Baked fish .....

Served with greens, steamed vegetables and crispy fried baby potatoes


Easy to cook, healthy and great to taste.....

Ingredient: 

I . For the baked fish :
1. Thick fillet of Bhetki Fish  - about 8 - 10
2. Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tbsp
3. Juice of lemon - 1/4 cup
4. Grated onion / onion juice of 1 big onion
4. Spinach - 5-6 bunches
5. Firm tomatoes - 4
6. Cheddar Cheese grated - 1 cup
7. Butter or EVOO

8. Crushed pepper
9. Chilli flakes
10. Dried oregano

II. Vegetables I used :
1. Tender Baby corns - 8-10
2. Tender small sized carrots - 8-10
3. French Beans -10-12
4. Green peas - 1 cup
Any other vegetables/greens like cauliflower/broccoli florets / cabbage leaves / crunchy ice lettuce etc may be used
5. baby potatoes  - 1/2 kg

III. Others 
1. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
2. Turmeric - a pinch
3. Oil for deep frying
4. Salt
5. Chilli powder

Procedure : in the sequence I do to save time

1. Marinate the fish fillets in Ginger-garlic paste + onion juice + lemon juice + salt + pepper for a couple of hours or overnight (as i do).
2. Steam all vegetables at II of Ingredients. Dont let them lose their crunch
3. Spray or smear the baking tray with butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
4. On it make a bed of whole spinach leaves.
5. Place the marinated fish along with the marinade on the leaves.
6. Roughly chop 3-4 bunches of spinach and garnish the marinated fish fillets with the leaves.
7. Sprinkle liberally crushed black pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, small cubes of butter or drizzle 2-3 tsp of EVOO.
8. Garnish  with grated cheese.
9. Slit the tomatoes on top cross-wise. push in a couple of peppercorns and a pinch of salt into each tomato. smear some butter/EVOO.
10. Put in the baking tray into the preheated oven (temp around 280-300 deg F) for 10-12 minutes.

11. If necessary, i.e if the tomatoes are still raw, put the tomatoes back in the oven for another 5-8 mins.
12. While the baking is being done, in a non-stick pan, smear some butter and saute the steamed veggies with a sprinkling of salt & pepper.
13. Make a batter of rice flour with water, salt, chilli powder and a pinch of turmeric. Dip the steamed potatoes in the batter and deep fry to get crispy fried wholebaby potatoes .

Arrange the baked fish fillets along with the spinach leaves, sauted whole vegetables, crispy fried whole potatoes and serve.

Paneer Bhurji .... Scrambled Cottage Cheese

No excuses, justification, prelude or small talk!

Just some oft made recipes.....

A simple, nutritious as well as delicious breakfast or tiffin which can be used as a filling in a wrap or a sandwich, OR eaten just as it is, with toast!

And Rush, if you mash the paneer to a smooth consistency, grate the veggies instead of dicing them and eliminate the salt, there you are, a tasty treat for your little one!!!

Ingredients :

Paneer - 1 litre

Lemon - 1

Vegetables of your choice-(bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, corn kernels, baby corns etc) - diced.

I used Capsicum, tomato and onion - 1 each

Green chilli - chopped fine

Coriander leaves-also chopped fine.

Salt to taste

Pepper corns, freshly crushed for better flavour & aroma

Butter /olive oil/white oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure -

1. Curdle the milk with the lemon to make fresh homemade paneer / cottage cheese

2. Just strain the whey but dont hang it in a cheese cloth to make it firm. We want the paneer soft and moist

3. In a wok, heat the oil/melt the butter

4. Throw in the crushed pepper corns followed by the diced onions, tomatoes and other veggies.

5. Saute in high heat for a minute or two but retain the crunch

6. Add the scrambled paneer. Stir around for a minute or two. Add salt.

7. Garnish with the chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.

This recipe is off to 'Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes - Guest hosted by Kalpana Sareesh of Life with Spices, on behalf of Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes

Ministerial Khoya Chicken

NDTV Goodtimes is one of my favourite television channels. And though I'm not a v.regular TV watcher, when I do, this is one of the very few Indian television channels which I find entertaining without falling prey to yellow journalism, cheap publicity or the saas-bahu-rural belle sagas!

