Doi Maachh .... Fish in Yogurt Gravy

Fresh Sweet water fish, minimum spices, awesome to eat....that's the perfect recipe for Doi Maachh, as cooked by my Ma. 

Having received Peti pieces (belly pieces which are buttery soft and oh so delicious) of Fresh Katla of 3 kg above size, I decided there and then that Doi Machh it will be,,,  

In this particular recipe of my Ma, the fish are not fried prior to dunking in the gravy, as is done in most Rui Katla preparations. The preparation is a blend of sweet and hot.

Ingredients :

Katla fish - 5 pieces (about 300 gms)

Curd - 1 medium sized bowl

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1.5 tsp for marination + extra as required

Salt  -  2 tsp for marination + extra as required

Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Tej Pata / Bay Leaf - 2

Whole Garam Masala - Cardamom, Cinnamon sticks, cloves 

Onion chopped - 1 medium sized

Onion paste - 1 medium sized

Oil (mustard / Rice bran) - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 1 tbspn + 1 tspn for garnishing

Kashmiri Mirch - 1 tspn

Red Chili Powder - 1 tspn

Coriander leaves - chopped ... for garnishing

Procedure :

1. Wash the fish .

2. For marination : Mix a bowl of curd + ginger paste+sugar+salt. 

3. Marinate the fish in this slurry for minimum 1/2 hour.

4. In a kadhai, heat a mix of Oil + Ghee.

5. Temper with Tej Pata and whole garam masala.

6. Now add the chopped onion and fry till pink. 

7. While frying the chopped onion, add garlic paste and then add onion paste and fry well till browned to eliminate the raw smell. 

8. Add kashmiri mirch and red chili powder and fry well on medium heat till the onion and masala paste are well fried. 

9. Now lower the heat and add the curd slurry of the marination. Mix well with the onion-masala paste.

10. Now raise the heat and place the fish pieces in the kadhai and gently turn them around to coat them well with the masala and curd mix.

11. Add a cup of warm water. Lower the flame, Cover the kadhai and bring to a boil. Check the salt and sugar. The gravy should be sweet-tangy-midly hot.

12. Garnish with ghee and chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with steaming hot rice.

Chicken Kofta Curry

Chicken Meat Balls in an onion tomato gravy

Chicken Breast is not my favourite cut of the chicken and I avoid using it because of its fibrous texture. But often we end up having not so desired products in our kitchen which we have to make do with.

So to use up the portion of chicken breast, decided on making a not so complicated Chicket Kofta curry. 

Certain ideas about the masala have been taken from Chef Varun Inamdar's recipe but I avoided using besan, keora water, rose water etc.

Ingredients :

Kofta :

Chicken Breast 450 gm 

Rock Salt / Beet Noon - 1 tsp or as per taste

Pepper - 1 tsp

Coriander leaves

Green chillies 

Curd - 1/2 cup

Bread Crumb - 2 slices of bread, toasted till crisp and powdered into bread crumb

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp roasted & ground cinnamon+cardamom+cloves

Ginger Galic paste - 1 tsp

Egg -1 

Onions 1-finely chopped

Gravy :

Onion - 2 roughly diced

Tomato 1-chopped

Ghee - 1 tsp

Whole garam masala

Bay leaf - 1 large or 2 small

White Oil/Mustard Oil

Roasted Fennel - 1 tsp

Roasted coriander (dhaniya) - 1tsp

Roasted Cumin - 1tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Whole Garam Masala & Bay leaf for Tempering 

Red chili powder

Kashmiri Chili Powder

Whole green chilies

Salt to Taste

Sugar  a pinch

Chopped coriander

Procedure :

Kofta :

1) Though Boneless Chicken Thighs are my preferred raw meat portion, this time I had to make do with Chicken Breast. To be chopped into small pieces.

2. Into the mixie jar goes : Boneless Chicken pieces, Rock Salt, Pepper Powder, Green Chilies, Chopped Coriander 

3. Into the above meat paste, add ginger -garlic paste, 1 egg, finely chopped onion, bread crumb of 2 bread slices (toasted and powdered) , 1/2 bowl of curd, 1/2 tsp of homemade garam masala (toasted and ground cardamom+cinnamon+clove). Mix well.

