Homemade orange chicken recipe as good as take out. A great side for rice or noodles. Sub the chicken for paneer or tofu for a vegetarian version.
Right before the lockdown started in India, I had a sudden craving for Panda express’ orange chicken. It’s been a while since I have eaten Panda express orange chicken, but along with their kung pao chicken it used to be a regular order whenever V and I visited Phoenix. The way we Indians have indianized chinese food, the same way in the US there is american chinese food, and Panda Express did it quite well.
Now I can’t confidently say the orange chicken recipe I am sharing today is a Panda express copycat recipe- it has been 4 years since I last ate at Panda express but its a recipe that we enjoyed nonetheless. Panda Express is yet to open their outlet in India. I saw this copycat recipe for orange chicken here and after reading the reviews and feedback and other online copycat panda express orange chicken recipes, I tweaked it to make an orange chicken version I like.
The one good thing that has come out of the lockdown is that our meat consumption has come down. I know it might be weird to make a note of that on a chicken based recipe- but well it is what it is. We haven’t fully converted to being vegetarian or vegan, but both A and I had been discussing how we should not be consuming the amount of non veg we had been consuming. Thanks to the lockdown and the non availability of meat products near us, we cooked more vegetable and legume centric dishes. But now and then we did miss our chicken and mutton/pork dishes. Once we got hold of a meat delivery guy, we ordered some for the house. And one of the first things that I made with the chicken was a repeat of this orange chicken to test the recipe out for the blog.
MAKING ORANGE CHICKEN
Boneless thigh meat works best, as it remains the juiciest, but you can also make this orange chicken with boneless breast meat.
Orange Sauce is a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, orange zest and orange juice that is cooked and thickened in a pan. Boneless chicken pieces are dipped in egg and then coated with a cornflour-flour mix before deep frying it. The deep fried battered chicken is then added to the thickened sauce, and your orange chicken is ready. This orange chicken is great as a side with rice or noodles.
Feel free to add veggies like broccoli, or snow peas to the chicken if you like.
TO MAKE IT VEGETARIAN
You can sub paneer or tofu to make it vegetarian.
For the coating, mix the corn flour, flour, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp oil with a little water to make a smooth batter without any lumps. The batter should be of medium consistency- neither too thick nor too thin. Add the paneer to the batter, and when ready deep fry them till golden brown. Use the batter fried paneer instead of chicken in the recipe.
The Basil Smash or Gin Basil Smash: A perfect summer cocktail made from gin and fresh basil.
The weekend is here, although not sure what that concept means any more. Not that it held any much significance in the past, but with the lockdown a weekend holds even less importance.
Weekend or not weekend, I have a drink recipe for you today- Basil Gin Smash. I love basil- in my pasta, in my omelette, in my sandwiches and now in my drink. We had a basil plant last year that my parents had got which gave us a bunch of fresh basil throughout summer. Come winter, and the plant died. We thought it would revive in the summers but it didn’t.
Propagating Basil
Since basil can be propagated hydroponically, the last time I got fresh basil from the market, I put it in a small glass jar filled with a little water and kept it outside in a shaded area. And then I waited. Once I saw roots shoot from the stem, I planted the stem in a pot and voila, now we have a happy flourishing basil plant. I have found basil the easiest herb to grow. Once it takes root, it is like a weed. Little care and even the brown thumb me can keep this plant healthy and going.
This recipe is quick and easy and is courtesy the husband, who is enjoying making cocktails for us. He adapted this gin basil smash recipe from Gin Foundry
I know, I know this sounds weird. But believe me when I say you will never be able to guess the secret ingredient in this chocolate ice cream if I were to make you taste it.
This ghiya/lauki chocolate ice cream is my grandmother’s recipe. She used to make it for us when we were kids. And as kids we never knew she put a vegetable we all would not touch with a ten feet pole. My grandmother was really good with making us eat veggies by disguising them in. For a long time we were unaware that Mummy’s Chocolate Ice cream had ghiya/lauki/bottle gourd in it. I guess one day it slipped from one of the adults and thats when we realized all these years we had been tricked.
Ghiya or lauki or bottle gourd is one of the key components in my grandmom’s chocolate ice cream. I am not sure where she learnt the recipe. Or whether it was something she made up herself. Either case, I loved her chocolate ice cream and summer vacations at my grandparents meant that this chocolate ice cream would be on the menu.
While I have seen my grandmother making this ice cream as an adult, I never got the opportunity to learn the exact measurements. When I first made this recipe, I asked my grand mom for the measurements but she also gave me approximate measurements since that’s how our elders always cooked- with intuition and the need to use up things that are getting bad in the pantry. With a good idea of the recipe, I set about making it. Since the recipe is fairly easy and adjustable to one’s taste, I got pretty good results. My grandmother would use Bournvita and while as a kid I enjoyed the taste, as an adult I thought using cocoa powder gives a better chocolate flavor, and thats what I have shared in the recipe.
