Cheese Fish

Years pass on and becomes decade,decades turns to rosary. But for us,  the bongs (Bengali), generation after generation one thing is common, savoring fish. Like other bongs I too relish fish in what ever creative way I can. For example eating the small fish(tangra, marula,parse) as a whole, Rohu,Katla,Hilsa in pieces and snappers(bhetki) in fillet. This dish is prepared with snapper fillet.

I prepared this dish long before but could not post the recipe. Again the blame goes  to my cutie pie. She doesn’t even know that her mother is blaming her for any inconvenience caused. If I recall I prepared this on 15th April 2013 on Bengali New Year(Nabo Barsho).

Ingredients:

• 4-5 Snapper/Basa fish fillet
• 2-3 cubes of cheese
• Chopped coriander(optional)
• 4-5 tbs All purpose Flour
• 9-10 tbs of Bread crumbs
• 2 tbs of Vinegar
• Salt to taste
• White oil to deep fry

Cut the fish fillet laterally to make pocket as shown in picture 1.Then marinate the fillets with salt and vinegar. Leave it for 30 minutes. In the mean time grate the cheese cubes and mix chopped coriander. Make a free flowing batter by adding water to all purpose flour.Stuff the cheese mixture into the pockets of fish fillet as in picture 2. Keep them in a dry plate. Dip them in the all purpose flour batter individually as in picture 3. Then with utmost care roll them on bread crumbs as in picture 4. Please take care that the stuffing does not comes out. Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is hot dip them carefully to deep fry. Cheese fish is ready. One can cut them from the middle if the fillets are large, it sure looks more yummy.

Chicken Kiev

As we all know that Sunday is a fun-day…..but with a baby of 8.5 months its really really tough to have  fun outside. Eating out, watching movie, loitering in the malls all seem so distant 🙂 . My hubby and I with the “eagle” (our baby satellite as my hubby likes to call our baby) have fun at home.This Sunday in the evening hubby & I planned to watch the movie “Cheaper By the Dozen ” in laptop. I thought to making something yummy to go with it.  Instead of making normal chicken pakoras,  I decided to stuff some cheese into it. One can call it a kind of Chicken Kiev.

The dish has traditionally been considered Ukrainian in origin since its name comes from Kiev the capital of Ukraine(as per wiki).

Ingredients:

• 250g boneless raw Chicken
• 5-6 cubes of Cheese
• Chopped coriander leaves
• 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
• 1 tbs Black pepper powder
• 1tbs Oregano
• 1tbs Lemon juice
• White portion of two eggs
• Salt to taste
• Refine oil to deep fry the kievs

Wash the Chicken pat dry. Put them in a grinder to make a smooth paste.  Add lemon juice, egg white and salt to the paste and mix well. Keep it aside. Take the cheese cubes and grate them. Add chopped coriander, chopped onion and oregano to the grated cheese. Mix them well. Take two table spoons  of chicken paste and try to make a pocket of it or rather make a chicken bowl of it. Stuff the cheese mixture in the empty space and cover it up with chicken paste to give it a shape of ball. Repeat the process to make more.Keep these cheese stuffed chicken balls aside. Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is hot enough, put the chicken balls into it and deep fry them until golden brown.

Note: The white things seen in the picture oozing out from the chicken balls are the cheese so please take care that oil is not too hot else the cheese inside will ooze out entirely.

Dal Potli

Hi friends it seems like an eon I am back into writing my blog. In this gap a great thing happened in my life. I have started the voyage of motherhood. The princesses of our (me & my hubby) world, landed in my lap on 20.12.2012.  So I was all busy these days. Now she is 5.5 months old.

Well coming to my cooking now a days I hardly get time to cook something delicious. After a long long time yesterday I prepared  “Dal Potli”.  Monsoon spilt its first shower in Delhi and this dish fits with the weather. The name “Dal Potli ” itself speaks a lot about the dish. In India potli means bag. In ancient time when we did not have these stylish convenient bags of the modern era, people use to take all their belonging needed for a journey in big cloth and wrap them well and called it a potli.

