Chicken Masala Roast with Soya sauce #Thanksgiving #Christmas #New Year

These days I have to admit are particularly hard for me to blog. Not because I am extremely busy but instead not too fine and dandy. I miss my Mum a lot and Christmas is a time to spend with family. These last 3 years Mum did not have Christmas celebrated at our ancestral home as 2012 we had lost my dad's youngest bro and 2013 Mum's youngest bro passed away. 2014 we lost our grandma (Dad's mom) and this year Mum was taken by Our Lord. So it is particularly hard this year as not only did I lose Mum but we didn't spend Christmas together for 4 years now.

Growing up Mum always designed our Christmas celebrations perfectly. I remember our childhood Christmases and there is not one thing I would change about it. Mum's roasts were raved about all year through be it her Turkey roasts over Christmas or all year through with our healthy Chicken roasts. Bliss! I am sure all our relatives who have attended our Christmas parties or any party thrown by Mum would vouch for her roasts and celebratory meals.

I have played a lot with the different roasts made over the years. So since we are not celebrating Christmas or the New Year, I decided that I would help you my dear readers with some of my best roasts made over the last year(s) (the recipes of which I have not posted yet) to help you with the upcoming Thanksgiving meal preparation (November 26, 2015), Christmas 2015 and New Year 2016. So my not celebrating does have it advantages, I am available at your disposal for any and all queries regarding your celebratory meal. And when you do try these out, do say a little prayer for my dear Mum and our family or send a positive thought in our direction. We really need it.

I need to specially thank three people in life, my dear friend Shireen (Shirs) who helped me get back on track with writing on my blog (Thanks Shirs my motivator) , my buddy Suzanne (Sue) who needed some help with her upcoming Thanksgiving meal prep (Thanks Sue I got a wake up call through your request) and my darling hubby (always thankful to you for your motivation and pep talks) who gave me a jolted shake this morning to get out of the gloomy valleys and move up hill. I also thank my many readers who were/are looking out for simple roast recipes. I hope the upcoming recipes along with the previous ones on Turkey Roast Delight (which can be adopted with the humble chook as well minus the cook time) ,  Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken , Jamie Oliver's Perfect Pork Loin with crackling , etc. helps you prepare your perfect albeit simple Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year meal. I am available on gginazkitchenette@gmail.com for any of your queries regarding these meal preparations or any others. Also my dear vegetarian and vegan friends/family/readers, I am  available here to tell you how to cook your perfect vegetarian celebratory meal.

Now on with the recipe:

What you need:

• 1200 gms of  perfectly cleaned chook or chicken with skin on
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp heaps of Garam Masala
• 2 tbsp heaps Chili Powder
• 1 tbsp pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 2-3 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1" pc of ginger
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• A drizzle of oil
• Water as required

The Make:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Roast Time: 1 hour | Serves 6-8 adults | Marinade and resting time: min 1 hour 

1. In a large wok, heat some oil and toss in the ginger and saute for half a minute, then add the garlic for about 20 seconds and saute on low heat.
2. Then add all of the ingredients except the chook and saute well for about a minute.
3. Add a drizzle of water as required to form a thick marinade paste. Keep adding water as required taking care to retain the thick paste texture and not be to watery.
4. Saute for another minute until the masala leaves the sides of the pan or is cooked.
5. Set aside to cool for a few minutes and grind the paste to a fine consistency.
6. Next marinate your chook well all over and in the cavity as well. Let it stand for about half hour at least and up to 4 hours (in the refrigerator if required).
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Next prepare the roasting pan either well oiled or with foil paper and grease lightly. Place the chook carefully on the roasting pan. I always advise my readers to add their favourite veggies either inside the cavity of the chicken (depending on their stuffing type it would take more than an hour to cook the chook) or at the sides of the chook (in which case it would take up to the hour).
8. Slide the roasting pan into the oven on 180°C. Lightly cover (do not tuck the foil at the sides) the chook's breast with a foil paper to keep the breast tender and moist.
9. Roast for about an hour checking at the 30 minutes and 45 minute time to see if tenderised and cooked. Uncover the foil at the 45 minute mark and allow the chook to roast for the remaining 15 minutes without the foil. If required continue for another 10-15 minutes until the breast in nice and springy and the limbs seems soft enough to pull off with your fingers (do not actually pull the limbs off at this stage :) )

If using an oven without a top flame oven, please turn the chook over at the 30 minute mark. This requires some amount of skill to avoid burning your hands/fingers. However a good pair of tongs and a large ladle always helps. It would also help to slide out the roasting tray at the 30 minute mark in this case before turning over the chook.

