Mango Lassi

Lassi is a yogurt based drink originated in Punjab, India. it is either sweet made with yogurt and sugar or salted (salt and cumin powder and other spices). Every house in India will have it own version of lassi either sweet flavored with sugar and some fruits, salted or spicy.
One such famous lassi is Mango Lassi, not only is it popular in India but Americans love it too.

This is the best drink for the hot Bombay summers. I remember while in school we had a famous lassi place called Jain Dairy close to our school, we would actually save up to go get a glass of their famous malai lassi. Yum! I can still remember the taste.I have to make sure on my next trip to India I visit Jain Dairy.

So recently I was helping two of my friends N & Z to prepare mango lassi for 200 girl scouts as their project was on Indian culture.  We used 2-3 blenders and made enough for the girls to enjoy. We wanted to save a glass for ourselves but had to let go as we weren't sure if there was enough of the yummy lassi!

So here goes my recipe for Mango Lassi:

1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup Alphanso/Kesar Mango pulp (if using fresh mango peel it first and add fresh pieces)
1-2 tblspn Sugar
3 cubes of ice

In a blender add the yogurt, mango pulp or pieces, sugar and ice and blend till smooth.
Serve with a sprig of mint as garnish.

Note;
The ice should blend with the yogurt and no cubes should be left
If using canned pulp go easy with the sugar as the pulp is sweetened.
Some people in India like to add some cardamom powder as a flavor to mango lassi and top it off with chopped almonds and pistachios but I like mine plain as I love to enjoy the flavor of mango.
You can totally skip the mangoes and just make good old plain lassi
If you want to make salted lassi just skip the mangoes and replace the sugar with few pinches of salt & 1/4 tsp cummin powder and blend.

Pic courtesy Cook Eat Share India table

Oven Roasted Fish with veggies

 I am a big seafood fan and can eat fish almost everyday. Back home in Bombay my Amma makes the best fish curry, rice and fish fry.. ohh I am already drooling. She knows how much I love fish so when I land in Bombay dinner that night is always Halwa/Black pomfret ghassi, fry and rice Yum!!
Here we don't get fresh seafood and even if we do it's limited only to Catfish & Tilapia so I miss fresh seafood a lot. When I visited my cousin in California over the break she made sure I had good seafood meals during my stay there.
Edamame is soy bean and is very nutritious. It's very common in Japanese (Sushi) restaurants.

I had some frozen tilapia fillets in my freezer and I had some frozen edamame and fresh broccoli.
I was very bored to chop anything or fry the fish. So I decided on a one pot meal. So here goes the recipe:

1 lb fish fillets (you can use any firm fish)
Vegetables (wash and chop veggies -I used broccoli and beans but you can use any veggies)
1 tsp Italian herbs/oregano
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
Olive oil
Salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Defrost fish if using frozen. Now mix the Italian herbs, red chilli flakes, pepper, salt and garlic powder with olive oil.
Rub some of this mixture on the fish and remaining on the veggies. Make sure all the veggies and fish are coated with it. Let it marinate for 15 mins.

Now grease an oven safe tray with very little olive oil and place the fish in the center and veggies all around and bake for 20-25 mins and broil for 2 mins.

Enjoy!

Note:
Once you finish baking for 20mins check with a fork if the fish is cooked if not bake for few more mins and then broil once the fish is cooked.
While using veggies ensure you use veggies which cook fast as root veggies like potato etc. may take longer and may need more time than the fish. So it's better they are in separate dishes while in the oven. So you don't overcook the fish.

Veg. Tawa Pulav

Pulav's are something we like to take in our lunch box during working days. As it's a one pot dish and doesn't smell too strong when you heat it in the microwave in the office. Yes! I am often worried about the strong smell of our Indian spices, they are delicious but they tend to linger on for a long time.

I like to experiment with Pulav's and this time I added some Paav bhaji masala and it turned out really well.

Ok so here is my recipe for Veg. Tawa Pulav

2 cups cooked rice (you can use leftovers or freshly steamed rice but make sure it's not too hot)
1 cup mixed veggies (Peas, carrots, capsicum etc.)
1 onion sliced
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (optional)
1/2 cup Paneer cut into cubes
2 tsp Paav bhaji Masala (Spice powder available at Indian store)
2 cloves, 1 bay leaf
2 tbspn Cilantro to garnish (optional)
Salt as per taste
2 tbspn Oil

Heat oil in a wok/kadai and when its hot add the cloves and bay leaf. Now add ginger garlic paste if using it and add sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Now add other veggies and fry till they are cooked but still crispy. Add paneer and fry. Go easy with the paneer as it tends to break easily. Or you can fry it separate with some oil and add in.
Now add the paav bhaji masala and salt, mix well make sure the veggies and paneer are well coated with the masala. Now add the cooked rice mix well and coat the rice well with the masala.
Fry for sometime and garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serve with Raita (tomatoes & onion in yogurt) or papad or by itself.

Note:
If using left over rice sprinkle some water on it before adding to the kadai and while mixing with veggies, if needed as sometimes steamed rice tends to get dry easily.
If using fresh rice make sure it is not too hot as when you add it to the kadai it will get sticky and break and be too mushy.

Surmai Fry

We love fish at home and Surmai (King fish) is one of our favorites. Every time we get it we make a curry and we fry some. We got two big pieces of surmai and decided to just fry them and eat with plain dal and rice. So I decided to marinate the two pieces in different marinades/masalas.

