The Pocket

So not all of us have a million hours to spare every evening in the kitchen. (This... coming from a currently unemployed person.) Pita pockets are the bomb. You can stuff them with anything! Veggies, salads, meats/fish, whatever.

For these yummy pita pockets, throw into a bowl chopped avocado, cilantro, boiled egg, sauteed mushrooms in garlic, shredded chicken, oregano, homemade salsa or just tomatoes and some lime juice, and a hint of any spice you want (I threw in cayenne, as usual). If you don't care for fat, add a tiny bit of mayonnaise. Cut pitas into two and stuff them, and then stuff your face. 

The Fish Fry

This super creative name for this dish came to me in a dream last night.

There are two kinds of fried fish in Bengali cuisine. There's the pan-fried fish steaks made at home, called "maach bhaja", which literally means fried fish, and then there's "fish fry", which is a battered fillet deep-fried and served as a snack, and is basically street food. I just dropped some mad culture on you. 

Get your favorite white fish fillets. Bengalis use barramundi (also called "bhetki"); good substitutes would be grouper/hamour, tilapia, or basa, which is what I used. Cut each fillet into two or three pieces. In a big bowl, put in an egg, some salt and pepper, chopped or ground green chilies, and ginger-garlic paste, and mix. Add enough water to have the mix cover the fish completely, and add half a cup of cornflour. Then add the fish and let the bowl sit for a little bit. Meanwhile heat some oil for deep-frying and spread breadcrumbs on a plate for coating. Take each piece of fish out from the bowl onto the plate and cover well with breadcrumbs. At this point I poked a few holes in the fillet with a fork to make sure that the inside cooks evenly. Then deep-fry till browned. 

Serve with traditional kasundi or Dijon mustard, and some sliced onions and cucumbers, and you're golden. Ignore my plate; I'm boring and I eat salad.

The Meat and Potatoes

So I made this super healthy Mexican bowl yesterday (that I'll be putting up later) and although I was satisfied, my husband wasn't. So I turned to meat and potatoes to salvage me for one last healthy meal of the week before the weekend hits and we eat everything in our sight. Well, more like poultry and potatoes.

Skinny chicken salad with baked potato wedges.

THE CHICKEN

Shredded chopped chicken, chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander, cabbage or lettuce, celery, mustard, Greek yogurt, avocado, cumin powder, salt, pepper, paprika and very little mayonnaise. Mix and serve with toast.

THE POTATOES

Cut wedges, skin on, and parboil for 8 minutes. Remove and run under cold water. Coat in olive oil, cumin powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Toss in a dry pan for 2 min to add a roasted feel. Sprinkle oregano and serve. 

The Kosha

Kosha mangsho is oh so good to know. It is not a quick recipe but who cares. So worth it.

Marinate a kg of mutton in yogurt, a little mustard oil, and salt and turmeric, overnight.

Roast whole garam masala (whole cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper) on a dry pan for a bit, and grind into a powder. Keep aside for cooking. Fresh garam masala adds a whole new kick.

Get yourself a nice thick bottomed pan for which you have a lid ready. Heat some mustard oil, and fry two chopped onions and a spoon each of ginger paste and garlic paste. Add salt and a spoon of sugar, and some whole garam masala. Add the mutton. Add some more coriander and cumin powder if you want, and some red chilli powder. Add some more of that garam masala (leave a little to sprinkle in the end and add the rest, basically). Cover with the lid.

Now comes the painful part of standing there and constantly stirring the pot. You have to keep lifting the lid and stirring so the bottom doesn't burn, and then replacing the lid. (If it gets too dry add very little water just to keep it a little mushy, but that's it.) This process is called koshano in bengali. It would be so much easier to just pressure-cook the mutton but DON'T DO IT! Stir, cover, stir, cover, till the mutton is cooked. I took it out right after it was cooked because I was impatient, but typically you want it to almost start disintegrating before you turn off the heat. Sprinkle the leftover garam masala on top and you're set! Serve with luchi and be amazing.

PS: It's also common to put potatoes in this but I like to leave them out.

The Veggie Tempura

So Mondays have turned into vegetarian recipe days, somehow. :)

Vegatable Tempura with Pan-Fried Teriyaki Udon

THE TEMPURA

Slice up your favorite vegetables for the tempura. I used mushrooms, broccoli and sweet potatoes. Create the tempura batter by mixing 3 parts cornflour to one part flour with a little baking powder, salt and pepper. Now if you don't eat egg, just add water and use that as your batter. If you don't mind egg, that's actually what makes the tempura batter fluffy and awesome. so you want to add a lightly whisked egg white in the batter along with some water. I like to leave the batter a tiny bit lumpy, as in don't overmix the batter, and make sure it's cold. Dip each veggie into the batter and deep fry. Remove before it starts to really brown. 

THE UDON

Udon = rice noodles. Boil and drain. Heat up a pan and get scallion and cabbage (and anything else you want to throw in) cooking in some oil. Add teriyaki sauce. Finally toss the cooked noodles in. I'd top with sesame seeds but I didn't have any. SERVE!

The Rocky Forest

Chicken meatballs and a lychee cucumber salad makes for a healthy Friday in.
I went with a slight Thai theme.

THE CHICKEN

Mix minced chicken with the following: salt, ginger paste, garlic paste, blended or finely chopped onions, cumin and coriander powders, chopped coriander leaves, a dash of lime, basil, and Thai green curry paste if you can get your hands on that.

Heat up a pan of vegetable oil and take little bits of the mince mix, make balls and shallow fry for a few minutes. Take one out and cut open to make sure it's cooked. Top with dried basil seasoning.

THE SALAD

Peel the lychees and make a side incision to get the seeds out. Throw in spinach and cucumbers and season with a lime-basil vinaigrette (dressing of a tiny bit of olive oil with a dash of lime and some basil, maybe a little sugar and a drop or two of soy sauce).

Remember to undo all this by cheating this weekend.

The Cantonese

Chow mein... from somebody who doesn't know anything about Cantonese cuisine. But it came out pretty good! I made mine with prawns; you could make yours with just veggies, or chicken, or whatever. I love a good stir-fry.

Boil noodles according to instructions on the packet. Mine said submerge in hot water for 5 minutes, so I did that. Once cooked, run under hot water for a bit. Set aside.

In a wok, heat some peanut oil and add a little ginger and garlic. Throw in scallions. Add the prawn and a spoon of dark sesame oil, and stir for a bit. Add any veggies you'd like: I'd go with water chestnuts, mushrooms, bean sprouts.... I added a few cashews and some corn. Add a few spoons of oyster sauce, and a spoon of soy sauce, and toss. (At this point you can add broth to simmer, and then add cornstarch to thicken the sauce, but I avoided this step so I wouldn't have to put cornstarch in.) Finally add the noodles and give the whole thing a toss or two to coat and fry. Throw on a tiny bit of coriander garnish and remove from heat.

Serve (for a personal kick, I broke a dried red chilli onto the dish before serving).