A Spicy and Hot Indian Recipe For Fish

This Fish Cutlet recipe is very easy to make.

It can be served as an appetizer, snack or a side dish.

It is good to include an oily fish in our diets at least thrice a week. So if you want you can use an oily fish or a white fleshy fish for this recipe.

Make the cutlets as hot as you desire. The idea is to balance all the flavors.

To make these cutlets you will need

• 500 g fish steak (oily or white fish)
• 300 g of potatoes (approximately)
• 2 medium Onions (Chopped finely)
• 3-4 green Chilies (chopped finely)
• 1 cup fresh Coriander (chopped finely)
• 2 Tbsp of Ginger-Garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 Tsp red Chili powder
• 2 Tsp Coriander powder
• 1 Tsp Roasted Cumin powder
• 1/2 Tsp Garam masala (optional)
• 3-4 Garlic cloves, 1 inch ginger, 7-8 peppercorns and 1 tsp fennel seeds
• Water
• 1 egg (lightly beaten with a pinch of salt)
• Bread crumbs
• Oil for frying

To boil the fish, place the fish in a saucepan and cover it up with water (just enough to cover the fish). Pound the garlic cloves and ginger knob and add it in the water, along with the peppercorns and fennel seeds. Bring it to a boil and cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the fish is done. Let it cool down.

Meanwhile boil the potatoes (in a pressure cooker or as you please). Grate or mash.

Also keep the beaten egg in a bowl and bread crumbs in a flat plate.

Remove the fish from the water, clean the bones and put all the flesh in a bowl. Add the mashed potatoes, chopped onions, chilies, coriander leaves, ginger-garlic paste, salt, lime juice and the rest of the dry powders.

Get your hands dirty. Mash and mix well. Sneak a taste and make adjustments if any.

Make the cutlets by shaping as desired (round or oval). Shape into small balls and place in between your palms and press gently, to flatten them a little.

Take each cutlet, dip it in egg and immediately roll it on all sides in the bread crumbs. Place all on a tray and once all cutlets are done, cover up with a cling wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This helps the bread crumbs to set well on the cutlets.

Heat the oil for frying in a deep pan or kadai, and deep fry the cutlets in batches of 3-4 on a low to medium heat. When evenly brown on all sides, take out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.

Serve with a dip or sauce of your choice.

Tips:

Always fry just one cutlet first, to check if the temperature of oil is ok. This way you lose just one if something goes wrong.

Make lots at one time and store in the freezer for up to a month. This saves a lot of time. Defrost and reheat under a hot grill or on a griddle on the stove. Do not heat in the microwave.

When you put the cutlets in the oil for frying, avoid turning them immediately, lest they might break. Wait for a minute or so and then turn them over. Keep turning occasionally to get an even brown color.

You can strain the water in which the fish was boiled as a mild and quick fish stock,to make a soup or sauce. 

Indian Style (Egg) French Toast Recipe

French Toast is an easy and quick snacks that tastes delicious (of course it's delicious, it's fried!). This can be a heavy breakfast and if you eat too many in the evening can serve as dinner as well. You can make this item even more distinctive by adding chat masala / pepper / amchur (grounded mango powder) /etc.

Ingredients

• 1 small size onion
• 2-3 green chili
• 1 inch ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 4 bread slices
• Vegetable oil
• Salt

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Serves: 2

Steps

1. Chop 1 small size onion, 2-3 green chili, 1 inch ginger and put it in a bowl.
2. Put salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper into the bowl (step 1) and mix well.
3. In another bowl break 2 eggs and put it into the bowl and beat the eggs properly.
4. Put all the contents of (step 1 & 2) into the bowl (step 3) and mix well.
5. Take a non-stick pan heat 2 teaspoon of vegetable oil and put 4 bread slices into the tawa (shallow frying pan).
6. Put the mixed content (step 4) over on one side of bread slices and spread them with spoon and put that side upside down on the non-stick pan and fry till the one side is semi-cooked. While it is getting cooked, put another layer of mixture (step 4) on the top side and spread with spoon.
7. Then turn the bread upside down and semi-cook the other side as well.
8. Finally keep on flipping the sides of the bread till both sides are fully cooked, brown and crispy (up to your choice of the amount of crispness).

Garnish with black salt powder.

French Toast is ready to serve hot with tomato sauce for breakfast or evening snacks. You can also serve this with grated cucumber with lemon, salt and pepper for added coolness. 

