Recipe: Spicy chicken and mushroom stroganoff

Method

•  Pat the chicken breasts dry and cut them into chunks of about two inches each. Season the chunks with salt, black pepper, worcestershire sauce, mustard paste and oil before frying. Cook the chunks in about two to three tablespoons of oil, at medium heat, until they become golden-brown in colour. Once fried, allow the chunks to cool on a glass plate.

•  In the same pan, add one more tablespoon of oil and sauté the onions in it until they become translucent. Add in the garlic for fragrance, followed by the sliced mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt and pepper for taste and cook for about five minutes or until the mushrooms acquire a brown colour.

•  Pour in the tomato paste and stir the mixture thoroughly for about two minutes. Then, make a well in the centre of the pan and add in the butter and flour there, stirring continuously. Cook the mixture until the raw taste of the flour is gone.

•  Add the chicken stock and mixture it in until all the ingredients have combined together. Pour the remaining seasoning and sauces and allow the sauce to cook until it thickens and bubbles slightly.

•  Add the chicken and cook for another five to 10 minutes.

•    In the meantime, prepare the pasta. For best results, make sure the noodles are boiled through.

•    Pour in the cream into the stroganoff sauce and adjust the salt and pepper, according to taste. Allow the sauce to simmer some more before placing in on top of a bed of noodles. Garnish the dish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve warm. Your strognoff is now ready!

Yield: Serves 6 — 8

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

A side of veggies

A rich pasta dish is everything you might be craving right now but let’s not forget that it probably isn’t too high on the nutritional value scale — unless you count all those calories, of course. How about you up the healthy quotient and serve your stroganoff with some deliciously healthy boiled vegetables? Not only will they make for a great side to dunk into the stroganoff sauce, they will also add some more colour to the dish. Choose from the following list:

•  Broccoli

•  Baby carrots

•  Baby corn

•  Leek

•  New potatoes


•  White radish

The butter rice alternative

If you wish, you can serve the stroganoff with some fragrant butter rice instead of the usual pasta. You even have the option of choosing between plain butter rice and seasoned butter rice! Follow this recipe if you prefer the latter.



Ingredients

•  Butter 40 grammes

•  Garlic cloves (crushed) 2

•  Ginger (finely grated) 2

•  Rice 2 cups

•  Bay leaves (dried) 3

•  Chicken stock 3 cups

•  Frozen peas and corn 1/2 cup

• Fried shallots 1/4 cup

Method

•  In a large saucepan, melt the butter and cook the garlic and ginger in it for about one minute.

•  Add the rice, bay leaves and chicken stock to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil on medium-low heat. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes with the top left open.

•  Stir in the peas and corn into the saucepan and remove it from heat. Allow the rice to cool for 10 minutes, remove the bay leaves and mix the remainders with a fork.

•  Season with salt, pepper and fried shallots before serving.

SOURCE: WWW.TASTE.COM

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, May 17^th, 2015.