Creamy Mushroom Pasta

It's a tough job making people like veggies, and even harder to make them eat it! So what to do? How does one incorporate vegetables in their daily kitchen menu? What does one do to make their family 'like' eating vegetables? One solution to this! #CubeThatVeggie. Yes! Use Knorr chicken cubes, in different veggie recipes to get that oomph, that flavor everyone's been looking for! I will be sharing a series of veggie recipes for you all to try out using Knorr chicken cubes! I will be posting one recipe each day for an entire week! My recipes will be diverse, and belonging to different cuisines: Pakistani, Continental, Chinese and many more! So gear up, something exciting is coming up and stay tuned to The Crazy Chef!

# 4 Creamy Mushroom Pasta

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Ingredients:

Mushrooms, sliced, 200gm
Olives 2 tbsp
Butter 1 tbsp
Salt, as needed
Pepper 1/4 tsp
White pepper 1/4 tsp
Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp
Oregano 1/4 tsp
Mixed herbs 1/4 tsp
Knorr chicken cube, 1, dissolved in 2 tsp water
Cream 200-250gm
Penne Pasta, boiled, 300-400gm

Method:

Heat butter in a pan and saute mushrooms and olives for two minutes. Now add salt, red chili flakes, oregano, mixed herbs, pepper, and white pepper. Mix well. Now add the cream, make sure the flame is low, mix well then add knorr chicken cube and let it simmer till you obtain the desired consistency. Add water or milk if the sauce is too thick. Mix in the boiled pasta and serve warm with garlic bread!

*You can also add sliced chicken with the mushrooms.

Mix Sabzi (Mix Vegetable Curry)

It's a tough job making people like veggies, and even harder to make them eat it! So what to do? How does one incorporate vegetables in their daily kitchen menu? What does one do to make their family 'like' eating vegetables? One solution to this! #CubeThatVeggie. Yes! Use Knorr chicken cubes, in different veggie recipes to get that oomph, that flavor everyone's been looking for! I will be sharing a series of veggie recipes for you all to try out using Knorr chicken cubes! I will be posting one recipe each day for an entire week! My recipes will be diverse, and belonging to different cuisines: Pakistani, Continental, Chinese and many more! So gear up, something exciting is coming up and stay tuned to The Crazy Chef!

# 3 Mixed Vegetable Curry

Ingredients:

Knorr chicken cubes, 2

Cauliflower florets, 1 cup

Peas, 1 cup

Carrots, cubed, 1 cup

Potatoes, cubed, 1 cup

Capsicum, cubed, 1 cup

Broad beans (sem ki phalli) / cluster beans (gawar ki phalli), 1 cup, top & tail trimmed

Salt, 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

Red chili powder, 2 tsp

Turmeric powder, 1 tsp

Ginger-garlic, crushed, 1 tbsp

Tomatoes, diced, 1 cup

Water, as required

Oil, 1/2 cup

Method:

Heat oil in a pot, add tomatoes, ginger-garlic and fry till the oil separates from tomatoes. Now add the Knorr chicken cubes, salt, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Mix well, and keep stirring for the next two minutes. Now add in all the vegetables and water, about 2 cups and mix really well. Cover and simmer till the potatoes are just done. You can add and subtract water according to your preference. I personally like my mixed vegetables on a drier side so I add enough water to just cook the vegetables. Have with steamed rice or fresh, hot, garlic naan!

Your choice of vegetables for this doesn't need to be limited to the above mentioned vegetables. You can always add in your favorite vegetables! You can even make mixed vegetables by adding aubergines, or gourds, or zucchini. The options are unlimited! Experiment as per your taste!

Vegetable Chowmein

It's a tough job making people like veggies, and even harder to make them eat it! So what to do? How does one incorporate vegetables in their daily kitchen menu? What does one do to make their family 'like' eating vegetables? One solution to this! #CubeThatVeggie. Yes! Use Knorr chicken cubes, in different veggie recipes to get that oomph, that flavor everyone's been looking for! I will be sharing a series of veggie recipes for you all to try out using Knorr chicken cubes! I will be posting one recipe each day for an entire week! My recipes will be diverse, and belonging to different cuisines: Pakistani, Continental, Chinese and many more! So gear up, something exciting is coming up and stay tuned to The Crazy Chef!

# 2 Vegetable Chowmein

This dish is SO easy to make! The only hard part about it is hand cutting the vegetables (which you can always do with a machine too!) Its literally easy peasy and delicious! 

Ingredients:

Spaghetti / Egg noodles 500gm

Carrots, julienne, 1 cup

Capsicum, julienne, 1 cup

Green onions, julienne, 1/2 cup

Ginger-garlic, crushed, 1 1/2 tbsp

Cabbage, paysanne (slim, flat, square cut), 1 cup

Knorr chicken cubes, 2

Salt, to taste

Black pepper, 2 tsp, levelled

Sesame seed oil 2 tbsp

Canola/vegetable Oil, 3 tbsp

Method:

In a large pot add water and let it boil. Add 2 tsp salt, and once it starts boiling fiercely, add in the spaghetti and cook till al dente, just firm. Strain, add sesame seed oil, mix and keep aside. 

