Athidi Dhevo bhava! Today's Chit chat with Priya Ranjith - Chinese Grilled Chicken

Ok now enough staring at the picture..:) By now you would have got an idea of this chicken queen..sorry kitchen queen:) Yes its Priya Ranjit from Cook Like Priya..the one blogger from whom I get a kind of my  daily inspiration thinking that there is someone in London  just like me who always thinks .. what to post next and how to get good sunlight for the pictures we take :) You see her blog name ..it always brings smiles on my face..it shows a kind of confidence in her cooking skills..Read on to know more about her and you will get a spicy treat for sure..
Priya seems very confident and cheerful to me anytime when I chat with her..Having known her love and skills in cooking chicken how can I not ask her to prepare a yummy chicken dish for my space..So here you go the oil free guilt free spicy Chinese Grilled Chicken with a sweet chit chat with your favorite blogger..

Siri: When did you start blogging and what made you to start it?

Priya : I started on a note that no one would visit me, the day I started a blog I was so nervous and even wondered if anyone would even look at my recipes. Most people don't know I started a blog named 'Little Mustard' yea ;-) (the name says it all) and one day when I was exploring how to use blogger, I gained some confidence and started my current blog 'Cook like Priya'. I took pics that were little decent (like not in the same plate that I eat ;-). After marriage I started to cook and click pictures to share with my parents just to see how and what I was cooking. Slowly my family was so surprised, that gave me more confidence to cook different recipes and an obvious big support was my husband who gave me the freedom to cook as I please. So that's how it all started.

Siri : Tell us about you and how you manage your time to blog?

Priya: Siri I really don't like talking about myself but if you have noticed about me in G+ or FB this is what I'd say ' Busy wife, happy cook and addictive blogger' which is so me... I started to fancy cooking only after marriage and clicking only after blogging. There are days I just get so obsessed about cooking and clicking and there are also days that I get so obsessed about designing my page. I am not techie but with the minimal knowledge and my quest to explore possibilities to design keeps me busy. So on an average I sit at least 3-4 hours with my blog, a bit too much right?

Siri : Whats your favorite cuisine

Priya: Anything Indian,Chinese and Thai

Siri : Share some tips to reduce the cooking time

Priya: 1. using pressure cooker, 2. pre-cutting vegetables 3. cooking a large portion - I usually do this over week-ends which saves me time in the kitchen. Instead of cooking 2 meals I cook one and keep the rest for the night. Like subji will be more.

Siri : What type of camera you use and share some tips on food photography..Btw your pictures are very nice and especially the styles..like the one which you showed us now..

Priya :Siree I feel so small when it comes to food photography,  I have lots of room for improvement but I can share a few guidelines which I follow.  I use a DSLR Canon 1000D with a basic 50 mm lens. I got this camera before I could blog for personal use as we love to travel a lot. Later now its one of my prices possessions after my blog. 

Tips on Food photography -

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1. use a good background, something that is contrasting to the food, plain / textured. I usually keep lots of tea towels, chart papers or cloth bits and try to keep different contracting backgrounds and click, from which I choose the best

2. We all know that clicking pics in natural light is best. I started to fancy clicking with backlight (ie.light comes from behind the food)  which I have used in few of the pics in this guest post, It gives more emphasis on the food giving it more natural color

3. I love to minimize the props and give more emphasis on the subject ie. food

4. If you have seen I love close up shots, I find that very interesting as it gives a feeling as though the food is right in front of you :P

5. Apart from backgrounds I also use ribbons and flowers which gives more feminine appeal

Siri : Share some tips on making the blog  more readable..

Priya : Write what you think, never write what you feel others will like. If you are taking too much time to write then its never from your heart its more from your mind.

Siri : How is my blog useful and give me one tip on how can I improve it.

Priya: Love your blog and really appreciate your patience to do step-by-step pics, I have many failed attempts at it. Try taking vertical shots and have contrasting background while clicking pictures.

Siri : Your blog looks amazing and especially the name of your blog makes me smile always..a sense of confidence..it gives in oneself..the pics are my favorites and the cooks wisdom..do you mind if I give you  small suggestion or make a request..

Priya: LOL Siree seriously when I thought of the name Cook like Priya I never thought people would want to cook like me... but now I am happy as it is unique and I have never come across a blog with similar phrase. Siree you are most welcome, please so share your suggestions would love to hear from you dear

Siri :Its not a suggestion..a request in deed..I love all your chicken recipes,,and would love to see the step by step clicks:) I really mean it and am very much impressed with you Christmas chicken treat at Divya's space..expertise!!

Okay..over to Priya now..to make you taste this spicy chinese grilled chicken with no oil..

Cooking for a friend is something I consider special, well this time around I had great fun preparing thisguest post for Sireesha Puppala who write @ Siri's Food Flavors. The thing that got me intrigues about cooking for her is that she is a pure vegeterain and she requested me to do a Chicken recipe, now how can I say no??? Siree (as I call her) hope you are happy with this Indo-Chinese Grilled Chicken. 

I came to know Siree through mutual food blogger friends and I used to visit her blog quite frequently. I do love Andra cuisine and found lots of recipes from this cuisine. I was in fact surprised by her invite to do a guest post. Happy to do this post for you Siree and thanks for sharing your space for my recipe. 

Indo- Chinese is a fusion of Indian and Chinese spices combined to get lip-smacking recipes. Being someone who loves Chinese I always love to do fusion in my recipes. This is one such recipe that I tried and was a big hit at home. Its moderate in spice and I used skewers to grill them. Also this recipe calls for no oil, isn't it more inviting. This Indo-Chinese chicken grill is a great starter that is light and packed with great flavors

Recipe Source - Cook like Priya
Prep time - 5 mins
Marination - 8 hrs - to overnight
Bake time - 40 mins 

Ingredients

Chicken breast - 500 gms (boneless, skinless)

Kashmiri red-chili powder - 1 tsp (give gorgeous color & mild spice)

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Red chili sauce - 1 tbsp

Chopped garlic - 1 tsp (minced)

Salt - as per taste

Method

• Was the chicken pieces in cold water and drain all excess water. Mix all the ingredients - soya sauce, chilli sauce, garlic, kashmiri red chili and salt. Mix well along with chicken and cover with a cling film and let it marinate in the refrigerator for overnight or atleast 4 hours
• Before popping them on the grill bring it to room temperature for 30 mins and then pre-heat the oven to 200 C 
• In clean skewers insert the chicken pieces and line them on a foiled baking tray
• Bake for 20 mins each side 

Serve hot with toothpicks and your favorite sauce

Cooks Wisdom

- Take care while cleaning chicken by washing hands before and after cleaning chicken

- Make sure that the skewers are cleaned well before use. In case of using wooden skewers make sure that it is immersed in cold water (10mins)    
   before using

- you can also prepare the same recipe using chicken thigh or with bones and grill them

- although I have not used oil the oils from the chicken gets released while baking

- the color to the chicken is purely from the chilli sauce and kashmiri red chilli powder, i did not used any food color to this recipe

Here are few of my favorites from her space..Take a look ..

Tandoori Prwans
Chicken Lollypops
Nutty Oats Bars
Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani
Hyderabadi Chicken Curry