Fish Fry

King fish is called by different names in different parts of India- Surmai in Bengal, Vanjaram meen in Tamil, Neymeen in Malayalam, Bangdhe in Goa. Also, the methods and recipes are different in different regions. This is a recipe from Coastal India where fish is abundant. Fish curry and brown rice is a staple diet of this region. Whenever people eat fish fry, they eat it as a side along with some rice and a curry.

Preparation time: 4 hours
Cooking time: 15 mins

2 King fish steaks
1 tsp chilly powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of asafoetida
4 tbsp semolina(rava,sooji)
4 tbsp olive oil
salt

Marinade: Wash the steaks in cold water and keep aside. In a bowl, add turmeric, chili, coriander, cumin and asafoetida. Add 1-2 tsp of water(enough to make the mixture into a thick paste) to this mixture and mix well. Rub it on both sides of the fish. Cover the fish and refrigerate for 4 hours.

After 4 hours take the marinade out and keep it aside. Spread semolina on a plate. Coat the fish well on either sides with semolina. In the meantime, heat a skillet. Add 2 tbsp pf oil and spread it across the entire area of the pan. Add the steaks. Shallow fry them on a medium heat for 7-8 mins(till they turn crisp and golden). Flip them. Add more oil to the pan and repeat the procedure for the next side. Remove from pan and serve hot.

Note: King fish can be substituted with Halibut steaks

Schzewan Noodles with an Asian Flair

My sister and I grew up eating this noodle dish. My mom had learnt it from her colleague who was a big fan of Chinese cuisine. At that time, my parents had just been transferred to a medium sized city and Chinese cuisine was very popular there. We had a first taste of this cuisine when a client of my dad invited us over to his restaurant. Ever since we have been big fans of Chinese cuisine. This recipe has been a classic in our home ever since my mom learnt to prepare it.This is always the dish that my sister and I made by slowly sneaking into the kitchen to satisfy our midnight cravings!!

Ingredients:-

1 pack rice noodles
1/4 cup carrots cut lengthwise into very thin strips
1/4 cup beans cut lengthwise into very thin strips
1/4 cup green bell peppers cut lengthwise into very thin strips
1/4 cup cabbage chopped finely
1/4 cup mushrooms chopped finely
1 medium size onion cut into thin strips
3 spring onions
1 tbsp sambal oelek(concentrated chilli paste)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 or 2 tbsp vinegar
salt to taste.


Method:-

1)heat oil in a non stick pan
2)add onions and saute till transparent
3)add the rest of the vegetables
4)stir fry the contents in the pan on a high heat for 3-4 mins.
5)add sambal oelek+soy sauce +vinegar.
6)add the noodles, mix well(noodle recipe below)
7)stir for 1-2 mins and serve hot.
8)add salt(optional, since soy sauce already has sufficient amt in it)

Making the noodles:
1)boil a pot half filled with water
2)add noodles
3)add 1 tsp oil
4)cover and cook till noodles are done
5)drain water and keep the noodles aside

Mushroom song

This is a classic Konkani recipe(a cuisine of coastal Karnataka,India). This is pepared by adding potatoes,onions and cauliflower in equal prportions. We always prepared it the classic way. However,after my sister got married she learnt to prepare this dish by substituting the vegetables with mushrooms from her husband who is a great cook. Must say it tastes better than the original!! From then this has become a all time favorite in our house. This dish is eaten as a side with rice and dalithoy(a dal curry) in most Konkani homes and is considered a classic combination!


Ingredients:-

8oz mushrooms(cut lengthwise or into small bite size pieces)
1 medium sized onion(chopped finely)
3 garlic cloves(finely chopped)
1 tsp red chilli powder(or according to taste)
1/2 tsp tamarind powder
4 tbsp olive oil(or any)
salt to taste

Method:-

1)heat oil in a pan(medium heat)
2)add onions and saute them till browned
3)add chilly powder and fry till the aroma of the chilly spreads out(VERY IMPORTANT)
4)add the mushooms+garlic
5)Sprinkle some water, cover and cook on medium heat for 10 mins
6) add salt and cook for 5 more mins.

