Fish fingers in a jiffy

1. Cut fish fillets in finger shape (skinless, boneless)

2. Rub lime juice, a pinch of mustard powder, salt and white pepper powder. Keep aside for 10 minutes

3. Take bread crumbs in a plate. Dip the fingers into beaten egg mixture, roll over the crumbs

4. Deep fry or oven bake.

5. Serve with Tartar sauce or Tamatar sauce :)

6. Yenjaaay!

Pizzzzzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!

A mood lifter for a tired soul. And then, who wants to cook, when u are tired?

Even Charanamrita Chatterjee can make this :D

Load it with toppings of your choice

It will the melts in your mouth, i pramisse :)

 

Yeah, its a rectangle Pizza. You like?

Just Bake it!

Appu’s Two Tier Chicken & Veggie Bake

This one is a classic. I make it very often. Will post a pic when I bake next.

Ingredients:

1. Veggies of your choice – chopped Medium size. (I use broccoli, potatoes, sweet corn kernels, a few French beans, carrot , Mushrooms and peas)

2. Minced chicken (Chicken Kheema)

3. Any Pasta sauce (Tomato based)

4. White sauce

5. Herbs (basil, oregano)

6. Butter /olive oil

7. Garlic – 1/2 spoon minced

Method for making white sauce:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons  all purpose flour/maida

1-2 cups Milk

Salt

Pepper

Sugar- 2 to three pinches.

Optional: 1/2 cheese cube grated.

Method

1. Melt the butter, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes without browning, stirring continuously.

2. Remove from the heat and add the milk, while mixing it continuously. Mix until smooth. (My mum sometimes uses a hand blender when things go wrong i.e when  the sauce becomes too lumpy- try it, if things go wrong for you too :)

3. Return to heat and cook slowly, stirring throughout until the sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper, sugar and grated cheese (optional)

(The best option is to buy ready white sauce mix :) )

The bake

Take a small wok and pour some olive oil. Add the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add a portion of garlic and the minced chicken. Add in the Salt and sauté it till the chicken is almost done. Do not brown it. Let the water that the chicken leaves evaporate. Once the water dries up, pour 4 tbs of pasta sauce cook for 2 minutes. Keep this  mixture aside.

In a wok, sauté the veggies in olive oil or butter for a few minutes with garlic and herbs.

If you want to use potatoes then, I suggest you boil them and add to this. Now pour the white sauce into this mixture.

In a baking dish first pour the chicken mixture. Top it with the white sauce and veggie mixture. Grate cheese over it.

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees for 5 minutes. Now place the dish inside the oven and bake it for about 20 minutes- till the sauce thickens and sets. Do not brown the cheese too much.

Once ready, have it with garlic bread and white wine :).

The Ketchup Girl’s Malabar Prawns with a twist

I made this yesterday, and it was yumm. I exchanged this recipe with Sunny’s two kickass recipes (below). Since I had already typed it out, posting this was simple- cut and paste. Now u know, why more recipes don’t appear here- lazy baby, lazy.

ok, lets get started.

Warning- this is not authentic- coz its a Kerala recipe and i don’t like coconut oil. so i replaced it with ghee. but you are most welcome to use coconut oil.

• 1 tbsp ghee /coconut oil
  1 tsp mix of whole spices- elaichi, cinnamon, laung)
  1-2 onions, diced (finely)
  A good amount of garlic paste- about 2 tsps
  1 tsp ginger paste
  2 green chilies slit/chopped
  Tomato puree (1 large)
  2 tsp coriander powder (dhania powder)
  1/2 tsp haldi
  1 -2 tsp red chili powder depending on how spicy u like it
  1 cup coconut milk
  A little bit of coconut cream – a spoon or 2. (optional)
  Salt to taste
  500 gms medium sized fresh prawns
• Curry patta (Curry leaves)

(The prawns need to be washed and deveined. Then rub some lime juice to it and keep aside)

Heat the ghee in a kadhai and add the spices like cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Add onions and curry patta, let it brown.

Now add the garlic, ginger paste, green chilies. Add in the tomato puree and mix well. After 2 minutes, add in haldi, mirchi and dhania.

Wait for fat to separate.
Add the prawns to the mixture and stir for two minutes. (I recommend, u sauté the prawns earlier for just a minute in ghee and now add it to he paste. Now pour the coconut milk and boil on low heat for five minutes.

Stir in the coconut cream and serve hot the Prawn Malabar Curry with rice.
Coconut cream is optional. I don’t add it. If you like your gravy to be thick and creamy then add.

Mayur Relekar’s Fish Kozambu

Continuing from the last post, and making more secrets public, here is another one of Sunny’s secret southie fish recipe.

Mayur's Special Fish Kozhambu...

Ingredients:

1.> Good fish curry fish, Indian Salmon or Snapper or Big Rohu(Bengal cut, good curry cut pieces)
2.> Tamarind
3.> Coconut
4.> Lime
5.> Red Chilli Powder
6.> Cumin Powder
7.> Mustard Seeds
8.> Curry Leaves
9.> Ginger Garlic Paste
10.> cup of chopped onions
11.> cup of chopped tomatoes
12.> Dry Red Chillies

Method:
Wash Fish and smother with salt and lime and set aside for 10 mins.
remove all liquid and apply ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, mix and leave for 30 mins
make a paste of one cup tomatoes, a cup of desiccated coconut and 5-6 dried red chillies.
fry one cup onions in coconut/vegetable oil till colorless.
add cumin powder and little coriander powder and fry till oil separates.
add the paste and fry till everthing is mixed well, add fish marinade and cook for few mins.
add some tamarind water and mix well.
once done, heat some butter/oil separately and make a tadka of mustard seeds, dried red chilli and curry leaves and add to the curry.

