Sambal stuffed Mackerel Fry

This is one of the Peranakan / Nyonya recipe that comes from the Peranakans, who are the descendants of early Chinese migrants settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia. 

This is a very easy recipe and can be eaten with hot steaming rice.

Here I have use the ingredients available in my kitchen as normally fresh Turmeric and shallots are used in the recipe but since I didn’t have them, I used powder turmeric and onion. 

P.S. - Belacan is a hardened block of shrimp paste, made from tiny shrimp mixed with salt and fermented used in Malay cooking.

Sambal Paste

Ingredients

1 medium size Onion chopped

4 Garlic Cloves

3 Fresh Red Chillies or 2 tsp Fresh Red Chilli paste

2 Lemongrass stalk

4 Dry Red Chillies

1 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Sugar - (I didn't use)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Belacan - Shrimp paste or 1 tbsp Fish Sauce

1 tsp Tamarind pulp

3 to 4 tbsp of Water

1 tbsp Oil

Method 

Add the above ingredients except oil in a grinder and grind the ingredients into a fine paste. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the sambal paste and stir and cook the paste for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep the paste aside to cool.

    

For Fish Fry

Ingredients

4 Mackerel - Slit on both the sides of the back bone

Sambal paste

1/4 cup Oil for shallow frying the fish 

Method

Take the fish. Stuff the fish with one tablespoon of sambal paste on each side of the cut. Take a pan, add oil and heat the oil. Shallow fry the fish on medium low heat till cooked on both the sides. Remove fish from pan. Serve the fish with hot steaming rice.

Bhindi Gosht ka Salan

Okra - Meat is a simple recipe from Pakistan and India. In Hyderabadi Cuisine the same recipe is made with more souring ingredients added to the dish. This is mainly a summer dish as the best time for okras to grow is summer, even though now a days it’s found all round the season. This is a medium gravy dish. There are many ways to make it. This dish can be enjoyed with Paratha or Roti.

Ingredients

650 grams Mutton cut into medium pieces

250 grams Okras wash, cut the top and bottom and slit from center

3 medium size Onions chopped 

1 small Tomato chopped

2 Green Chillies slit

Some chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing 

1 tbsp Garlic and Ginger paste

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder spicy 

1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder 

1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder 

1 tbsp Coriander powder

Salt to taste

1/2 cup Oil

1 1/2 cups of water 

Method

Take a pressure pan. Add 1/4 cup oil. Let it heat. Add the okras and let it cook till fried. Remove the okras and keep it aside. Add the remaining oil in the pan. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala powder,coriander powder and salt. Sauté the powder masala in oil for few seconds on low flame. Add 2 tbsp water so that the masala doesn’t get burnt. Add the onions, tomato and ginger - garlic paste. Stir and sauté it for a minute. Add the meat and sauté it till the oil separates from the masala. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and let it cook till the meat is tender. To save on time, cover the pressure pan and give 3 whistles. Let the pressure realises. Open the lid and stir. Add green chillies and okras. Stir and let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with roti or paratha.

Kacha Aamer ar Kacha Laal Lonkar Chutney

Due to the intense heat in Mumbai, going into the kitchen and cooking is a big noooo.... The only food I cook is very basic  simple  dal and rice or just some curry to have it with rice and that’s it. Only dish I prefer the most is dal and rice with with some Pickle or Chutney. Here is a superb recipe of Green Mango and Red Chilli Chutney that can be kept for 5 to 6 months in the fridge and it goes well the dal - rice or any fried starter or paratha. In Bengal, Kacha Aamer Chutney is made with panch phoron seasoning and flavoured with roasted panch phoron powder. Taking inspiration from the authentic traditional recipe here is my innovative version of the Chutney.. 

Ingredients 

3 cups of grated Green Mangoes ( Washed, Peeled and then grated )

1/2 cup Red Chilli Pepper paste ( Red Chilli Pepper is a variety of red fresh chilli which is less spicy, cut them into pieces and remove excess seeds, add them into the grinder and make paste)

1 and 1/4 tbsp Ginger grated 

1/2 cup White Vinegar 

1/3 cup chopped Seedless Dates 

1/4 cup Raisins 

2 tsp Roasted Panch Phoron powder 

2 cups Sugar 

1 tsp Salt 

1 tsp Nigella seeds

2 Bay Leaves 

2 Dry Red Chilli cut into small pieces 

2 tbsp Mustard Oil 

2 cups of Water

Method 

Take oil in a pot, add oil, let it heat up. Add the nigella seeds, bay leaves and dry red chilli pieces. Stir and cook until the nigella seeds crackles. Add the green grated mangoes, stir and cook for few seconds. Add ginger, dates, raisins and salt. Stir for 2 minutes. Add the red chilli pepper paste, sugar, vinegar and water. Let it cook and simmer on low flame till the sugar syrup thickens up and looks glossy. Add the roasted panch phoron powder. Stir and let cook for few minutes. Switch off the flame. Let it cool, store the mango and red chilli chutney in a dry glass bottle. Serve the Chutney with dal - rice or it can be eaten as an accomplishment  with any fried starters or paratha. 