Shrimp Biryani in a Hurry

Shrimp again!! I love making shrimp whenever I am in a hurry. The other day I was browsing food blogs as I sat thinking what to make for friday night supper. I came across Shilpa's Aayi's recipes' shrimp biryani. Loved it since I had many frozen bags of shrimp lying in my freezer, also had all the basic essentials like tomatoes,onions etc. As it was still not my usual cooking time I went on to do other errands only to come back and find that there was some server problem with Shilpa's website. Oopss....what to do now. I had never tried prawn biryani before this..... I did some quick research on the net and came up with my own. The results were excellent. My husband and I loved it!!! Try it and have fun too.....



Ingredients:

Shrimp 1 lb
onions 2 small ( thinly sliced)
tomatoes 4 small (cut into small squares)
green chillies 2 small (slit lengthwise)
corainder leaves 4 sprigs
cloves 4-5
star anise 2
cinnamon 1 large stick
ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
ghee 2 tsp
garam masala powder 1/4 tsp
chilli powder 1/4 tsp
rice 1 1/2 cup

Method:

Take shrimp and wash under cold, running water. Heat ghee in a pan. Add onions, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and fry till onions turn transparent. Now add the tomatoes. Fry till tomatoes are cooked. Now add the ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, chilly powder and the green chillies. Add shrimp and fry for 1-2 mins. Add rice. Add 3 and 1/2 cups water. Add salt. Mix the contents in the pan. Let it boil for 1-2 mins. Now cover and cook till rice is done. Remove lid and sprinkle with coriander leaves.

P.S: Shrimp tastes best whenever it is not overcooked. Plz make sure to properly thaw the shrimps if they are frozen to eliminate the fishy smell completely. Also, biryani's usually taste yummy when ghee is used instead of oil.

Our First MeMe--The Butterfly Effect MeMe

When Asha of "Foodie's Hope" emailed us that she would be tagging us for this MeMe we were thrilled to bits. Our first ever MeMe! We had earlier read all the fellow bloggers MeMe's and found them very cute! Asha,thanks again and here goes our meme....

An ingredient:Turmeric
Just loveeeee this ingredient. Dunno why...but seems like South Indians have a weakness for this particular root. When I was in school, I had acne on my face and one of my friend suggested to apply fresh ground turmeric root. As a result, I had grown a whole lot of turmeric in our kitchen garden. Everyday I would go and observe these plants and water them after I came from school. Though the acne did not disappear, my love for this root remained the same. Luv adding this for all my recipes because of the aroma and color it gives to the dish.

A Dish: Val Val(a classic Konkani dish)
This is an all time classic Konkani dish made from rich coconut milk. It is made on the similar lines to Avial in Kerala but with less seasonings. We loved eating ValVal and couldn't wait till our mom prepared this. We would sit in the kitchen waiting for it to be done with our bowls and spoons ready! My mom would always narrate this incidence whenever she made ValVal...When she and my uncle were growing up, my uncle couldn't pronounce ValVal and he would always say it reversed...lavlav (lovelove) and everyone would end up laughing!!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

carrots 1/2 cup
long china beans 1/2 cup
potatoes 1/2 cup
baby corn 1/2 cup
ridge gourd 1/2 cup
pumpkin 1/2 cup
cummin seeds 1 1/2 tsp
green chillies 2(slit lengthwise)
mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
coconut milk 1 1/2 cups
oil
salt to taste

Method:

Cut all the vegetables and keep aside. Pressure cook veggies with 1 cup of coconut milk along with green chillies and salt. Heat oil in a pan and season it with cummin and mustard. Now transfer the pressure cooker contents to this pan. Add the remaining coconut milk, some water and salt. Simmer till done. This dish is ready in a jiffy!! Tastes yummy served hot or cold.

A Meal: An authentic biryani with chicken sukkha at Azad Hotel at my grandparent's town.
We still miss this biryani! Our mouth starts watering whenever we think of this dish. Whenever we visited my grandparents the first thing we requested my grandfather was to order this biryani for us, which my grandfather promptly did. The order for biryani had to be placed at least 6 hrs in advance and it would be delivered on an autorickshaw at sharp 8.00 p.m. All of us(my cousins and me) would keep staring at the watch in the living room, and the moment we would hear the autorickshaw we would all run to the gate. Before coming to U.S, we spent a few days with my grandparents and made sure we had this biryani a couple times!

