Chicken with Cucumber

Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken breast (cut into 1 inch cubes) - 1 lbs
• Cucumber (peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes) - 1 
• Salt
• Oil
• Garlic (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
• Green Onions (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
• Light soy sauce - 4 tsp
• Rice wine - 4 tsp
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp

Directions:

1. Sprinkle cubed cucumber with salt and place in a large strainer to drain for 20 minutes.
2. Rinse the cucumber cubes in cold running water and dry with kitchen paper towel.
3. In a large wok heat oil
4. When hot, add
• chicken cubes
• stir-fry for a couple of minutes
5. Add all ingredients except the cucumber cubes
6. keep stir frying the entire mixture for another couple of minutes.
7. Now add the cucumber cubes and stir fry for 3 more minutes 
8. Serve with rice

Basil Pork Stir-fry

Ready in 30 minutes

You will need:

• a large wok or frying pan

Ingredients:

Recipe serves 2 to 4

• Pork (ground or thin strips) - 1lbs
• Garlic Cloves (chopped finely) - 4-5
• Fresh red chilies (chopped fine) - 1 to 2
• or substitute 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. dried crushed chili
• Chicken stock - 1/4 cup
• Egg - 1
• Basil leaves - 1 to 1 1/2 compressed cup
• Green Onions (sliced) - 4 to 5
• Oil for stir frying

Stir-fry sauce:

• Oyster sauce - 2 Tbsp
• Fish sauce - 1 Tbsp (optional)
• Hoisin sauce - 1 tbsp (optional)
• Dark soy sauce - 1 Tbsp
• Brown sugar - 1 generous Tbsp
• Fresh squeezed lime juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine all stir-fry sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
2. Heat a wok or a large frying pan over medium heat.
3. Add
• Oil and swirl around. Then add
• Garlic
• Chili
• Stir fry for 30 sec to 1 min to release fragrance. Then add
• Meat
4. Stir fry until the pork is nearly cooked (5-6 minutes). Add
• half the chicken stock as you stir fry to keep ingredients sizzling.
• Reserve remaining stock for later
5. Push ingredients aside and 
• crack the egg in the middle of the wok/pan.
• Quickly stir fry to scramble the egg, then mix with other ingredients.
6. Add stir fry sauce and stir to incorporate.
7. Reduce heat to medium low. 
8. Allow stir fry to simmer 2-3 minutes  (add a little more chicken stock if needed). 
9. While dish is simmering chop up the basil.
10. Add
• remaining chicken stock 
• green onions
• basil
• and stir well.
11. Reduce heat to low and taste test. If too salty add some lime juice.
12. Best served immediately with a side of rice.

Footnote:

While preparing this recipe, I did not have chicken stock. So, I used water instead. 

Chicken and Basil Stir-fry

Ready in 40 minutes
You will need:

• a large skillet or wok

Ingredients

Recipe for 4 servings

• Chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices) - 1 1/2 lbs
• Salt and ground pepper - to taste
• Vegetable oil
• Small onion (halved and cut into 1/4 inch thick wedges - 1
• Bell peppers (red, yellow, green or a mix, ribs and seeds removed; cut into 1/4 inch wide strips) - 2
• Garlic cloves (minced) - 6
• Rice vinegar - 2 tbs
• Soy sauce - 2 tbs
• Basil leaves - 1 and 1/2 cups

Directions:

1. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.
2. In a large wok or non stick skillet, heat 
• 2 tsp of oil and fry
• chicken until browned but not completely cooked. 
3. Transfer to plate and set aside.
4. To the skillet, add 
• oil and fry
• Onion
• Bell peppers
• cook over medium high heat, tossing often, until beginning to brown. Add
• Garlic
• Cook until fragrant.
5. Add 
• 1/4 cup of water
• Vinegar
• Soy sauce
• fried chicken
6. Cook, tossing, until chicken is cooked through.
7. Remove from heat and stir in 
• Basil leaves
8. Serve with white rice.

Footnotes:

The chicken can be coated in cornstarch before frying to have a more crispier chicken.