Voila, its the dones.

Sunny’s Dhania Chicken

This chuddy buddy of mine, swears he can cook, and cook well. After much deliberation, he shared his secret Dhaniya Chicken recipe- which I have now made public :D. Good food can’t be kept a secret- no no.

Here goes:

(Mayur's/Sunny’s Spl. Dhaniya Chicken)

Ingredients:

1.> 1/2 Kg Chicken
2.> 1 cup Curd
3.> 2 cups chopped Coriander
4.> 5 or more Green Chillies
5.> Ginger-Garlic Paste
6.> Turmeric
7.> Red Chillli Powder
8.> Coriander Powder
9.> Salt
10.> 1/2 Lemon
11.> 1 cup chopped Onions

Method:

Wash the Chicken and then rub a tsp of salt and half a lime and leave for 10 mins
then drain out all liquid and add 2tsp Turmeric and 2tsp Red Chilli Powder and cup of Curd and mix well. Leave for 1/2 hour.

Make a paste of 2 cups chopped coriander and Green Chillies and little water in a blender.

Take a kadai or preferably a Pressure Cooker and heat some oil/butter/ghee.
add cup of chopped Onions and fry till colorless.
Add Coriander Powder and Ginger-Garlic Paste and fry till oil separates.
Add the paste to kadai/cooker and cook till all ingredients mix well.
add Salt to taste, mix. Then add the marinating Chicken.
If in Pressure Cooker, close and wait for 2 whistles or just mix and cook in kadai till chicken is done.
voila! yummy yumm yum!

Monroe Magic

Supah cool packaging

In Kylie Minogue’s words - ‘ Hold me and control me, then melt me slowly like a chocolate’

Chatpata afternoon siesta breaker

 

Have you ever tried mixing Haldiram’s Bhujia with dahi, imlli chutney, red chilli powder? Well, mix them together and chill it for 10 minutes in the fridge.

While it gets chilled, look for a 2 pm world movies show, take the mixture out of the freeze. Dig in.

Its a must try. Especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon.

Don’t forget to keep some cha ready.

When you are tired chicken curry

When I  am tired but still want to have chicken:

 

Take 1/2 cup yoghurt, add 2 tsp dhania powder, lots of red chilli powder (coz that’s how i like mine), 1-2 tspGinger garlic paste, garam masala- whatever you’ve got, 1 tsp mustard oil, salt to taste, sugar- 2 pinches, 1/2 kg chicken,1 diced tomato, diced/grated/ground onion. Mix all. keep aside for an hour or two. Then place the mixture on a non stick pan. Ensure the gas is on very low flame. Cover the pan and go watch a film. Take a break in about 20 minutes- check if chicken is done. If yes, add water as desired, add chopped coriander. Cook it for another five minutes. take off the flame. Devour it with hot rice and a green chilli.

 

Hot tip: Add two big potatoes to your marinade. :) No bong food is complete without potatoes.

The quintessential bong meal

Last night, I got to think, how much we eat. Don’t you think this is way too much for one, very regular meal? But my  bong husband doesn’t feel that way. He thinks if I am embarking on a bong meal, it must be complete. Even the meal below is incomplete- there should have been aamer-chatney.

In the photo, and now in the many bulges of my body:

1. Gala Bhaat with rice (Over cooked rice with clarified butter)

2. Doi Maach – jhaal version (Fish in yoghurt)

3. Moong daal-er Dalma (pulses with vegetables)

4. Saag begun aar phoolkopi diye (Spinach with eggplant and cauliflower)

5. Alu-r Bora (Potato patties, pan roasted not deep fried)

6. Lebur Achaar (lemon Pickle)

Thakumaar Maacher Jhaal (Bengali style chilli fish, Grandmom’s recipe)

Poo nudged me yesterday to say this blog was slowly dying. Not as dramatic, but  yes,  she did say that she missed seeing newer posts.  I wonder if she ever ventured into trying out any of the featured recipes here.
I have been meaning to add some fun stuff to this space and go beyond recipes. But just don’t have enough time. Oh, who am I kidding? I have all the time in the world, have just been procrastinating. And before this post turns into a personal rant, here goes my favouritest fish recipe. This one originates from my paternal grandmom- she insisted my mum learnt this recipe and cooked it for her whenever she came visiting. now the recipe is handed down to me.
Ready?
we’ll need -

• 3-5 medium pieces of  white fish- Rohu/katla/or any firm white fish fillet
• 1 BIG tomato – grated (yes grated or pureed. tastes best when freshly pureed)
• 11/2 tsp Jeera powder
• 1 1/2tbsp – garlic –crushed (u need a little more than usual)
• 1 –2 tsp red chilli powder – as per your taste
• 1/2 tsp – Turmeric
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Oil- 4 tbsp

Method:
Rub, salt and turmeric to the fish and keep aside for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the tomato puree, garlic, jeera powder and salt. Mix it well and set aside.
In a pan heat oil, and shallow fry the fish. Take them out when they turn  light brown on both sides. Set aside .Do not fry it too crisp.
Add the tomato mixture to the remaining oil in the pan. on medium flame cook it, till oil separates. Add the  fried fish to this and coat the fish with the masala. Now add  water. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 minutes. Add chopped coriander. Serve with hot steamed rice.
Its a very very simple recipe, which can be made in parties too. I guarantee you at least 5 compliments when u serve this!
Hot tips: DO NOT add dhania powder and ginger. It changes the taste. For more masala, double the tomato puree , jeera and garlic.  Do not add too much water to the gravy. Follow this recipe to the t. :)