Chinese vegetable Melody in Stir fry sauce

I like to use the vegetables which kids generally don't eat it in normal dishes. So When I make stir-fries, I add all those and make some yummy sauce to go with it and feed it, Kids will have it without any complaints. Generally I serve one vegetable dish with sauce, one noodle dish so with I had Pad See Eww and spring rolls and puff tofu and by the end of the diner , all was gone. Here I have used green beans , mushrooms, carrot, broccoli, onion and sweet colorful peppers.  You can take whatever you have in on hand. You can tofu also in it or your favorite protein. 

Ingredients : 

2 cups of green beans blanched and cut in half

1/2 cup of white button mushrooms chopped in slices

1 cup blanched broccoli

2-3 sweet colorful peppers chopped in cubes

1 white onion chopped in cubes

ginger, garlic and green chilies finely chopped 2 tbsp. 

1 tbsp. oil

Sauce mix : 

2 tbsp. soy sauce or as needed to adjust salt content

1 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce

3 tbsp. vegetarian oyster mushroom sauce

1 tbsp. coconut sugar or any sweetener

1 tbsp. rice  vinegar

4 tbsp. water

1 tbsp., or as per your taste sriracha

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. hot sesame oil or regular sesame oil

Method : 

Bo blanch the vegetables, heat up the pan with water in it and once its boiled, add first beans and keep it in water for a minute and take it out and put it in ice cold water. Do same for broccoli. and keep it aside. 

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce mix in a bowl and set aside. Adjust the taste as per your liking, you can use this noodles too. 

Heat a oil in wok or non stick pan. Add ginger , garlic and green chilies, cook till you get nice aroma, then add carrot, peppers and mix it, add onions and mushrooms and cook for minute too. 

DO NOT OVERCOOK the vegetables. 

Then add blanched green beans and broccoli and mix it. 

By spoon mix the sauce again before pouring it in to the wok so starch don't stuck at the bottom.

Pour the sauce on the vegetables and mix it nicely so it coats  the vegetables. 

If sauce is too thick add few tbsp. of water and adjust it , Check the seasoning and adjust it if needed too. 

Enjoy it with plain white rice. 

If you like garnished it with white sesame seeds and serve hot. 

Soy Curls Chick'n Masala

So I got this bag of soy curls which after hydrating turns soft and you can put it in any seasoning and it will take that flavor. So wanted to make chicken masala, everyone makes butter chicken from that so nothing new in it but I just wanted my old time favorite simple chicken masala to pair it with  rice. It came out so good that now it become one of my new favorite. I have used ready made fried onions but if you don't have it you can use fresh onions and cook till it becomes brown.

Ingredients : 

1/2 cup  not soaked soy curls which will yield 1 cup of it

1/2 cup ready made fried onions

Whole spices - Bay leaf, black pepper corns, cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp. Tomato paste if you don't have it then 1/2 cup tomato puree

1 tbsp. Kashmiri chili powder

1/2 tbsp. Spicy chili powder - if you like spicy then

1 tbsp. roasted cumin powder

1/2 tbsp. turmeric powder

Salt as per taste

Fresh chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne for garnish 

2 tbsp. Oil

Method :

Soak soy curls in water for 5 to 10 minutes then take it out and remove the water out from it. keep it separate.

In a pan, add oil , when it become hot, add whole spices and cook it for a minute.

Then add fried onions  and mix it with whole spices.

Add tomato paste / Puree and mix it , add 1/4 cup water to cook the tomato.

Add red chili, turmeric powder, cumin powder and mix it and let it cook for on low flame for 4 minutes.

then add soy curls and mix it and adjust the gravy consistency and add salt and then cook it on low flame for 5 minutes. 

When you get your desired consistency, switch off and serve hot with rice , paratha  , naan.

Garnish it with fresh chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne. 

Kimchi Jjigae with Tofu - Vegan

When you make a big bottle full of fresh kimchi , you need to use it in all kind of ways. So was thinking of making this dish but didn't had typical clay pot for this but its not going to stop me for making it. Its not like you have to use homemade kimchi , you can use store brought also. Instead of using water for more flavor use vegetable stock either one, home made or store brought. I used spicy tofu which I had it, you can use any firm tofu for this.

Ingredients :

1 block of spicy tofu cut it in strips

1 red onion cut in slices

4 bulbs of bok choy

2 cups well fermented kimchi, cut into bit size

1/2 cup kimchi juice

2 cups stock

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

for garnish, mung bean sprouts

Salt and pepper as per taste

1 tbsp. oil

Method:

Heat a thick bottom pot over high heat. 

Add oil in it and add garlic in it, when it cook for few seconds and flavor released , it add chopped kimchi in it. 

Cook kimchi for about 5 minutes on low to medium heat. 

Add bok choy, onion, tofu , stock , kimchi juice and mix it. 

Cover and cook for 5 minutes on high flame. 

Remove from heat and serve it in bowl, have it as it is or had it with white rice. 

Top it with mung bean sprouts for little crunch. 

Jackfruit Biryani - Kathal Biryani

By now you all know that biryani is my favorite food , I prefer biryani over roti subji and believe me its not that hard to make it , I have made quite a bit of all different kind of biryani but this one was left out, so made it. I got frozen Jackfruit from Indian grocery store and defrost it and put it in spices and made biryani, it was perfectly spiced and moist. 

Ingredients:

2 cup basmati rice - soaked

2 cups frozen jackfruit pieces

2 tbsp. ghee

1 onion thinly sliced

1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste

2-3 green chilies slit

1 bay leaves

2 tbsp. sindhi biryani masala

2 pods of Cardamom 

few cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick, star anise, badi eaichi (all the whole spices)

2 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder

1 tbsp. red chili powder

1/2 tbsp. Turmeric powder

1 tbsp. cumin coriander powder

1 cup yogurt

salt as per taste

1.4 cup fresh mint and coriander leaves

Method :

First defrost jackfruit pieces so it can absorb the flavors of the marinade.

In a big bowl, add yogurt, biryani masala and mix it. Add jackfruit pieces in it and mix it nicely.

Keep it in this marinade for at least half an hour. 

In that time, heat the heavy bottom pan and add water , twice the quantity of the rice, 1 tbp, ghee , salt , star anise in it. 

Once water boils, add rice and cook till its 70% done.

Take the rice out and discard star anise from it.

Now in the same pan, add ghee, then add all the whole spices and cook it for few seconds. 

Then add onions and cook it , till its pink in color.

Add ginger , garlic paste, green chili and cook for 1 more minute. 

Add Jackfruit pieces with the marinade and mix it. Add all the powder masala and salt for the masala, remember we have salt in rice.

Now cook the jackfruit till its cooked 70% , take one bowlful of masala out.

Now Layered masala, rice, mint and coriander leaves, masala, rice and mint and coriander leaves. 

You can add fried onions on it too.

Cover it tightly and cook it on low flame till its cooked 100% and all the water is evaporated.

When its done, shut off the gas. 

Leave it untouched for 10 minutes , you don't want to break the rice.

Serve warm biryani with cucumber raita or dal or as it is.