4. After smearing yoour palm with oil, make chicken koftas or balls. I made small lemon sized balls.

Gravy :

1) In a kadhai, take 2 tbsp oil (mustard or any other oil. Today I used rice bran oil).

2) Temper with whole garam masala and bay leaf.

3) To this tempered oil, add roughly chopped onions (2 medium sized)  and tomato. Add ginger- garlic paste. Fry till the onions have slightly browned and raw smell of tomatoes gone. Add salt and a pinch of sugar. 

4) Take it aside and on cooling grind this fried onion-tomato-bayleaf-garam masala-ginger garlic into a smooth paste and transfer the paste back to the kadhai.

5) Prepare a masala paste with 1/2 bowl of beaten curd, a mix roasted cumin + roasted coriander seeds + roasted fennel seeds+ red chili powder + kashmiri mirch. Add this paste to the onion-tomato-bayleaf-garam masala paste in the kadhai. Add warm water . Check the salt .  Add a spoonful of ghee.

6) While the gravy starts simmering,  slide the koftas slowly into the kadhai and add two green chilis, slit at the top. Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 15-20 minutes. 

7) Once it comes to a boil, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder and garnish with chopped coriander.

Keema Pav

 Minced Meat with Soft Bread Roll

Soft and warm, fresh tawa toasted, buttered Pav dipped into Juicy Mutton Keema ... thats what culinary dreams are made of .

Delicious and super easy to make.

Ingredients :

Mutton Keema - 500gm
Pav - 2 packets (16 bread rolls)

Butter (I used Amul Garlic Butter) - 50 gm

Mustard Oil - 2 tbspn

Ghee - 1 tbspn

Tej Pata / Bay leaf -1

Whole red chili -1 

Garam Masala whole - Cinnamon 2 pieces; Elaichi-2 green; Clove -2 to 3

Whole garlic - 4-5 pods

Ginger Garlic paste - 3 tbspn

Onion - 2 medium sized , chopped

Onion - sliced into rings for garnishing

Tomato - 1 medium sized chopped

Green Chilies - as per heat tolerance. I used 5 -6

Coriander leaves chopped

Kesuri Methi-2tbspn crushed (optional)

Haldi - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chili - 1 tsp

Red Chili - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Home made Garam Masala - Dry roasted and finely powdered Cinnamon + Elaichi-green + Clove.

Green Peas - a small bowl

Cubed (small) and sauted Potatoes (optional) after smearing with Haldi & Salt 

Boiled eggs -2 (this was as per a video of Ranveer Brar... I normally do not use eggs in Keema)

Procedure :

Keema

1. Wash and then marinate (preferably overnight) the Keema with Ginger Garlic Paste, Salt, Haldi, Red Chili.

2. In a pressure cooker, heat 2 tbspn Mustard Oil and temper with whole garam masala, Bay Leaf, Whole red chili, 4-5 whole garlic. 

3. Add chopped onions and a pinch of sugar, followed by 2 tbspn of ginger - garlic paste. Fry well till light brown. Add chopped tomatoes.

4. Once tomatoes are mushy, add the powdered masalas mixed with water. Cook till you get rid of the raw smell with occasional sprinkling of water to avoid burning.

5. Once masalas are cooked well, add the marinated Keema / Minced Meat. Mix well and cook on high heat till oil separates. Add a cup of warm water if too dry.

6. Pressure Cook for 2-3 whistles on medium flame. Allow the pressure to release on its own.

7 . If too dry, add some warm water. Add a bowl of blanched green peas, sauted potatoes (optional) . Let the meat, peas and potatoes come to a boil.

8. Garnish with Ghee, Crushed Kesuri Methi leaves, chopped green chilies, garam masala and chopped coriander leaves.  

9. Slice the onions into rings and also slice the boiled eggs

Pav

1. Divide the Pavs and slice horizontally.

2. Smear the tawa with Garlic Butter / Plain Butter/Ghee

3. Toast the sliced Pavs on both sides.

Serve the Keema garnished with Sliced Onions, Sliced Eggs and a slice of Lemon along with warm, buttered tawa toasted paws....

