1/4 inch piece sliced into thin strips
7. Red bell pepper - 1/4 of a whole sliced
8. Spring onion - 1 stalk sliced
9. Fish sauce - 1 tbsp
10. Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
11. Thai chilly garlic sauce - 1 tsp (you can substitute with crushed dry red pepper and 1/2 tsp of vinegar)
12. Lemon grass - 2 inch piece
13. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Add oil to a frying pan and heat it.
Add in the chopped Garlic and ginger and stir fry for a minute.
Add in the shrimp ,sprinkle half of the fish sauce and chilly garlic sauce and cook on high heat for 3 minutes until the shrimp start picking some color. Remove the shrimp from the pan and reserve .
In the same pan add the chopped shallots,bell pepper, green chillies, spring onion and lemon grass and stir fry for 2 minutes - Do not overcook the veggies , they should retain a nice crunch.
Pour in the shrimp stock,soy sauce,fish sauce and chilly garlic sauce and bring to a boil.Add in the reserved shrimp and cook for a minute more.
Serve immediately over Jasmine rice.

**NOTE : to make the shrimp stock wash the shell of the shrimp and add to a saucepan and cover with water , add in a piece of lemon grass and ginger and bring to a boil.Simmer for 10 minutes and strain the broth and use as a stock for soups or gravies.

Rad Na noodles

Lad Na or Rad Na is a Thai Noodle gravy dish .I have seen this dish named both ways.It has to be served hot as soon as you make it.It is really awesome served fresh and it is awful if you refrigerate leftovers and reheat it later.The noodles absorbs all the gravy and becomes a big sticky mess.

Ingredients:

1. wide rice noodles - 1/2 pack (8 oz)
2. vegetable oil - 4 tbsp
3. soy sauce - 1 tbsp
4. Pork or Chicken cut into thin slices - 1 cup
5. Corn flour - 3 tbsp
6. Sambal olek - 1 tsp
7. Chopped garlic - 1 tbsp
8. Chicken stock - 2 cups
9. fish sauce - 1 tsp
10. oyster sauce - 1 tsp
11. Sugar - 1 tsp
12. Spring onion - 2 stalks cut on a bias

Method:
Soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes then rinse well in cold water. Add noodles to a pot of boiling water and boil for 1 minute, then rinse in cold water again, and set aside.Rinsing removes most of the starch and helps make the dish less sticky.
Mix the chicken/Pork with 1 tablespoon cornflour and 1/2 tsp sambal olek and keep for 10 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, separate the noodles and toss thoroughly with 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 of the soy sauce.
Heat oil in a nonstick pan and fry the garlic until it is light golden.Add in the Chicken and stir fry on high heat until it is cooked(about 5 minutes).
Add in the remaining soy sauce and chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
Season with fish sauce ,oyster sauce ,sugar and more soy sauce if necessary.
Mix the remaining cornflour with water and pour this into the boiling mixture and simmer until it thickens slightly.Remove from Heat and keep warm.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a nonstick pan and add in the noodles and stir fry until some of the noodles get crisp(5 minutes on high heat).
Arrange the fried noodles on a serving plate, spoon the gravy over the noodles.Garnish with spring onions and extra sambal olek if desired.Serve immediately.

Sambal Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp - 2 lbs cleaned and deveined with tail left on.
2. Sambal Olek(Thai chilly garlic sauce) - 2 tsp
3. fish sauce - 2 tsp
4. Soy sauce - 1 tsp
5. Sugar - 1/2 tsp
6. Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Marinate the shrimp in a mixture of sambal olek, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
Heat Oil in a frying pan until it is very hot .
Shallow fry the shrimp on high heat turning once for a total of 5 minutes .
Serve hot.

Stirfried chicken with ground chili & fried garlic

Last week while browsing the Asian Aisle of the grocery store I picked up a bottle of ground chilly with Fried garlic paste.The ingredients listed were - roasted ground Chile, fried garlic, soya bean oil, sugar, salt, Chile oil, shrimp paste, tomato paste.

Ingredients :

1. Chicken breast - 2 cut into think pieces
2. Spring onion - 2 stalks cut at an angle
3. Dried mushroom - 4 pieces soaked and cut
4. mushroom - 4 cut into 4
5. Onion - 1 cut into medium size
6. Thai basil - 1/2 cup leaves
7. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece cut into matchsticks
8. Garlic - 4 cloves sliced thin
9. Oil - 1 tbsp
10. Green chillies - 2 cut at a diagonal
11. Fish sauce - to taste(use instead of salt)
12. Ground chilly and fried garlic paste - 2.5 tbsp

Method:
Heat oil in a non stick frying pan and add the ginger and garlic and saute until lightly browned.]
Add in the chicken pieces and a tbsp of fish sauce and stir fry until the chicken is 3/4 th cooked (for 5 minutes)
Add in the dried mushroom and stir fry for a minute.
Add in the onion, mushroom , spring onion and green chillies and the chilly garlic paste and stir fry for 3 minutes.
Add more fish sauce as needed to adjust salt.
Add in the Thai basil leaves and stir well.
Turn the flame off. Serve with White rice

Green Curry Chicken with Thai Eggplant

The authentic Thai Green curry is not made this way . The ingredients are almost the same ,but the chicken and veggies are not stir fried but rather cooked in the coconut milk . I prefer marinating and stir frying the chicken prior to cooking it in coconut milk since it adds a nice flavour to the meat itself.

