Fish Baked In Coriander Sauce

The star of this dish is coriander leaves. The fish is a base element. The fish is like a supporting actor without whom the film would have no story. Before I share this recipe I must disclose the name of its creator. 

Oh I must also share an interesting trivia that I chanced upon. While coriander is used in almost all cuisines, it was also a part of ancient Egyptian cuisine as about half a litre of coriander mericarps was discovered next to Tutankhamen's tomb.....

If you are looking for quick cooking with the dishes being eclectic that use contrasting yet complimenting ingredients and whips out gorgeous platters boasting of balance of flavours and bursting with simplicity you need to call up Riyana's mother, Ishani Dutt Sarkar. I have a fairly opinionated child. He has a view. He has a point too. All of thirteen he has deep set memories already which he refers to to tackle matters and discussions. Ishani's little gospels of lifestyle from the age of less than one seem to have had an everlasting impression. Ishani said this and Ishani did not this say keeps popping up in our family conversations.

This beautiful young woman who revels in being much younger than me, a scorpion all the way, a perfect wife creates everlasting impressions. So does her food. This one will blow you away. For two reasons - easy to cook and interestingly sweet and spicy to the palette. 

The method of making is that you take de-boned fish as in beckty or rawas chunks and wash well. Next marinate with salt and lime and set aside for about half an hour atleast. Next blend a large bunch of coriander leaves with partial stalks along with green chillies. Now in an open pan mix the coriander paste, coconut milk, salt and sugar and allow it to simmer for attleast 5 minutes. Taste to ensure that the coriander does not still taste like a raw chutney would. The taste should be like a rich sweet-spicy-unusual sauce by now. 

In a baking dish place the fish chunks. Pour the sauce all over generously. Bake for 20 minutes in low heat, 100-150 degrees does it. Enjoy with any staple or even with just a fresh salad. It is yummilicous!

Italian Chicken Schnitzels

Since the days of world history books in grades 4 to 10, every year, in some chapter or the other, Hitler and Mussolini went hand in hand in the way they doled out many atrocities humanity. The ordeal of learning the dates, the happenings and the outcomes of failed treaties ended I thought in 1985 when I did my Grade 10 boards. It was painful and annoying to read and learn the doings of two megalomaniac men. But yes, bygones are bygones. Historically and for my academic journey. Or so I thought. But no, the blessed chapters are back, they are again creeping back into life every year...now waiting for 2017 when the kid finishes his grade10.....

Till then here is a German-Italian recipe, but this one captures the simplicity and natural beauty of both nations. Every Italian chef talks about a 'nonna' they love and admire and just the other day my traveler friend told me about the affection and beauty she experienced in a B&B run by a middle aged lady in Black Forest. These beautiful emotions are captured rather elegantly in my recipe of Italian Chicken Schnitzels. The Germans made popular the schnitzel post the 2nd world war. They usually use pork meat and serve it with a potato mash or fries. However the world has adopted schnitzel in their cuisine. Hungary, Iran, Israel, Japan,Portugal, Korea, Mexico are some nations who have included the schnitzel in their food repertoire. Italy too. Hence this recipe, the German schnitzel with an Italian twist.

Take boneless chicken breast pieces. Wash well. Put them inside a zip lock bag. Now pound them with a tenderiser. Next use a roller and roll on the meat pieces. The chicken will become about half an inch thick and flat. 

For the marination process, in a small bowl, take balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, crushed pepper, lime juice and crushed or grated garlic. Mix well. Now coat the chicken nicely with this sauce mix on both sides. Keep in the refrigerator for a day. 

It is time to prepare your crumbs mix. At first take a handful of fresh oregano, wash and chop finely. Next grate some Parmesan cheese. If you can, use Panko crumbs. If you cannot source the crumbs, then use the regular store bought ones or homemade ones. Mix the crumbs with oregano, cheese and garlic salt to taste. This flavoring adds a very interesting Italian flavour to the schnitzel as does the marinade you have used above. 

Beat eggs, add a spoon of milk. Coat the marinated chicken with the egg wash and then the crumbs. Make the crumbing neat keeping a rustic look intact. Once done, store in the refrigerator for an hour before deep frying. The colour will be golden and inviting.

Serve with a salsa verde or a relish or some fresh salad.

Cholar Dal/ Bengal Gram Curry

Well, what do I write about the 'Cholar dal'. Simply put it is one of the nine jewels of Bengal. Now, don't ask me to list the other 8. I suspect many will belong to the food repertoire. Needless to say that culturally Bengal can boast of many many many gems. This recipe might be a bit redundant because there are many to be found on the net. But it is tempting to put it up because I follow my mother's art in the making of the 'cholar dal' and she is really a brilliant culinary expert. I think like her 'sarees' where she balances her colours tactfully, the winning point that goes in her favour is her balance of flavours. 

