Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Fish Manchurian

Description:
            
              Manchurians is a type of Chinese Indian dish. Manchurians are made of Chicken, Fish, Cauliflower, Prawns etc. In this dish we don't use any masalas or spices. Lets check my Fish manchurian recipe.

Ingredients:
1. Fish fillets - 6 to 7 pieces(I used Salmon)
2. Capsicum - 2
3. Chopped ginger
4. Finely chopped garlic
5. Egg - 1
6. Greenchili
7. Soya sauce
8. Chili sauce
9. Onion - 1
10. Tomato sauce( very  much optional)
11. Oil
12. Corn starch - 4 to 5 tsp
13. Salt to taste

Procedure:

               First take the Fish fillets in a bowl, add salt, but I didn't add salt here because Salmon itsself is bit salty. So excluding salt I added the Egg, 1 tsp of soya sauce and 1-2 tsp of the corn starch. Mix everything together so that the Fish is completely coated with the paste. Now keep this marination in the fridge for atleast 30-45 minutes.

               By the time marination is going on, we'll prepare the gravy. Dice the onions into small square pieces and the capsicums also the same way. Giner, Garlic and greenchili should be finely chopped. When the marination is done we have to fry the fish and keep aside to cool down before preparing the gravy or sauce. I don't deep fry  the marinated fish, just shallow fries it. But usually in restaurants they deep fry the fish, I guess. Anyways it depends whether to deep fry or shallow fry, no much difference it taste though. I prefer shallow fry.  So take a frying pan and shallow fry the marinated fish till both the sides becomes golden brown. Keep  the fried fish aside to cool down.

              Next will make the gravy. Take a skillet, pour little oil. First put the chopped ginger and garlic . Let it cook for few seconds and then add the Onions. Saute it till it becomes partially transparent. Now add the capsicum . Next to the remaining corn starch add little water and make it a liquid. So now add half of this to the skillet and mix nicely, so that the corn starch finely coates all the ingredients. Next add  1tsp of soy sauce and 1 tsp of the chili sauce. If we are using tomato sauce then it can be added at this point. Cook all this for some 2 minutes on medium flame. Now add the fried Fish into the gravy and also pour the remaining corn starch liquid into the skillet. We can also add little pepper powder to it. Mix everything and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Keep on stiring at intervals. In between check for the salt, if its less we can add some more. Finally add the chopped greenchili. Don't add any extra water into the preparation, as manchurian's taste good if its dry. Now after 3 minutes of cooking our Fish manchurian is ready to be served. It goes good with Fried rice, Rice, Roti, Naans etc. Hope all of you will like it.
            

Monday, November 29, 2010

Chicken with bamboo shoots curry

Description:

              This dish is mostly made in North-Eastern India(particularly Nagaland). This curry is so healthy. It doesnot require any type of  spices or masalas. Pork with bamboo shoots is also very tasty and popular dish. Lets check out the recipe.

Ingredients:
1. Chicken
2. Bamboo shoots - 1/2 cup
3. Green chilli - 3
4. Dry red chili flakes
5. Cherry Tomatoes - 3
6. Ginger
7. Garlic
8. Onions(optional)
9. Spring oinions
10. Salt

Procedure:
          First clean the Chicken and keep aside. Add some salt to it. Next cut the Onions into thin slices. Crush the ginger and garlic. Slit the greenchilies. Now cooking part, it will be good if we cook it in a skillet or something instead of using cooker. But to save time I actually cooked in cooker. First pour 1/2 tsp of oil into the cooker, then add the greenchilis, chili flakes, crushed ginger and garlic. Stir it for few seconds then add the onions. Saute it till transparent then add the tomatoes, Spring oinions. Next bamboo shoots will go in. Stir it well, then add the Chicken . we can add little water if more gravy is required. Close the cooker lid, cook it till 3-4 whistles goes and the curry is perfectly ready to be served. This curry goes good with hot rice.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Chicken Samosa

Description:

           Samosa is a  very popular snack item. There are varieties of samosas like vegetable samosas, Chicken or Beef samosa etc. Here is my recipe for Chicken samosa.


Ingredients:
1. All purpose Flour - 2 cups
2. Boneless Chicken - 2cups
3. Carrots - 1
4. Potatoes - 2
5. Coriander leaves
6. Capsicum - 2
7. Ginger
8. Garlic
9. Frozen Peas
10. Chilli powder - 1tsp
11. Pepper powder  -1/2 tsp
12. Garam masala - 1 tsp
13. Chat masala - 1/2 tsp
14. Cumin whole
15. Oil
16. Water
17. Salt to taste

Procedure:

             Readymade samosa sheets are sold in supermarkets nowadays. I made the samosa sheets at home. Its very easy to make and moreover we can use it fresh. First take the flour in a bowl, add salt, whole cumin and 2- 3 tsp of oil. Now knead the flour and keep the dough aside for atleast 1 hour to set. Lets make ready the fillings by the time the dough gets set. Cut the boneless Chicken into small pieces, add little chili powder, pepper powder, salt and cook it. It will be good if the chicken is kept for marination before cooking. Now chop the Ginger, Garlic into  small pieces. Take the carrots, Capsicum and Potatoes, then cut it into small cubes. 

             Take a pan and heat the oil. First add the finely chopped ginger and garlic. Then goes in the  potatoes and Carrots and cook it for few minutes. Then add the chopped Capsicum and the Peas. Now add the masalas Garam masala, chat masala, Chilli powder, little pepper powder and a pinch of turmeric powder. Mix well and cook with lid closed.  Next goes in the  chicken. Mix slowly so all the masalas coats properly on the vegetables and Chicken. If you want to mash the potatoes in the filling you can do it here or just let it be like cubes. Switch off the stove and finally add chopped Coriander leaves.