Panch Phoron is equal portions of Nigella Seeds, Fenugreek seeds, Celery Seeds, Cumin Seeds and Fennel seeds. As Celery seeds are not always available every where, use Mustard seeds instead of Celery seeds. 

Makli Sukha Masala

Last week I was holidaying at Alibaug - home stay, where you can buy the ingredients of your choice and get the dishes cooked. The men folk were going to the market, I was very excited to join them. We visited the fish market where there were varieties of sea fishes. We got squids and pomfrets from the market. We fried the pomfrets and here is the recipe for Squid Sukha Masala.. 

This is simple squid dish from the costal belt of Maharashtra. It’s a dry gravy dish. Here I have not ground any coconut and masalas, but made it in the simplest way. It can be eaten with rice or chapatis. 

Ingredients 

500 grams of cleaned and cut squids

3 medium size Onions cut into half and sliced 

1 Tomato cut into cubes 

2 tbsp Ginger and Garlic paste 

2 Green Chillies cut into half lengthwise 

Few curry leaves 

Few Coriander leaves chopped 

2 tbsp grated fresh Coconut 

1 tsp Mustard seeds 

1 tsp Turmeric powder 

2 tsp Konkani garam masala or any fish masala 

4 tbsp Tamarind juice 

4 tbsp Oil 

Method 

Take oil in a wok, let it heat. Add the mustard seeds, let it crackle. Add the green chillies and curry leaves. Then add ginger garlic paste. Stir and cook for few seconds. Add the onions and fry  till the colour of the onion changes. Once the colour of the onions changes to pink, then add the tomato, turmeric powder, Konkani garam masala powder and salt. Stir and cook till the onions becomes soft and tender. Add the squids, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Cover the wok with a lid and let it cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, on medium high flame let it cook till the water from the squid has dried up. Now add the tamarind juice. Let it cook for a minute. Add the grated coconut, stir it and let it cook for another minute. Switch off the flame.  Remove the squids into a serving bowl. Garnish it with coriander leaves. Serve it hot with hot steaming rice or chapatis. 

Raus (Rawas) Macher Tok Jhol

Summers are in and last few days was quite happening for me. Today since back to normal life, wanted to make a simple Bengali style fish dish with raw mango for lunch. This dish goes well with hot steaming rice. 

I have used baby rawas. It’s a tangy medium curry dish. 

Ingredients 

4 pieces of Baby Rawas whole cleaned and marinate with 1/2 tsp of Turmeric and Salt

1 medium size Onion sliced 

2 medium size Potatoes cut into wedges 

6 to 8 wedges of peeled Raw Mango 

2 Green Chillies slit

1 tsp chopped Coriander 

1/2 tsp chopped Garlic 

1/2 tsp Nigella seeds

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Chilli powder 

1 1/2 tsp Sugar 

Salt to taste

6 tbsp + 1/2 tsp Mustard Oil

Method 

Take a pan, add 6 tbsp oil. Once the oil heats up then add the fish. Fry the fish until golden brown from both the sides. Remove the fish. In the same pan add nigella seeds, chopped garlic, green chillies and sliced onion. Stir and sauté it till the onions becomes light brown in colour. Add the potatoes, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mango wedges and stir once more. Add 2 cups of water,  turmeric powder, chilli power, sugar and salt. Stir and cover the pan. Open the lid and check if the potatoes are tender.  Add the fish, add 1/4 cup of water. Cover and let it cook for another 2 minutes. Open the lid and drizzle 1/2 tsp Mustard oil  and garnish with chopped Coriander leaves. Enjoy it with hot steaming rice. 

Red Chilli Pepper - Garlic Jam

It’s sweet, spicy and tangy. You can enjoy this as spread, marinate or dip. It can be kept in the air tight container for 5 to 6 months.

Ingredients

250 grams Red Chilli Pepper

30 Garlic cloves peeled 

250 grams  Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

300 ml Vinegar

Method

Cut the red chilli peppers and deseed the chillies but keep some of the seeds. Add the chillies in the chopper or food processor and pulse a few times. Remove the chillies in a bowl. Now add the garlic and mince it. 

Take a pot, add the vinegar and sugar into the pot. Cook until the sugar dissolves and starts to bubble. Add the salt, chillies and garlic. Let it simmer on low medium heat for another 30 minutes or until it thickens up. To check, take a small chilled steel plate kept in the fridge.  Pour a tsp of jam on the cold plate. If it crinkles and holds it is done. If not continue cooking and repeat the test. Once done cool it. Store the Chilli - Garlic Jam into a dry bottle and keep it in the fridge. 