The first picture is of surmai masala fry here I used a simple marinade and added some sambar powder for a different flavor:

mix 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli pwder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 pinch asafoetida/hing, 1 tsp sambar powder, 1-2 tsp ginger -garlic paste and salt mix with a little water to make a thick paste and apply on the fish and leave for atleast 30 mins to an hour or more.

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the fish 5-7 minutes on each side.

The second picture is of surmai rava fry. Here I used: 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1 pinch hing, ginger-garlic paste & salt made a thick paste with some water and applied to the fish and kept it aside for an hour.

Now while frying I took some rava/semolina (2 tblspn) and rice flour (1 tblspn) in a plate and mixed it well. Heat a pan add oil add 1/s tsp ajwain/caraway/carrom seeds when they sizzle roll the fish in the rava mix, make sure its coated well on both sides and fry in the pan 5-7 minutes on each side.
Enjoy with dal & rice or just by itself with chilled beer.

Brazilian Chocolate Balls

A very Happy New year to everyone!! I thought the best way to start the new year would be with a simple dessert recipe..
My sweet friend Leila from Brazil is super awesome when it comes to making desserts or baking breads. She will make it sound so easy and when she teaches you to do something she simplifies it for people like me who have no knowledge about baking or desserts.
She moved back to Brazil so we have been missing her a lot and her breads and desserts.

She taught us Brazilian chocolate and coconut balls and they are a hit at every party. The best part is they are so easy to make. Today I am blogging about the chocolate balls.. The mini wrappers are from Brazil so atleast something is from Brazil in my chocolate balls ;)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (I use nestle)
2 tblspn butter
4 tblspn cocoa powder
1 tblspn hot chocolate powder (optional)
Chocolate sprinkles for decoration

On stove-top keep the heat on low and add butter to a heavy bottom pot and pour the condensed milk. Add in the cocoa powder, hot chocolate powder and mix well.
Stir constantly, keeping the heat low.
Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring, until mixture becomes very thick and starts to pull away from the sides of the pot and become one thick mass.
Remove from heat and chill in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes. Now with buttered hands, roll the mixture into small balls.
Roll each ball in the chocolate sprinkles, and put it in a wrapper or place on wax paper sheet and chill till you are ready to serve them.

Note:
I have tried adding vanilla essence or using hazelnut or mocha flavored hot chocolate powder they taste great as well.
Don't add sugar while cooking the mixture as we have added condensed milk & the chocolate sprinkles are sweet.
Keep stirring this is very important to avoid burning the chocolate mixture

Channa Dal

I had a big packet of Channa dal lying in my pantry. We use a lot of toor and masoor dal in our cooking hence I thought of trying this dal for a change.
The dal tasted good, channa dal has this flavor which is unlike the strong dal taste of toor dal. I liked this dal better than toor dal when it comes to eating the dal by itself -which I love doing ;)

1 cup Channa dal (washed and soaked for 15-20 mins)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 small tomato chopped
1/2 tsp panch-phoran (mix of cummin, mustard, fenugreek, nigella, fennel seeds) or only cummin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
Oil
Salt,sugar

Pressure cook the soaked dal with 2 cups water for 2 whistles or cook on stove-top. Heat a wok/kadai add some oil when its hot add the panch-phoran. When it sizzles add the onion and garlic and fry till they trun brown. Now add the tomatoes and mix well and cook till they turn soft.
Now add turmeric, red chilly and coriander powder and mix well. Add a little sugar & salt and the cooked dal & mix well.
Add water if needed and let it boil adjust seasoning.I like this dal to be thick.
Serve with roti's or rice.

Roasted butternut Squash Soup

Its that time of the year when you want to tuck in bed with your cosy blanket, watch movies and drink hot tea and soup. Yeah its winter time and its been raining in Oxford since a few days and needless to say pretty chilly too. It's time to bring out my soup recipes and make some for dinner regularly as well. One of our favorite soups here is the butternut squash soup.

Butternut squash is almost like a pumpkin, sweet and nutty to taste. It's one of my favorite veggies I can just roast it in the oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper and eat it. The soup is thick , a little sweet & nutty..So here goes the recipe for one of my favorite soups...


1 Medium sized butternut squash
1-2 tsp Olive oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 tsp Italian herb mix or just thyme
salt, pepper as per taste
2-3 tbsp Milk
1 tsp Sour cream (optional)
1/4 cup Chicken broth (optional)

Cut open the squash lengthwise scoop out the seeds and brush it with some olive oil and roast in the oven at 350 degrees F till soft (when a fork is inserted it should go in smoothly) about 30 minutes. Scoop out the orange flesh of the squash with a spoon and keep aside till it cools, throw away the skin.
While the squash is roasting heat a pan on the stove-top add oil, onion and garlic and fry till translucent. Add the herbs and mix well.
Now in a blender add the squash, onion and garlic and blend. If it gets too thick can add some milk or water.
Now heat this mixture in the same pan, season with salt and pepper and add a dollop of sour cream before serving.
This is a thick soup and not watery.It can be enjoyed with a piece of fresh bread or just by itself. I like some homemade rosemary bread along with this. I will post the recipe for the bread soon.

Note:
My friend suggested adding chicken broth to onion and garlic while frying and bring to a boil. Then while blending you don't need to add the milk.
This gives a good taste but then you need to go easy with the salt as the broth has salt in it.