Kolai Dal with Chingri Maachh

Roasted Urad Dal with Prawns

Ingredients:

Dry Roasted Urad Dal 200gm

Ginger Garlic paste

Tej Pata

Whole Garam Masala

Onion paste

Onion chopped

Tomato

Turmeric

 Salt

Fennel seed (mouri)

Dry Whole red chili

Procedure

1) dry roast dal and wash

2) in a pressure cooker, add whole garam masala, ginger garlic paste, Tej Pata,  Onion paste, Haldi, Salt, sugar.  Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles. 

3) In a wok, pour 3 tbsp of oil. Season with fennel seeds when hot,  followed  by chopped garlic and chopped Onion. Fry till golden.

4) add the Prawns into the woke after  smearing with Salt, haldi, chili powder. Fry till golden.

5) pour the pressure cooked Dal into the wok. Let it come to a boil. 

6) garnish with ghee, green chilies and coriander leaves (chopped)

Note: The photograph was clicked as an afterthought,  much after the dal was relished by us all and doesn't do justice to its taste 😀 

Lau Chingri

Bottle Gourd with Shrimps

The addition of Shrimps (Kucho Chingri) to the humble Lau (Bottle Gourd) has elevated this dish to  an exalted position in the world of Bong gastronomy. The 'Lau Chingri' didnt stop at conquering the heart of the Bong gourmet, but inspired the cult folk song from Opar Bangla "Saadher Lau banailo more Boiragi" !

Coming to the recipe, here it goes :

Ingredients : 

Lau / Bottle Gourd- chopped into small pieces

Pumpkin julienne-a small qty ..about 1/3 the quantity of Lau

Shrimps-de-veined and washed

Panch phoron-1 tsp

Tej pata -1

Shukno lonka / whole dry red chili

Grated/paste of ginger

Holud/turmeric

Jeera powder

Green chili

Dhonepata / Coriander leaves-chopped

Ata (whole wheat flour)- 1 tbsp

Ghee

Salt

Sugar

Procedure :

1.Steam the chopped lau + julienned pumpkin

2. In a Kadhai, heat oil and season with Panch Phoron.

3. When the phoron is crackling, throw in Tej pata, Shukno lonka followed by the washed and de-veined shrimps.

4. After frying the shrimps add ginger, turmeric, jeera powder followed by salt and a pinch of sugar.

5. Now add the steamed chopped lau + julienned pumpkin into the spice mix in the kadhai.         

6. Stir it around..no water is to be added as white gourd gives out water.                                  

7.Keep it covered for a few minutes till the vegetables are cooked. Remove the cover...let the moisture evaporate.

8. Once the veggie-shrimp is done, sprinkle a spoonful of Ata to help dry up excess moisture and make the dish 'maakha-maakha'.

9. Finish of with dhonepata, slit green chilies and a dash of ghee.

10. Serve with steamed rice

. 

Phish Phash / Pish Pash...what's in a name ;)?

A gentle nudge from friends reminded me that I have a Cooking Blog. It has been sitting idle, gathering (virtual) dust for the past 2 years or so. Not that I haven't cooked...I have. But blogging about food is a tad bit more cumbersome than cooking food.

A microorganism is holding up the whole world of the mot superior being at ransom...the whole human world is under forced hibernation. While the more fortunate ones are cooped up within the confines of their home, praying for safety and good health, the others are stranded far away from home, alone, scared and helpless. Among the millions of Covid related forwards doing their rounds in the virtual space, one which struck me somewhere said "A vaccine for the Human Virus has finally been found ...Corona....which will heal mother Earth"! What a sad state of affairs we have brought ourselves to...

Well in these troubled times, when supplies, though regular (till now) are limited and cooking simple yet finger licking food is a daily challenge, remembering Phish Phash was like a God Send.  

