Fish Hariyali/Hirwa Masala

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I am trying to cook healthy dishes these days.. yeah I am undoing 31 years of eating! I wish there was a delete button for that. Ofcourse I have enjoyed every bite of food till date but I wish good food was not fattening or I was inclined to work out everyday!
So I decided to make chapati and fish hariyali masala or hirwa masala. I remember eating this at Chakra at Saki Naka (Bombay) they make the best fish green masala, I guess that's what they call it! Even Bharat Excellency at Fort (Bombay) makes it well.. they make it with crab meat I guess that is my favorite dish there. Slurp! I am salivating inspite of having a tummy full of this green goodness ;)

Ok so I made this without any coconut. Traditionally you add coconut milk or grind fresh grated coconut. I added spinach instead to give the gravy a good texture.

1 Pomfret cleaned and sliced (or any white fish)
1 bunch spinach
1 tomato roughly chopped
1 onion chopped
1 bunch cilantro/coriander leaves, cleaned and chopped
4-6 mint leaves (optional)
1 tbspn ginger-garlic paste
1green chilli broken into 2 pieces
1/2 tsp Jeera/cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp tandoori masala or malwani masala
1 tsp garam masala (use half in spinach mixture and half on top of the fish once done)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
 oil
salt as per taste

Rub some turmeric and salt on the fish pieces and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan add cumin seeds when it sizzles add onions fry for a bit. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry till the onions are brown. Now add tomatoes fry and add all the dry spice powders and mix well. When the tomatoes are soft add spinach, green chili, cilantro leaves and mint and mix till it wilts.
Once this is cooked turn off the stove and let this cool down. Once the mixture is cool enough grind to a smooth paste. Add very little water only if needed.
Now heat the same pan add the spinach paste give a good stir add some hot water about 1/4 cup mix well. Now add the fish pieces cover and cook.
Adjust salt. Add some garam masala and mix gently.
Serve with roti or rice.

Note:
If you want to add coconut milk add around 1/2 cup once the spinach paste is heating before adding the fish pieces.
If using fresh coconut add it just before grinding the spinach paste.
I didn't have malwani masala so I added tandoori masala instead.
If you don't have tandoori or malwani masala you can just use red chilli powder and garam masala

Blackeyed Peas & Potato Curry

Everytime we go to the Indian store we almost raid it like there is a famine coming. Our pantry is full of  Indian groceries like lentils, beans, rice, etc. etc. I always forget to cook any beans unless my hubby reminds me that he wants to eat any particular dish. So today I thought I should take a look at the pantry and the freezer. So I found this big bag of black eyed peas lying in there staring back at me! I love blackeyed peas and wondered why haven't I used it until now.

I looked again for some veggies and found a potato, few onions, tomatoes and cilantro/coriander leaves. So I thought I should make black eyed peas pulao and I was all set and started my pulao and I ran out of salt in the middle of the curry. I had to literally scrape it out and use the last grain of salt. So instead I settled in for black eyed peas & potato curry and steamed rice instead of the pulao. So it would also be good for hubby's lunch box the next day. It's almost the same dish only I didn't mix the rice and the curry as I didn't have more salt to add once I mixed both.

So here goes my recipe

2 cups Black eyed peas (cooked and drained)
1 potato cubed into small pieces
1 big tomato chopped
3tbspn cilantro/coriander leaves chopped
ginger one small piece minced
3 cloves garlic  minced
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp Jeera/cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
whole spices/garam masala (2 cardamons, 4 cloves, 4 peppercorns, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds)
1 tsp or more oil
Salt as per taste

In a wok/cooking pot/kadai heat some oil. Now add the cumin seeds and the other whole spices. When they sizzle add the onions, garlic and ginger and fry till the onions are brown. Now add the tomatoes and 1 tbspn cilantro and mix well. Add the dry powders and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes are soft and you can mash it with the back of a wooden spoon. Now add the potatoes & 1 cup hot water and mix well cover and cook till they are soft. Once the potatoes are cooked add the cooked and drained blackeyed peas. Add some water if you want more gravy. Mix well. Adjust salt.
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve with steamed white rice or with chapati/roti's

Note:
If using dry blackeyed peas soak it in water for alteast 4-5 hours and then pressure cook it for 1-2 whistles in fresh water or cook it in a pot till the beans are cooked but not mushy.
You can use canned or frozen ones too. If using these you can directly add it after the potatoes no need to cook separately. They will cook fast in the curry.
You can also add 1/2 cup coconut milk if you want a creamier gravy to eat with rice or bread.

Stirfried Cabbage with Shrimp

Yes! I am still surviving my healthy eating habits and thoroughly enjoying it. I have learned to use my cooking skills and create healthy and tasty dishes.
So as usual I was at our local farmer's market looking through the produce section. I was bored of eating grilled veggies.. well let me tell you I was very tempted to pick up a good steak and grill it. I had to literally talk fat Shilpa out of it and remind he that 30 years of eating rich food has shown its effect and I shouldn't try to enhance it. Well she can be manipulated easily at times and so healthy Shilpa won the debate and I picked up a fresh purple cabbage, some fruits and headed home.