Serve hot with with your favourite sides, salads, choice of breads. Flat breads would go well with this make of roast.

Asian inspired Snake gourd

This recipe has been a repeated experiment for quite a while now and I have the ingredients experimented across a variety of veggies but most commonly for the humble bitter gourd. This time I tried it with snake gourd.

It was an excellent accompaniment to the Keralite spicy fish curry and rice. Yum!

You need:

• 500 gms of snake gourd, thinly sliced
• Salt to taste
• 2-3 tbsp of jaggery
• 1 tbsp of black sesame seeds (you can use the white, split ones as well)
• Oil to drizzle
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp of pepper powder
• 1 tbsp of ginger-garlic-chili sauce or you could just add a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste and a sprinkle of crushed, dried red chili

The Make:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 15-20 minutes | Serves 2 adults

1. In a non-stick pan, add a drizzle of oil, toss in the snake gourd, salt and saute well.
2. Next add in the mixture of jaggery, black sesame seeds, soya sauce, pepper powder and the ginger-garlic sauce/paste.
3. Saute well  and cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
4. The resultant snake gourd would be sticky, sweet and somewhat crunchy. Serve hot on the side of rice and spicy fish curry.

Bon Appetit!

Singaporean Black Pepper Crab

This is a sweet and spicy variant of crabs. Blue swimmer crabs taste well with this recipe blend. However you could try using some of the other crab varieties.

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I have not made any plans as yet to bake any delicacies as health does not permit the same. But who knows! For those of you celebrating the occasion hope you have a warm and lovely Valentine's Day with your loved one and/family.

Although I have been to Singapore on more than one occasion, this recipe quite reminds me of the time I spent with two favourite people in my life my buddy Nina Silva and her then boss Anneliese Reinhold who were also my internal clients from the legal department where I worked earlier on. We shared a wonderful lunch with these scrumptious crabs being the center of the meal which is the first time I had this dish. I will always remember you both whenever I see or have this flavoursome dish (and even otherwise ;-) ) which tasted so much better when it was with you both. I'm sure your company is what made the difference!

To make these flavoursome crab dish,

You need:

• 1 kg blue swimmer crabs, cleaned and washed well
• 11/2 tbsp oil
• 11/2 tbsp ginger, grated finely
• 8 garlic cloves, grated finely
• 2 red chilies, finely minced
• 3 tbsp black pepper powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 3 tbsp soya sauce (*or 2 tbsp Ketjap manis which is an Indonesian sauce which is a thicker variant of soya sauce flavoured with garlic, anise, etc.. If you are using ketjap manis, then reduce sugar to 3 tbsp)
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce (optional - some do not like the taste of oyster sauce although recommended for this recipe)
• 4 tbsp castor sugar/finely granulated sugar
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• Drinking water
• 1 tbsp salt

The Make:
Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

This dish has to be served right off the wok and preferably consumed in one sitting, so put on your eating apron with a center table waste dish and enjoy this with your family/friends.

1. Add the sauces and sugar with about 3-4 tbsp of water in a small bowl, stir well and set aside.
2. Crack the legs of the crab to allow the flavour of the sauces to enter the meat well. You will regret if you do not do the same.
3. Quarter the crab and in a large wok, heat the oil over high heat.
4. Fry the prepared crab in batches until the shell turn a bright orange colour and the meat almost cooked. Set aside.
5. You can drain any excess oil from the wok and set aside. Do not chuck the oil away as it is full of crabby flavour.
6. Next add the spring onions, ginger, garlic, pepper, chilli, coriander and salt to the wok and fry for another minute.
7. Add in the sauce mixture and stir well. Bring to a rolling boil and then simmer for a few minutes.
8. Toss in the crab pieces to the wok and coat the crab pieces in the sauce mixture. Add some of the oil set aside earlier in case it seems too dry.

