Sunday 5 February 2017

Whole Wheat Banana and Coconut Cake Loaf...


This is a very easy vegetarian rustic tea time cake loaf. I had few bananas which had completely ripped and that went into the batter along with the other ingredients. Love the flavour of coconut and banana in the cake. 
Whole Wheat Banana and Coconut Cake Loaf...
This is a very easy vegetarian rustic tea time cake loaf. I had few bananas which had completely ripped and that went into the batter along with the other ingredients. Love the flavour of coconut and banana in the cake. 
Ingredients 
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour 
1/2 cup Fine Semolina 
1/2 cup Desiccated Coconut 
1 1/2 cup Powder Sugar 
1/2 tsp Cardomom powder 
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder 
1 tsp Soda bicarbonate 
1/4 tsp Salt 
1/4 cup Almond flakes 
1 tbsp Coconut essence 
1 cup Butter Milk  (1/4 cup Curd + 3/4 cup Milk)
1 1/4 cup Milk
3 Ripe Bananas 
3/4 cup Oil
Method
Add the bananas, oil, butter milk, powder sugar and coconut essence into the blender. Blend the ingredients until smooth. Pour the batter into a mixing bowl. Add the cardomom powder and desiccated coconut. Beat it well. Add the semolina and beat it again. Add half of the whole wheat flour and 1/2 of the milk. Beat it again. Now add the rest of the flour, milk, baking powder, soda bicarbonate and salt. Beat it well. The batter should be thick dropping consistency. Add more milk if required to get the right consistency. 
Take 2 and a half loaf tins. Grease the baking tins. Fill in the batter into each tin till the tin is half filled. Sprinkle some almond flakes on the top. Bake it at 180 degrees celcius for 45 to 50 minutes or until done. Remove the cake loafs  from the oven and cool it completely before slicing.

Friday 3 February 2017

Garlic Coriander Baked Fish with Coconut Milk...


This dish is adapted from Thai cuisine... It's a baked dish and without oil. So definitely a healthy dish. Serve this dish with green cucumber, tomato and rice and enjoy the flavour of garlic, coriander and coconut.

Ingredients
500 grams  Fish Fillets
2 Garlic cloves minced 
1 small bunch Coriander leaves cleaned
1 inch Lemon grass stalk
4 to 6 Bird Eye chillies 
2 tsp Red Chilli flakes
Salt to taste 
3/4 cup Coconut Milk
1 tbsp Honey
2 tsp Fish Sauce 
2 tbsp Lemon Juice 
Method 
Take a chopper, add the coriander, garlic, lemongrass, chilli flakes, fish sauce, lemon juice, honey, salt and coconut milk. Pulse it  3 to 4 times. Take a oven proof baking dish. Place the fish into the baking dish. Pour the mixture on the fish and mix well. Add the chillies. Bake it in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees celcius or until fish is cooked well. Garnish with coriander leaves, cucumber slices, tomato slices and lemon slice.

Thursday 2 February 2017

Gota Sheddho....


Gota Sheddho is made on the day of Saraswati Puja in Bengal and eaten the next day that is Sheetal Shasti. Gota means whole and Sheddo means boiled.  It is made with 5 types of vegetables, spinach with stem and roots (shish palak) and whole mung dal or whole black lentils. Each of the vegetables are taken in odd number like 5, 7, 9 or 11.
Different household has different version of making Gota Sheddho. In some houses, they have it only boiled and some houses makes mashala gota sheddho. 
I tried keeping my mother's traditional way of making mashala gota sheddho.  It is normally eaten with panta bhaat. 