This is  comfort food I remember from my childhood, especially  from the after-fever-bitter-taste-zero appetite phase. I remember the soft aromatic rice with melt-in-the-mouth-mutton, carrot-peas-potato drizzled with dollops of butter....Aaahhhh bliss!

With chicken in the fridge, I proceeded with the chicken version of the above one pot comfort food!

Ingredients for 10 generous helpings and some more

Gobindobhog Rice - 750gm

Curry cut chicken with bones - 1.5kg 

Carrot : 2-3 chopped into chunks

Beans - a handful -roughly chopped

Potatoes- 2-3 cut into quarters if large

Green chilies - as per taste

Any other vegetables may be added: capsicum, raw papaya, cauliflower, cabbage..all chopped roughly in chunky pieces

Ginger paste - 2 tbsp - for marination of chicken
Garlic paste - 2 tbsp - for marination of chicken

Pepper powder
Whole garam masala - Cinnamon, Green Cardamom, Peppercorns (optional), Bay leaf

Finely chopped onion-1
Onion paste-1
Chopped tomato -1
Butter

Procedure :
1. Marinate the thawed and washed chicken with ginger-garlic paste, salt and pepper for about 1/2 hour.
2. In a pressure cooker, place the marinated chicken + onion paste + chopped onion+ chopped tomatoes +whole garam masala+Pepper powder+salt+green chilies+salt. Add adequate water. Cook for 2 whistles.

3. Separate the chicken stock and the boiled chicken pieces.4. In a rice cooker place the washed Gobindobhog rice with the chunky vegetables and add the chicken stock and a bit of butter/ghee and let it cook till almost done. Add the chicken pieces. Keep the cooker on for a couple of minutes more.

5. Serve the steaming hot Phish-Phash with dollops of butter.

I dont like the rice very mushy and overcooked. 
If you like it that way, after pressure cooking the chicken, add the rice and veggies into the chicken stock in the pressure cooker. If needed, add some more more water and pressure cook for 1 whistle (gobindobhog cooks very fast)...And the mushy risotto like  Phish Phash is ready to be served

Optional : A fistful of Masoor Dal (Red Lentils) may be added along with the rice to make it an even more wholesome meal. I didnt, though...

Shrimp Spaghetti with Basil, Mushroom , Tomato

With no respite from continuous week long rain, the fridge was a medley of a bit of this and a bite of that....1/2 a packet of cleaned and deveined Shrimp in the freezer, 8-10 cherry tomatoes, a bowl of sauteed (in butter) mushrooms and a handful of basil leaves lying in the fridge. Bored of khichdi, phyana bhaat, thought of assembling all these bits and pieces and making my girl's favorite spaghetti.

Easy, quick and tasty.

Ingredients :
Spaghetti - 500gms
Shrimps (cleaned and de-veined)- about 400-500gms.
Mushrooms - about 200 gms halved and sauteed in butter & pepper
Cherry tomatoes - 8-10. halved some. Kept some whole
3 large tomatoes - chopped
1 medium sized onion - finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 5-6
Whole dried red chili - 2 -3 chopped into small pieces
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes made of homemade dry roasted whole red chilies
roasted cumin powder - a pinch
Pinch of sugar
Grated cheese (used processed cheddar)
Olive oil

Procedure :
1. Cook the spaghetti for 5-7 minutes in a pot (by added oil and salt to the water). Retain the water after draining the spaghetti.

2. Heat oil in a wok. Add the chopped whole dry red chilies , chopped onion and minced garlic to the heated oil.

3. Once the onion is light pink & translucent, add the shrimps and fry till light pink. Add salt and pepper.

4. Add chopped tomatoes and some of the halved cherry tomatoes into the kadhai/wok.Let the tomatoes cook on medium heat after adding salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Once the tomatoes are mushy add some of the water of retained after boiling the spaghetti. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the mushrooms followed by half the basil leaves (torn/cut into small pieces). Add a pinch of roasted jeera / cumin powder, followed by chili flakes and pepper. Give a stir. Add some more water if needed.