Ingredients:

• 250 gms white flour (maida)
• 2tbs butter
• 1teaspoon baking powder
• 150 gms yellow moong dal
• 1tbs chilli powder
• 1 pinch turmeric powder
• 1tbs roasted Cumin seeds powder
• 1/2 tbs Carom (ajwain) seeds
• 1 teaspoon roasted Fenugreek (methi) seeds powder
• 250ml refine oil to deep fry
• salt to taste

Sieve the flour and add 2tbs butter, baking powder and a pinch of salt to it. Mix well. Gently add water to it and mix well to make a dough. Keep aside. Boil the moong dal with 1 cup water, turmeric powder and salt to taste in a pressure cooker. Let the cooker whistle two to three times. Drain the excess water from the dal. Keep it under fan for about 10 minutes. Now, lets add all the spices to spice it up. Add the chilli powder, roasted cumin seeds powder, carom seeds and roasted fenugreek  powder to the dal and put them in a blender. Blend them well. The inner stuffing is ready.

Now take the prepared dough, divide them into 7-8 portions. With the rolling pin give each portion a round shape. Place about 1 & 1/2 tbs of dal stuffing in the middle of the round shape prepared from the dough. Fold them as shown in the picture above.

Heat oil in wok. When the oil is hot gently put the potlis into the oil. Deep fry them in medium heat until they turn golden.

Note: This preparation has to be consumed on  the same day of its preparation. If you want to keep it for long instead of boiling roast the dal and make a coerce powder of it. Rest of the procedure remains same.

Bhetki Machher Chop ( Snapper Fish Cutlet )

Bongs and Fish are two synonymous words. Bengali die for fish and they eat fish in various forms as per their mood. If its a sunny afternoon Bongs prepare”Machher Jhol” which is less spicy and healthy, if its a grand dinner then its time for some “Machher Jhal/Malaikari/Doi Machh”. If  its a rainy evening and the rain drops are pit-pattering the window pane the bongs heart and taste buds cribs for some “Machher  Chop(Fish Cutlet)”.

Ingredients:

• 250 gm Snapper fish fillet
• 2 large Potatoes boiled and smashed
• 1/4 cup of Vinegar
• 2 large onion finely chopped
• 1tbs Ginger-Garlic paste
• 4-5 tea spoon Red Chilly powder
• 1 tea spoon of Turmeric powder
• 5-6 tea spoon roasted Cumin Seeds powder
• 1 1/2 cups of Corn Flour
• 150 gm of Bread scrumps
• Salt to taste
• 500 ml of refined oil for deep fry

Boil the fish fillet in water  with a tea spoon of salt, a pinch of Turmeric powder and Vinegar for about 10 minutes. Drain the water and pat dry. Smash them with boiled potatoes finely.  Keep it aside. Now lets prepare the spicy mixture. Heat 4 tbs of oil in a pan. When the oil is sizzling hot add the chopped onion to it. Fry it on medium flame for 5-6 minutes. Now add the Ginger-Garlic paste and mix them well. Wait for 2 minutes. Add the Chilly powder, Cumin seeds powder to it. Mix them properly. Cook it on low flame for 4-5 minutes. Remove it from fire and let it cool down. Mix this spicy preparation to the mixture of smashed potato and fish. Mix them well. Give them a elliptical or round shape as in the picture.Heat oil in a deep bottomed wok.  With cornflour bake a very thin batter. Powder the bread scrumps and spread them on a big plate. Dip the balls  in the Corn Flour batter,this helps the bread scrumps to stick to the body of the cutlet easily. Roll the batter dipped cutlet on the bread scrumps properly so that the bread scrumps sticks to it evenly. Put them in the hot oil  and deep fry them till they turns golden brown. Cutlet is ready to be served.

Note: One can use any other fish also. Fish with bones is also fine. But remove the bones after boiling.

Stuffed Zucchini Rings

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”

This dish is made for my loving hubby on this valentines day. There is an old proverb which states “the way to a men’s heart is through his stomach .” This 14th feb I prepared this dish which my hubby  relished a lot.

Ingredients:

• A medium sized Zucchini skin peeled off and cleaned
•  2 cups Green pea paste
• 4-5 tbs roasted Cumin seeds powder
• 1 tea spoon chilly flakes
• 1 large Onion finely chopped
• 1 tbs Ginger-Garlic paste
• 4-5 tbs of Yogurt beaten properly
• Salt to taste
• 2 tea spoon Turmeric powder
• 5-6 tbs refined Oil

Peel of the skin from Zucchini and cut  the ends from both sides. Cut it into two halves horizontally. Gently scoop out the centers such that it looks like a pipe. Cut them into circular thin rings. Marinate the Zucchini rings with salt and turmeric powder. Keep them aside. Now lets prepare the stuffing. Take the green peas  paste and add  roasted Cumin seeds powder, chilly flakes and  Salt to taste. Mix them well.  Stuff the Zucchini rings with green peas paste.Heat about 4-5 tbs of oil in a pan. Add the chopped Onion in oil. Saute it for 4-5 minutes on low flame. Add the Ginger-Garlic paste to it. Cook it for another 2 minutes. Now add the ring to the pan. Mix them well with utmost care so that the stuffing’s do not come out.Add the beaten yogurt.  Cover the pan and let it cook for 20 minutes on low flame. The dish is ready to be served with steamed rice or roti.