Ingredients 
300 grams Whole Mung Dal 
1 bunch of Shish Palak
11 Flat beans whole
11 Green Peas whole 
11 small size Potato whole
11 small size Brinjal whole 
5 Green Chillies 
2 tbsp Ginger paste 
2 tbsp Fennel seed paste 
Salt to taste 
1/2 cup Mustard Oil 

Method 
Take the shish palak. Cut the stems into 1 inch pieces, the roots are also cleaned and add to the stem, the leaves are cut into pieces and kept separately. Give a slit on the potatoes and brinjals. Take a deep bottom pot. Add 2 liters of water. Add the dal. Arrange the stem and the roots of the palak, sprinkle some salt, then arrange potatoes followed by brinjals. Then add the flat beans, green peas and chillies. Cover the pot and let it simmer on low flame till the ingredients are 50 percent cooked. Add half of the mustard oil. Now add the Palak leaves and sprinkle some more salt. Cover and let it simmer till the dal is cooked. Take the ginger and fennel seed paste in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup water to it. Pour the paste on the gota and add some more mustard oil. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Lastly drizzle the remaining mustard oil and keep it over night. Enjoy the gota for lunch.

Sunday 22 January 2017

Cantonese Style Chicken Sausage and Green Garlic Vegetable Stir Fry...


Cantonese cuisine is a simplified traditional Chinese cuisine which comes from Guangdong province and is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. The ingredients used in Cantonese cuisine, are spring onion, sugar, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, vinegar, scallion oil, and sesame oil, to enhance the flavour, garlic is heavily used in some of the dishes. Ginger, chilli peppers, five-spice powder, black pepper powder, star anise and a few other spices are also used. 
Net source... 
This dish is good for starters. The sugar balances the flavour of the sourness. Love the flavour of the garlic. 

Ingredients 
10 pieces of Chicken sausage cut into pieces
1 cup Yellow and Red Capsicum cut into cubes
1 Onion cut into cubes
2 to 3 Green chillies slit into 2 halves
6 to 8 whole Garlic cloves 
1 cup Green Garlic leaves cut into pieces 
1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar or White Vinegar
1 tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Chilli Sauce
Salt to taste 
1/4 tsp Pepper powder
1/2 tsp Sugar 
2 tbsp Sesame seed Oil 

Method 
Take a wok or a fry pan, add oil. Heat up the oil. Add the sausages and stir fry for a minute. Add the whole garlic, green chillies and onions. Stir fry on high flame till the onions are light pink in colour. Add the capsicum and stir for 2 minutes. Add the green garlic leaves. Stir for a minute. Add the vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce, sugar, salt and pepper powder. Stir for a minute and serve it hot.

Thursday 19 January 2017

Macher Bhappa Cake / Fish Cake Steamed.....


This is an excellent recipe to have with evening tea or as a starter. The fish is boiled and mashed with boiled potatoes and vegetables and then set in a steamer or steamed in any vessel till it sets. This recipe is a heirloom recipe from my aunty’s kitchen and recreated in my kitchen. It has a touch of Bengal as Kasundi is used in it.  It's a very healthy recipe as there is very less oil content which has come from Kasundi and greased container. For the bread crumbs, I have used whole wheat bread crumbs, you can also roast or crisp the leftover rotis to make the breadcrumbs.
For people who eats egg... you can substitute the fish with soya granules.
I am sure you will love my recipe as much as I did making it. I am sure you will try it out.

Ingredients
1 cup / 250 grams  Any Fish boiled, deboned and mashed ( Bhetki, Prawns, Kathla)
1 big size Potato boiled and mashed
1/2 cup finely chopped any colour capsicum
1 small Onion finely chopped
1 tsp Garlic minced
1/2 tsp Ginger minced
1/2 to 1 tsp Green chillies minced
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Pepper crushed
1/2 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Baking powder
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs beaten
2 tbsp Kasundi ( Mustard Sauce )
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1/4  tsp Mustard oil just to grease the container


Method
Take a mixing bowl and mix all the ingredients together very well, except for the oil. Take a greased baking pan. Pour the mixture in to the container and spread it. You can steam it in a steamer or take a wok, add water, place a napkin at the base. Place the container with the lid on. Cover the wok and steam it for 20 to 30 minutes or till the mixture has set. To check, insert a tooth pick. Cool it down. Cut it into pieces and serve it with more Kasundi.