6. Now add the boiled spaghetti and toss it around to coat it with the sauce. Now add the whole cherry tomatoes. Check the salt & spice level.

7. Garnish with basil leaves and grated cheese (Cheddar)

Spaghetti is ready to be served.

(Chicken) Meat Ball Soup

Damp, dull, wet rainy days and nights...sniffles and coughs, exam time...not exactly exciting times !! How to cheer us all up ?
Comfort food of steaming hot chicken meat balls in the lightest of soup  style with either soft steamed rice or noodles or just as it is was all it needed to lift the souls of us three women!!!

Ingredients :

For the meat balls :
Minced chicken - approx 500gm
Ginger-Garlic paste
Crushed Black Pepper
Salt to taste
Eggs - 2
Eating Soda - a pinch
Finely Chopped Onion- 2 tbsp
Chopped green chilies
Coriander leaves

For the soup :

Bay leaf
Chopped Onion
Garlic chopped
Green chilies
Mushroom
Carrots
Capsicum
or any other vegetable of choice
Crushed Pepper
Salt
Chili flakes
Green chilies
Coriander leaves
Butter



Procedure :
1. Marinate the minced chicken with all ingredients under Ingredients for Meat Balls except eggs, chopped onions & coriander leaves for an hour or so. Mine was in the fridge overnight
2. MIx 2 eggs to the marinate followed by chopped onions & finely chopped coriander leaves. Fresh leaves just before preparation gives a fresh aroma.
3. In a wok/kadhai, heat 2 tsp of butter. Add a bay leaf followed by freshly ground black pepper, chopped onions, chopped garlic and chopped green chilies. Add a pinch of sugar. Fry till onions are pinkish.
3. Add carrots, mushrooms, capsicum or the vegetable in order of their hardness. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
4. After sauteing the vegetables on medium to high flame, add 5-6 cups of water. Adjust the salt and pepper. Cover till the soup has almost come to a boil.
5. Now after lowering the flame to a minimum, make small balls (approx 1-1.5cm dia) of the minced chicken meat and add to the soup in the kadhai. Increase the flame to medium and add a dollop of butter. Cover for 5-7minutes. Check once in a while and remove the scum from the top and give the soup and the meat balls a gentle stir.
6. After the soup has boiled for 2-3 minutes, sim the flame and adjust salt, pepper, add chili flakes. Remove from flame and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve the steaming hot chicken meat ball soup and welcome to a world of deliciousness!!

The kids had it with 2-3 tbsps of steamed rice. And the next day had the remaining soup with some noodles.
I had it just as soup...Chicken Meat Ball Soup with mushrooms and vegetables

Chili Chicken & Vegetable Chowmein

Though I started off with plan to make Chicken chowmein with lots of vegetables, bowed to the family's demand of the Chili chicken and Chowmein.

Though normally I dont fry the chicken separately, today decided to go for the elaborate separate frying and subsequent adding to the sauce method. The simpler method for some other day....

Chili Chicken 

Ingredients :
Chicken = 1 kg (I used drumsticks, wings, and some boneless leg pieces)
Onions - 2 : diced into 4 quarters each
Green Capsicum - 1 large cut into thin strips
Garlic chopped - 2 tbsp
Ginger chopped - 2 tbsp
Soya Sauce
Green Chili Sauce
Sesame Oil (of toasted sesame seeds) - just a few drops as a final dressing (optional)
Tawa toasted white sesame seeds - a tsp (optional)
Spring Onions - the green part chopped finely
Green chilies - slit longitudinally
Eggs - 2
Cornflour - 1 -2 tspn
Oil

For the marination :
Cooking soda - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Soya Sauce - 2 tbs
Green Chili Sauce - 2-3 tbsp (depending on how spicy we want)
Black pepper powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - keep it less as the sauces are high on salt

