Green Papaya Salad

Green papaya salad is healthy and tastes hot, sweet and sour equally, includes the crunch of peanuts.




Ingredients:

• Grated raw papaya- 1 cup
• Garlic cloves- 4
• Grated ginger- ½ tbsp
• Green or red chilli – 1 to 2 as per your choice
• Chili flex- 1 tsp
• Grated jaggery or brown sugar- 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice- 1 ½ tbsp
• Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
• Sesame oil- 1 tsp (optional)
• Tomato- 1
• Cucumber- 1 small (optional)
• Peanuts, roasted, peeled & crushed- 2 tbsp
• Chopped fresh coriander, finely chopped- 2 tbsp
• Sea salt- to taste
• Microwave roasted Beaten Rice square papdam (Pohyache Mirgund)- 10 (optional:my addition)

Method:

• Peel the papaya and grate with the help of big hole grater and soak in ice cold water. 
• Remove seeds of tomato and cut julienne.
• Peel and chop the cucumber.
• In a mortar, lightly pound the garlic, add the chilies, ginger, salt and lightly pound again. 
• Add the jaggery, lemon juice, soy sauce, pound to a paste.
• Add the roasted peanuts and lightly pound while stirring once in a while with a spoon to prevent the paste from thickening. 
• Add the tomato julienne and lightly pound and mix with spoon again. 
• Add the shredded papaya and chopped cucumber, lightly pound and stir until all the ingredients have combined well. 
• Arrange on a serving dish and garnish with crushed peanuts, chilli flex, julienne of ginger and coriander. Serve chilled with microwave roasted Beaten Rice square papdam (Pohyache Mirgund).

Notes:

• Thai mortar and pestle is made from wood or clay. But we Indians mostly have metal or stone mortar and pestle. There is one trick...we can use wooden roti press or belan instead of wooden or earthen pestle. Thus we can pound softly.
• Don’t pound too much as it will become a pasty salad. The juliennes should hold shape while combining with the rest of the ingredients. 
• If you do not have a mortar, just crush garlic, chillis and add them to a bowl. Add the soya sauce, lemon juice and jaggery followed by green papaya, cucumber and tomato juliennes along with roasted peanuts and combine well with hands by crushing.

Variations:

• You can also add some raw mango juliennes, grated carrots or bean sprouts for variation.
• You can add 1 tbsp tamarind pulp, if you are not using raw mango and you like to eat sourer. But do balance with soy sauce.
• Thai people use Shrimp paste in this salad. There is one trick...we can use dried shrimp/prawns (sode). Wash sode and saute in little oil. Grind into paste with salt.
• You can add fried baby shrimp or cubed fried tofu.
• You can use fish sauce instead of soy sauce & lemon juice.
• You can use honey instead of jaggery.

Chicken Pad Thai Noodles

Pad Thai is a Thai style universally liked stir fried noodle dish.  

Ingredients:

• Flat rice noodles- 200 gm
• Thick tamarind pulp- 2 tsp
• Brown sugar or jaggery- ½ tsp
• Red chilli-garlic paste or sambal- 1 tbsp or as per your taste
• Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
• Fish sauce - 1 tsp (optional)
• Boneless chicken small cubes- 100 gm
• Egg- 1
• Spring onion with greens, chopped- 1 cup 
• Capsicum, julienne- 1 cup
• Carrot, julienne-  ½  cup
• Cabbage, julienne-1 cup
• Peanuts,roasted & pounded - 2 tbsp
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped- 2 tbsp
• Chilii powder- 1 tsp
• Salt and pepper- to taste
• Oil- 3 to 4 tbsp  

Method:

• Boil noodles. (follow the instructions on the pack) Drain and keep aside.
• Marinate the chicken cubes with chilii powder, salt and pepper for min 30 mins. 
• Chop all veggies as mentioned. 
• Heat some oil in a wok and fry chicken cubes till cooked. Put out from wok and keep aside.
• Heat some oil in a same wok, add beaten egg. Add salt & pepper to taste. Stir immediately. Make it scrambled. Put out from wok and keep aside.
• In a same wok, heat oil. Add carrot, saute for a minute.
• Add capsicum, saute for a minute.
• Add onion, saute for a minute.
• Add cabbage, saute for a minute.
• Add chilli-garlic paste, soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper. Give a nice stir.
• Add chicken cubes and noodles. Toss nicely.
• Add brown sugar, toss again.
• Add scrambled egg, chopped coriander. Toss again.
• Garnish with crushed peanuts, coriander and serve with sliced lemon.

You can use prawns or mushrooms instead of chicken or along with chicken.

Singapore Rice Noodles

This recipe has flavors of Singapore style cooking which is a melting pot of many cooking styles, cultures and flavors. So must try it once.......