So here goes my recipe for a tasty cabbage stir fry...

1 cabbage (white/purple) chopped lengthwise
6-8 big Shrimp (optional) cleaned
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
2 dry red chillies broken into 2-3 pieces
2 tbspn low sodium soy sauce (I use the vegetarian mushroom flavored soy sauce)
1 tsp olive oil

Heat a wok and add the oil. Add the chopped garlic and chillies and  let it sizzle. Fry for a min and add the shrimp now if using it. Stir fry till they turn pink. Now add the cabbage and stir fry for 5 mins. Add the soy sauce and give it a good stir. Stir fry till the cabbage is cooked.
I like to leave a little crunch to the cabbage.

Note:

I have made this dish without shrimp and it turns out well.
I use this as a low calorie diet food for lunch/dinner so I eat it by itself.
You can serve it with some grilled chicken if you are not adding shrimp.
You can use plain low sodium soy sauce and use any other seasonings of your choice.

Homemade Paneer

My husband is in India hence I have not been cooking much. I eat salads or grilled food and I am happy with that; atleast for few weeks. We had a huge bottle of milk in our fridge and I don't drink milk or coffee. I am a tea drinker hence I hardly consume any milk. The expiry date was close and I was wondering what could I do with it. Ofcourse I was not going to throw it away or make any dessert as I am avoiding sugar and fried food.
So I thought the best thing to do is make some paneer out of the milk. I had about a little more than a litre of milk.

Once ready the paneer was so fresh and soft (after cooking) I just grilled it with some salt and ate it just by itself.

So here goes the recipe:

1 litre milk (I used 2% fat milk)
Juice of 1 lime

Cheese cloth/muslin cloth (I used paper towels/Bounty kitchen towel as I didn't have cheese cloth)

Heat milk on medium heat. Make sure it doesn't burn. When the milk boils and rises add the lime juice. You will see the milk curdling and the fat and the whey separating. Turn off the gas.
Let it completely curdle about 5 minutes.
Now drain this through a thick layer of cheese cloth or kitchen paper towel. I lined a big colander/strainer with the paper towel and drained.
Collect the cheese cloth together and tie it /with the paper towel just collect it together and twist well. Press it so that the excess whey is drained.
I collected the whey in a bowl. Run some tap water on top off the paneer (still wrapped in the cloth and press). I have been told this will remove the sourness if any from the lime juice. To be honest I have forgotten to do this a couple of times. It doesn't matter if you are using the paneer in a gravy as the spices will overpower the sour taste. Even when I grilled it there was no sour taste.
Now you can tie and hang this on your kitchen tap and let the whey drain completely. Since I had my paper towel in a colander/strainer I rested it on a big bowl and kept some weight (chickpea cans or any cans or kitchen appliances) on this towel so the whey drains off completely.
This will take about an hour or little more.
Now open the cloth/towel and you will see your perfect paneer ready to be cut. You can cook this immediately or keep it in the refrigerator in a zip lock bag or wrapped in plastic wrap for 3 days.

Note:
You can use the whey to make roti's or bread. This is very nutritious as all the fat is gone in the paneer. The roti's will be very soft.

Beans & Veggie salad!

Today I woke up late (like really late at noon). So almost the whole day was over and I was feeling so lazy. I was very hungry as well. So I made myself a cup of chai/tea and looked in my pantry and fridge. I was super bored to cook or cut anything and I wanted to eat something healthy!

So first I thought maybe I should toss up a salad but I didn't want to eat any lettuce or spinach! So after taking another look at the groceries I decided to make a bean and veggies salad. It was ready in few mins and tasted so yummy yet simple and clean.

1 cup Kidney Beans/Rajma (cooked or use 1 can washed & drained)
1 cup Garbanzo beans/Chole Channa (cooked or use 1 can washed & drained)
1 avocado chopped (cut open, throw the seed and the outer cover, and chop into pieces)
1-2 stalks of green onions chopped (use both the green and white part)
1 tomato chopped or use 8-10 cherry tomatoes
2-3 tbsp Alpha Alpha Sprouts (optional)
1 small onion chopped (optional)
1 tsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper

Mix the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl and keep aside.
Take a big salad mixing bowl. Add the beans, tomatoes, onions, green onions, avocado, alpha aplha sprouts. Now add the oil dressing and mix well.
Adjust salt and lemon.

Note:
I use Vadalia Onions (only the white part as I had this at home)
You can add any kinds of beans like balck beans, pinto beans, red beans etc.
You can add any veggies of your choice.
You can add more olive oil but I wanted to keep the recipe healthy.
If you don't get alpha alpha sprouts don't worry the salad still tastes great.