My parents and I moved to Gurgaon in 2000. There were a lot of hopes and dreams that were put on this city at the start of the millennia. So much so that it’s still called ‘The Millennium City.’ Now, while the city had a lot of hopes and dream set out for it, the growth wasn’t that meteoric as it was laid out to be. 21 years in, I can however say that the city looks a lot different than ever before. For example, our first house looked over farmland. Today, that land has been turned into office buildings that house offices from some of the largest Fortune 500 companies in the world.

As the city grew so did its food. For longest time, the closest places to eat out were in New Delhi. That’s where all the cool malls were. But as the city grew so did its own culinary identity. There are three places that come to mind. The first being a bakery called “Hot Breads” that would be one of the only places for french breads and my favourite cinnamon rolls (big reason for that being that they put raisins in them). The second was a pizza shop run by an Italian in a food court called “Stone Oven.” They were the first pizza place that made thin crust pizzas. They also had a fun way to name their pizzas after countries. Its a little dated now, but in circa 2005 it was really exciting to me. Dad and I loved the Egyptian Pizza. It had some lovely chicken topped with fresh lettuce and a dollop of a cold mayo-based salad dressing that just really added so much oomph.

Finally came “Red Hot Cafe.” An eclectic Thai restaurant that was probably one of the oldest establishments in the city. As a kid I genuinely loathed this place. Only because everything was so damn spicy. But what made it special was how much my parents loved it. And if you are an avid follower of the blog, you know that once we like a place, we end up making what they make at the restaurant at home thereby reducing our chances of ever going back to that place. It was because of Red Hot Cafe that I was introduced to Thai food (at least to a milder tasting version of it). Now, I have never been to Thailand so my frame of reference has always been this restaurant. And that’s what so unique about food. My benchmark of what I consider good Thai food is based on what I grew up in a landlocked city in India, thousands of miles away from the country of its origin. This is why I love making food so much. Especially food that isn’t that common in households. My only aim here, is to make a recipe from this digital cookbook of sorts be your frame of reference. Isn’t that somehow such a powerful thing to influence? I guess I take solace knowing I can do that for just once person as I am sure all these three restaurants did for me.

This spicy Thai basil chicken or Chicken Krapow is super simple to make that comes from Natasha’s Rolodex of recipes! It’s hinged on proteins, the sauce, and the vehicle that drives all of that goodness into your mouth. The chicken, even though minced, has a bite; the sauce celebrates the diversity of peanut butter that traditionally is only associated with sweets; and the lettuce adds both freshness and a texture that otherwise is lacking in what this dish could be pessimistically be called: a spicy undefined mass of brown chicken. I hope you do try this recipe and if you do, dont forget to share pictures over social media! Happy cooking ♥️

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

250 grams chicken mince

2 tbsps veggie oil

1 large onion, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

Basil, shredded

For the sauce

1/3 cup chicken stock (or water)

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp peanut sauce/peanut butter

1 tbsp sugar

2-3 tbsps red chilly (from a jar)

Lots of basil, shredded

Method

1. Start by rolling up your basil leaves into a bunch and making thin lengthwise cuts parallel to the stem of the leaf. This is called a chiffonade

2. Mince 15-20 pieces of chillies and keep them aside

3. In a bowl add all of the items mentioned into the sauce section of the ingredients list. Mix well and add a bit of the chicken stock to mix well and make it into a cohesive sauce.

4. In a pan on medium-high heat add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add your garlic minced onions until the onions turn transparent. Add the chicken and cook off until you start seeing some caramelisation at the bottom of your pan. About 5-7 minutes.

5. Deglaze the pan with the sauce and reduce the temperate of the pan and let simmer. Add the remaining chicken stock or water and cook off the excess water until your meat is nicely coated with all the sauce

6. Take the pan off the heat and add both the chillies and basil leaves. Mix well.

7. Serve hot with some rice or over some fresh lettuce leaves.