Serve: 4

Ingredients:

• Fine rice noodles- 200 gm (1 package) 
• Eggs- 2 (optional)
• Curry powder- 4 tsp (add more if you like)
• Chili flex- 2 to 4 tsp
• Ginger, minced- 2 tbsp
• Garlic cloves, minced- 6
• Soy sauce- 3 tbsp
• Apple cider vinegar- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (in origin recipe they used dry sherry)
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¼ inch julienne- ½ cup to 1 cup (optional)
• Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Carrot, julienne- 1 cup
• Bean sprouts- ½ cup (optional)
• Mushrooms, sliced- 6
• Green bell pepper (capsicum), julienne- 1 large size
• Spring onion (white bulb only), sliced lengthwise- 12 
• Cabbage, shredded- 2 cups
• Broccoli florets- 8 (optional)
• Chicken or vegetable stalk- ¼ cup (or use 2 tbsp of water)
• Peanut oil or vegetable oil- around 5 to 6 tbsp
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cut and marinate chicken with salt, pepper, ginger-garlic paste, pinch of curry powder and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar for 1-2 hours.  

Boil water with pinch of salt in a a large pot.  
To cook rice noodles, soak them in boiling hot water for 2 minutes or as the instructions on the package specify. 

Drain the water and immerse in cold water. (Let the noodle air-dry and firm up in a colander for at least 30 minutes or as long as 2 to 3 hours; toss occasionally.)

When you are ready to prepare the dish, whisk together the eggs, pinch of curry powder, salt and pepper until blended.
Pour 1 tbsp of the peanut or vegetable oil into a heavy skillet or non stick wok set over moderately high heat.
Pour in the egg mixture and immediately reduce the heat to low.
Scramble the eggs until just set; turn out onto a plate and reserve.

Return the wok to moderately high heat and pour in 2-3 tsp of the oil.
Add the chicken and stir fry until just cooked, about 1-2 minute.
Remove and reserve in a small bowl.

Place a large wok over high heat. Add 4 tbsp of the oil.
Add the ginger, garlic, chilies, spring onion whites and the remaining curry powder.
Stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the broccoli, bean sprouts, carrots, capsicum, mushrooms, cabbage, soy sauce, apple sider vinegar and salt and sauté for some time till the vegetables soften. 

Pour chicken or vegetable stalk as required. bring to boil it.

Add the rice noodles, chicken, scrambled egg and chilli flex mixed with the other ingredients and toss well over a high flame.

Spoon out into a serving plate and garnish with green spring onion. 

Serve immediately.

Variations:

• Avoid chicken and eggs, make this dish vegetarian. 
• Instead of chicken you may add soya chunks or tofu.
• You can add your choice of other vegetables. 
• You can add prawns in this dish as original recipe. 
• Increase chili flexes or add chili sambal (chili paste) to make more spicy. 

Recipe source: chinese.food.com and bbc.co.uk

Oriental Style Curry Powder

This easy recipe for Homemade "Curry Powder" creates Southeast-Asian dishes........but I think we may use as "Garam Masala". In egg curry, it tastes awesome.  

Ingredients:

• Coriander seeds- 4 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 2 tsp
• Whole black peppercorn- 1 tsp
• Cloves- 3
• Black or green cardamom- 2 (take only seeds)
• Cinnamon stick- ½ inch
• Turmeric powder- 2 tsp
• Dried ginger powder (sunth)- ¼  tsp
• Red chili powder- 1 tsp

Method:

• Combine all ingredients and grind them into smooth powder.
• Store this spice mixture in airtight container in cool dry place.

In which dishes this Curry Powder is used ?

This curry powder used in Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean and also in some Chinese & Japanese dishes.
Curry powder is used to flavor soups and stews, and is great for adding a kick to all kinds of sauces and marinades, as well as meatloaf and burgers, and chicken, tuna, pasta and potato salads.

Origin: 
"Curry powder" as we know it was a British invention, not an Indian one, intended to capture the flavor of Indian cooking without the painstaking effort of custom-blending, roasting and grinding spices for every dish prepared. And even more strangely, most curry powder doesn't even contain curry leaves! Curry became a great favorite in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century, and its popularity soon spread to southeast Asia with British empire.

Now Curry is a key element of South and Southeast Asian, Caribbean, Japanese, English and Australian cooking.

Recipe from this curry powder: Singapore Rice Noodles

Information Source: allrecipes.com

Recipe Source: food.com 

I send this recipe for Dipti's event. 

