Okay, so this is my 150th post and my blog isn’t even anywhere near a year old. When did I cross the “milestones” of my 50th or even 100th posts? Have I just been cooking all this while so much so that I didn’t even realise that those illustrious numbers had walked past? Have I taken photographs of any human being with my camera in the last 9 months? I have eaten (and fed others) each of these 150 dishes that I’ve cooked and scarily enough, written about all of them! Crazy! But my oh my, what an exhilarating journey it has been thus far! What started off as nothing more than a “food diary” for myself (which I was dead sure nobody apart from a few loyal friends would read), has now become a habit, and if you want to dramatise it a bit: an obsession. My parents have also jumped into this bandwagon of madness. The other day my mom called me up at office and said very urgently, “Tui ki Thai Chicken tar chhobi tule phelechhish? Amra ki kheye nebo? (Have you taken pictures of the Thai chicken? Shall we eat?). Can’t blame her really, can I? Such things happen to you when you have a food blogger at home.
Now on to this Thai Basil Chicken. I made these months back. Okay, not months but definitely more than a month back. The occasion in question was my childhood friend K’s aai buro bhaat/bachelorette. K, who got married a fortnight back, was graciously invited for dinner some weeks before to gorge on her favourite Thai food. Now Thai is a cuisine that I absolutely adore. Anyone who has dined with me would be able to testify that. Kaffir lime, coconut milk, basil leaves, fish sauce get me hooked like very few things do. This Thai Basil Chicken that I made as a starter for the meal does not contain any coconut milk though. Made with humble ingredients of minced chicken and a few kinds of leaves, this one leaves a light and subtle aftertaste in your palate, but is a winner through and through!
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
Chicken mince: 1 kg
Olive/Sesame/Chilli oil: 2 tbsp
Garlic, finely chopped: 1 tbsp
Onions, finely chopped: 2
Fresh red chillies: 3
Fresh green chillies: 3
Fish sauce: 1 tbsp or more (to taste)
Brown sugar: 1 tsp
Soy sauce: 1.5 tsp
Kaffir lime/ Gondhoraj Lebu, zest and juice: 2
Basil leaves: 1/2 cup
Method:
1. In a deep-bottomed non-stick wok, add the oil and allow to heat up. Throw in the onions and cook on medium high heat till soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue to stir for another 2 minutes.
2. Now add the chicken mince. Break it into crumbly pieces as you go on stirring it. Cook till the chicken is almost done.
3. Now add the chillies, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime zest and juice, soy sauce and fish sauce and stir the whole thing. Check for seasoning and in case you need more add more fish sauce or a little bit of salt.
4. Add the basil leaves and and cook till they are wilted.
5. Serve as a starter.