Beef Stir-Fry

Ready in 30 mins

You will need:

• a large skillet or a Wok

Ingredients:

Recipe for 4 servings

• Sirloin or chuck steaks (cut 1/2 inch strips) - 1 lbs
• Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Garlic (minced) - 1 clove
• Oil for frying - 3 tablespoon
• Bell pepper (mixed colors, sliced into 1/4 inch strips) - 2 medium
• Onion (yellow, thinly sliced) - 1/2
• Tomato (roughly chopped) - 1
• Cilantro (chopped, optional) - 2 tablespoon
• Soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
• Sesame oil - 2 teaspoon

Directions:

1. Season stir-fry meat with 
• Salt
• Pepper
• minced Garlic
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on high heat. Add
• Sliced Onions
• Bell Peppers
• Cook, stirring until barely tender - about 1 - minutes
• Remove the vegetables from the pan to a bowl and keep warm.
3. Heat the rest of the oil in the skillet on high heat. Add
• Beef strips
• Let the beef brown initially, without stirring, but as soon as it is brown on one side, then stir. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the 
• Pepper 
• Onions
• Tomatoes
• Cilantro
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame oil
• Cook for a half a minuted longer, stirring.
• Remove from heat
4. Serve alone or with steamed rice. Salt and pepper to taste

Footnotes:

Haven't tried this recipe yet.

Mushroom Pork Chops

Ready in 40 minutes

You will need:

• Large skillet

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 4 servings

• Pork Chops - 4
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder - 1 pinch or to taste
• Onion (chopped) - 1
• Fresh mushrooms (sliced) - 1/2 lbs
• Condensed cream of mushroom soup - 1 (10.75 oz) can

Directions:

1. Season pork chops with 
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
2. In a large skillet, brown the chops over medium-high heat. Add the
• Onion
• and Mushroom
• and saute for one minute.
• Pour cream of mushroom soup over chops
• Cover skillet and reduce temperature to medium to low
• Simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until chops are cooked through.
3. Serve over brown rice.

Footnotes:

Instead of using a skillet to brown the chop, it could be baked. In a baking pan pour in the cream of mushroom soup (you could also mix a bit of milk if low on soup) . Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 F for one hour. This can be served with mashed potatoes or baked potatoes.

Ginger Pork Stir-fry

Ready in 30 minutes

You will need:

• a Wok or a large skillet
• a trip to the local Chinese groceries

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 2 servings

• Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
• Ginger root (Fresh, thinly sliced) - 1/2 inch piece
• Lean Pork (sliced) - 1/4 lbs
• Soy Sauce - 1 teaspoon
• Dark Soy sauce - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/3 teaspoon
• Sesame Oil - 1 teaspoon
• Green Onion (chopped) - 1
• Chinese rice wine - 1 tablespoon

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Fry ginger in hot oil until fragrant, then add
• pork
• soy sauce
• dark soy sauce
• salt 
• sugar
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes
2. Stir in the 
• Sesame oil
• Green onions
• Rice wine
• Simmer until pork is tender

Footnotes:

I haven't tried this yet...

Spinach Dal

Ready in 1 1/2 hour

You will need:

• Pressure Cooker
• Wok (kadai)
• a trip to the Indian store

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 6 servings

• Spinach (Washed and chopped) - 2 bunches or 4 cups
• Chana Dal - 1 1/2 cups
• Water - 4 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chili (Whole) - 2
• Red onion (chopped) - 1
• Garlic (minced) - 2 teaspoon (3 cloves)
• Ginger (minced) - 2 teaspoon
• Green chili (Serrano/minced) - 1
• Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Tomato (diced) - 1 cup (1 whole tomato)
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cilantro (washed and chopped) - 1/4 cup

Directions:

1. Soak chana dal in water for 30 mins. Drain the water.
2. In a pressure cooker add 
• Dal
• Water (4 cups)
• Turmeric powder (half)
• Salt
• Pressure cook it for about 30 minutes (about 3 whistles) on medium heat. Let it cool and open only after the pressure subsides.
3. On medium heat, heat oil in a wok. Add
• Asafoetida
• Cumin seeds
• Mustard seeds
• Red chili
• When the cumin and mustard seeds start popping add 
• Onions
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Green Chili
• Fry till onions become light brown
4. To the Wok, add 
• Turmeric (rest of)
• Red chili powder
• Fry for one more minute and add 
• tomatoes 
5. Once the tomatoes get mushy, add 
• spinach 
• a pinch of Salt
• and cook till the spinach starts giving off water and reduces to about half the amount.
6. Add the dal from the pressure cooker to the wok and mix well. Add a little water if required. Stir well and let it boil for a minute or two.
7. Turn the heat off and garnish with 
• Garam Masala
• Cilantro
• Cover the Wok for at least 5 minuted before serving
8. Serve with a side of rice.

Footnote:

Chana Dal might not be easily available to everybody. In that case, yellow split peas work well too. A word of caution though, yellow split peas get mushy (read cooked) a lot faster than Chana Dal and might not need extensive pressure cooking. 

The British-English term for 'Chana Dal' is 'Bengal Gram Dal' also called 'Chholar dal' in Bengali.