thai spicy basil

If you've enjoyed Thai Basil Chicken at your local Thai/Asian restaurants and eateries, try this wonderful homemade recipe! Once all your fresh ingredients are ready, this dish cooks up in just minutes. Basil chicken is one of the most popular Thai dishes, both in Thailand and here in North America, offering spicy flavors that mingle beautifully with the fresh taste of savory basil. There are two key ingredients in this dish you mustn't skip: the fresh basil, of course, and Golden Mountain Sauce. This sauce is often considered a 'secret Thai ingredient', but it's normally available at all Asian food stores that sell Thai ingredients - look for it next to the fish sauce. It's the combination of this sauce with the basil that truly make this dish sing. ENJOY!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: SERVES 4 (with rice)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 to 1 lb. chicken breast or thigh, sliced into bite-size pieces or strips
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1-2 fresh red chilies, chopped fine, OR 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. dried crushed chili (chili flakes)
• 3 Tbsp. white wine OR white cooking wine
• 2 small bell peppers: red and yellow, sliced
• 1 small green pepper OR 1/2 zucchini, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 compressed cup Thai basil, OR substitute sweet basil
• 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• STIR-FRY SAUCE:
• 3 Tbsp. oyster sauce (I like Thai Maekrua brand oyster sauce)
• 3 Tbsp. Golden Mountain Sauce (depending on desired saltiness)
• 1 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation:

1. Combine the 'Stir-Fry Sauce' ingredients together in a cup, stirring to dissolve sugar. Spoon 2 Tbsp. of this sauce over prepared chicken and stir in. Set aside to marinate a few minutes while you prepare your other ingredients. Set remaining stir-fry sauce aside.
2. Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl around, then add the garlic and chili. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance, then add the chicken plus a splash of white wine. Stir-fry until chicken turns opaque (3 minutes). Add a little more white wine as needed to keep pan moist.
3. Add the bell peppers and zucchini, plus 3/4 of the stir-fry sauce you made earlier. Stir-fry until vegetables have softened but still retain some of their crispness (about 2 minutes).
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the sliced green onions, plus remaining stir-fry sauce. Stir together (note that this is meant to be a saucy dish - this is where the flavor is).
5. Remove from heat and fold in the fresh basil (basil will wilt down into the hot sauce). Taste-test the dish and adjust the flavors to your liking. Taste-test Tip: note that this classic Thai dish is meant to be salty-spicy, with the zesty flavor of the basil coming through. It is definitely supposed to veer on the salty side, which is then balanced out when you eat it with plain steam rice. If you still find it too salty for your taste, add more lime juice. If not salty or flavorful enough, add more golden mountain sauce and/or fish sauce.
6. Serve with plenty of plain steamed jasmine rice and garnish with more fresh basil. ENJOY!

Basil Tip: If you have small basil leaves, they may not need to be chopped. If your leaves are larger, try piling them on top of one another, then thinly slicing them to create shreds. I find you get lots of flavor this way, but be sure to shred it just before adding to the dish (if you do it too far ahead of time, the basil will lose some of its natural oils and flavor).

Gjee Series: " Indian super heros "

Why Indian cinema has far more superior superheroes than in Hollywood. Yeah yeah …there has been a long running debate on who is better in various categories of the cine field. Hollywood outplays Bollywood , Koliwood, Sandalwood, Teakwood and all other woods in all other categories but not in this category (Super heroes ). If you deny this fact , you haven’t been watching enough Indian movies( or to be precise the right ones).

The problem with Hollywood is that most of their super heros have non human origin. Like this kid, who gets bitten by a spider and inherits spiders’s characteristics (more than his fathers). Wonder if we had the same scenario here in India we would most probably have MosquitoMan, considering symbiotic relationship that we share with out fellow species. If the Superhero doesn’t have a non-homosapien origin he would have some abstract name like He-Man. Quite a strange name though, beats me completely. ‘He’ has to be a Man; no doubt.

The advantage of having abstract name is that you become less predictable. Any one could easily predict what spider man can do. He can swing from here to there, cast webs, get entangled in his own web, run out of web when is doing his favorite Tarzan trick. Hang upside down to kiss a gal on her lips (subject to proper altitude conditions). Of course he does carry some amount of unpredictability, unlike the spider the spider man releases the web through his wrist (saves the hero a lot embarrassment).

The story is completely different out here in Indian cinema. First of all superheroes in Indian cinema don’t have a dress code where as Superheroes in Hollywood have strict uniform (how rudimentary). Superheroes in Hollywood are literarily handicapped with out their gears. That’s not the case here, Rajinikant would belt 50 thugs no matter he wears his suit or his shorts hence they are more adaptable to the situation. Our superheroes enjoy more liberty (comfort to be precise) they are not forced to wear their underwear over their trousers, hence perform better.

Secondly our superheroes here are highly versatile. They not only perform super natural trick but are also part of complicated family drama, a cruel step mother, a drunkard father, an ailing sister and a handicapped brother. Despite such turmoil in his family he makes sure he gives at least one guest appearance for the item song. So you get more value for the money.

But what puts our super heroes a class apart form the Hollywood mutants is the dialogue delivery. Every super natural stunt is sandwiched between two shattering dialogues. For example there is this scene in the movie ‘Narasimha’ where the hero has been captivated by merciless terrorists. What do terrorists do? they subject our hero to physical torture. The Villain takes two wires (red and a green, villain seems to be well versed in physics) connects it to the transformer and tries to apply electric shock on our hero. What happens next is unbelievable (I still can’t digest it). The transformer explodes. What our hero had to say for destroying our villains uninsured transformer: “When you apply shock to a common man he gets a shock. But when you apply shock to Narasimha the current gets shock”. The villain is dumbstruck, he cannot digest the fact that all the education he had had, the 98% mark he got in his second mid term test in physics are now obsolete.

These were just samples. There are load of such superhero movies, This list is exhaustive. Our superheroes do not shy away from bullets. ‘Loha’ is a good example where you find Paaji sitting in a pretty awkward pose (disgusting) and grabbing bullets being fired by the villain with bare hands.

Considering the fact that our super heroes charge miniscule amount compared to their Hollywood counterparts. And the kind of visual treat they provide for the money. They stand tall with out any threat from anyone. I am eagerly waiting for ‘Narasimha 2’ mind it !!!

Tofu Garlic

Broccoli and tofu in garlic sauce is a vegan and vegetarian Chinese-inspired entree that is easy to prepare. Serve this easy and simple vegetarian dish over rice or your favorite whole grain. You really can't go wrong with this simple vegetarian dish.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• approx 2 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1 block firm or extra firm tofu, pressed
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes. in a large skillet, sautee onions and garlic in olive oil until onions turn clear, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the tofu, ginger, cayenne and broccoli to the pan and continue to cook until broccoli is done, another 6-8 minutes.
In a separate small bowl, mix together the corn starch, soy sauce and water, then add this mixture to the broccoli and tofu. Cook until sauce thickens, then remove from heat.
Serve over rice or whole grains and enjoy!