The above picture is borrowed from the internet to help you identify the variety of pulses.

Take about half a kilo of the dal/lentil, wash well and soak for half an hour. Then boil it with a full tall glass of water in a cooker and allow 3 whistles to go off to add to the cacophony of your kitchen. The outcome should be that the lentil pods should be boiled but not soggy and remain whole. 

Next take one forth of a dry coconut, and scoop the fleshy white part out. Chop them into bits in small thin squares. Fry them in warm oil till light reddish gold. Do not allow the colour to be brown. Set aside.

Soak a handful of raisins in warm water in a small bowl. Keep aside.

In a warm wok, add a tbsp ghee and a tsp of oil. Next add a level tsp of dry cumin seeds and 2 broken dry red chillies. Next goes in 2 or 3 add whole green cardamom seeds, cloves and about half an inch of a cinnamon stick mildly bruised. Also add 2 dried bay leaves. Now add a chopped tomato. Stir well and add a level tsp of cumin powder. I usually make my own. Just for some drama and genuineness to flaunt in my recipes. To season further we now add salt to taste, a bit of grated ginger, turmeric powder for colour and red chilly powder for the kick. Mix well with a spatula. Add the coconut and the raisins. In another 2 minutes add the lentil/dal along with the water it was boiled in. Gently blend in some sugar to taste, about a level tsp and a pinch of 'garam masala' powder/cardamom-cinnamon-clove powder. 

A mild bubble and you are ready to pour into bowls. Serve with white flour puris or parathas and please stop bothering about your diet just for this meal!

Fried Chinese Chicken Strips

In India, there are two kinds of Chinese - The Indian Chinese and the Kylie Kwong Chinese. While I absolutely love watching her whip up the authentic delicacies with fresh ingredients often picked up from a boat, I suspect many Indians like their own version a bit more. Well we need not be shamed of that. It is just our thing - Indian Chinese. After long trips in the West, I have often heard home-coming is complete with "Dal Rice/Khichdi"(a light lentil and rice) or Indian Chinese.....

So here is an Indian Chinese recipe. Easy and quick with not much to it. But immodest if I may sound, it is rather fun to eat. 

So take boneless chicken. Cut them in strips but please do not make it too thin. Marinate with sweet chilly sauce, white pepper and salt. Keep aside for as long as you can in the refrigerator. I kept it for 24 hours. 

Take a bunch of spring onions and cut them in slanting lengths of an inch each. Use both the white bulbs and the green stalks.

Next after marination in any white oil, fry the strips in batches till they turn white golden. Set aside. In the same oil, add a bit more if needed, so for about half kilo you need about 2 tbsp, add 2 broken by half red chillies and about 2 star anise. Toss then for a minute or so, add 2/3 tbsp Schezuan sauce. You can buy any brand. You can instead also add Ching's secret Schezuan powder. Stir fry for 1 minute. It is time to throw in the spring onions and nicely stir everything. In another minute and a half, the chicken goes in. So does 11/2 tbsp sweet chilly sauce and 1 tsp chilly flakes. Once tossed, cover with a lid for 3/4 minutes in low heat. Then spike up the heat and toss like a pro. 

Enjoy! My kid loved it. So did my client. 

Oatmeal Cookies

"Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave." - anonymous

I did not get much time with Annie. She moved from Bandra to Sydney to Kolkata to London. The few days that we spent in Mumbai were fun ones. She is a woman with a valuable opinion. She is also a woman with much talent. She paints. She cooks. She writes. This is the extent of my know. I am convinced there is more. Anyway, all of this she does beautifully. There is that easy flow in all the things that she does. Lucidity is her style. I often read her facebook posts and I am convinced that there is a book in her. 

She had shared this recipe with me some time back. I tried the recipe recently. The cookies came out superbly!

It is a very simple recipe. Here goes.

You need 120 gms flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 120 gms Muscavado or any other sugar, 60 gms oats, 80 gms butter, 170 gms raisins, 5/6 drops vanilla essence and 1 large egg.

Turn on the oven to 180 degrees. Line your baking sheets.

Beat butter and sugar till pale, then add the egg and beat well. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the mix. Use  an electric mix at low speed and fold smoothly. The oats go in next followed by the raisins. Vanilla can go in at any point, a good time is with the egg. The doughy is good to go into the oven after a nice mix. 

Since the oven is preheated, Put 1 tbsp size cookie dough on the sheet after rolling gently in your palms. Try and keep space between them, 6 in a line is great. This recipe makes about 20 cookies. bake for 15 mins. If you want them crisp don't take them out until the oven cools down. 