Note: One can use Crushed cottage Cheese or minced Chicken for stuffing.

Fish Ajwain

This is a fish preparation which is tangy and juicy enough to tickle our taste buds. It required a marinade using ground carom (ajwain) seeds, a spice rarely used in any cuisine, followed by shallow frying. Carom seeds have a unique flavor (a cross between caraway and thyme) which I wanted to use in my dish to give it a new aroma, flavor, and taste.

Ingredients:

• 500 gms Sole, Betki(snapper) or Surmai Fish cut into boneless cubes
• 5 tbs of white Vinegar
• 1 large grated Onion
• 14-15 flakes of Garlic fine chopped
• 5-6 tea spoon of ajwain
• 5-6 tbs of Cornflour
• 1 tea spoon turmeric powder
• Salt to taste
• 200 gm of white oil to shallow fry

Wash the fish cubes with water and pat dry. Marinate the cubes with white vinegar and salt. Leave it for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes you will find that the fish cubes has released water. Remove the water. Press the fish cubes with soft hand to strain water. But while doing so please take care that the fish cubes do not break. Now add the grated Onion, chopped Garlic, Ajwain, Turmeric powder and Salt. Mix them well. At last add the Cornflour and mix it. Keep the marinade for at-least 2 hours in refrigerator. After 2-3 hours heat oil in a shallow bottomed frying pan. Fry the fish cubes individually on low flame still they turn brown. Serve them hot with chutney or sauce.

Pan Grilled Chicken in Orange and Oregano Sause

Mix and Match of flavors is a kind of magic that I like to do. For me cooking is an art and everyone has their own way. Kitchen is a chemical lab where one can whip the magic stick and tickle their own taste buds.

On this new year eve  fresh oranges drew my attention towards them. They made me bound to use them in my dish. Finally I prepared a tangy, juicy, aromatic grilled chicken which my hubby  loved to eat.

Ingredients:

• 2 full Chicken leg pieces (Cut into  halves)
• 40 grams of Butter
• 1/2 cup of Orange juice
• 2tbs of Oregano
• Salt to taste
•  2tbs any sauce of choice (I used oyster sauce )

Wash the chicken pieces with water and pat them dry. Marinate then with salt, Orange juice and Oregano. Leave it for at-least 2 hours. Heat about 1 tbs of butter in a pan. When the butter melts completely put the chicken pieces as well as the orange juice and oregano  into it. Simmer the flame and let it cook for at-least 10 minutes.  Then put some more butter to it. Cover the pan and leave it on lower flame for about 15 minutes. Open the lid add the sauce. With a spatula mix the sauce well. Put the remaining butter and let it cook for another 10 minutes. The grilled chicken is ready.

Orange,Kiwi Cake Baked in Pressure Cooker

The street cars are
Like frosted cakes —
All covered up
With cold snowflakes.

Although this is not the condition in most parts of India but we Indians do eagerly wait for Christmas as much as for Diwali, Holi, Dussera, Id, etc. Each festival brings us happiness and a sweet aroma of varied sweets.Diwali ke Laddu, Holi ki Gujia, Dussera ka Rasgulla, Id ke Simaiya and Christmas Cakes. This Christmas I baked a cake. As in winter fresh fruits are available I flavored my cake  with a squeeze of Orange juice and sweetness of Kiwi.