Procedure :
1. Marinate the washed and dried chicken with the ingredients mentioned under Marination, for about an hour or two.
2. Crack open 2 eggs into the marinated chicken. Mix it well
3. Add 1 - 1&1/2  tbsp of cornflour. Mix well.
4. Fry the chicken pieces in batches without overcrowding to get nicely browned crispy 3/4th cooked chicken fries. Keep aside
5.In a wok/kadhai, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the chopped ginger & garlic followed by diced onions. Fry till onion is translucent.
6. Add the soya sauce & green chili sauce. Fry on high flame.
7. Add the julienned Capsicum . Fry on high flame.
8. Add the 3/4 cooked fried chicken pieces. Alternating between medium to high flame, coat the chicken in the sauce mix. Add some freshly crushed back pepper and salt to taste. If you want dry chili chicken , add the slit green chilies and chopped green onions and give a toss and take it off the flame now ...ready to serve.
9. But since I wanted a little gravy, added a cup of water mixed with a spoonful of cornflour. Covered the wok and let the chicken cook for 2-3 minutes.
10. Remove the cover, add the slit green chilies and chopped green onions and give a toss and take it off the flame now
11. Transfer to a serving bowl.
12. Drizzle some sesame oil from the top and sprinkle a tsp of dry roasted white sesame seeds....The chili chicken is ready to serve.

******

Vegetable Chowmein

Ingredients :

For the Sauce 
3 Tbs. Oyster sauce
1/2 cup Vegetable  or Chicken stock (did not have chicken /vegetable stock. used water instead)
Mix the above

For the Seasoning
3 Cloves garlic (approximately 1 Tbs.)
1 oz. Fresh ginger (approximately 1/2 Tbs.)
1 Red chili

For the Vegetables (Any vegetable of your choice may be used)
4 packets dry Chinese egg noodles (Blanched in hot boiling water, drained and rubbed with oil.)
2 oz. Shiitake or button mushrooms (I used about 6  small size button mushrooms)1/2 bunch spring onions- separately chopped the green and white parts

1 green capsicum finely sliced

1 medium sized carrot finely julienned.

Noodles  

4 packets dry Chinese egg noodles (Blanched in hot boiling water, drained and rubbed with oil.)

For Garnish 1 tsp. Toasted sesame oil

3 Tbs. Cooking oil

Procedure :

1. Heat 3 tbsp of oil to smoking hot in a wok/kadhai. The flame should always be on high heat

2. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and julienned red chili. Stir for 10-20 secs. Take care not to burn.

3. Add the chopped white part of spring onion followed by Carrots. Stir fry for a minute in high flame

4. Add the mushrooms, capsicum and other vegetables.

5. Now add the blanched noodles, stir it around. Add salt and crushed pepper

6. After mixing the noodles and vegetables, add the oyster sauce mixed with stock/water. Keeping the heat high, toss the noodles around the wok to allow it to soak in the sauce.

7. Transfer into a serving bowl nad garnish with toasted sesame oil.

Serve Vegetable Chowmein with Chili Chicken

Goan Green Chutney stuffed Pomfret Fry

Pomfret is something I havent cooked often. Earlier had always either tawa fried or microwaved (with a blob of butter) simply marinated (ginger-garlic-lemon-salt-pepper) pomfret pieces. 

This time thought of trying something different. Hence the internet hunt ....which yielded a simple stuffed pomfret recipe in which most of the ingredients were available at home.

Ingredients :

* Whole pomfrets - 4

* Juice of 1 lime

* Salt to taste

* Sooji/Semolina/Rawa for rolling/ dredging (optional)

* Wheat flour for dusting/sprinkling (did not use)

* Refined oil for pan frying

* Turmeric - 1 tsp

* Freshly crushed black pepper - 1 tsp (not in original recipe)

* For the green chutney

   - A large bunch of fresh coriander leaves

   - 2 sprigs fresh mint leaves-optional (I did not use)

   - 1 medium onion peeled and roughly chopped

   - 1 tbs fresh tamarind paste (I used juice of 1 big lemon)

   - 7 cloves fresh garlic

   - 1 " piece of ginger

   - 2-3 fresh green chilies

   - 1 tsp cumin seeds

   - 4 tbsp grated coconut (I used 1/2 a medium sized coconut )

   - A large pinch of turmeric

   - A pinch each of Cinnamon & Clove powder (I used 1/2 inch cinnamon stick & 3-4 pieces of cloves)

   - A large pinch of sugar to taste - optional (I used 1/2 tsp)

Grind the above chutney ingredients into a thick paste with minimum water

Procedure :

1. The fish is to be cleaned and slit into pockets. I got this done from the fishmonger

2. Rub the pomfrets and their cavities with lemon juice, salt , turmeric and freshly crushed pepper and marinate for 15-20 minutes.