Serve immediately. Bon Appetit.

Baked Rohu fish with toasted veggies in fish sauce

Rohu or Rohi is a fish that belongs to the carp family Cyprinidae commonly found in rivers and freshwater lakes in and around South East Asia and South Asia. It is also commonly used in Northern India, Pakistan and Iraq. This fish was introduced to me once I was on a special diet using ayurvedic medication which allow use of freshwater fish in the diet. However the recipe is an original as I wanted to explore how best to use this fish besides the traditional keralite preparation and also because we  do not use much coconut in our diet these days. I am certain that if you are a fish lover that you would definitely enjoy this preparation. I have to admit that while I was a bit skeptical that Anup would not enjoy this make, he and my little one definitely loved this preparation to bits.

Baked Rohu with Toasted Veggies in Fish Sauce

You need:

• 1.5 kg Rohu fish, cleaned and cut into fish steak sizes (you can leave some of the skin on and remove it later before serving)
• 3-4 carrots, diced finely lengthwise
• 1-2 bunches of green spinach, chopped finely
• 12 cloves of garlic, crushed and diced
• 2" ginger, sliced finely
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp of worcestershire sauce(optional)
• 1-2 tsp of chili flakes
• 1 tbsp of paprika powder or you can use Kashmiri Chili Powder
• 1-2 tsp of pepper powder (optional)
• 3-4 green chilis chopped finely (I used the less spicy version - little fatter than Kerala green chilies but less fatter than the ones you get for making bajiyyas). Each green chili can bediced into 3-4 thin slices
• 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste
• 1-2 tbsp of Olive oil or EVOO
• Rock Salt to taste
• Aluminium foil as required

The make:

Preparation time: 15 mins | Cooking Time: 40-45 minutes | Serves 6 adults

1. Marinate the fish steaks with salt, paprika powder, pepper (optional) and ginger garlic paste and set aside. The longer you leave it, the better as experienced.
2. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes on a high about 210ºC
3. Take a baking dish of a size enough to spread the fish steaks without overlapping and add 1/4 full of filtered water. 

Baking tray with 1/4 full water

4. Carefully line the baking tray with foil without tearing. It helps not to have long nails while doing this and tuck the sides in carefully to the baking tray. Ensure there is no water spillage on the foil, if not start again.

5. Drizzle some olive oil on the foil and do not bother to evenly spread as you may tear the foil and nevertheless, this fish usually returns some good fats/oil in the cooking process. I would always suggest getting a 1.5 kg of Rohu fish as it has good oil residue and also the meat is more tender than its lesser weighted partners.

6. Place the marinated fish steaks on the foil and drizzle the soya sauce, worcestershire sauce, chili flakes on all the pieces. Add the ginger and garlic over all the fish steaks.

Marinated Rohu steaks with ginger, garlic and chili flakes on top

7. Next top the fish steaks with spinach and  carrot sticks and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle a dash of salt (taking care not to add too much as the fish juice would return with some salt as well). Top with slit green chilies.

Topped with spinach leaves

Rohu fish steaks topped with carrot sticks

8. Cover with foil without tucking in the sides. This will ensure that the fish cook evenly without drying and will allow for some steam to release moderately.

Cover with foil

9. Lower the heat of the oven to 200ºC (medium heat) and carefully place the baking tray to avoid the water from seeping or spilling from below the foil or  through the sides.


10. Bake for about 25 minutes and you can lower the heat and take of the top foil to check on the fish and turn over if you like. I did not as my oven has heat both on the top and below of the oven. It is especially not required since you have covered the fish with the foil. Return the foil back to the top and turn the flame back to 200ºC and cook for another 20 minutes. Once cooked, allow it to rest in the oven for at least 5-10 minutes. Check if cooked or if you need any additional minutes. 40 minutes should suffice in my opinion.

Baked Rohu ready

10. Take the fish steaks out carefully with a flat spatula on to the serving dish with the veggies on top. You will find a nice clear fish stock at the bottom, you can take the sauce onto a gravy bowl and serve separately.


Serve hot with hot rolls or rice!

Baked Rohu with Veggies in Fish Sauce and  Rice