Bread Koftas in Pumpkin Curry As Indian Recipe

This pumpkin and bread kofta curry is very yummy Indian vegetarian dish with a little new ingredient added to it. It is the bread. i would say this would be one of the creative way to finish a day or two old bread. "Koftas" means balls fried in oil. Here I have koftas with bread and a few other ingredients. I have used Bottle gourd or the white pumpkin familiarly known in India. If you dont get it you can even use the red pumpkin to prepare this curry. The only little difference in taste is that it would give a light sweeter taste.

I tried this recipe without the use of onions. As now a days the onions have become dearer it is time to think with something that tastes great and at the same time it has no onions. But onion can also be used if available in abundance.

This is a very nutritious dish and when eaten with rice becomes a complete dish in itself.

Bread koftas in pumpkin curry
Ingredients
For the Koftas
Bread slices 5-6
Fresh curds ½ cup
Plainflour (maida) 3 level tbs
Chopped coriander 1tbs
Green chillies, chopped 4
Soda bi-carb 2 pinches
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For the pumpkin curry

White pumpkin (lauki) 250gms
Tomatoes 2 large
Cumin seeds 1tsp
Chilli powder 2tsp
Coriander - Cumin seed (dhania-jeera)powder 1tbs
Turmeric powder 1/4tsp
Garam masala 1tsp
Fresh curds 2 cup
Green peas ½ cup
Boiled and fried small potatoes 1 cup
Ghee 3tbs
salt to taste

Method For the koftas

Remove the crust from the bread slices. Soak the bread in the curds for 20 minutes
Add the flour, coriander leaves, chillies, soda bi-card and salt. Mix thoroughly divide and roll into balls, deep fry in oil.

For the pumpkin curry
Peel the pumpkin and cut into big pieces,add one and a half cup of water and cook.
When cooked, blend in a liquidiser put the tomatoes in hot water for 10 minutes grate into a puree.
Heat the ghee and fry the cumin seeds until they crackle.
Add the chilli powder, coriander-Cumin seed powder, turmeric powder and garam masala and fry a few seconds.
Add the Curds, pumpkin mixture, tomato puree and half cup of water, cook for a few minutes.
Add the green peas, potatoes and salt to the mixture
Just before serving add the koftas to the curry and give one boil.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti or Rice 

Chile Rellenos

Chile Rellenos is a traditional Mexican dish that originated in Puebla. The term literally means stuffed chili and is typically made from fresh poblano peppers. In place of a poblano pepper, a Hatch green chili, pasilla, jalapeno chili pepper, Ahaheim, or ancho chili can be used. The dish is usually made by battering a skinless pepper and stuffing it with picadillo meat or cheese. The stuffed pepper is then covered with a red sauce. Picadillo meat can be made of diced pork, nuts, and raisins or seasoned with canella. The pepper is covered with corn masa flour or an egg batter before frying.

During Lent, beef, pork, and poultry are avoided by Catholics on Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Fridays and Good Friday. Because of this, chile rellenos can be made stuffed with tuna, cheese, separated maize grains, other seeds, sliced vegetables or a mixture of all of these.

How To Roast, Peel And Seed Poblano Chiles

In order to prepare chile rellenos, the peppers need to be roasted, peeled, and seeded. In order to roast the peppers, place them on a broiler pan and place in oven. Broil peppers until the skins are charred or covered with black blisters. Be sure to turn them occasionally. Place chilies in resealable plastic bag and seal the bag. Let the chilies stand for 10 minutes. Remove from bag and remove peels. Be extra careful not to break the skins. To remove the seeds, make a vertical cut in each chili and remove the small cluster of seeds attached to the base of the chili.

Chiles Rellenos With Sweet Picadillo

This recipe uses poblano chilies which can usually be found in your grocery store. This recipe serves 6 people with a pepper each. The picadillo features a mixture of ground beef, raisins, and almonds. You can prepare these chile rellenos in advance, if needed, by preparing as directed and refrigerating up to 24 hours. When you get ready to serve, pop them in the oven covered for 20 minutes or until heated all the way through.

This dish can be topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, and pico de galo. Guacamole makes a great side for this delicious meal. Ground chicken, turkey, or pork can be substituted in place of ground beef. Low fat sour cream can be used in place of regular sour cream to cut down on calories and fat.

