Chicken and Tomato Curry

This reminds me of home-cooked food. The kind of food I grew up eating. Salan, chawal, daal, biryani, kabab, pulao. In other words, desi khana. I don't cook subcontinental food that much because I often want to try making things I haven't eaten a lot while growing up. New, different food- unchartered territory; and so I submerged myself into the world of risotto, tofu, pastry, and mousse. But ever so often, it's nice to go back to your roots and eat something which reminds you of your childhood- and to add a little something of your own in it. Whenever I do cook desi food (or subcontinental food for all of you who don't know what desi is), I thoroughly enjoy it. I find it extremely simple to prepare (maybe that's because I'm half Pakistani) and the house ends up smelling wonderful. I never, ever get that aromatic smell when I cook other dishes such as Italian, Chinese, Mexican, or Thai.

And so here is the extremely simple chicken tomato curry I made today. You can serve it with rice, or naan, or just on its own really (which is what I did). It's a curry without the whole swimming in gravy thing going on. It's moist and will do wonderfully to mix with rice but is fine enough to eat on its own.

Ingredients
6tbsp peanut oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 green capsicum, chopped finely
2 tsp cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 can diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
350g chicken mince
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
600ml chicken stock

Procedure
Heat half the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and capsicum and stir until softened. Add the bay leaves, cardamom pods, and cumin seeds and stir until fragrant. Season. Add the diced tomatoes and stir on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the garlic cloves in a separate saucepan with the remaining oil. Add the chicken and spices and stir continuously, breaking up any lumps. Cook for around 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken mixture to saucepan with tomato mixture and add chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 45 minutes, covered.

Mini Chicken Quesadillas

These are the tiniest little quesadillas ever- they're bite-sized and fit comfortably in your fingers. And that makes them super-dangerous: you can eat the whole plate and not even realize it. They look like food for dolls- tiny little miniatures you'd find in a dollhouse..

They're also super simple to prepare and if you don't like the miniature size, you can just make them large, normal-sized quesadillas. You get about 35 pieces of minis.

Ingredients
7 flour tortilla wraps
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin powder
450g chicken mince
400g can chopped tomatoes
100g cheddar cheese, grated

Procedure
Using a 3cm cookie cutter, cut out rounds from each tortilla wrap. One regular sized tortilla yields around five mini circles. Place them on to baking trays.
Heat half the olive oil in a pot and cook the onion and capsicum until onion has softened. Then, add the garlic cloves and spices and cook for two minutes, until fragrant. Add the chicken mince and the remaining oil and cook for 8 minutes until browned. Break up any lumps. Add the can chopped tomatoes and bring to simmer for around 20 minutes.
Spread one teaspoon of the chicken mixture on half of each round. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of each round covering all sides.
Bake in a 180C oven until cheese melts. Once melted, remove trays from oven and fold over to create a quesadilla.. the melted cheese will hold the whole thing together. 


ENJOY.

My friend demonstrating how tiny the quesadilla is. 

Grilled Chicken Burgers with Caramelized Onion

Very simple. Most of this dish is just assembling to be honest. And it's so good for you. It ticks all the boxes: vegetables, carbohydrates, protein, good fat (olive oil)...

You can omit the cheese and mayo if you want to make this healthier.

Ingredients
4 hamburger buns
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons water
500g chicken mince, seasoned
4 Boston lettuce leaves
4 slices of tomato
4 dill pickles, sliced
Mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard

Procedure
Slice open the hamburger buns and toast them cut side down on a heated but not oiled grilled plate.
Remove and set aside.
Shape the seasoned chicken mince into four, not too thick (otherwise they won't cook that well on the inside while burning on the outside), patties. Grease the grill plate with half the olive oil and cook the patties until cooked through... around 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a pan and fry the sliced onions. Once they're cooked, add the balsamic vinegar, water, and brown sugar. Stir until onion caramelizes.
Arrange one lettuce leaf and one slice of tomato on each bottom half of hamburger bun. Top with cooked chicken patty, and pile the sliced dill pickles and caramelized onion on top. Spread mayonnaise on top half of the bun and place over the burger. Serve with mayonnaise and ketchup.