Subba's special spices

“When you cook a dish, you should cook with all your heart and mind,’ says Kala Subba, RJ at Hits FM, “otherwise you won’t be able to bring out the best taste in the dish.”

Subba had learnt the know-how of cooking from a very early age. She remembers her first dish to be a summer squash vegetable when she was studying in class 2.[brerak]

“My sister had taught me to cook for the first time,” says Subba. Coming from a family where helping in household chores wasn’t a big deal, she quickly adapted to kitchen chores.

“People may not believe that I enjoy my time inside the kitchen,’ she exclaims. But it was her immense interest in cooking that makes her enjoy her kitchen work and equally appreciated by the people she serves. Whenever she is in the kitchen, she loves what she does.

Spicy food is her favorite and forte, says Subba. Her love for Newar cuisines is due to the combinations of various spices in them. Her favorite food, however, is spicy fish of which she knows the ingredients and methodology by heart.

Though her experience with cooking has been smooth and a friendly one, she confesses that experimenting has not been easy for her. “I’ve failed numerous times while trying to experiment with dishes,” she says.

From her numerous experiences, Subba says that she has learnt to taste the dish before serving to stay on a safe side.

She has always been open to learning to cook new dishes but she thinks she is not as good in baking. Learning to bake is in her next priority list. “I think I’ll be taking a baking class soon,” she says.

SPICY CHICKEN

Ingredients

½ kg of chicken

1 chopped tomato

1 chopped onion

4 pieces of chopped garlic

2 pieces of chopped green chilies

2-4 pieces of dried chilies

4 tablespoons of sunflower oil

1 tablespoon of turmeric power

1 tablespoon of cumin powder

A few mint leaves

Salt to taste

Methodology

• Take a pan and heat sunflower oil;

• Add cumin powder, garlic and green chilies to it till the mixture turns light brown;

• Now take another pan, add sunflower oil to it;

• Add chopped onions to it and fry it up till brown;

• Now, add chicken to the pan and deep-fry for 15-20 minutes;

• Add salt, turmeric powder and fried cumin powder, garlic and green chilies to the pan;

• Add chopped tomatoes to the chicken and mix it well;

• Add half a cup of water after the meat turn reddish so that the spices can mix and absorb well;

• Garnish the spicy chicken with mint leaves and dried chilies, and it is ready to serve.

ALOO PIRO

Ingredients

3 potatoes

2 tomatoes

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

2 pieces of chopped garlic

1 carrot

A few fenugreek

Cumin powder

Chili powder

Methodology

• Take a pan and add sunflower oil to it;

• Add cumin powder to the heated oil, followed by chili powder;

• Set aside the mixture and boil potatoes in a pot;

• Meanwhile, heat oil in a different pan and heat a few fenugreek;

• Add chopped garlic and chopped onions to the oil and fry till light brown;

• Add tomatoes and mix them well in the pan;

• Add the boiled potatoes, chopped in cubes, to the pan;

• Add salt, heated cumin powder and chili powder to the mixture and mix it well;

• Garnish it with carrot and serve.