Happy Cooking: Chicken flavored Soy Nuggets in Spinach....Indian Masala

A quick, healthy and easy to cook, with exotic oriental flavor. The consistency of this dish can be varied to make it compatable with various breads. If you wish to have, with Paranthas/ Phoolka/ Puri then make it dry, with a generous amounts of butter/desi ghee/cooking oil. To enjoy with buns or sliced bread, then let there be a thick gravy, like a stew.

This dish will require:

1. A bunch of Palak/Spinach, stemmed, washed & cut in to thin strips or blanched and ground to paste/pureed.

2. Soy nuggets, drowned in water: 12-15 pieces

3. Chicken stock or branded clear Chicken soup powder, cooked as per instructions printed: 03 Cups.

4. Single Cream: 30 ml

5. Onion diced fine: 01 Cup

6. Fresh green Chili diced : 02 tps

7. Black Pepper corns :06-08

8. Cinnamon stick: 1”

9. Cardamom green small, crushed : 03-05

10. Jeera : ½ tps

11. Cloves : 02-04

12. White Pepper powder : ½ tps

13. Ginger Garlic paste : ½ tps

14. Salt to taste

15. Water

Method

Remove Soy nuggets from water, squeeze to drain all water and keep aside drowned in Chicken stock.

In a wok, pour in 04 tps melted butter/desi ghee/cooking oil, on low flame. As it starts to heat, put in Ginger Garlic paste, green Chili, Onion, Cinnamon, Jeera, Cloves & Cardamom. Stir fry till, Onion turns light golden brown.

Add Spinach/stripped Palak, mix in black Pepper corn, white Pepper powder and Salt to taste.

Stir fry on medium flame, till all blend well and the Spinach / Palak begins to cook.

Uncover and evaporate/ adjust water till the required consistency is achieved

Garnish with Cream & serve hot.

Happy Cooking:DIL (SOY) POTATO....Indian Masala

This is a very simple & tasty dish, for such days when you are not very keen to cook a complete meal, yet the two of you cannot do away with lunch.

For this dish you will require:

• Potato-medium sized, boiled, peeled & quartered : 300 gm
• Onion- diced : 01 Cup
• Tomato- diced : ½ Cup
• Fresh Dil (Soy) destalked : ½ Bunch
• Fresh Green Chili –diced : 02 tps
• Fresh Ginger-diced : 02 tps
• Garlic-diced : 05 pods
• Dry Masala- : 01 tps each, Red chili powder

Turmeric powder

Coriander powder

Garam Masala

Jeera powder

• Salt to taste.
• Oil for frying & cooking
• Water

METHOD

In a wok/kadai pour in sufficient oil to deep fry the boiled potato, till very light brown. Remove and keep away.

Reduce the oil from the same wok to just 04 tps and put in the Ginger Garlic and fresh green Chilli. Lightly fry and add the Onion.

As the Onion become transparent put in all the dry Masala and salt to taste.

Fry on low flame for a minute and pour in 4-5 spoons of Water to blend. Reduce the Water to half.

Put in all the Dil (soy), stir fry, and mix in the Potato.

Blend the complete ensemble to cover all Potato.

Remove to platter and serve with light Paranthas accompanied with Pickle of choice.

Happy Cooking: Tandoori Masala Macchli(Fish)….Indian Masala

With winter, fish is selected as a favorite non-veg, by many. One preparation is fish baked in an earthen oven. But, for that one perforce has to visit an eatery. Normally, this is one dish which one covets to prepare at home, but due to the tandoor not being available this is not possible. Today, one has access to modern day gadgets which not only mimic the tandoor but also user friendly. The recipe, which I listed, the inventor was one Mr. Patel, a Gujarati Head cook in one the IAF Officers’ Mess. The aged Gentleman was a strict vegetarian, but he cooked one of finest non-vegetarian dishes, that I have had. He used to cook this recipe in a PATILA, as there was no tandoor in the OM kitchen.

To facilitate your cooking, I am going to tell you to use a GRILL oven. I’ll also mention the use of patila. However, the ingredients will be same.

For this dish you will require:

1.One full fish- 750 to 1000 gm (Surmai/Tuna, Any fish that is firm in flesh and has a single centre comb for skeleton) - cleaned and washed, with three slashes on either side & left as a whole.

Marinate this fish in the paste formed by-

a) ¼ cup Juice of fresh lime/lemon

b) 01 spoon each – white Pepper powder.

Cinnamon powder

06 Cloves powder

Salt to taste

Jeera powder

Coriander powder

c) 06 tps Gram flour (Besan)

Mix b) + c) all and form a paste with some of the Juice of lime.

Layer the insides of the Fish with this paste and leave some lying in the stomach region.

The remaining Juice of lime + a little Salt + 01 spoon Dry Mango Powder smear it all over the fish.

Keep it to marinade for 02 to 04 hrs.

METHOD

(In grill oven)

Place the fish in a fish Pan or in a pan that is big enough to hold the Fish. Place on the middle rack in a preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes on 180 degrees C.

CHECK AFTER 15 MINUTES AND ADJUST TIMINGS.

(In Patilla)

For cooking in the patilla, you would require burning coals. The coals are placed all round the patilla big enough to hold the fish in Pan. Cover the patilla and place hot coals over the lid. Check after 10-12 minutes and adjust timing for complete cooking.

Serve with Mint Chutney or Mayonnaise or Worcestershire sauce, depending on the type of bread accompanying.