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