Quite some time back, I dont remember on which show, I'd come across this food show where celebrity chefs cook up a meal and during that particular episode it was Renuka Chowdhury's turn. The dish sounded simple and looked great and the culmination of the myriad subtle flavours just had to make this chicken dish delicious !

But khoya not being a regular feature in my kitchen, somehow the recipe never got made, till the other day, when I had left over khoya after making the pantua.

Ingredients:
Chicken – 1 kg cut into medium sized pieces
Onion- finely sliced – 2 small or 1 large
ginger-garlic paste – 1-2 tbspn
Haldi/turmeric - a pinch
Khoya - 250gm (See procedure of previous post)
Curd about 250gm
green chillies slit coriander - finely chopped – a large bunch coconut milk – milk from a medium sized coconut salt - to taste
Oil

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a wok and fry the onions till pink & transparent.

2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook.
3. Add the chillies, chicken and turmeric. Stir well on medium flame. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or till the chicken is golden brown in colour.
4.Add the curd and the khoya. Stir again.
5. Sprinkle ¾ th of the chopped coriander and mix well.

6. Continue cooking till the chicken is almost done.

7. Pour in the coconut milk and stir. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with steamed rice, Roti, Paratha, Naan.

It was finger licking delicious indeed!!

Shubho Naboborshe Mishti Mukh with Pantua!

Dosa's cousin & a Dakshini Alu Dum

(Goala/Gola Ruti....Dokkhini Alur Dum Diye)

Goala/Gola (pronounced as in 'Goal' -'a') Ruti is a kind of instant Dosa or a Pancake sans the egg & the sweet taste.

In our home Goala ruti is a much made and much loved weekend breakfast / brunch. It's quick, can be had with a side dish, sauce or as it is. Any vegetable chopped fine (like carrot, cabbage, capsisum, etc etc) can add to its nutritive value.

Today to enhace it's south indian-ness, I paired it with an alu dum which had a Duxini touch to it!

So here goes the recipe :

Ingredients

For the Goala Ruti :

* Maida or All purpose Flour : Suji or Semolina in 1:1 ratio. I used 80gm each of Maida and suji which yielded around 9 Goala Rutis/Pancakes

* Milk - 2 - 3 cups

* Salt to taste

* Onions - finely chopped 1/2

* Carrot - Finely chopped 1.

* Coriander leaves - finely chopped

* Green chilies - chopped fine

* You can add ginger / garlic paste & sliced if you like....I DID NOT

* Water to add to the batter to make the consistency more liquid

For the Duxini Alu Dum:
* Potatoes - 8-10 or as many as you require

* Onions - 1 large size, quartered

* Tomatoes - 1 medium, diced

* Curry Patta - a bunch

* Urad Dal/Kolai Dal (White lentils) - 2 tsp

* Whole dry red chili - 1

* Mustard seeds/Shorshe - 1 tsp

* Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp

* Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

* Sambhar Masala - 1/2 tsp

* Salt to taste

* Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (+/- depending on heat tolerance)

Procedure

I first make the Alu Dum followed by the Goala Rutis

Duxini Alu Dum:

1. Boil the potatoes with their skin on. Afterward peel the skin off and cut each into 4 quarters.
2. In a wok, take oil and when hot, temper with whole dry red chili, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves
3. Throw in the quartered onion and add a pinch of sugar. Fry till it turns pink and translucent.
4. Add the ginger paste followed by diced tomatoes.
5. Add the boiled and quartered potatoes.
6.Add the coriander powder, chili powder and salt
7. Toss them around to mix the masalas well.
8. Once the raw smell/taste of boiled potato is gone, sprinkle the sambhar masala

9. Mix around one more time...check for salt. Take the wok off the flame.
The Duxini Alu Dum is ready!

Goala Ruti :
1. Mix together the maida and suji in 1:1 ratio and pour milk to make a batter of dosa like
consistency. You can make the batter with ONLY milk or milk & water.
2. Add the chopped onions, grated carrot, finely chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves etc etc..
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Mix well.

