Chicken Legs in Lemon Basil Mustard Sauce

This was a Sunday Lunch project. There was some chicken in the fridge. I wanted to have something tangy.

Serving: Enough for 2 persons.

Preparation time is approximately 20 min. Add 2 hr for marinating the chicken.

Ingredients

• Chicken Legs: 2 pieces
• Lemon: half cup
• Mustard Sauce: quarter cup
• Basil (dried): 3 tbsp
• Olive Oil: 2 tsp
• Salt: 1 pinch to taste

Instructions

• Mix Lemon juice, mustard sauce, basil, olive oil, and salt in a bowl.
• Marinate chicken legs in the above mix for two hours.
• In a frying pan, add the chicken legs along with the marinade and sauté till the chicken is well-cooked.

Honey Mustard Sausages

Another one of my Sunday lunch projects.

Serving: Enough for 2 persons.

Preparation time is approximately 20 min. Add 2 hr for marinating the sausages.

Ingredients

• Sausages (cocktail): 18 or 20 pieces
• Honey: 2 tbsp
• Mustard Sauce: quarter cup
• Basil (dried): 1 tbsp
• Olive Oil: 2 tsp
• Salt: 1 pinch to taste

Instructions

• Mix honey, mustard sauce, basil, olive oil, and salt in a bowl.
• Marinate cocktail sausages in the above mix for two hours.
• In a frying pan, add the sausages along with the marinade and sauté till the sausages are well-cooked.

Variants

• Substitute chicken sausages with mutton or beef sausages. Or you could go for mushrooms instead.
• Replace basil leaves with thyme or rosemary.
• Try it without salt.

Three Pulses Sandwich

I was wondering what to have with brown bread in the morning. I had some dried peas, chickpeas, and kidney beans around the house. So I decided to make a sandwich filling out of them. I guess this is a variant of Falafel paste.

Serving: Enough for 2 persons.

Preparation time is approximately 20 min. Add 20 min for cooking the pulses that have been soaked overnight.

Ingredients

• Dried Peas: quarter cup
• Dried Chickpeas: quarter cup
• Dried Kidney Beans: quarter cup
• Curd: quarter cup
• Tabasco sauce: 1 tsp
• Pepper (powdered): quarter tsp
• Salt: 1 pinch to taste
• Brown Bread: 8r slices

Instructions

• Soak the pulses overnight. Boil them in water till tender.
• Blend the pulses with curd, salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce in a blender to a fine paste.
• Use the blend as a sandwich filling and grill.

Variants

• Add honey to sweeten things up or green chilis to make it more spicy.
• Use different pulses.
• Instead of blending into a fine paste, use a food processor to make a coarser paste.

Mushrooms in Honey & Soy Sauce

Sometimes in your eagerness to create something, you end up cooking up a disaster. Yesterday, I wanted to make a stir-fried mushrooms with honey and soy sauce. I had tasted it at a restaurant last week. And I wanted to recreate it with a few ‘creative’ additions. And what a disaster it turned out to be. Anyway I’m posting the recipe so that somebody can improvise on it. And this was a semi-gravy to have with paneer pulav for lunch.

Serving: Enough for 2 persons.

Preparation time is approximately 20 min.

Ingredients

• Mushrooms: 250 grams quartered
• Honey: 2 tbsp
• Soy Sauce: 2 tbsp
• Pepper (powdered): 1 tsp
• Lime juice: 1/4 cup
• Curd: quarter cup
• Corn flour: 1/2 tsp
• Chili Flakes: 1 tsp
• Salt: 1 pinch to taste

Instructions

• Quarter the mushrooms. Boil them in water till tender and drain excess water.
• Blend honey, lime juice, pepper, cornflour, and water in a bowl.
• In a pan, add mixture and mushrooms, soy sauce and chilli flakes and cook till the water evaporates.1
• Add the curd and more lime juice to temper the spiciness. 2

Variants

• I think I should have skipped the pepper. Pepper and Chillies are a bit too much for my palate.
• I should’ve tried doing a stir-fry version instead of the semi-gravy.

Footnotes

1. I had the sense to taste it before I finished cooking. It was hot enough to sting my eyes.
2. The dish was thus saved. Yay!

Spaghetti in Béchamel Sauce

This is my take on the traditional Béchamel white sauce and spaghetti.

Serving: Enough for 2 persons.

Preparation time is approximately 30 min.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti: 1 handful
• Eggs: 3 numbers, hard boiled and finely chopped
• Olive Oil: 1 tsp
• Pepper: 1 tsp, powdered
• Salt: 1 pinch, to taste
• Olives: 1 tbsp, to garnish

Béchamel Sauce

• Milk: 1 cup
• Onion: half piece, finely chopped
• Garlic: 1 piece, crushed
• Cinnamon: half tsp
• Cloves: 3 pieces, crushed
• Basil (dried): 3 tbsp
• Butter: 2 pieces, one finger-length
• Flour [Maida(all-purpose flour) & Corn]: half cup, each

Instructions

• Boil spaghetti in water with salt till it is al dente.
• Pour Béchamel sauce over spaghetti and garnish with eggs and olives.

Béchamel sauce

• Boil milk with onions, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and basil.
• In a separate pan, melt the butter and add the flour and stir.
• Add the milk to the butter stirring continously till you get a thick consistency.