What You Need:

• 1 ½ pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons zesty Italian salad dressing
• 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
• ½ cup toasted slivered almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• 6 large roasted, peeled, seeded, and deveined poblano chilies
• ½ cup sour cream

How To Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown meat and salad dressing while draining if necessary.

Stir in tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Stir in nuts and raisins. Simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until there is not any liquid remaining. Stir occasionally.

Spoon meat mixture into chilies and place in a shallow baking dish. Cover dish with foil and bake for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Serve topped with sour cream.  

Mole Sauce Recreated

Anyone who has ever attempted to make a mole sauce probably gave it up as a bad idea. An authentic mole has around 17 ingredients, and is a long, drawn our process. That explains why it is rarely offered on restaurant menus.

A trip to the store will reveal some magical philtres such as Abuelita Chocolate and Doña Maria Mole Paste.

Mole is traditionally made with chocolate and cinnamon, in a savory blend of ground seeds and spices and oil. Doña Maria takes much of the work out, and makes a fairly good product, but for some reason, they have left out the chocolate.

A good fix is the addition of some Abuelita Chocolate. Mexican chocolate comes in a pressed block divided into 8 sections. It is infused with cinnamon, and is not overly sweet.

To dress up jarred Mole sauce, first, measure out the amount you need into a saucepan, then to that add chicken broth, four parts broth to one part paste according to the package directions. Add the broth slowly so it does not lump up. Once you have the base of the mole ready, grab a wedge (one section of the disk) of the Abuelita. There may be other brands on the market, but this is the most common. You can recognize it by the octagonal shaped package with a picture of someone's sweet smiling grandmother on the front. Grate the chocolate into the mole sauce. About a third of a wedge should be enough for two servings of mole.

Heat the sauce over low heat, stirring almost constantly. Once it is on a simmer, give a taste. If you want a more pronounced flavor, you can add another grating of chocolate. A pinch of extra cinnamon or even cardamom may be to your taste. Keep the sauce on a very low heat for at least 15 minutes.

Mole sauce was served for years over sliced turkey, the way Americans use gravy. It also goes very well on grilled chicken breast.

You can also make up the entire jar of sauce (one small jar of Doña Maria's makes 8 servings) and keep it in the fridge. It will keep a week once it is prepared. In the jar, opened, it can last for up to six months.

One good use for mole sauce is with stuffed chicken breasts. These are easy to prepare on a countertop grill like a George Foreman, or they can be cooked in the oven or on the stove.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

What You Need:

• Two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• four ounces fresh goat cheese, softened to room temperature
• 8 slices of thinly sliced cooked bacon, or 4 pieces of prosciutto
• lemon pepper seasoning
• grill spray, like Pam

How to Make It:

Cut the chicken breasts in half. Place one piece between two sheets of plastic wrap or inside a large plastic bag. Pound out with a mallet or the bottom of a pan until they are of uniform thinness, large and flat. Open the plastic. Sprinkle the chicken with lemon pepper seasoning. Put down two pieces of bacon or one of the prosciutto. You may need to trim the pork so it only takes up half of the surface of the chicken. Place one ounce of goat cheese in the center. Fold the pounded chicken in burrito fashion, folding the ends up, and then folding the sides over. Do not fold tightly, but do not leave any gaps if you can help it. Escaping cheese is not pretty.

Heat the grill, and cook the chicken bundles until done. You can check them with an instant read thermometer. 163° F is considered done for chicken. However, if you bring it to that temperature on the grill at one time, it will come out dry and tough. Instead, bring it up to between 145° and 150° F, and then allow it to rest for 15 minutes.

Serve with mole sauce and rice. 

Chinese Pea Pod, Tomato, Onion and Orzo Salad - A Crunchy Side or Main Dish

My twin grandchildren came home for the holidays. Our grocery bill shot up like a rocket and, no matter how often I went to the store, I couldn't keep the refrigerator stocked. I couldn't think of tasty lunches either. Apparently the holidays and my grandchildren's erratic schedules had addled my brain. One day I decided to serve sandwiches for lunch. A sandwich wouldn't be enough, so I decided to serve a side dish. What would it be?

After rummaging in the fridge, I found an unopened package of Chinese pea pods, half a box of cherry tomatoes, some tomato and basil feta cheese, and a red onion. Chinese pea pods are expensive and I wanted to use them while they were still fresh.