A Cookbook or any other written work: Khana Jhavana--a cookbook by Jaya V.Shenoy
This is easy...we say that because this book is so famous that it is found in almost all Konkani girl's kitchen. It has become like a custom in Konkani weddings to present this book to every newly wed bride by her mom or any relative. Can you imagine our predicament when we forgot to carry this book when we moved to U.S!! But no worries....Phew, my brother-in-law had a copy in his shelf(Never knew mom's gifted this cookbook even to their sons(;-)).

A Food Personality: The ever cheerful Rachael Ray
30 minute meal was the first ever T.V show I saw when I first moved to U.S after my marriage. I was jetlagged for the first few days of my arrival and had this weird sleeping pattern..would sleep from night to next day evening. I would wake up at 5.00 p.m everyday and would be bored since my husband would be still at work and my only companion was T.V. I saw this show the first day I turned the T.V and wow, I got addicted to her smile!I recommended it to my sister who followed me shortly here (dunno if she had the same sleeping pattern(;-)). Hmm.... I must admit, though I like all her food network shows,I am not a fan of Rachael's morning talk show(;-).

A person or persons in your life: My mom, my sister and my grandmother
Quite a female club here!! I was raised by my grandmom who took me to stay with her when I was a 18 month old baby. As my parents were both working they decided to leave me at my grandparent's place till I grew up a little. They would visit me often and talk to me over the phone. As a result I was equally close to my mom. After 3 years my sister was born and this time my grandmom sent a nanny to take care of her. When I started going to school, I became so fond of my grandparents that I refused to leave them and return to my parents. My mom feared that my sister and I wouldn't be close as we weren't living together growing up. But today, my sister and I are the best of friends and mean the world to each other(:-). We also cherish our relationship with our grandmom and mom, who are more like friends to us.

Wow..is the MeMe done. Must admit it was such fun!!

We tag Shilpa of "Aayi's recipe" and Nayantara of "Konkani Recipes" for this meme.

Thai Red Curry

We had been long planning on making some Thai dishes but somehow never got to make 'em recently. This was one of the first Thai dishes that our husbands introduced us when we first came to U.S. My sister and I were fortunate to get married at the same time and also land 5 mins apart from each other ! Therefore we got to hang out a lot. One of our favorite past times was trying out different cuisines and exploring the new culture. Thai was one cuisine that we got quickly adapted to during this process. I guess most Indians would find Thai cuisine somewhat similar to Indian cuisine because of it's aroma and the use of coconut. Here's one of our all time favorite recipe for Thai red curry. We promise it's going to be lip smacking and soon your favorite too!!(:-)

Ingredients:

chicken breasts/pork/beef (cut into very thin strips) 2
brocolli florets(cut into medium size) 1 cup
bell peppers(red,yellow and green) 1 each
straw mushroom(big tin) 1
bamboo shoots( small tin) 1
waterchest nuts(small tin) 1
red curry paste(small tin) 1
tom yum paste 2 tbsp
coconut milk 1 tin
basil leaves 5-6
kaffir leaves 4-5
lemon grass 1/4 stalk

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add the brocolli, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, waterchest nuts, mushrooms and fry for 5-6 mins. Add red curry and tom yum paste. Mix well and fry for another 2-3 mins. Now add the coconut milk. Also add equal quantity of water as coconut milk and mix well. Finally add kaffir and basil leaves along with the lemon stalk. Cover and simmer for 5-6 mins. Serve hot with jasmine rice or your regular white (brown) rice.

P.S: We made use of lite coconut milk as it contains less fat and calories. You can use any variety of tinned coconut milk. All the ingredients are available at your local oriental store. Store the extra basil and kaffir leaves in the freezer for later use. We omitted chicken in this dish as we ran out of it. Tastes extremely great with or without meat.

