penwalla

This is a recipe you might not have heard of...it was a staple in my house growing up, one of my mom's specialties. I make it all the time, because it's quick and I have 90% of the ingredients on hand at all times.

EQUIPMENT:
1 large frying pan/skillet
1 pressure cooker (or a large pot)

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb chicken, cut into small pieces (1-0.5 inch cubes)
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp tandoori masala OR 1.5 tsp red chili powder, 2 tsp cumin powder, 1.5 tsp salt

4 tbsp oil (vegetable or canola) 

1 15 oz can tomato sauce
4 tbsp fried onions

2 cups basmati rice
2-3 black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 dried red chilis
1 tsp cumin or black cumin (NOT nigella)
3.5 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube (or 0.5 tbsp chicken bouillon)

plain yogurt
 
METHOD:

Marinate the chicken in the ginger and garlic paste, tandoori masala, and salt for minimum 30 minutes.

Open the can of tomato sauce. Set aside one tbsp of it for your rice.

Then, in a large frying pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and cook the marinated chicken on high heat until it's fully cooked. Then turn down to medium heat, add the tomato sauce and 2 tbsp of fried onion, and cook until the oil rises (about 5-7 minutes). 

In your pressure cooker, add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and saute the cumin, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, dried red chilis for 30 seconds. Then add the fried onions and the rice, and saute until the rice is slightly yellow and coated in the oil. This should take a minute or so with constant stirring.

Now, add the tomato sauce, chicken bouillon and the water, and pressure cook on high for 7 minutes.

Serve the chicken over the rice and garnish with yogurt.

NOTES:

The fastest way to do this is to get your rice cooking and then make the chicken and tomato sauce while it pressure cooks. If you don't have a pressure cooker and are doing this on the stovetop, saute all your whole spices in your pot, add the rice/bouillon/tomato sauce as above, and then cook until the water is all absorbed and the rice is fluffy. 

I use prefried onions that you get at Asian grocery stores. You can fried your onion, but the prefried ones are coated in flour and will thicken your sauce really well, so I recommend them. They keep forever in your pantry as long as you keep them sealed.

The tomato sauce I'm talking about comes in cans alongside the diced tomatoes at the grocery store. Do not use tomato paste. You can use a pasta sauce, I guess, but I don't know how good it will taste.

If you don't have all the whole spices, that is okay! I think the cumin is necessary, everything else is optional.

I use the ginger paste and the garlic paste you get in big jars at the indian grocery. You can use the tubed stuff you get at the supermarket, or you can grate your own fresh. Just keep in mind if you use fresh you'll need less of it, and you'll want it really small so it incorporates into the sauce.

I use chicken breast usually, but I have tried chicken thigh and it was also excellent.

This is a chapter about which I have thoughts.

Wren opens the chapter by telling us that she used to make up fake happy memories of her parents, because she has no actual memories of them, since she was given over to Julian when she was five.
( new backstory unlocked )

Mm. Another really boring one. Let's get through it.
( misogyny is not a plot )

This is a weird chapter to review, because I do have a big complaint about the worldbuilding, but it's also a subjective complaint that I think other critics of this book may disagree with. Fair warning, these are my opinions, and today's is more opinion-y than most.

But first! Misogyny.

( kind of a weird one )

God, this chapter pissed me off.

For context, I'm trying something new with these recaps, where I read through the entire chapter once before I start writing up my recap, rather than doing it as I go. I do this mostly so I don't waste time complaining about things that are addressed a page or two ahead.
( inventing wlw fixit fics to cope )

 
 

The next morning, Wren meets with the Authority for her disclosure.

“There’s no passing or failing here. We’re simply gauging your skills,” Kallister reassures me, and I’m reminded of my first day in Silver Block when they surprised us with a random observation quiz.

That morning, I wasn’t sure if I should stand out, blend with the group, or outright fail. Now I’m cycling through those same options, considering how much to reveal. Until it dawns on me that I can’t afford to hide anything from these people

( full disclosure more like full boredom )

Wren sees this man who looks exactly like her dead uncle and immediately has an emotional reaction. She's overwhelmed by grief, she starts crying. It's good.

She starts to run to him, but then realizes he isn't her uncle.
( wren is back on her bullshit )

Let's do this.

We will start by going over the synopsis of the book in full.

In the heart-pounding sequel to the New York Times bestselling dystopian romance Silver Elite, lines will be crossed, loyalties will be tested, and the fight for the Continent is only just beginning as Wren Darlington finds herself caught in the middle of two wars: one for the fate of her home and another for the fate of her heart.

LINES WILL BE CROSSED.

First off: let's not kid ourselves about Wren being caught between two guys for her heart. I would bet money this is going to be a Fourth Wing-esque love "triangle" where it's clear from the onset that Cross will win.

( here we go :( )

Being Mrs. Darcy by Lucy Marin is a published Pride & Prejudice AU fanfiction featuring a rocky marriage of convenience between Elizabeth and Darcy. As far as novels of this kind go, it has a typical premise: Elizabeth and her family are at Ramsgate during Georgiana’s elopement, and by chance Elizabeth is able to prevent it from occurring. Unfortunately this comes at the cost of her own reputation, and now that she has been tied to Mr. Darcy by sordid gossip, they have no choice but to salvage their reputations by marrying.

It’s not a particularly original novel, and I think its portrayal of Georgiana as a spoiled, arrogant, and hateful young woman is unpleasant. But it is one of my favorite novels of all time, and certainly my favorite P&P variation. If I had to sell it to you, I would tell you this: Being Mrs. Darcy has the best romance novel grovel of all time. Because this Darcy doesn’t just apologize, and he’s not just guilty of being prideful.

Being Mrs. Darcy is about an emotionally abusive man realizing that he is an abuser and changing his ways.
( tw: brief description of emotional abuse )

Enter Axmili.

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( i love cassie. cassie haters can meet me in the pit )
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