Sabu Daaney ki Khichri

Another tried and tested recipe from Ash !

Ingredients
Sabu daana (sago seeds) - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 chopped fine
Curry Leaves - 4 - 6
Potato - Diced finely

Method
Soak the sabu daana  overnight in plenty water so it swells up.
Drain off the excess water, season with salt, sugar, a dash of pepper powder and lime juice (prevents it from going gooey)

Heat the oild in a wok and add jeera, green chilly, kadipatta and the finely chopped potato. Stir fry for a minute and cook covered till the potato is done. Add the saabu dana, mix well, cover and cook for about 5 minutes (stir occasionally). Garnish will coriander if you like.

Cauliflower Pickle

This is a patented recipe from one of my besties Ashwini.

This is something that you can make quickly and spikes up a very ordinary meal.


Cauliflower ½ kg
Mustard seeds 1 tbsp (use yellow mustard if you like a mild mustard flavor and the black one if you prefer a robust flavor)
Tendli / tindora 5-6 tender ones (optional)
Red chillies 6-7 (use either kashmiri /bedgi varieties that give you both color and moderate heat)
Asafoetida powder ¾ - 1 tsp
Salt To taste
Lime 1

Clean cauliflower. Chop florets fairly finely (about ½ cm dices). Top and tail the tendli, slice into quarters lengthwise and then finely dice into the cauliflower. Grind together the chillies, mustard, asafoetida with a little water to make a thick, fine paste. Add paste to the cauliflower, salt to taste and the juice of one lime. You may want to add some more lime juice if your chillies are really spicy. Mix well and let it sit for a couple of hours. Ready to serve.

This stays good for 7-10 days if you refrigerate it. You can easily replace cauliflower with seasonal veggies like carrots etc. This tastes great with raw mango as well, in which case you don’t need to add any lime juice.

Grilled Fish

Ingredients
Cream dory fillets - 250 gms
4 clove of garlic and 2 red bird chillies ground to a paste with 1 tsp with olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste

Method
Marinade the fish with the chilly-garlic paste, lime juice for 30 minutes.Heat a grill plate or a nonstick pan. Season the fish with salt before cooking. Cook the fish for 2 - 3 minutes on each side.

You can use any firm white fish for this.

Other options for marinades:
1. 1 green chilly, 1/2 cup of coriander leaves, 4 cloves of garlic ground to a paste.
2. 1 teaspoon garlic paste, 1 tablespoon oilice oil, 1/2 teaspoon of chilly flakes and 1/4 teaspoon of oregano.
2. Lemon juice, fresh dill leaves and butter.

Mangalorean Chicken Ghee Roast

This one comes from a super cook and dear friend Ashwini
Ingredients
Chicken - 1kg
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Gram masala - 1 tsp
Marinade
Whole red chillies - 15 - 20
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seed - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seed - 1 tsp
Tamrind - 2 tbsp

Method
Grind all the ingredients for the marinade into a fine past. Marinate the chicken with it for atleast 12 hours.

Warm the ghee in a flat bottomed pan, slide chicken pieces in it with the marinade. Ensure the chicken is seared on both sides, add the salt, cover and cook till done. Add the garam masala and cook the last minute on high flame uncovered and dry out the masala.

Tomato Fish Curry

Ingredients

King Fish/ Surmai - 500 gms
Tomatoes - 4 medium sized (pureed in the blender)
Ginger - 1 inch peice grated
Marinade for the fish - 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and tumeric powder)
Salt - as per taste
Tumeric - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chilly powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Nigella (Kalonji) - 1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies - 4 (slit, de-seed if you want a milder curry)
Vegetable Oil - 2 tablesoons
Mustard oil - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Water - 200 mls
Coriander for garnishing - 1 teaspoon chopped fine.

Method
Coat the fish with salt and turmeric and leave aside for 15 minutes. Fry the fish in a non-stick pan ( 1 minute on each side).
Heat oil in a wok (karahi). Add the nigella seeds and the green chillies. Add the pureed tomatoes and stir fry for 3 - 4 minutes. Add the salt, tumerice, red chilly powder, sugar and grated ginger and fry well (till the oil starts to leave the sides). Add the water and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 mins on high heat. Add the peices of fried fish and let it cook covered on low heat for 10 minutes. Do not stir too much (else the fish will disintegrate). Add the mustard oil, cover the wok and turn of the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

Serve with steamed rice.

Stir Fried Veggies - Version 3

Ingredients
Broccoli - Florets 1 cup (100 gms)
Carrots - Cut into 1 inch pieces (100 gms)
French bean - Cut into 1 inch pieces (50 gms)
Capsicum - cut into 1 inch squares
Onion - 1 medium sezed on cut into large peices
Garlic - 3 cloves (crushed)
Oregano - 2 teaspoon
Olive oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt as per taste

Method
Steam the veggies. Heat oil in a wok and add the garlic. Stir fry till the garlic turns light brown, add veggies and stir fry on a high flame for 2 minutes. Add the salt and oregano. Add the onions and capsicum, stir fry for 1 minute and remove from the heat.

Stir Fried Veggies - Version 2

Ingredients
Broccoli - Florets 1 cup (100 gms)
Carrots - Julienned (100 gms)
Baby corn - Cut in half length wise (50 gms)
French bean - Cut into 1 inch pieces (50 gms)
Capsicum - cut into thin strips (either green or a mix of different coloured ones)
Moong Beans sprouts - 50 gms
Garlic -1 tablespoon (chopped fine)
Oyster sauce - 2 tablespoons
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon
Salt as per taste

Method
Heat oil in a wok and add the garlic. Stir fry till the garlic turns light brown, add the oyster sauce & veggies and stir fry on a high flame for 3 minutes. Add the beans sprouts and the capsicum, stir fry for 1 minute. Season with salt and vinegar, mix well and remove from the heat.