Its very true that “need is the mother of invention”.  My grandma did not have oven in the good old days, but she used to bake cakes in pressure cooker. So I tried it as I too don’t have a cake oven at my home. But this cake is equally delicious as the cake baked in oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup All purpose flour(Maida)
• 1/2 cup Condensed Milk
• 50 g Butter (preferably a salted)
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1 tea spoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup fresh Orange Juice
• 12-14 Raisins
• 12-14 cashew-nut chopped
• 1-2 Kiwi skinned and cut in round shape.
• 2 cups of salt

Take a bowl pour the butter into it. Add the sugar to it. Whip well so that it turns into a frothy mixture. Sieve All Purpose Flour and baking soda in another bowl. Add this to butter-sugar mixture. Start whipping. Add the Condensed milk, Orange juice and Milk to it. Whip well till it turns to a smooth thick batter. Take  a metal bowl (Preferably of Aluminum). Grease it with butter and dust the whole tray. with All Purpose Flour. Tab of the extra flour sticking to it.Pour the smooth batter to the greased bowl. Scatter the raisins on the top of the batter Spread  uniformly the 2 cups salt to the base of the pressure cooker and Pr-Heat the cooker for 5-10 minutes on low flame. Now with utmost care place bowl with batter in the cooker. Cover it and place it on flame opening the whistle. Simmer the gas and let it bake for 45-50 minutes on low flame.  Let the cake cool down. Garnish it with kiwi and the cake is ready.

Chicken Do Pyaza

Do Pyaza refers to the the onions used in two different forms. According to mom the story goes that this dish was invented by the chefs of the Nawab of Awadh during one of the hunting trips of the nawabs.During the hunt the chef was so caught up in the action that he forgot to make preparations for the elaborate dishes he had planned . So , the chef just chopped up all that ingredients and tossed them into the pot . The result was a simple and aromatic dish that the Nawab loved this one so much that it became on the favorites of his…

Now this chicken do pyaza is quite different from the one you would have had in restaurants …you will not find chuncky pieces of onions etc in this one …but the taste would definitely make it one of the favorites …. and the good thing is that you donot have to spend hours in the kitchen.  As I have already mentioned in my previous post being creative by nature I will give the Do Pyaza my own twist.

Ingredients:

• 400-500 gms chicken
• 2 onions diced into large chunks
• Paste of  4 large onions
• 1 tbs ginger-garlic blended together
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 cup tomato puree
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbs Refined oil
• 2 tbs Clarified butter(ghee)
• 1 small stick of  Cinnamon
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbs Cashew nut paste
• 1/4 cup milk

Marinate the chicken with Onion paste, Ginger-Garlic paste, Tomato Puree,  Salt, Turmeric powder & Red Chilli powder. Leave it for 1 hour. Heat the oil and fry the onion chunks till they turn glossy and remove. I use the same oil, I add the Ghee giving  it a twist of mine. Add the cinnamon stick. When a sweet aroma touches the nose add the marinated chicken along with the masala. Cook it on low flame for 20 minutes. Now add the pre-fried onion chunks to the chicken and mix well. Cook it on low flame till the chicken turns tender. Add the cashew nut paste and 1/4 cup of milk to the chicken. Sprinkle garam masala and serve it with hot white steamed rice.

Chicken Drums of Heaven/Chicken Lollipop

This chicken drums of heaven  recipe is one that I make very often at home as this is my hubby’s favorite. Ever since he has tried the chicken drums of heaven at a restaurant he has gone on to become an ardent fan of this chicken fry receipe and so it got me thinking about the chicken recipe for this. One I liked it too and so wanted to give it a try, second at the restaurants they always use food color which is a strict no-no for me. So with my hubby liking this chicken style, I just had to customize it to his tastes.

Chicken drums of heaven (for some its chicken lollipop) is generally considered as a hors d’œuvre or appetizer dish. Though not everyone may know, this chicken dish is made from chicken wings. In the Philippines, Chicken Lollipop is considered as a main dish and is prepared in a simpler manner compared to the chicken lollipop dishes of India and other countries.

Ingredients:

• 7-8 Chicken Wings
• 2  tbs Lemon Juice
• 2 tbs Kashmiri Lal Mirch Powder(for color)
• 1/2 cup Ginger juice(extracted from ginger paste)
• 2 tbs All purpose flour (Maida)
• 1 Egg
• 5-6 flakes of Garlic finely chopped
• 250 ml Refined oil for deep frying
• Salt to taste

Clean the chicken wings. The chicken wings are in V-shape. Split the pieces in the middle and push the flesh to one side of the bone. It gives the wings a lollipop shape. Marinate the chicken pieces with Ginger  juice, red chilli powder, All purpose flour,  Salt and Egg for about 3-4 hours. If left for a longer marinating time the taste will be better. Store in refrigerator for at-least 2 hours. Just before frying add the chopped the garlic. Mix well. Heat oil in a wok. When the oil is smoky hot dip the wings for deep frying. Cook them on low flame so that it is cooked evenly.Cook it till it turns golden. Serve hot Drums of Heaven(wrap the ends with foil) with chilli sauce.