The Patty

Souvenirs aren't the only thing that you can bring back from vacation! I've been meaning to put up something by this friend of mine for a while because she posts the most amazing food pictures on Instagram, and now I can!

Neha's meat patties, in her words.

Marinate 500g mutton kheema (mince) with a spoon of each: turmeric, chili powder, Garam masala, coriander powder, ginger and garlic paste and a tad bit of curd for like 30mins to overnight. Cook the mixture in the cooker with a little bit of water. Keep one chopped onion and a boiled potato ready. In a pan, add some oil put some jeera (cumin seeds), chopped curry leaves, onions and sauté it. Add the boiled crushed potato, add the kheema mixture until it becomes dry. After the mixture cools, make small patties....dip it in an egg and then bread crumbs and shallow fry. Ta-da, mutton parties are ready to eat!!!

The Turkey Muffins

Meatloaf on a go? I think so!

Preheat oven to 220C. Sauté together half a chopped onion, a cup and a half of chopped mushrooms, and a cup of finely grated or chopped carrots, with three cloves of chopped garlic in a little olive oil. Add a spoon of garlic chilli sauce and a spoon of Peri Peri sauce. Add this mixture to half a kg of minced turkey in a bowl with an egg and half a cup of grated parmesan cheese. Mix together and spoon the mixture into greased muffin pans (should make 6). Top with pizza sauce. Bake for 25 min, and serve with your favorite greens!

The Mango Fish Tacos

I'm out of creative names for dishes.

Fish tacos with mango avocado habanero salsa

Slice three large basa fillets into fingers, and coat them in a mixture of flour, salt and paprika. Bake in the oven at 220C for 10 to 12 minutes.

While the fish bakes, mix a cup of chopped mangos with a chopped avocado and a tablespoon of habanero sauce. (I do this as a nod to an "incident" with an actual habanero.) Add a teaspoon of crushed garlic, salt to taste, two big spoons of chopped coriander and a quarter lime.

On the side, sauté two cups of sliced button mushrooms and set aside.

Toast each tortilla (whole-wheat, in my case) in a pan and stuff with lettuce, rocket, shredded carrots and corn. Add the sautéed mushrooms. Add three or four freshly baked fish fingers to each taco, slap on a dollop of Greek yogurt and load up on the salsa. Garnish with coriander leaves and lime! Should make about 6 tacos.

The Cilantro Lime Kick

Happy Monday! I cheated so much last week and I badly needed a no-carb Sunday night to prepare for a stricter week ahead just so I can cheat again next (long) weekend :) Here's another easy one pot recipe for a weeknight.

Pan-fry about 750g of chicken thighs (boneless) rubbed with salt, pepper and paprika in a little butter for 6-7 minutes on one side and 4 on the other. Take the chicken out of the pan, and add to the same pan a teaspoon of chopped garlic, a half onion, finely chopped, a half cup of coriander leaves, chopped, and a sliced lime. Sauté with the leftover chicken fat and butter in the pan before adding two spoons of yogurt, a cup of milk, two spoons of mango and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese (all this to avoid using cream). Add chicken back in and simmer to thicken. In the last 5 minutes of simmering add sliced mushrooms. Serve on a bed of salad leaves and carrots.