3. Now stuff the cavities with the green chutney and cover the whole pomfrets in a thick paste of green chutney (as per the original recipe, only the cavities were stuffed with the green chutney)

4. Marinate for 15-20 minutes (I marinated for more than an hour)

5. When ready to fry, roll each pomfret in sooji and then dust/sprinkle wheat flour on either side. I only rolled in rawa and skipped the flour sprinkling.

6. Heat oil in a skillet / pan and slide in the pomfrets one by one into the heated oil. Cook each side for at least 5 minutes or till evenly cooked and crispy. 

Serve with tomatoes, onion and a squeeze of lemon and chopped corinader. Also potato wedges & salad as the original recipe mentioned .

Chicken Ghee Roast in Chettinad Masala

I like my cooking simple and low on spices. Because I am a reluctant cook but a food lover, I like making things which are easy and quick to make but good to taste.. 

Chettinad Chicken is something I have avoided making in the fear of the excessive spice usage and high heat content.

However, my browsing the net, I came across this video of Chicken Ghee Roast in Chettinad Masala and found it simple and easy and the video of the dry roasting of the masalas triggered my olfactory senses and I almost hallucinated the wafting aroma of roasted Indian spices..incidentally a full bird had been bought and was ready for marination. So without much ado, I followed the recipe to the T (except the chili quantity part) and ended up making delicious, flavourful Chicken Ghee Roast for Sunday lunch.

Ingredients: 
Step 1 - 1 kg chicken
- juice of 1 lemon
- half bowl of yogurt
- ½ tsp of turmeric powder

Step 2 - 10-15 dry red chillies (I used 8 dry red chilies and deseeded them to reduce/minimise the heat factor)
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 7-8 cloves of garlic
- tamarind water 

Step 3 - ¼th cup of Ghee (I used 2- 2 1/2 tbsp of Ghee)
-Salt
- 1 tsp jaggery
- Curry leaves
Procedure :

- Marinate chicken with lemon juice, yogurt mix it well then add turmeric powder and keep aside for an hour. (I kept overnight)
- In a thick bottom pan, roast the spices – dry red chillies, black pepper, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves,fenugreek seeds and mix it well and switch off the flame and let it cool down.
- Grind the roasted spices and while grinding also add cloves of garlic and tamarind water.
- In a pan add ghee and place the marinated chicken and let it cook up to 70%. Keep aside.
- Add the remaining yogurt mix in the pan and mix it well in the ghee on medium heat and keep it aside in a bowl.
- In the same pan add the ground masala and let it cook on low flame and add ghee 1/2 tsp of ghee to it 
-Add the ghee fried yogurt mix, salt, jaggery and add the cooked chicken. keep coating the chicken with masala on medium to high heat.
-Cover anf Keep on low flame for 5-10 minutes
- Add some curry leaves and the Chicken Ghee Roast is ready to be served!

  

Chocolate Lava Cake

2 birthdays in the family a span of 4 days!! So this time thought of giving the usual sponge cake a miss..and made Lava Cake Muffins and one small cake in an aluminium foil rectangular container.

Ingredients :

*100g dark chocolate, chopped- I used Bournville Rich Chocolate 
*100g butter
*150g light soft brown sugar-I used 100gm normal white sugar
*3 large eggs
*1/2 tsp vanilla essence
*50g plain flour

*coffee powder / cocoa powder (optional)

Method

11. Preheat the oven to 230C. 

22. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of hot water (or alternatively put  in the microwave) and stir until smooth, then set aside to cool slightly for 15 minutes.