Porabari Chom Chom

I am totally in love with this chom chom from Bangladesh. I had it when my husband had been to Bangladesh and had got this sweet dish for me from there. Greedy me, wanted to have more so tried making it at home. Some net search and the result was yum. 

This chom chom is very famous and were made at Porabari Tangail Bangladesh in earlier days. Now it’s know world wide. The taste is divine. It’s different from the normal chom chom we get in India. The actual process takes a very long time up to 3 to 4 hours and it naturally gets a golden colour. But to reduce the time, I have tried it differently and have caramelised the sugar first and then added it to the sugar syrup later to speed up the cooking process to almost an hour. It takes a long time to cook but it is worth the effort.

For the Caramel Syrup

Ingredients

1/4 cup Sugar

1 cup of Water

Method

Take a pot, add sugar and continuously stir on a low flame to make the caramel syrup. Keep a eye on the syrup as it can get burn very fast. As the colour of the sugar syrup changes and becomes caramel, add a cup of water and let it continue to simmer on low flame for a minute.  Remove it and keep it aside.

For the Sugar Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar

5 cups of Water

Method

In a wok, add the water and sugar, let the sugar dissolve and let the sugar syrup continue to cook till we make the chenna balls.

For the Chom chom 

Ingredients

250 grams Homemade Chenna / Cottage Cheese mashed

1 tbsp Fine Semolina

2 tbsp Flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder

3 tbsp Milk powder + 2 tbsp dry Mawa mix together for garnishing

Sugar syrup

Caramel syrup

Method

Till the sugar syrup is being made. Take the mashed chenna, add the semolina, flour and baking powder. Mix and knead it very well till all the ingredients combines and binds well. With the help of the palm rub the mixture against the flat surface. Knead it well for 5 minutes. Take lime size portion and give it a longish oval shape. Repeat the process till all the chenna dough is used up. Add the chenna balls into the sugar syrup. Cover and let it cook for 10 minutes. Heat up the caramel syrup. Open the lid of the wok, now gradually add the caramel syrup into the sugar syrup and stir it. Let it continue to cook for at least an hour or till the sugar syrup becomes clear and the chom chom gets its colour. In between the cooking time once in a while stir the sugar syrup and remove the impurities that has formed on the sides of the wok. Once done, switch  off the flame and add 1/2 cup cold water. Let the chom chom  sit in  the sugar syrup till the sugar syrup completely cools down. Remove the chom chom from the sugar syrup and roll it in the milk powder and mawa crumb. Enjoy the  chom chom. 

Fresh Homemade Sausages without Casing

I love the Kolkata fresh sausages that my friend’s parents get for me, but unfortunately it’s not available in Mumbai. I had some boneless mutton in the fridge, so thought of experimenting  with mutton and  it turned out to be delicious. These fresh homemade sausages are quick and easy to make and satisfies your urge of  having sausages.  You can use boneless chicken or pork or mutton. Here I have used mutton.

Ingredients 

250 grams Boneless cold Mutton cut into small pieces 

30 grams Mutton Fat 

1 big Onion coarsely ground and water squeezed out

1 small Garlic pod finely minced 

1 small Ginger piece finely minced

1 Green Chilli finely minced 

1/2 cup Coriander leaves chopped 

1/2 cup Mint leaves chopped 

Salt to taste 

1 tsp Cumin powder

1/2 to 1 tsp Red Chilli powder 

1/2 tsp Garam Masala powder

3 tbsp Oil

Method 

Take a electric chopper or a food processor. Add the Mutton pieces, finely mince it. Add the fat and mince it once more. Remove it into a bowl. Add the onion, mint, coriander, garlic, ginger, green chilli, garam masala, cumin powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix it very well for 5 minutes until the fat and the meat binds very well. Grease the steamer plate. Take a steamer and heat up the water. Take a plastic sheet and spread it on the platform. Now apply oil on your palm and on the sheet. Take a big lemon size portion. Roll the mince meat on the sheet and give it a longish sausage shape. Place the sausages into the steamer plate. Steam the sausages in batches for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the sausages from the steamer. Keep the sausages in the fridge for 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry then you can keep it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove it and now the sausages are ready to be fried. Take a pan add 1 tsp of oil, heat it. Add the sausages and toss the sausages till brown in colour. Serve them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I prefer having it with hot dal and rice. 

P. S. The meat pieces has to be cold so that it is easy to mince. 

The meat has to be finely minced and not paste. 

You can add 30 grams more fat if you want as I have used less fat. 

It is very important that the meat and the fat binds very well. 