Thai Eggplants are similar to Asian eggplants,They are much smaller in size. The tender ones are kind of sweet tasting and the seeds are not bitter . Texture wise I feel they hold up better without getting too mushy .I am going to try them out in other recipes too.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast cut into cubes - 2 pieces(from 1 chicken)
2. Green Curry paste - 4 tbsp (Use the ready made green curry paste or make your own)
3. Coconut milk - 1.5 cups
4. Fish sauce - to taste
5. Sambal olek(red chilly sauce) - 1 tsp
6. Thai eggplant - 5
7. Vegetables(optional) - baby corn,Snow peas,bamboo shoot,straw mushroom, tomato etc (I used baby corn , snow peas and tomato)
8. Onion - 1 cut into big chunks
9. Green chillies - 3 cut at an angle
10. Thai Basil - 1/2 cup

For the green curry paste blend together the following ingredients- You can freeze the leftover paste and use as needed.

1. Lemon grass - 1 stalk
2. Cilantro stems,leaves and roots washed well - 1 bunch
3. Toasted coriander seeds or Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
4. Ginger - a small piece
5. garlic - 5 cloves
6. Shallots - 3
7. Green chillies - 4
8. Shrimp paste - 1 tsp
9. Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
10. Fish Sauce - 2 tbsp
11. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Marinate the chicken in a tsp of fish sauce and sambal olek and keep aside.
Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil and stir fry the chicken pieces on a high heat for 2 minutes and set aside.
Add 1 tsp oil to the same pan and saute the green curry paste until the raw smell goes.
Add in the cubed Thai egg plants and mix well.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add in the tomato,baby corn and snow peas and stir for a minute.
Add the chicken pieces back into the vegetable mix and stir fry for another minute.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Adjust seasoning by adding more fish sauce for saltiness,a pinch of sugar if you like it balanced,squeeze of lime juice for tartness.
Add in the green chillies and Thai basil . Turn the flame off.
Serve with rice.

Shrimp Lemongrass Soup

Thai Lemongrass Shrimp Soup traditionally known as Tom Yum is a light flavourful soup. It can be made with chicken or Shrimp or as a combination.I used the ready made Tom yum soup paste since I could not find fresh Galangal or kaffir lime leaves which are essential ingredients for this soup.

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp - 1 lb cleaned and deveined (I left the tail on)
2. Lime juice - to taste
3. Fish Sauce - to taste
4. Birds eye chillies - 2 chopped
5. Lemon grass - 1 stalk
6. shrimp stock - 5 cups(you could use chicken stock instead)
7. cilantro - 2 tbsp leaves and stems
8. mushrooms - 1/2 cup
9. tomatoes - 1 medium cut into cubes
10. tom yum soup paste - 2 tsp

Method:
to make the shrimp stock reserve the shell and heads of the shrimp and boil it with 6 or 7 cups of water and lemongrass for 20 minutes. Strain and reserve.
Marinate the shrimp with 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp of minced green chilies, and 1 tsp of minced lemongrass for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and saute the shrimp for 3 minutes until it is just cooked - reserve the shrimp .
Add the shrimp stock to the pan in which you sauteed the shrimp and add in the tom yum paste and bring to a boil.
Add lime juice and fish sauce to taste.
Add in the mushrooms,tomatoes ,cilantro leaves,chillies,and spring onions and the sauteed shrimp.
Bring to a simmer and turn the flame off.
Serve hot with extra lime juice,fish sauce and cilantro .

Fish cakes with a Thai twist

Salmon is considered to be healthy due to the fish's high protein, high Omega-3 fatty acids, and high vitamin D content .A 4 oz serving of wild salmon provides a full day’s requirement of vitamin D. That same serving contains over half of the necessary B12, niacin, and selenium, and is an excellent source of B6 and magnesium. Canned salmon also contains large amounts of calcium (due to the bones of the fish).

Omega-3 fats seem to primarily work through reducing inflammation in our bodies. Inflammation is turning out to be at the base of many health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancers and arthritis. Omega-3’s also help prevent the blood clots which cause many strokes.

