Crunchy Oats Chicken with Sweet and Sour dip

I happened to leaf through the pages of my diary and came across this recipe taking me back to my PG days in Bangalore. With a lot of time in hand, nothing better to do and whenever I managed to overcome my lazy mode, I stepped into the kitchen for my adventures. Crunchy Oats Chicken was the result of one of these adventures.My friends and I spent quite a time debating on what the name of the dish should be. Chinese Oats Chicken we named it, is what the diary entry says! And one day we said, we will all look into this recipe journal and cook for our husbands'.

Well my Mr. Husband did not find the name catchy enough and we renamed it to Crunchy Oats Chicken.

So here we have the Crunchy Oats Chicken and a dip that goes along. A quick recipe -even your kids will enjoy, it is only mildly spiced with a sweet and sour dip.

Ingredients for the sweet and sour dip

1. Tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
2. Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
3. Honey - 2 tbsp
4. Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped
5. Ginger - 1 tbsp chopped
6. Onions - 3 tbsp chopped
7. Green chilly - 1 chopped and crushed
8. Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
9. Spring onions - 1 tbsp
10. Water - 1/4 cup

Method

Heat olive oil in a skillet and fry the onions, garlic, ginger and  green chilly until cooked.

Mix the soya sauce, tomato sauce and honey in 1/4 cup water. Add this to the skillet and switch off the flame. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with spring onions

Ingredients for Crunchy Oats Chicken

1. Chicken - 400 gms
2. Egg - 1 no.
3. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
4. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
5. Soya Sauce - 1 tsp
6. Kashmiri Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Salt - as required
8. Oats - 1 cup
9. Oil

Method

Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces. I used the pieces with less bones for this recipe.

Marinate the chicken pepper powder, chilly powder, ginger garlic paste , soya sauce, salt and 1 beaten egg. Leave it covered for half an hour to 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Roll the chicken in oats and coat it completely. 

Heat oil in a skillet and fry the chicken. You may choose to shallow fry or deep fry it. I, generally prefer shallow frying to reduce the oil usage.

Transfer the fried chicken to a plate and serve along with the dip. Don't let it go cold, eat it hot and juicy!

Chicken Sukka

I am back from my vacation !
3 beautiful weeks and so many memories - just the perfect start. A new year and a lot more resolutions. A growing vigor and enthusiasm to do a lot more this year. While I ponder on where my resolutions and vigor takes me why don't you guys go ahead and catch my latest recipe.

Chicken Sukka - a Mangalorean style chicken preparation that uses plenty of coconut and quite a bit of spices - name it and you have it. The dish goes along well with dosa, neeru dosa, sanna, chapatti to name a few.

So here is the recipe - straight out of my akka's kitchen.

Ingredients

For the masala - (you can choose to make the masala and refrigerate it. Lasts for 4-5 months.

1. Kashmiri Chilly - 50 gms
2. Pepper Corns - 2 to 3 tbsp
3. Coriander seeds - 2 to 3 tbsp
4. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
6. Fenugreek Seeds - a pinch
7. Ajwain - a pinch
8. Turmeric Powder - a pinch
9. Garlic - 2 pods

For the dish

• Chicken - 1 kg cut into small pieces
• Coconut grated - 1 whole coconut
• Curry Leaf - 2 sprigs
• Onion - 2 medium chopped
• Tomato - 1 small chopped
• Tamarind - 1 lemon sized
• Oil
• Coriander leaves - a handful

Preparation

Dry fry each of the ingredients from 1 to 3 separately and fry the ingredients from 4 to 7 together.

In a grinder, powder all the ingredients mentioned above together and keep aside.

Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup of water for about 5 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and sieve the tamarind water. Set it aside. Pour little oil into a skillet and saute the onion and tomato. Once the onion is translucent, add the curry leaves along with the chicken. Sprinkle salt, mix it well and let the chicken cook till it is half done. Now add the grated coconut and the tamarind water. Mix on high flame and add the ground masala. Mix it well and finally add the ground masala. 

Keep it covered on medium flame till the chicken is cooked and the masala has set in well. Garnish with coriander leaf and serve hot.