33. Beat the eggs and Mix in the sugar, and keeping mixing with the eggs, and add  into the chocolate-butter mix followed by the vanilla extract and finally the flour. 

  4. Spray/Smear oil in the muffin tray and the aluminium container. Sprinkle cocoa powder/coffee powder to line the moulds (optional) 

  5. Divide the mixture among the muffin moulds and aluminium container.

46. Bake the muffins for 7-8 minutes at 230 deg C and the aluminium container (slightly bigger) for 12-13 minutes or until the tops are firm to touch but the middles still feel slightly squidgy. Carefully run a knife around the edge of each pudding, then turn out onto serving plates and serve with single cream/vanilla icecream or have it just like that.

Kasundi / Kashundi Maachh

Fish cooked in Kashundi (A Mustard based sauce unique to Bengal)

Quick, Easy & Delicious. Thats what Kashundi/Kasundi Maachh (Bhetki/Basa or for that matter any soft fish) is.

Ingredients 

Bhetki / Basa fillets - 500-750gm

Ginger-Garlic paste (I use homemade) - 1.5 tbspn

Chili flakes / chili powder - depends on heat tolerance

Salt

Crushed Black pepper

Procedure :

1. Bhetki/Basa fillets marinated in ginger, garlic paste, salt, pepper, chilli flakes/chilli powder and generous helping of Kashundi/Kasundi for 1/2 - 1 hr.

2. Drizzle 2-3 tbsp of Mustard Oil to the marinated fish. (This may be eliminated or just a minimum quantity of oil may be used). Mix well and place them evenly in a flat bottomed microwaveable glass container

Slit some green chilies and place them on the 'bed' of fish. 

Microwave on Power 80 for 8-10minutes.

Keep it within the oven for 2-3 minutes. 

Garnish with freshly chopped Coriander leaves.  

Tastes delicious with steamed rice.

Cooking couldnt be faster or easier!!

Grilled masala coated Whole Bhetki with Mashed Potato and Vegetables

A recipe I'd used a number of times and it was super simple and the end result was super delicious. The Source : Preeoccupied's Masala Salmon.

However instead of Salmon, I had used Bhetki / Basa in the past. This time I had a whole Bhetki fish, deboned, sans the head and tail. Used it as a whole instead of making small sized fillets from it. 

Ingredients:

For the Fish:

Deboned Bhetki - approx 1 kg

onion - 1

plain curd - 3/4 cup 

fresh coriander - 3/4 cup 

lemon juice -2 tablespoon 

green chilies-3-4 

ginger - 2 teaspoon (grated)

garlic - 5-6 cloves (minced)

vegetable oil

Salt-to taste

For the mashed potatoes

Potatoes - 4 medium 

Butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Chili flakes

Garlic cloves

For the sauted vegetables:

I used mushrooms, babycorn, peas

Butter

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure :

Fish :

1. Finely chop the onion and deep fry them till they turn red and crispy. Remove the onions from the oil and let it cool. Keep the oil aside.

2. In a blender, add the ginger, garlic, curd, green chilies, coriander, lemon juice, the fried onions, very little of the oil (from the onions) and salt. This blend is the marinade for your fish.

3. Apply a thick layer of this marinade on both sides of the fish. For basting, drizzle the remaining oil you used to fry the onions. 

4. Keep the fish marinated for about 1/2 hour.

5. Place the whole marinated fish on the baking tray and Grill it at around 170-180 deg C about 7-8 minutes on each side. 

Mashed Potatoes :

Boil, mash potatoes.

Fry the mashed potatoes in butter and add salt, freshly ground black pepper and chili flakes, till golden brown in colour

Remove from flame

In 2-3 tbsp of butter , fry garlic cloves till golden brown.

While serving using this butter+fried garlic as the dressing for the mashed potato

Vegetables :

Saute the vegetables in butter with a sprinkling of salt & freshly ground black pepper

Serve the grilled fish with the mashed potato drizzled with butter-fried garlic and sauted vegetables