                 Lets make the samosa sheet now. Take the dough that we have kept to set. Kneed the dough again with hands and divide it into 10-11 balls. Keep all balls covered while you work on one at a time. Roll each ball out into a 7 inch (18 cm) round.Cut it in half with a knife. Take one half and make a cone of it. Use water to seal the side and edges of the cone. Once the cone is made, fill it with 2 tsp of the chicken mixture. Seal the open edges with water. Repeat this process for all the remaining balls.

                   Now we can start the frying process. Pour oil in a wok/skillet for deep frying. Drop the samosas one by one into the oil and deep fry it. Turn both sides and cook till the samosas starts get golden in colour. Try to fry the samosas in batches. Chicken samosa is ready to be served with Tamarind chutney or Mint Chutney or even ketchup.  Enjoy Chicken samosas.

                   


            



Dry Prawns with shredded coconut(Konchu Thoran)

Description:

               Prawns with shredded coconut is a dish that is mainly prepared in South India especially Kerala. Its very tasty and goes good with steamed rice. Normally I use very less coconut  but for this recipe more quantity should be . Lets check out the recipe

Ingredients:
1. Dry prawns - 1/2 cup
2. Onions or Shallots - 1cup(shallots preferred)
3. Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
4. Green chilli - 3
5. Curry leaves
6. Unripe cherry tomatoes/Gambooge
7. Ginger
8. Garlic
9. Chilli powder - 1tsp
10. Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
11. Water - 1/2 cup
12. Dry red chili - 2
13. Salt to taste

Procedure:

             This recipe we can be made with either live Prawns or dry Prawns, both taste fantastic.  To clean dry prawns first dry roast it slightly and let it cool down. Once it cools down just give the skillet a shake and you can see the heads will start to separate from body. Discard the head. Chop the green chilli, ginger and garlic. Chop the onions/shallots into thin slices. Cut the Cherry tomatoes into 2-3 pieces length wise and if you can`t find unripe tomatoes then use Gambooge(kudam pulli). Worst case if can`t get both then ignore it.  Take the shredded coconut and coarsely grind it in the grinder with Chilli powder, green chilli and Turmeric powder. Don't make the coconut as paste, just grind it a bit.

          Now take a pan, heat some oil and splutter mustard. Then add the curry leaves, dry red chili,  chopped Ginger, garlic and the green chilli. Saute it for few seconds. Next add the Onions and once it starts becoming transparent add the chopped unripe cherry tomatoes/gambooge. Cook it for almost 2 mnts. Now add the Prawns, Salt and stir properly. After that add the coconut, stir  again and add little water. Close the lid and let it cook slowly on medium heat. Stir gently once or twice in between and let it cook for 10-12 minutes.  If any excess water is there then dry it on low flame with lids open. Prawns with shredded coconut(Konchu thoran) dish is ready to be served.


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Prawns Theeyal(Chemmeen Theeyal)

Description:
Theeyal will go really good with Rice. We can add vegetables like Brinjal, BitterGourd etc with Theeyal. Here is my recipe for chemmeen Theeyal.

Ingredients:
1. Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup
2. Chopped Shallots - 1 cup
3. Prawns (You can use fresh prawns but for this recipe I  used dried Prawns)
4. Dry red chili - 3
5. Mustartd
6. Chili powder - 1tsp
7. Corinder powder - 2 tsp
8. Cumin seed/powder - 1tspn
9. Curry leaves
10. Turmeric powder- 1/2tspn
11. Tamarind paste
12. Oil
13. Salt to taste

Procedure:
Dry roast the shredded coconut until it starts to change colour. Immediately add  Chili powder, Corainder powder, Turmeric powder and Cumin powder, and sir continousy .Turn off the stove to let it cool down. Once it cools down, grind this and make it into a very fine paste. Don`t add too much water while grinding. Heat 1 tsp of oil and roast  the  prawns for some 2-3 minutes. Leave it aside to cool down. Next step is to saute the chopped shallots. Saute till the Onions becomes  transparent. After that add the coconut paste we have made. Mix well and keep the stove on medium heat. Add the tamarind paste also to this and little water. Add salt as per required. Now simmer the stove and bring the Theeyal to boil . When it slowly starts to boil add the small Prawns. Allow the Theeyal to boil for few minutes, then turn off the stove. Theeyal is ready, but not ready to be served.

Final step, seasoning. Take 1 tsp of oil, splutter mustard and add curry leaves, dry red chilli, and small slices of Shallots(optional). Pour this over the Theeyal. Now the Theeyal is perfectly ready to be served.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Raddish Pachadi

Description:

             Pachadi is mainly common in South India. It can be made with  variety of vegetables like Pineapple, Beetroot, Bitter Gourd etc. I tried making the pachadi with Raddish and it turned out really good. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
1. Raddish - 1
2. Green Chilli - 2
3. Curd - 1 cup
4. Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup
5. Mustard
6. Dry red chili
7. Curry leaves
8. Turmeric powder
9. Salt to taste

Procedure:

Firstly chop the Raddish into small pieces. Take a pan, pour oil and cook the Raddish, but donot make it too soft. When the Raddish is almost 90% cooked add the chopped Greenchilies and stir it for few seconds. Now leave the Raddish aside to cool down. Grind the shredded coconut with a pinch of Turmeric powder. Turn on the stove, with a very low flame and add the grinded coconut into the cooked Raddish. Stir it for 5-6 seconds and add the required amount of salt. Now finally add the Curd and mix everything properly and turn off the stove. Remember not to add Curd on high flame. Splutter  mustard in a pan along with  dry Red chilies and curry leaves, then add it to the Pachadi. Radish pachaddi is ready to be served with rice.