As promised, here I am with a Guest Post from Dhanya, the cooking diva who blogs at The Spice Adventuress. She originally hails from Kerala and I am an avid lover of her blog and her pics are so amazing that it makes me drool every time I see them. I’ve known her space from the starting of my Tomato blog and she had given so much support for my lil’ blog to flourish. She cooks a variety of kids friendly/vegetarian/non-vegetarian/ desserts/ international cuisines anything. Her Indo-Chinese recipes are my favourite among the lot. Oh Lord! See the pics below and you’ll start drooling all over! She had been nominated for the Kidspot Voices of 2014 and her Crunchy Crispy Grilled Chicken is yum. And look what she has brought to us today – Stir Fried Chicken with Lime Leaves and Garlic!
Before I present you the dish, here’s a small Interview, so that you get to know her better:
1. What inspired you to write a food blog?After migrating to Australia from India, a sense of loneliness and boredom swept over me and food was one of the ways by which I could stay positive and happy. I started off with a facebook page and soon, due to overwhelming support from friends and other foodies, I started a blog.2. How would you describe your site to new readers?The Spice Adventuress is an international food blog where people from across the globe can gather and talk about food. There is a bit of history about the recipes, fusion recipes and a lot of play with spices.3. What’s the best and worst thing about being a food blogger?The best thing about being a food blogger is the opportunity to grow your creativity and your skills. I love the fact that I have made numerous friends who share the common passion for food. It has enabled me to understand about other cultures and traditions. The worst thing about being a blogger is the lack of recognition inspite of the hours of hard work put in.4. You take your own photos for the recipes, how long does it take you to do each photoshoot?This is highly variable. I am very spontaneous with my clicks and the ideas all come into place at the time of the shoot. It can take me anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes for a shoot.5. What’s your process when you take a photo? How do you decide where to shoot, how to set up the background, and how to style your dish?Very rarely do I have a process in place. I usually decide on the spur of the moment and sometimes, try out different backgrounds and props before the final click gets shot.6. Have you got any photography tips that you can share?I am a novice and really wouldn’t dare to give any tips. But there are two main things that I have learnt in my journey over the past one year; use natural light for your clicks and learn by observing other photography blogs.7. What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own food blog?A food blog should be started only if you are passionate and dedicated about the whole process. Find your niche and stay focused, enjoying what you do.8. Which part of blogging excites you most: the recipe development, the post writing, or the photography?All the three excite me equally. Sometimes it is the recipe especially if it is something I have developed, something a pic if I have worked really hard on it and sometimes the writing if its something I want to tell my readers.9. What are your favorite regional cuisines or specific foods?I am a total foodie and it would be impossible to pick a specific food. As a cuisine, I like North Indian and Middle Eastern but some of my favourite dishes are from Kerala, my native.10. Give your Top 4 Food blogs that inspires you the most?http://www.cookrepublic.com/ – for her recipes, photography and overall style of writinghttp://www.halfbakedharvest.com/ – for her delicious recipeshttp://www.turmericnspice.com/ – for her amazing photographyhttp://www.bawibride.com/ – for her take on Parsi cuisine
Stir Fried Chicken with Lime Leaves and Garlic
Asian stir fries are really simple to prepare, quick and perfect for weekday dinners. Most people tend to overload stir fries with many ingredients which actually detract from the main flavour of the dish. For a good stir fry, you must use only a handful of ingredients and let the flavours shine through.
This chicken stir fry recipe featured in Adam Liaw’s cookbook, Asian after work, is perfect for those rushed weekdays when cooking really becomes a chore. You can even marinate the chicken and freeze it over the weekend which enables you to dish up this stir fry in under 15 minutes.
The marinade incorporates classic Asian flavours – salty, sweet and nutty. The crispy texture and the citrusy notes of the lime leaves work well with the smokiness of garlic lifting the flavours of the fried chicken – pair it with a simple vegetable fried rice and you have a true Asian meal in no time at all.
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless chicken thighs, cut into thin strips
- 8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 10 kaffir lime leaves, veins removed and shredded
- Lemon wedges
- For the marinade:
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Salt, to season
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
Method:
- Make the marinade by mixing all the ingredients along with salt in a bowl and marinate the chicken pieces in this overnight or for at least 30 minutes. (I would strongly recommend doing this step the previous night as it not only saves time the next day but also allows the flavours to seep through the chicken pieces.)
- Deep fry the chicken pieces and keep aside.
- In the same pan, fry the garlic and keep aside. Brown the garlic but take care not to burn.
- Flash fry the lime leaves and remove with a slotted spoon; drain on a kitchen towel.
- Mix the chicken pieces along with the garlic and lime leaves.
- Serve hot with lemon wedges.
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This looks amazing 🙂 Thanks for sharing and also for stopping by my blog. do keep visiting.
Looks fantastic, thank you for following and I look forward to more delicious recipes from you, YUM!!
Thanks a lot. I am a dog lover and your website name by itself gt me attracted! 🙂 Love your style of cooking. Looking forward to learn 🙂
Thanks for introducing us to her – the recipe looks great – the pics are awesome and I enjoyed reading the interview:-)
I just love the name, Spice Adventuress 🙂 and the recipe and pictures are amazing too.
looks good! but not meant for a veggie like me!!!!
wow it looks amazing!!!