5. Smear the non-stick tawa with 1/2 tsp of oil
6. With a hemispherical serving ladle, pour a glob of batter and spread it in a circle.

7. Fry one side on low flame. Flip it over and fry the other side.

8. Your Goala Ruti is ready to be savoured with the Alu Dum.

A fresh harvest of Red Radish ...

A fresh bounty of red radishes landed straight from the fields to my kitchen...Thanks to a friend who gave me a bunch of the fresh roots from her farm. The veggie loving SD being away, I wasnt too keen on cooking up anything elaborate.....


And hence this simplest of simple salads....

Ingredients :
Small Red Radish - 5-6
Cucumber - 1 medium sized
Olive Oil - 1 -1.5 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 lemon
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure :
1. Wash the radishes and scrub them. Trim the top and tip of the radish. You may peel the skin...I did not.

2. Wash and peel the cucumber

3. Slice the cucumber and radishes very thin.

5. Add the olive oil, sugar, salt, chili flakes and squeeze the juice of lemon into the sliced radish-cucumber. Toss them well.

6.Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy the freshness!

Gurjali Maachh er Jhol

(Indian Salmon...Bengali Style)
Gurjali, or as we Bangaals say, Gurjauli, is not available very often in this Teleguland which has been my home for the past 30 months or so.

So when SD got it as part of his Sunday fish basket, my call to Ma was the usual "Gurjauli maachh ki diye ranna korbo?" (With what should I cook Gurjauli Fish?)

Why this query is of significance is, because we Bongs, have this unwritten do s and dont's when it comes to our traditional cooking. No garlic in this, no onion in that, paanch phoron here and kaalo jeera there....oh well....the list is never ending.

So when Ma said - kalo jeera phoron, shorshe bata, I heaved a sigh of relief! The simplest of fish curries....easy to make and good to eat on a lovely Sunday afternoon!!!

So here goes the recipe....

Ingredients :
1. Gurjali/Gurjauli Fish - 750gm
2. Kalo jeera/Nigella seeds/Kalonji - 1/2 tsp
3. Green Chilies - 3-4 or more
4. Haldi/turmeric - 1/2 tsp
5. Red Chili powder - 1/2 tsp (or more)
6. Kashmiri Chili powder - 1/2 tsp (for colour)
7. Mustard powder/paste - 1-1.5 tsp
8. Tomatoes - 1 small or 1/2 medium - diced
9. Coriander leaves - a small bunch, chopped finely
10. Salt to taste
11. Mustard Oil for cooking & sauteing the fish

Procedure :

* Toss the fish pieces in salt, turmeric powder and keep them marinated for 5-10 minutes.

* Fry the fish lightly and keep aside

* In a wok take mustard oil and when smoking hot, temper with Kalo Jeera/Kalonji and slit green chilies

* Add to the tempering the diced tomatoes and stir.

* Mix the Haldi, Chili powder, Kashmiri Chili powder, 1/2 tsp of mustard powder, salt with water into a thick paste. Add to the wok. and stir briskly on medium flame.

* Take care not to burn the masala. Sprinkle water from time to time. Once the oil separates from the masalas, check to see if the raw smell of turmeric is still there. If the masalas still retain the raw smell, sprinkle some more water and stir again for a minute or two.

* Add the lightly fried fish pieces. Stir slowly to mix the masalas. Pour 4-5 cups of water. The gravy will be light and watery. Cover and cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes or till it starts boiling.

* Add 1/2 cup water to the mustard powder/paste. Now mix well and pass the mustard water through a sieve into the wok. This makes the gravy mustard flavoured and yet does not impart the rich, spiciness of mustard.

*Let it boil for another few seconds...garnish with slit green chilies and chopped coriander leaves.

* Switch off the flame and serve with steamed rice.
This light watery gravy tastes good ONLY if the fish is very fresh.

This is my 3rd entry to the Blog event ''THINK SPICE:THINK TURMERIC", hosted for Nov '09 by Sudeshna of COOK LIKE A BONG and the Think Spice event is the brainchild of Sunita of Sunita's World .

The logo for the event is...