Fish Fry

Fish fry is another easy dish to prepare. I got Tilapia fish from Costco and the fish had no bones :)... so easy to savor.
This recipe involves lot of Indian spices. I have tried and written the subsitutes but have never used them myself since my aai (mother) always makes sure I have her homemade spices in my kitchen, how lucky am I :)

Ingredients:
Korda khobra / Dry coconut powder
Tikhat (mane) masala (substitute with any hot bbq spice)
Goda masala (substitute with any mild spice)
Aala / Ginger
Lasun / Garlic
Mith / Salt
Chincha kol / Tamarind paste
Turmeric and Salt to clean the fish.
Fine Semolina powder (barik rava) or Bread crumbs

Recipe: Mix salt and turmeric with water and wash the fish with this. This will clean it thoroughly (and I feel safe to eat it that way :) ).
Make a paste out of ginger and garlic. Mix it with coconut powder, tamarind paste, goda masala, spicy masala and salt.
Apply the paste to the fish and let sit for half an hour.
Spray pan with Pam or use oil for shallow fry. Dip each fish piece in semolina or bread crumbs and place on the pan. Fry till golden brown.

Serve with green chutney.

You can alternately bake the fish or grill it but it is the frying that gives the best taste :)

Weekend get together dinner

Had guests over this weekend and I cooked up various dishes. Took some pictures and want to post them here with the recipes so that all can enjoy. Trust me the recipes were easy and the final product tasted great.

First up is the easy breezy Green Chutney (hirvi chutney)
Ingredients:
Lasun / Garlic 8-10 cloves

Mirchi/Green Chillies 4-6 (i used the thin tiny green chillies they are really hot)

Kothimbir / Coriander leaves (1 / 1.5 bunch of coriander leaves washed thoroughly)

Dane koot /Peanut powder (1 tbsp)

Mith /Salt (to taste)

Sakhar /Sugar (2 tsp)

Jira / Cumin (1 tbsp)

Limbu ras / Lemon juice (quarter lemon)

Recipe: Put all the ingredients except lemon in a blender and whirl. Take out and stir in the lemon juice and done.

You can have this chutney to make chutney sandwiches, along with idlis, roti/tortillas or as an accompaniment with anything.

Chipotle and a rental car

Breakfast was my regular ginger tea with some biscuits. I then had to drop of my car for repairs (read accident ... rearended :O). So I get this rental car that's an SUV... wow I d never ridden an SUV and I was so excited. For a petite person like me SUVs are boon.. So, it was nice fun to drive the car and what was better was that I picked Chipotle for lunch. Aah the burrito bowl... fresh cilantro rice, topped with black beans, some onions n jalapeno, grilled chicken, fresh salsa, corn, sour cream, cheese and guac.... am so full....
but still thinking what I need to cook for dinner for hubby dear.

Chicken Enchilada

Back after a long hiatus. :)
I will be adding stuff I eat/prepare and will also try to post the recipes for the same. I tried making chicken enchilada for the first time yesterday and it turned out quite good.

I followed the recipe by Iowa Girl Eats with a few additions. Along with the spinach in step 1 I also added some chicken cubes (I used leftover chicken patty from my freezer) and also added some diced green pepper. I think I added a lot of enchilada sauce so I would go easy on it the next time or might just switch to regular tomato sauce or ketchup.

Dahi Butti (Yogurt Rice)

This is a quickie which can be prepare with leftover white rice.... You can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.... This is my entry for 'breakfast from leftovers' organized by Nandita (http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com)

Ingredients:

Rice 2 cups

Yogurt 1.5 cups

Milk 2tblspns

Curry Leaves 10-12

Red chillies 2-3

Onion 1 medium

Asafoetida a pinch

Salt to taste

Sugar 2-3 tspns

Oil 1tblsp

Mustard seeds 1/4 tspn

Jeera (cumin seeds) 1/2 tspn

Turmeric a pinch (optional)

Cilantro for garnishing

Recipe:

Loosen leftover rice from refrigerator. Add salt and sugar, mix. Spread cut onion and curry leaves on the rice.

For tadka: In a pan, over medium range, heat oil, add mustard seeds. After they splutter, add jeera, asafoetida and turmeric if desired*.

Then add red chillies, let them coat with the tadka for about a minute and remove pan from heat. Spread this tadka over rice and mix. Add yogurt and milk, mix well. Garnish with Cilantro.

*Note: If you like the end recipe to be white skip turmeric else add a pinch to give it a light yellow tinge

Mulyachi Bhaaji / Radish Sabzi

I would never eat radish sabzi until I visited my sister and she made this lovely dish out of radish. It's very easy to prepare.... and I really like it. I prepared this after getting the recipe from her.


Ingredients:
Radish 1 count (large)
Green chillies 2-3
Mohri (mustard seeds) 1/2 tsp
Jeera (cumin seeds) 1/2 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) a pinch
Halad (turmeric) 1/4 tsp
Oil 1.5 tbsp
Besan (chick pea flour) 2 tbsp
Sugar 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander / Cilantro to garnish

Recipe:



Grate radish. Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and add mohri, once it starts spluttering add jeera, turmeric and hing. Then add cut green chillies. Lower heat and add grated raddish. Cover pan and let radish cook for 2-3 mins. Then add salt, sugar mix well and then add besan. Mix and cover again for about 5 mins. Make sure you mix it once or twice so that the besan does not get burnt. Once cooked, add fresh cut coriander.

Fruit Shrikhanda

As they say, while starting in a new kitchen one should prepare something sweet, I am starting posting on this blog with a dessert. This is quite a zatpat recipe.

Ingredients:
Yogurt 1 container
Sugar 3 tablespoons
Fresh or canned fruits 4 bowls
Mango pulp 1 bowl
Saffron strands (Keshar) 6-8

Recipe:
Hang yogurt in a muslin or 100% cotton cloth overnight.
Next morning, add sugar & saffron and mix well. Keep refrigerated for 2-3 hours.
Add fruits and mango pulp. Serve chilled....