Heat canola oil in a large wok. Add ginger garlic and stir fry on high heat for a minute. Add Knorr chicken cubes, 1 tsp water, salt, and pepper. Mix till the Knorr chicken cubes dissolves. Now add all the vegetables except the green onion. Mix and cook on high heat for two minutes. I like my vegetables crisper and not over cooked, this way they maintain their color as well. Now add the boiled spaghetti and mix well. Cook for another two minutes, add green onions, mix and serve! 

Aloo Baigan (Potato-Aubergine Curry)

It's a tough job making people like veggies, and even harder to make them eat it! So what to do? How does one incorporate vegetables in their daily kitchen menu? What does one do to make their family 'like' eating vegetables? One solution to this! #CubeThatVeggie. Yes! Use Knorr chicken cubes, in different veggie recipes to get that oomph, that flavor everyone's been looking for! I will be sharing a series of veggie recipes for you all to try out using Knorr chicken cubes! I will be posting one recipe each day for an entire week! My recipes will be diverse, and belonging to different cuisines: Pakistani, Continental, Chinese and many more! So gear up, something exciting is coming up and stay tuned to The Crazy Chef!

#1 Aloo Baigan

Ingredients:

Aubergines (preferably round ones), 2 cups, cubed
Potatoes, 2 cups, cubed
Knorr chicken cubes, 2
Tomatoes, 1 cup, diced
Salt 1 tsp (or to taste)
Red chili powder, 2 tsp, leveled (or to taste)
Turmeric powder, 2 tsp, leveled
Oil 1/2 cup
Green chilies, whole, slit into two, 4
Ginger, crushed, 1 tbsp
Garlic, crushed, 1 tsp (optional)
Water, 1 cup

Method:

Heat oil in a pot. Add ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Stir fry for a good 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat. Now add the cubed aubergines, potatoes, salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, Knorr chicken cubes and 1 a cup of water. Increase the heat and let the water come to a fierce boil, then lower the flame again and cover, and cook till the potatoes are just done; about 9-12 minutes. Then right at the end, add the green chilies, mix and serve!

You can also make this dish in a pressure cooker to save time. After frying the tomatoes and ginger-garlic, I add everything and close the lid of the cooker and cook for 5-7 minutes, or till the first whistle starts to blow. Take it off the heat, open and mix in the green chilies and serve!


*I personally don't like my vegetables overcooked, so the aubergines or the potatoes aren't very mushy, if you'd like to cook them more, you can definitely go ahead with your preference!

Hyderabadi Biryani

I've been trying so hard to perfect my Biryani and finally, after years of trying I finally made biryani which was liked by everyone! Not one person complained. Success!
This is a no fuss, easy recipe! For my convenience, I used commercially available biryani masala, but you can use your own homemade masala if you prefer.

Ingredients:

Chicken, 1 kg, cut in 8-10 pieces

Tomatoes, 2, roughly diced

Onion, 1 thinly sliced

Coriander, fresh, 1/2 bunch, chopped

Green chilies, small, 5-6, stalks removed

Rice, 4 cups, half boiled

Potatoes, 4 medium sized, cut in halves

Yogurt, 1 cup

Ginger-garlic paste, 2 tbsp

Biryani masala, 2 packets

Oil, 1/2 cup

Method:

Mix yogurt, tomatoes, potatoes, biryani masala in the chicken and let it marinate for half hour. Till that time, thinly slice the onions and fry them, in half cup oil till golden brown. Reserve the onions and oil for later use.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, boil the rice till half done, for about 3-4 minutes. Drain once done and keep aside. 

In another pot, add oil and fry the chicken and potatoes for about 5 minutes. In the same pot, start with the layering. Add the rice, 1 cup water, yellow food coloring, coriander, green chilies and fried onions. Also drizzle the leftover oil from the onions on the rice. Now tightly close the lid of the pot, by either covering with two layers of newspaper or simply sealing it with kneaded dough. Put the flame on the lowest, place the pot on a 'tawa', give the biryani 'dum', (steam) for at least 45 minutes. 

So so easy and no fuss, no labor in browning the onions and tomatoes and cooking the chicken! 

Serve hot with raita! 

*Use room temperature chicken.

*Do NOT open the lid in the 45 minutes. 

Peri Bites

Ingredients:

Green chillies 20
Bread crumbs

For Chicken:

Mayonnaise 4 tbsp
Cream cheese
Crushed pepper
Vinegar 1 tbsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Garlic paste 1/2 tsp
Peri Peri Sauce 1 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Soy sauce 1 tbsp

For Batter:

Flour, as needed
Breadcrumbs, as needed
Egg 1

Method:

For chicken, mix all the ingredients except mayonnaise and cream cheese and refrigerate. Let it marinate for at least half hour. Then fry and keep aside. Mix in mayonnaise and cream cheese once cool. Then slit green chilies and fill with the cooked chicken. Stuff a little mozzarella cheese then dip in flour, egg then bread crumbs, repeat with all the chilies. Chill for one hour and deep fry till golden.

Peri bites can be frozen for up to 2 weeks. You can make these before ramadan starts!