Fish Chilly with crushed peanuts

I am in India on vacation and I did crazily hope to see the rains. As luck would have it, rains were not so benevolent on me and decided to stay clear! The weather is definitely good but to witness rains would have simply been bliss. I still have time left and I hope to see the showers of blessings at some point.

It is hard to be on vacation and stay off food!So I am busy eating, at the same time hoping that I do not add kilos on the scale! (All of us know how hard that is right!!)

Anyways, here is a recipe to try. What makes it special is, as the name states the addition of ground peanuts!Try it to believe it!

Ingredients

1. Fish - 400 gms
2. Onions - 3 finely chopped
3. Garlic - 2 tbsp finely chopped
4. Green chilly - 3 to 4
5. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Peanuts - a handful
7. Soy Sauce -  2 tbsp
8. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Vegetable oil

To marinate

1. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
2. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
3. Ginger- garlic paste - 1 tsp
4. Soy Sauce- 1 tbsp
5. Salt

Method

• Clean and pat dry the fish slices. Prepare a marinade of turmeric powder, pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, soy sauce and salt. Marinate the fish in this for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Roast and coarsely grind the peanuts in a mortar and pestle.
• Shallow fry the fish in oil till crisp on both the sides. Drain excess oil on a kitchen towel.
• In the same pan add the chopped garlic and fry for a minute. Add the onions and saute until it wilts.
• Add slit green chillies and fry for another minute before adding in the pepper powder, vinegar, salt and soy sauce. Let this cook for a minute on low flame.
• Toss in the fried fish along with the ground peanuts. Give it a good mix before turning off the flame.

You may also note

1. Be careful while adjusting the salt level as soy sauce has salt in it already.

Besan Laddu

I am a proud Indian. I do not live in India now but that does not make me any lesser an Indian. It hurts me to see Indians fighting in the name of religion, state, caste and anything you can possibly think of. How better a country we would be once we start appreciating the uniqueness of the country. Where else can you find a country so diverse - just imagine the number of dance forms even within a state! The state of Kerala for example boasts of Mohiniyattam, Kathakalli, Ottam thullal, oppana, Thiruvathira, Marghamkali and many more to go. If this is the story of one state in India, summing up that of all states together will have dance forms that is beyond math I can do now! The festivals , the religions, languages, food, culture also follow the same swing. India is a country that defines the spirit of UNITY IN DIVERSITY! Let that not go waste due to the selfish intents of a handful who stand to gain. I am proud I belong to a country like this and our heritage is something that needs to be preserved and not washed away. If we do end up fighting amongst ourselves, we are just heralding another era of the British invaders divide and rule policy which can be of no good - zilch economic development coupled with brain drain!

Having said that, Diwali ( I am inclined to say - the most celebrated festival in India) is just a few days away. Being a Christian, I have no religious affiliation with this festival but I do take part in the celebrations since I am an Indian. There was a time in childhood were crackers were part of my household too during Diwali - well gone are those days!  You can't take cooking away from me though - so here is our Diwali recipe. 

I loved the tiny Besan laddu at the bakeries in India which comes in small boxes and easy to gulp down. I just tried making a replica of the same. I cannot say I got it exactly the same but I would say its somewhere close!

A Very Happy Diwali to you all!

Ingredients

1. Besan/ Gram Flour - 1 cup tightly packed
2. Ghee - 1/4 cup
3. Semolina/Rava - 4 tbsp
4. Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup
5. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method

• In a thick bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee. Add the semolina and roast it until color begins to lightly change. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Keep aside 2 tbsp of ghee and pour in the rest into the same pan. Add the gram flour and roast until fragrant and the color begins to change to brown. Ensure that the flame is either on low or medium low else the flour tends to burn from the bottom or get roasted unevenly.
• Turn off the flame and add the roasted rava and once the mix is warm enough to handle with bare hands, add in the powdered sugar along with cardamom powder. Combine this mix well using your hands. In case you need more ghee, use the ghee set aside at this stage.
• Make balls out of this mix and set on a plate. Give it about half an hour to set well before gobbling it down:)

You may also note -

1. It takes about 20 minutes to roast the gram flour. A bit of patience goes a long way here:)

Fish Cutlet

Time flies by in Dubai - yet another winter is peaking over the horizon. I love winters. If only I could do away with the occasional flu that tends to interrupt the weekend outing plans. We are done with the first flu of the winter which I would like to call the 'change of season flu' that has so become ingrained in our lives for the past three years. Looking forward for a blissful few months that includes a vacation home and not to forget the impending festival season.

On that note, we head over to the new recipe on the blog - Fish cutlet. The type of fish you choose is absolutely your choice - the lesser the bones the easier the task of mincing it. Cutlets can make your weekday dinner cooking a little easier. Just prep a batch over the weekend and freeze it!

Here goes the recipe - 

Ingredients

1. Fish - 1 kg
2. Potato - 2 medium sized
3. Ginger - 1 tbsp grated
4. Green chilli - 4 to 5 finely chopped
5. Onion - 2 medium finely chopped
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. Pepper powder - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
8. Egg - 2 beaten
9. Bread crumbs
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil for frying

Method

• Clean and pat dry the dry the fish. Marinate the fish in turmeric powder, salt and pepper (1 tbsp). Steam the fish until cooked through.
• Let the fish cool and separate the flesh from the fish bones. Using fingers crumble it to smaller flakes/ mince them and set aside.
• Boil potatoes in water. Skin them and mash them coarsely.
• In a pan, heat oil and add the onions. Let it sweat before adding in the ginger and green chilly. Saute till the ginger is cooked well.Add in required salt and pepper powder.
• Add the minced fish to this masala and give it a good mix. Turn off the flame and add the mashed potato. Mix them well.
• When it is warm enough to handle. Roll them into desired shape.
• Freeze them for about half an hour.
• Dip them in beaten egg and roll in the bread crumbs so that it is coated well.
• Freeze them for atleast half an hour before frying.
• You could either deep fry the cutlets or shallow fry them until golden brown and crisp on both the sides.

You may also note - 

• Ensure to freeze them for a while before frying, it helps the bread crumbs to stick on.
• Ensure the oil is hot enough before dropping in the cutlets, lest they tend to separate.
• The cutlets once rolled in bread crumbs can be frozen up to 2 weeks.