Recipe - Fried Chicken Drumsticks

My all-time personal favorite!!
Chicken Spicy Fried Drumsticks (my style) ;)
(Serves 2)

Ingredients

- 4 Chicken drumsticks (I prefer them with the skin, as it holds the binding better). Make 2 slits with a kitchen knife on either side of each drumstick (to let the marination soak into the meat)
- 2tsp Ginger-Garlic paste (I also like to add a tsp of freshly chopped garlic as well, for added flavor)
- 2tsp Red Chili powder
- 1tsp Ground black pepper
- 2 egg whites (although i'm a big fan of the yummy yellow stuff too) :p
- 2 green chillis (finely chopped)
- 2 slices bread (to be crumbled to make the batter) (chop the edges away and feed a stray dog..dont waste it)
- 1tbsp Olive Oil (to fry, ofcourse)
- Salt to taste (approx. 2tsp, but upto you) (Seafood already contains saltiness, so it would be 1tsp...but for chicken, 2tsp for this recipe should be enough)
- Juice of 1 lemon

Steps:

* Beat the eggs and make a thick, bubbly paste. Pour it into a flat, shallow vessel.
* Add the chopped green chillis, ground pepper, red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and the salt to the egg batter and mix well
* Take 2 bread slices (preferably refrigerated, so that they are a bit hard = easier to crumble). Crush them finely with both hands (good exercise too) and sprinkle over mixture.
* Dip the chicken drumsticks in this hand-blended mixture (by now you'll have this amazing aroma around your kitchen). If the mixture has become too thick, add 1tsp Olive oil to make it manageable. Mix well.
* Once done, put in freezer for a minimum of 3 hours (I usually marinate overnight..brings out a very tender flavor) :)
* Once you take it out of the freezer, let it come down to room temperature on its own. Cover with any lid and leave on kitchen counter (DO NOT DEFROST!). Usually it takes about half an hour for the mixture to defrost on its own..
* Shallow fry till medium brown and check for crispiness. Once done, lay them down on some tissue papers to drain the excess oil (or you'll have heart problems in 2 years)
* Sprinkle lime juice liberally on each individual drumstick
* Serve with Ketchup, Chinese red Schezwan sauce or oyster sauce
* Serve immediately after preparation as this dish gets soggy when cold :)
* Enjoy!

Credits - 1) My wife Rachna Gadewar..for providing technical inputs at every stage
2) My kitchen exhaust fan - for keeping all the smoke from the previous culinary disasters out :p

Recipe - Spicy Stuffed Baingan (Aubergine) Masala

Also known as 'bharleli vaangi' in my native tongue Marathi, this is one of my favorite dishes (read vegetarian dishes)
Don't go by the gooey 'swimming-in-oil' picture that I've depicted - you can also cook it for heart patients with less oil....but then, don't take the trouble...give them something bland, less oily and less delicious instead :p

Cooking steps:
1) Finely chop onions, and grate coconut--> fry this till brown
2) Allow it to cool
3) Put the browned onoins and coconut into the mixer, and grind along with ginger, garlic, garam masala (roasted dry Indian spices), red chilli powder, turmeric powder,salt to taste and coriander (cilantro) leaves.
4) Slit the brinjal into 4 and stuff it with the prepared masala, leave for 15 mins
5) In the cooker,  heat oil, add the brinjal, chopped tomatoes and all the remaining masala
6) Add a lil water, and let it cook (2 whistles in the pressure cooker)

Recipe - Sabudana Khichdi

Growing up, I was previliged to having this sinful 'fasting' food item on certain days of the week. Why? Duh...fasting days, remember?! :p

When I was living alone in Bangalore and learning to cook, this was one of the first dishes I tried my hand at - for both nostalgia and gluttony!

Here's the recipe for it:
1) Soak Sabudana (Tapioca) overnight. Use same water quantity as you would use for rice
2) Roast a handful of peanuts on a flat tawa. You may choose to make it more granulated by grinding in a mixer.
3) Finely chop 2 green chilis
4) Chop one potato
5) Heat a deep pan and use 2 table spoons of vegetable oil (dalda vanaspati). If not available you may also use ghee. It is the best option, but either oils will do. Fry the potato pieces.
6) When potatoes are brown, add the sabudana to the pan. Mix well.
7) Then add the peanuts and green chilis. Add salt to taste. Mix well again.