Shrimp Masala

Shrimp is such a versatile sea food that anything made with it just tastes SUPERB! We are crazy about this seafood, especially my adorable brother-in-law. This recipe is dedicated to him, I know he keeps visiting my site and this would make him happy(;-). Our all time favorite is the shrimp sukkha cooked by my grandma. I will post it next after asking her the exact recipe. This is our own creation..one that we cook whenever we are in a hurry to have dinner but want some yummy shrimp dish to eat along with rice.

Ingredients:

shrimps 1/2 lb
onions 1
tomatoes 1 small
coriander leaves 2 sprigs
curry leaves 2 sprigs
ginger-garlic paste 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1/2 tsp
chilly powder 1/2 tsp
salt
oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and fry till transparent. Add tomatoes and fry some more time till they are completely cooked. Add the ginger-garlic paste, curry leaves, turmeric powder, chilly powder and mix well. Cook for 2 more mins. Add shrimp. Add some water. Add salt and coriander. Cover and cook till done.

Carrot Rice

This dish was taught to my mom by my aunt who lives in Bangalore. When we had visited them during our summer vacations, she had prepared this dish for a small party. It tasted so good that we just ate a whole lot of it. From then onwards it has become a hot favorite at our house, especially for small gatherings and sleepover dinners.


Ingredients:

carrots(grated) 5 big
onions 1 small
cashewnuts a handful
curry leaves 2 sprigs
cummin 1 1/2 tsp
ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
garam masala powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
green chillies 2 small
coriander sprigs 3
rice(leftover) 3 cups
oil
salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add cummin, curry leaves, cashewnuts, onions and fry till onions turn transparents. Now add the carrots. Sprinkle some water. Cover and cook till carrots are soft. Now add the green chillies ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, garam masala and mix well. Cook for 2 more mins. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Add salt. Garnish with coriander leaves. Cook for a min or so and remove from stove. Serve warm or cold.

P.S: Tastes best with rice cooked a day before and added cold, straight from the fridge.

Gherkin Upkari

My sister and I loved eating this upkari at temple functions in India, where it was a specialty. But whenever we prepared it at home it never tasted the same. After a lot of permutations and combinations we found that it should be cooked with a little more oil and using very tender gherkins. If the gherkins are ripe, the upkari loses it's flavor.

Ingredients:

gherkins 1 lb
potato 1 small
cashewnuts a handful
mustard
red chillies 2 big
hing a pinch
grated coconut 1 tsp
oil
salt to taste

Method:

Slit gherkins and potatoes lengthwise. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and red chillies. Let it splutter. Now add the potatoes and gherkins to the pan. Add the cahsewnuts. Sprinkle some water and cook till 3/4th done. Remove the lid and add hing and salt. Cook till completely done. Sprinkle some grated coconut.

P.S: Afer cutting potatoes immediately put them in a bowl containing water till you start cooking with them. This prevents potatoes from turning brown.

Mussel Fry

We are big seafood fans. Our love for seafood developed because of my grandparents who cooked wonderful seafood delicacies for every meal we spent at their place during our vacations. They lived in a small village, right on the river. So fresh seafood was readily available.Mussels were especially my grandmam's specialty. She made a variety of dishes like curry, sukkha and fry. Today, as I was browsing through one of the fellow food bloggers site(I apologise for not recollecting the name of the site)I came across a mussel recipe and couldn't resist my temptation to eat it. I asked my husband to get a bag of mussels on his way back from office. We made mussel fry for dinner and it just tasted like my grandma's. Here it goes...


Ingredients:

mussels 2 lbs
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
chilli powder 1/2 tsp
hing a pinch
all purpose flour 2 tsp
salt
oil

Method:

Fill a large pot with mussels. Add quarter cup of water to the pan. Cover and steam for 7-10 mins. As they get cooked the shell opens by itself and you can see the meat. Now remove from heat and cool under tap water. Remove the meat from shell and transfer to a clean bowl. Add all the ingredients(except oil). Heat a skillet. Add a little oil.Spread the mussels on it and cook for 5-6 mins flipping in between. This fry is just over the top!!

P.S: My grandma would always serve it with dal(dalitoi). This combination was just amazing.