With all this said we are not too fond of Salmon when it is prepared in the traditional Indian way .To include it in our diet it is usually made into cutlets or sometimes baked/Broiled.This is kind of a healthier version of cutlets .In cutlets we use eggs, bread crumbs and then deep fry the patties. Here no eggs,no breadcrumbs, very little potato and very little oil is used.

Spinach is never added to fish cakes , I was not in a mood to stir fry the spinach for a side dish so just added it in.It tasted good and was very colourful too.Since we add very little potato as a binder the fishcakes break easily so they need to be handled with care.

Ingredients:

1. Canned Atlantic salmon - 1 14 oz can(you could use fresh or canned any variety of cooked fish)
2. Red skin potatoes - 2 small (scrubbed cut and cooked in the microwave with skin on)
3. Shallots - 4 sliced thin
4. Spring Onions - 4 stalks cut fine
5. Garlic - 4 cloves crushed and chopped fine
6. ginger - 1/4 th tsp chopped
7. Green chillies - 2 chopped fine
8. Sambal olek - 1 tsp
9. Fish sauce - 1.5 tsp
10. Soy sauce - 1.5tsp
11. Oil - 2 tbsp
12. Chinese spinach - 2 hand fulls (optional - I had some leftover so added it)

Method:
Drain the salmon and leave it in big chunks.
Mash the potatoes with a fork and keep aside.
Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil in a pan and saute the slices shallots,garlic,ginger,green chillies and spring onions with .5 tsp of fish sauce and sou sauce each.
Add in the cut spinach and cook on high flame until the spinach wilts and the water is gone.
Mix this with the mashed potato.
Add the remaining fish sauce, Soy sauce and sambal olek and incorporate with your hands.
Fold in the flaked fish and form into patties and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wide flat non stick pan and saute the fish cakes until they turn brown on the outside .Turn and saute the other side.
Serve with salad or as a sandwich.

Chicken with lemongrass and Thai Basil

Ingredients:

1. Boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs - 4 pieces cut into thin strips
2. Lemon grass - 1 stalk cut into inch long pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
3. Thai Basil - 1 cup packed
4. Garlic - 5 cloves sliced thin
5. Onion - 2 cut into thick slices
6. Green chillies - 8 cut at an angle
7. Spring Onions - 5 stalks sliced at an angle
8. Mushroom - 1 cup optional(I used enoki)
9. Oil - 2 tbsp

For the sauce -mix together

1. Fermented black bean - 1 tbsp
2. Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
3. Fish sauce - 1 tbsp
4. Sambal Olek - 1 tbsp
5. Sugar - 1 tsp
6. vinegar - 1 tsp

Method:

Heat oil in a large frying pan and add in the sliced garlic and lemon grass and saute for a minute.

Add in the sliced chicken pieces and 4 tbsp of the sauce mix and stirfry on high heat for 5 minutes until the chicken is almost cooked.

Add in the Onion,spring onion, mushroom and half of the green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.

Taste for salt and sourness and add the sauce mixture as needed.

Add in 1/4 th cup of water and bring to a simmer .

Add in the thai basil leaves and remaining green chillies and stir well.

Turn off the flame and serve with white rice.

Pork with chilly and Thai Basil

Ingredients:

1. Lean pork cut into thin strips - 250 gms (roughly 1.5 cups)
2. Red bell pepper - 1/2 of one cut into strips
3. Onion - 1 medium cut into thick slices
4. Thai Basil leaves - 1 hand full tear into pieces if the leaves are big.
5. Green and red chillies - 6 cut at an angle
6. Spring onions - 2 stalks cut at an angle
7. Dried wood ear mushroom - 5 soaked in water and cut into pieces(optional)
8. Ginger - 1/2 inch piece cut into thin slivers
9. Garlic - 5 cloves sliced thin
10. Lime juice or vinegar - 2 tsp
11. Fish sauce - 2 tbsp
12. Soy sauce - 2 tsp
13. Sugar - 1/2 tsp
14. sambal olek/red chilly paste - 1/2 tsp
15. Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Soak the wood ear mushroom in warm water for 30 minutes - wash well and cut into bite sized pieces.
Mix together the fish sauce,soy sauce,vinegar, sugar and sambal olek and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil, add pork and 2 tsp of the sauce mix and stir-fry over a high heat until lightly browned.remove the pork and keep aside.
Add remaining oil in same pan and add the sliced ginger and garlic until it starts turning light brown.
Add in the Onions,bell peppers and soaked mushroom and half of the spring onion and stir fry for 2 minutes - do not over cook the veggies ,they should retain the colour and crunch.
Add in the stir fried pork and the rest of the sauce mixture plus 1/4'th cup of stock or water and bring to a simmer .
Add the Holy basil and stir for a minute and turn the flame off.
Serve with white rice.