On a Blogging break

As Iam leaving to India for good tomorrow I will be on a blogging break for probably a month or two.I will start blogging once I settle down completly in chennai. Until then bye from Sumi's Kitchen.
Happy blogging everyone.

Pepper Rasam/ Milagu Rasam with Homemade Rasam Powder.

"Rasam sadham" is the common term used in tamil for simple plain white rice mixed with Rasam.In authentic tamil cuisine, white rice and rasam are served as the final course of the meal. The reason for this being that rasam aids in quick digestion.
Usually the basic rasam is prepared by the combination of pepper, tamarind and other spices.But then there are different kinds of rasam's which can be had as the main course like paruppu/dhal rasam, lemon rasam, pineapple rasam etc.These receipes are prepared using the main ingredient in their names + basic rasam.

As kids, we always jump into rasam sadham skipping the main course such as dhals/sambhar or kulambhu.Sometimes when we want to give our Mom a days rest (which she doesnt want to ) we would request her make us just rasam.Whenever I go on a long trip and spend days together by eating fast foods like burgers and pizza, my heart starts aching for the hot steaming white rice and rasam.I get the same feeling while travelling from India- US and vice versa.On such times, I can't wait to go home and make a pot full of spicy rasam.

According to me the definition for 'comfort food' is the food that comes to your mind or the food that you ache for, when you are deprived of homemade food for days.With that in mind my first choice for FMR - comfort food would be 'Pepper Rasam'.

Here's a simple receipe for Pepper Rasam.

Ingredients:

3 cups of tamarind juice by soaking and squeezing lime size tamarind in water (or) 2 tsp tamarind pulp dissolved in 4 cups of water.
2 tsp pepper powder
2 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 cloves garlic smashed and roughly chopped
1 medium size tomato
1/cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
salt as needed

For tempering:

1 tsp mustard
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 red chilly
a pinch of hing
few curry leaves

Method:

Take the tamarind juice in vessel.Add all the powders, garlic and salt to it. Squeeze the tomatoes by your hand and mix with the liquid well.Check for salt and spice level.Add the coriander leaves and keep aside. Take a kadhai or sauce pot and add 2 tsp of oil. To this add the tempering ingredients one by one.When the mustard pops add the tamarind juice mixture to it.



Reduce the heat the medium and look for the bubbles.The trick for good rasam lies at the last stage.My mother tells me that the rasam should not boil at any cost.When the first stage of boiling bubbles appear like a foam as shown in the above picture,we should switch off the stove and take the pot away from the stove and close with a lid.Allow it to rest for atleast 15 mins. At this stage your house will be filled with the wonderful aroma of the rasam.

Serve it piping hot with white rice, papad and egg curry as a side dish...hmm.. yummy :)

Some Tips:
Pepper-Jeera Powder
If you are making rasam regularly then its better to make the pepper -jeera powder at the ratio of 1:2 at home.Make it a coarse powder.Add a tblsp of this powder instead of adding the pepper and jeera powder seperatly
Another form of home made rasam powder :
5 red chillies
1/4 cup of coriander seeds
1/2 cup of pepper
1 cup of jeera
2 tblsp of chana dhal
2 tblsp of toor dhal
Dry roast all the above spices, till you get a nice aroma, grind them into a coarse powder, store in an airtight container.Add 1 tbsp of this powder to the above rasam along with the other powders mentioned in the recipe.The Rasam becomes even more spicy and it greatly enhances the taste.

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who have tried this recipe and left such wonderful feedback in this blog as well as in email. Thanks for you support and love readers.

Recipes from Other Blogs

Hello folks, here's a post I wanted to do for a long time.I wanted to blog about the receipes that I have tried from other blogs.I have been composing this post for more than a week now.Yesterday I came across priya's post on the same thought.It was so beautiful that it made me speed up mine.I feel that the only way to actually appreciate other fellow bloggers is by actually trying some of their receipes that we like.
Blogging has become such a passion for me that I cannot pass a single day without taking a peek at some of the blogs .I am sure many of you are like me. Dont you agree with me?.
In this process we try atleast 2 0r 3 new receipes each month, but we dont take the time and patience to blog about them. So going forward I have decided to post about the receipes that I have tried from other blogs once every month, probably the last week of every month.Those who are interested can join me in this effort and do the same in their respective blogs.It would be fun isnt?

Here goes the first of my series "Tribute to fellow bloggers".

Like many of us I started blogging after getting inspired by Indira's Mahanandi receipes and pictures. I have tried as many receipes as possible from her website.Iam posting some of my favourites here.

I came to know about this blog world, when I accidently came across 'Mahanandi' while searching for a "stuffed brinjal receipe". I was totally taken back by her brinjal receipe.
Though my picture is not great as hers, the taste of the dish was absolutely wonderful.We enjoyed it very much. This is my first ever food picture. :)


A absolutely fabulous receipe about Ridgeguard - "Ridgeguard potato and carrot curry" again from Mahanandi, till then I have been using this vegetable only with moong dhal like a kootu.So this receipe was a complete variation for me.



The next comes my favourite Avaccado chappati's from GM's Spice is Right' didnt expect this to be so soft and buttery.
Did my part of the research from internet and found that its a good fruit/vegetable as it contains the necessary fatty acids.If you are counting calories you need to limit the number of chappatis.


