Food Auntie

Pepper Chicken
Cut chicken into large chunks. We used 7 big cups of chicken
7 teaspoons olive oil
2 large onions – Sliced thin
Cinnamon Sticks – 1 stick, 1 ½ inches broken up
Whole Cloves – ½ teaspoon
Fennel – ½ teaspoon
2 large jalapeno peppers, cut in thin strips
Garlic and Ginger Paste – to make the paste, use about 7 ½ cloves & 1 tablespoon of ginger (1 square inch of ginger). Put it all in the blender, add a little water. Make paste (think texture like hummus) editor's note: You can buy this pre-made at most Asian grocery stores.
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 tablespoons crushed black pepper
2 teaspoons salt

Heat olive oil in large saute pan

First add cinnamon, and let it change colors
Add cloves and fennel
Then add onions, then peppers
On high heat, wait for onions to be light brown.
Add chicken
Add about 3 tablespoons of garlic and ginger paste (about tablespoon for every 2 cups of chicken)
Add turmeric powder and crushed black pepper

Mix (Carefully)

Add salt

Cover and turn heat down to medium
Cook about 10-15 minutes (covered)
Stir occasionally
May need to add 1 tablespoon more of pepper about 10 minutes in for darker color
Turn up heat to high because trying to get the water out. (If you want the gravy, that’s okay too)
Each piece of chicken should be coated. Keep stirring until it is that way
Cook another 10-15 minutes on high until water evaporates
You can tell by the smell that there is a right amount of salt and cinnamon and pepper. It smells peppery with cinnamon and the perfect amount of salt
When it is done cooking, it will be a gravy consistency

Kavitha's huge smile and bubbly personality drew me to her immediately.  That, and the fact that she, like me, loves (I mean, loves) cupcakes.  Below is her recipe for chicken pulav.

A few years ago my girlfriends and I went to my mom's house and she taught us how to cook a bunch of my favorites (while we made her measure everything instead of the usual "pinch of that, a spoon of this").  Here's my mom's recipe for chicken biriyani/pulav. -Kavitha

Chicken Pulav
1 ¾ cup of basmati rice (1 ½ coffee mugs of rice is equal)
4 cups of chicken cut into small cubes (because you are putting chicken in rice, you can use more or less)

Rinse the rice

Prepare to grind in blender, to make a paste:
6 cloves of garlic
1 square inch of ginger. Take the skin out.
2 hot jalapenos
A little onion – about 1 cup of onion cut
A little cilantro – ½ cup

Can add water to grind if need to for blender, then grind. It will be a bright green color (it looks similar to pesto)

Get a pot that will hold about 5 quarts
Hear 6 tablespoons of oil in pot on high

When oil is hot – add cinnamon, fennel, cloves, and onions:
Cinnamon stick – about 1 ½ inches long. Break up stick.
1 teaspoon of cloves
½ teaspoon of fennel seeds
½ large onion cut

When onion is brown, add the paste to the pot

Add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

When the gravy becomes thick (it has probably been on the stove for about 10 minutes on high heat), add the chicken
Let chicken cook for about 10 minutes, and then add the rice and stir

Add 2 ½ cups of water

After about 5 minutes, lower the heat to simmer, and cover (if an oven-safe pot, put entire pot in the oven at 300 degrees)

15 minutes later, stir chicken and rice so that the other half of the chicken is on the bottom of the pot

Mike, Miguel, Miggie, Migs - a.k.a. the heart of our D.C. urban family. I met Migs in the summer of 2003 and immediately fell in love with his sweet nature and easy smile.  Besides being the guy who's always willing to help you move, paint your house, or drive your car to New York, he's an amazing singer and excellent cook.  I got to enjoy both his musical and culinary prowess when he invited a friend and I to dinner at his place a couple of years back.

When we arrived, Miggie had the place decked out.  He had unearthed his best dishes, put out cloth napkins, and lit candles.  And oh, the smells that wafted out of his kitchen!  

"Oh, that's just adobo."   

Just adobo?  Oh honey, no.  This was the adobo.  One bite in and I was hooked.  The chicken was the right balance of salty and sweet and was cooked to tender perfection.  It really, honestly, truly did melt in my mouth.  Served with white rice, it was an explosion of goodness that I have never forgotten.

After dinner, Miggie played the piano and we sang old soft rock hits (my favorite).  We looked at high school prom pictures and laughed until our sides hurt.  When it was time to leave, being the good Filipino boy he is, Miggie offered us his leftovers.   You know that I jumped all over that adobo. 

Chicken Adobo
1 cup of water
1 cup of soy sauce
1.5 cups of apple cider vinegar
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of blackcorn pepper (whole ungrinded)
pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion sliced
2 tablespoons of honey
8-10 pieces of uncooked chicken (thawed)

In a pot, mix all of the ingredients except for the chicken and bring to a low boil.  When the adobo sauce starts boiling, add the chicken, and boil on medium heat for about 1 hour. Add honey. Cover the pot with a lid.