You can add roasted almonds, like I did for the Disney video here. You could also pulse some raw cacao nibs, and replace some of the cocoa with it. Since sweetness is a very subjective thing, and what I might find sweet, you might not – adjust cocoa and condensed milk amount accordingly.
VEGAN ALTERNATIVE
Its a simple easy recipe and with ingredients that should be in your pantry and/or easily available in the market. This recipe is eggless- which is great for people who prefer eggless recipes. I have never tried this with dairy free milk, but it could work. The problem would arise when you have to replace the condensed milk. Since condensed milk is basically milk reduced with sugar- if you increase the amount of milk called for in the recipe and reduce the bottle gourd with sugar and dairy free milk in the first step, the recipe might work and be made vegan. You would also of course have to sub the cream with a dairy free alternative as well.
MAKE THIS ICE CREAM WITHOUT AN ICE CREAM MAKER
Even though I have an ice cream maker, I don’t generally use it for this recipe. Still I get a creamy ice cream texture. The trick is to remove the ice cream every 2-3 hours, or as the edges start freezing and beat it for a minute. I do this 3-4 times before letting it freeze overnight. This helps in avoiding crystallization and yields a creamy texture. Also, the base after cooking and being churned should preferably be refrigerated before freezing. That too helps in the mixture freezing quicker, which gives a creamier and smooth ice cream texture.
HOW TO MAKE SMOOTH, CREAMY HOMEMADE ICE CREAM
Fat is the one of the main factors that provides smoothness to ice cream. Using whole milk instead of lower fat percentage milk will lead to a richer and creamier texture.
The more air bubbles there are and the smaller they are, the smoother the ice cream will be. Also smaller ice crystals in the ice cream give a smooth texture. Constant churning while the ice cream is slowly freezing, helps keep the ice crystals moving as they chill. An ice cream maker helps in this process, but using the technique given above you can make smooth, creamy ice cream without an ice cream maker too.
Another thing I have learnt is how you store the ice cream. Make sure you store your ice cream in an airtight container. Covering the top with parchment paper prevents ice crystals from forming. I used to cover with cling film earlier, but sometimes that freezes into the ice cream, making it difficult to remove. By using parchment paper, you avoid that. In case your ice cream crystalizes too much after first serving it, you can always churn it again in your ice cream maker, or thaw it a little and beat it the same way as suggested above, before refreezing it again.
If the ice cream does freeze too hard for scooping, allow it to sit out on the counter for 10 minutes before trying to serve it.
This creamy chocolate ice cream is made with Lauki or bottle gourd. Enjoy this smooth textured creamy chocolate ice cream recipe that has the goodness of bottle gourd in it. Nobody will be able to guess it has a vegetable in it and your kids will love it.
Author: Shumaila
Recipe type: Dessert, ice cream
Serves: serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 large bottle gourd/ghiya, grated (about 2 tightly packed cups of grated ghiya or 3 loosely packed cups)
750 ml milk, preferably full fat
200 ml cream
1 tin (400gms) condensed milk
½-3/4 cup cocoa powder (for a more intense chocolate flavor, add ¾ cup cocoa powder)
¼ cup roasted almonds (optional)
Instructions
Wash, peel the lauki/bottle gourd and grate/shred it. Keep aside.
Heat a thick bottomed pan/kadhai, and add the milk and lauki. Keep stirring and let the milk come to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to cook on medium low. Keep stirring until the most of the milk has evaporated. Scrape the sides too from time to time to get the milk solids back into the milk. It will take about 30-40 minutes.
Add the condensed milk. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Add the mixture to a blender. Pour in the cream and cocoa powder. For a more intense chocolate flavor use ¾ cup cocoa powder. Note: I have also successfully subbed ½ cup ground raw cacao nibs for the cocoa powder, plus ¼ cup cocoa in this ice cream.
Blend the mixture till you get a smooth consistency.
Transfer to a freezer safe air tight container, and refrigerate the mixture covered for 2 hours. You could freeze it at this point too, but since the mixture is warm, for a creamier texture it is advisable to cool it down slightly before freezing it.
Once cool, place the container in the freezer and allow the mixture to freeze for 2 hours or once you start seeing the edges freezing slightly.
Remove from freezer and beat with a hand mixer to break up ice crystals that are beginning to form.
Cover and place back in the freezer.
Freeze for 2 more hours and then remove from the freezer and beat again with the hand mixer. Repeat this step one more time, before leaving it for an overnight chill. The final beating step is when you can add your add ins like roasted almond. After the final beating, cover the top with parchment paper, and then the air tight lid. Freeze overnight, or until ice cream is firm. Scoop and enjoy!