Malaysian Style Spicy Noodles

ही पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून 

Ingredients:

Hakka noodles, boiled- 1 pack (200 gm)

Boiled soya chunks- 1 cup

Sesame oil or regular oil- 4 tbsp

Garlic cloves, minced- 4

Red fresh chilies, sliced- 2

Cabbage, half inch thick strips- 1 cup

Capsicum, julienne- ½ cup

Chili garlic sauce or red chili- garlic paste (or sambal oelek)- 2 to 3 tbsp

Fresh lime juice- 2 tbsp

Sweet bean sauce- 2 tbsp or jaggery syrup- 1 tsp

Soy sauce- 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds,

stirring constantly.

Add soya chunks, cabbage, capsicum, red chili slices and salt; cook 2-3

minutes, stirring frequently on high flame.

Combine remaining ingredients, stir well. Add noodles, toss to combine.

Reduce heat, and cook 3-4 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve

immediately.

Instead of soya chunks, you can use tofu, mushrooms, chicken or

shrimps.

In real dish, Malay used bok choy instead of cabbage and capsicum.

I adopted this recipe from My Recipes. com

Thai Noodles

Thai noodles are sweet and sour and spicy also.

These noodles are very different than Chinese noodles in taste.

ही पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून….इथे क्लिक करा.

Ingredients:

• Hakka Noodles- 1 packet of 200 gm 
• Julienne Green bell pepper/capsicum - ½ cup
• Julienne Baby Corns- ½ cup
• Julienne Carrot- ¼ cup
• Mushrooms, sliced - ½ cup
• Julienne Onion- ½ cup
• Finely chopped Garlic- 1 tbsp
• Finely chopped Ginger- 1 tbsp
• Peanut oil-  4-5 tbsp
• Crushed roasted peanuts-  ¼ cup
• Tamarind pulp- 1 tsp (add ¼ tsp of jaggery in the pulp)
• Barbecue sauce- 1 tbsp (optional) 
• Red chili sauce or Red chili paste or Sambal - 2 tsp
• Soy sauce- 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Thai sweet chili sauce - for garnishing (optional)
• Chopped coriander- ¼ cup  for garnishing

Method:

• Boil the noodles as per the instructions.
• Heat oil in a wok. Add chopped ginger, garlic and onions and stir-fry for a minute.
• Add  all the veggies and stir-fry for two minutes, toss continuously. 
• Add all sauces & salt. Mix well and sauté for a minute.
• Add noodles and sauté  on high heat for a couple of minutes or until the noodles are heated through, tossing continuously.
• Mix well and serve hot garnished with roasted peanuts and coriander.

Tips:

• Thai barbecue sauce includes oyster sauce, peanut sauce, tamarind etc. it’s smoky  & little bit sweet.
• You can use chicken, tofu, bean sprouts or other Chinese vegetables.
• Mostly shrimps use in Thai pad noodles. 
• Originally rice noodles use for Thai pad noodles, but they available only in super markets & they are costly too. Not too much difference in taste.

Red Chili Sambal / Sambal Oelek (Malaysian Chutney/Hot Chili Garlic Sauce)

A staple in Malaysian and Thai cooking. Oelek means grinding so sambal oelek means ground chili sambal! 

ही पाककृती वाचा मराठीतून........

Ingredients:
Fresh red chilies, sliced- 10 (You can remove the seeds, if you don't like more spicy.) 
Ginger, sliced – 1 inch 
Garlic, peeled- 10 cloves
Onion, chopped- 1 to 3 
Oil- 4 tbsp 
Lime juice- 4 tbsp 
Sugar- 2 tsp 
Salt- 2 tsp or to taste

Suddenly I got these chilies in our local market. They were not costly even...just Rs. 60 per kg. Immediately I bought these lovely red beauty. I didn't idea, how to use? I experimented with these chilies  I made pasta, stir-fry and sambal with these beauty. 

Method:
Grind ginger, chilies  shallots & garlic in a chopper to a paste. Add a little oil if needed to keep the blades working. 

Heat the oil in a wok and stir the paste over medium heat until the oil separates from the paste. 

Add lime juice and season with the sugar & salt. Then saute for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer into a bowl.
Sambal  keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks, more in deep freeze.

Eating Suggestions:
Eat with fried tofu, fried rice, fish, vegetable, boiled egg or any chips.
Use as chili garlic sauce. Use in stir-fry dishes.

It can be used in asian dishes as well as mexican... 

For a spicy dip....Combine 1/2 cup plain yogurt with 1 tbsp sambal oelek. Delicious also in sandwiches and burgers.

I adopted this recipe from Cupid's Kitchen. I did some changes in original recipe as per our Indian taste. This chilies are hot and spicy but not hottest. These are not Thai chilies which are specially used in Sambal and they are more spicy.

Shallots (Madrasi Onion) are small, so I used onion only one in my recipe. you can use more.