Kathal Ke Kabab

Kathal or Raw Jackfruit is known as vegetarian meat because of its texture and look. It has lots of health benefits. This dish what I made today can be served as starter or appetiser or can be eaten as snacks. This can be served with onions and green chutney. It’s a simple recipe with very less ghee or oil. 

Ingredients

250 grams Raw Jackfruit (Kathal)  cut into medium size cubes and boiled

1/4 cup Chana Dal boiled without any excess water

1 small Onion finely chopped

1 - 2 Green Chillies as per required cut into pieces 

2 small pieces Ginger 

3 Garlic Cloves 

1 tbsp Coriander Leaves chopped

1 tbsp Mint Leaves  chopped

1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

Salt to taste

1 tsp Cumin powder

1 tsp Fennel powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Lime juice 

Ghee or Oil for shallow frying

         

Method 

Take a food processor or a grinder. Add the boiled jack fruit, boiled chana dal,lime juice, green chillies, ginger, garlic, garam masala powder, fennel powder, chilli powder, salt, cumin powder and coriander powder.  Grind it into a coarse paste. Transfer the paste into a bowl. Add the onion, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Mix it well. Take a lime size portions of the paste and flatten it. Take a pan, add ghee or oil. Let it heat on a medium heat. Add the kababs into the ghee or oil. Shallow fry it on both the side until golden brown in colour. Serve the kababs with onion and green chutney. 

P.S. Don’t over cook the jackfruit and the chana dal. 

It’s better to use a food processor than a grinder as it takes a bit longer to grind in a grinder. Don’t add any water while grinding. 

I prefer ghee to fry the kababs as it enhances the flavour of the kababs. 

Almond and Whole Wheat Orange Cookies

These orange flavoured cookies are home made and healthy too. Make them for your friends and family in a day advance and enjoy them with a hot cup of tea. You can add orange colour to the cookies but I don’t prefer adding any artificial colour. As you bite into the cookie and chew it, suddenly you get a strong flavour of the orange and that is due to the orange peel that has been added in the cookie dough while kneading. Please note that the white side of the orange peel should be scraped and removed before chopping or else it may give the cookies a bitter taste. 

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup Almond Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder 

1/4 cup Orange Juice

1/2 tsp Orange Essence 

1 tsp Orange Peel chopped 

1 cup Butter 

1 cup Powder Sugar 

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Sieve the whole wheat flour, almond flour and baking powder together. Take butter and sugar together in another bowl. Beat it well, till fluffy. Add the essence and orange juice. Beat it once more. Add the flour and mix it well. Now knead the ingredients all together to form a dough. Add the orange peel and knead it once more. Take half of the dough and roll the dough into 1/4 inch thick sheet. Cut the desire shapes with the help of a cookie cutter and place the cookies on a baking tray at little distance. With a help of a fork press the top of the cookies to get some impression. Bake it at 170 to 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove it from the oven and let it cool in the same baking tray. After it cools down, remove it from the baking tray and further coo it down. Keep it in a air tight container and enjoy the cookies. 

Eggless Strawberry and Vanilla Cupcakes Center filled withStrawberryJam...

 

We all enjoy cupcakes and cakes at some point of time. I prefer making them at home. This cupcakes are delicious in taste... I have used strawberry as this is the fruit of the season. These can be severed at any point of the day. These makes a perfect lunch box serving for children to carry it to school. 

Ingredients 

3 cups All Purpose Flour + 1 cup of Wheat Flour mixed together 

1/2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Soda bicarbonate 

1 cup Caster Sugar 

2 tsp Vanilla Essence 

1 Mashed Banana 

1/4 cup Curd

1/2 cup Condensed Milk

150 Ml Oil

500 ml + 1/4 cup Milk 

1 cup Strawberry Pulp

1/2 cup Strawberry Jam 

2 tbsp Almond Flakes 

                    

              

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Add sugar, condensed milk, banana, curd and oil. Beat it well till all the ingredients are well  incorporated. Add the vanilla essence, 1 cup flour, 125 ml milk and salt. Beat it well. Add another 1 cup flour and 125 ml milk, beat it well. Keep repeating the process twice more till all the flour and 500 Ml milk is used up. Add the baking powder and soda bicarbonate. Beat it once more. Divide the batter into 2 parts. Now add the strawberry pulp into one part of the batter and 1/4 cup milk into another part of the batter. Beat both the batters. Take a 12 mould cupcake cavity tray. Place a cupcake liner in each cavity. Pour 2 tbsp of the strawberry batter in each liner. Now add 1/2 tsp strawberry jam in the center of the batter. Now top it up with 2 tbsp Vanilla batter. Add few almond flakes on top. Bake it in a pre heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 180 degree celsius. Insert a tooth pick to check. If done, then remove the cupcakes from the oven. Remove the cupcakes  from the cavities. Let it cool completely on the cooling rack before enjoying it.