Annie said, 'I forgot my last two or three cookies on my last sheet. And they came out nice and crunchy. Raja liked the softer ones and i liked the crunchier ones.'

Pulses Fenugreek Cutlets

We just don’t stop meeting people we like. In my opinion whoever said that you make your friends only in your childhood died early. 

Manisha and I, both inching towards the golden date met just a couple of years back. We were not exactly thin. We were not exactly fit. We were not exactly flexible. Yet we were rehearsing for a stage performance to the frenzied tunes of “Grease Lightning” and “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. I guess even the Lockhorns would have got along in this situation. Well, we did more than ‘just get-along’.....

Manisha an IIT graduate, experienced in diamond industry and therefore very well traveled, graphic designer and consultant, home entrepreneur in self designed accessories and mother of two is a woman of substance. Little deters her. Alternatives don’t elude her. Driving is her is her way of life-literally and metaphorically. Like the busy Bombay streets she navigates the mixed signals of life with panache.

We now enjoy our coffee and wine together. We often meet in a group of like- minded good hearted women.  The interesting thing about this bevy is that each one is different, has a different life from the other, dresses differently, yet cracks up at the same jokes. On one such meeting Manisha brought home with these cutlets. Packed with nutrition and generous with flavours, the cutlets are her babies alright. They were born in her head and were given birth to in her kitchen. If like super food the UN or the WHO could label super dishes, this one would find an entry, I am sure!

So, for these healthy vegetarian cutlets, you need to soak overnight 1 cup garbanzo beans (chole), ½ cup kidney beans (rajma) and ½ cup of green pulses (green channa). In the morning over boil them. Mash them. Grate ½ inch ginger and mix it in well. Set aside.

In a warm wok, warm 2 tbsp olive oil. Pink fry 2 finely chopped onions. To this add a cup of finely chopped cabbage. In 2 mins or so while you are cooking at medium flame; add in ½ cup of chopped fenugreek leaves (methi). Now stir well, season with salt and chilli powder. It is time for the above mix to go in. Mix the whole mish-mash well, cook together for another min, taste for seasoning.

When cool, roll out patties in your palms. Pat them with bread crumbs on both sides and lightly golden fry on a non-stick pan. That’s it! Quick and healthy!

The Classical Sweet & Sour Chicken

Sherwin was my handsome nephew's nanny. He was besotted with her. Uday would follow her around from room to room and hang at the bathroom door which is where his access was denied. We could hardly prise him away which worked very well in our Bangkok week together where none of us was interested in baby sitting inspite of those gorgeous 'come love me eyes'.....She came into my cousin's family before he did. Like all competent hardworking ladies from Philippines Sherwin too was a wonder woman. My mother wanted to steal her away and bring her home. 

Psssst....so did I.....

Anyway. in one of my trips to Singapore or her trips to India or was it when we were in Bintaan, she gave me a gift. It bowled me over. I have treasured this gift ever since. She bought a book of recipes and hand wrote some of her oriental recipes for me. Hmmm.... there are some Italian ones too. It holds a place in my important cook books rack. Thank you again Sherwin. It was a special effort.

So sharing her simple chicken sweet and sour recipe with you which will work very well in these summer evenings where you need a light one pot with less minutes spent in the kitchen. 

Take boneless chicken, wash well and dice into cubes or strips. Size them small, 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches or by 1 inch. I used about half a kilo for this recipe. To this add 2 tbsp soya sauce, 1 large red onion finely chopped, 4 pods of garlic finely chopped, 3 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves, salt and pepper. Set aside for a good half an hour or 45 mins.

Cut another large red onion in chunky cubes. Cut a red and a green bell pepper in similar chunky sizes. Also peel and cut one carrot, the carrot pieces could be the same size as the bell pepper but don't make it too thick as it takes a bit long to cook. Though in this recipe the vegetables remain crunchy and therefore retain their nutritional value.

Next, beat one egg. Take a plate of  dry flour or corn flour. Dunk the chicken in the egg and pat them on the flour and fry to golden brown. 

In a tbsp of warm oil, saute the vegetables all together for 2-3 mins. Next in a bowl take about 4 tbsp of tomato ketch up, salt and pepper and a tsp of corn flour. Mix well with a cup of water. Add to the vegetable. Stir for a min. Now add the chicken. Once the chicken and the vegetables are well folded in together with the gravy add 2 tbsp of white vinegar. Stir. Add some toasted sesame seeds(I forgot this step but her recipe has this to-do). 

You have a thickish gravy. While I am sure its good with noodles I served it with a bowl of brown rice. For this warm weather it is tangy fresh and quite delicious.