The pods, which are also called snow peas, are regular peas that are picked before they mature. You can see and feel the tiny peas inside. The Cook's Thesaurus website describes them as an edible pod and common ingredient in stir-fry dishes. According to the website, you should cook the pods for only a minute, no more. The pods may also be eaten raw and the Foodista website offers tips for buying them.

First, look for pods that are a light or medium green. "Those whose color is especially light or dark, or those that are yellow, whitish or are speckled with gray, should be avoided," the website explains. Second, the pods should look firm. If the store sells them in bluk, feel one to see if it's stiff. You may also break one apart to see if it snaps.

Preparing Chinese pea pods is easy. Rinse them under cold water, cut off the tips, and pull off the string along the edge. I leave the strings on small pods. All of these ingredients -- pea pods, cherry tomatoes, red onion, and feta cheese -- became a tasty side salad. I used cooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta) as the base of the salad.

When I tasted the mixture my eyes widened in surprise and I said "Mmmmm." My granddaughter looked at me in surprise. "Guess it's good grandma," she commented. I think you'll say "Mmmmm" when you taste this crunchy salad.

Ingredients

1 cup cooked orzo

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups of "matchstick" pea pods

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup (or more) crumbled feta cheese with tomato and basil

Zest of one lemon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper

Method

Cook orzo according to package directions. Rinse pasta under cold water and transfer to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pasta to prevent it from sticking together. Rinse the pea pods, cut off the tips, remove the strings, and cut into thin "matchsticks." Add to orzo, along with the remaining ingredients. Toss salad gently. Serve as a side dish with sandwiches or add cooked shrimp, cooked salmon or tuna for a main dish. Makes 6 servings. 

Chinese Starter Recipes

Chinese starter recipes can be a great option whether you are catering for a dinner party or a buffet. You can serve a Chinese starter recipe before any main course cuisine and you might even want to serve a Chinese starter before a traditional western main meal.

Examples of tasty Chinese starters recipes include spring rolls, prawn crackers with a homemade dipping sauce, wonton soup, chicken and sweet corn soup, Chinese stuffed mushrooms, steamed dumplings and more. If you serve recipes like these on Asian crockery with Chinese spoons or chopsticks your home cooking is sure to be very much appreciated.

More Chinese Starters Ideas

There are lots of vegetarian Chinese starters you can make. What about homemade egg rolls or spring rolls with cabbage, mushrooms and bean sprouts inside or vegetarian dumplings?

Stuffed mushrooms or zucchini work well and you can use spiced rice as the filling. Chinese chicken wings are great at a buffet and you can add Chinese ingredients like water chestnuts, oriental mushrooms or bamboo shoots to any salad recipe to give it a flavour of China.

Recipe for Chinese Crepes

These tasty crepes are filled with spring onions, black bean sauce, fresh coriander and more for an authentic Chinese flavour. Use fried wonton skin or fried pork rind to make a crunchy filling. This recipe makes one Chinese crepe, so double it as many times as necessary, making one crepe at a time.

You can find these crepes on Chinese street corners, cooked fresh to order, and they also make a great starter before any kind of meal. They are hot, flavourful and spicy without being too spicy. If you prefer a mild flavour you can leave out the chili sauce.

You will need:

1 tablespoon black bean sauce
2 tablespoons soy milk
2 tablespoons millet flour
1 teaspoon water
1/2 teaspoon chili sauce
1/2 spring onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 small square crackers
1 tablespoon torn fresh coriander leaves
1 beaten egg
Cooking spray

How to make them:

Whisk the soy milk with the vegetable oil and millet flour to make a batter. Add a teaspoon of water if it is too thick. Stir a teaspoon of water into the black bean sauce. Mix another teaspoon of water into the chili sauce. Put these two sauces to one side.

Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and heat it over a moderately low heat. Pour the batter into the pan and spread it so you get a thin crepe. Cook it for a couple of minutes or until firm, then pour the beaten egg over it. Cook it until the egg sets. Sprinkle the coriander and spring onion slices on top, pressing them into the egg.

Flip the crepe over and spread the chili sauce and black bean sauces on. Put the crackers in the middle, leaving 1cm of space between them. Flip the top third of the crepe over the crackers, then fold the bottom third up. Double the crepe over so the crackers are on top of each other. Serve hot.