The next one is Garam Masala's 'Methi Chick peas' . I have already blogged about it here.But still wanted to mention it here, as its truly delicious ( and I dont have to chop up onions..yayyy!!!).



Thats it for this week's tribute.Will definitely post about some other great receipes from other blogs (of course with pictures) in my next months tribute.

Chettinad chicken curry

Chettinad chicken is one of my all time favourites among chicken dishes.

Chettinad is a small part in southern tamilnadu which is famous world over for its unique cuisine.The flavour of freshly grinded chillies, coriander and fennel, coconut and all other spices gives it a fiery taste.Once you taste any chettinad dish you will never forget the taste of it.
I adapted this receipe from one of the Tamil cookbook magazine and it turned out great.

ingredients:

Chicken 1.5 lb - cleaned and cut into medium sized pieces
to marinate - 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 pinch of turmeric and some salt

2 medium size onions
8 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger
1 medium size tomato chopped
few sprigs of curry leaves

To roast and grind:

1 inch cinnamon
4 cloves
8 red chillies
2 tblsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp shredded coconut

Method:

Clean the chicken pieces and marinate them by adding the chilli powder, turmeric for atleast 30 mins.Cut 1 onion into small pieces, peel the garlic and ginger.Fry these in a pan and grind them to a smooth paste.Roast all the spices without oil, finally add the coconut and grind them together to a smooth paste

Chop the remaining 1 onion and the tomatoes.

Take 3 tsp of oil in a pan and add the curry leaves, chopped onion and fry well.
To this add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and fry till the raw smell leaves.
Now add the roasted spice paste and fry well.To this add the chopped tomatoes, 1/2 tsp of turmeric and fry well till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.Now add the chicken pieces and stir well so the masala coats the chicken well. Add salt and check for the spice level.
Add 1/2 cup of water and close tightly with a lid.Reduce the heat to medium and allow it cook for 10 - 15 mins. Add 1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves and mix well before switching of the stove.

Serve it hot with Rice, chappati, puri's or even Idli's

Updated with some new pictures that I took when I made this curry recently.

Check out my other interesting chicken recipes below:
 'Chettinad Chicken Varuval / fry'
Chicken/Muttton Kuzhambhu

My Version of Fish Cutlets

Since my travel date to India has been confirmed, Iam trying to clear up my pantry by exhausting the supplies and limiting my shopping just to vegetables.The Starkist tuna cans has been sitting in my pantry for more than two months now.I thought of completing my long pending quest to make fish cutlets as we had some friends over last weekend.The last time I remember making this dish was for some potluck party 2 years back in seattle.I learned this receipe from one of my friend who was my roommate back then..
By now you would have known many versions of Cutlets however Iam posting my version of it which is much quicker to make.Do try it and let me know your feedback.

Ingredients:

2 small cans/packets of Tuna.
1 large potato or 2 medium size potatoes
1/2 medium size onion chopped very finely
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
some curry leaves finly chopped (op)
2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp maida dissoved in 1/2 cup of water
1 cup bread crumbs
Oil for frying.

Method:

• First boil the potatoes in microwave.Wash in water, poke it with a fork or knife in 2 -3 places and the cook in high for 5 mins or you can cook it in pressure cooker for 3 whistles.Remove the skin when cooled.
• Next open the tuna packets or can, discard the liquid transfer it to a microwavable dish and cook covered for 2 mins.(cover and cook , otherwise the fish will splatter)
• When the fish and potatoes are cooled mix them together and mash well without any lumps.
• To this add all the other ingredients except the maida and bread crumbs.
• Mix well and check for salt and spice level.Make small lemon sized balls out of it.
• Heat the oil in a kadai for deep frying.Spread the bread crumbs in a plate.
• Take one ball dip in the maida liquid,flatten the ball and then roll over the bread crumbs.The bread crumbs should coat all sides of the cutlet. Drop it in the hot oil and deep fry. Continue with other balls.
• Place them in paper towel to drain excess oil before transfering to a serving tray.

Note:
The maida liquid should be watery rather than like a paste.Most cutlet receipe call for egg white for binding, but maida water works well for me.If you are short of flour , you can also use besan flour to make this liquid, that too works just fine.Its just used for the bread crumbs to stick well. Do not add water to the fish-potato mixture at any point.Always use unsalted plain bread crumbs.

Semiya kesari

Though Iam not a person who likes sweets, my hubby loves anything sweet.But somehow I was in the mood for making something sweet today.Had a quick nap in the afternoon and got up to make some kesari(as its the quickest and simplest to make).When I opened my kitchen closet I was disappointed to see my Rava(sooji ) box empty.I dont know how I forgot that!!! Anyway I started browsing through the cupboard, with all other alternate sweet receipes(thanks to my fellow bloggers ) running through my mind.Thats when I saw the vermicelli packet lying unnoticed in the back, along with other pasta boxes.My eyes brightened with relief cos I can make the same kesari using vermicelli and dont have to break my mind for another sweet receipe.

Here is the receipe

2 cups of Vermicilli
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1/4 cup chopped cashews
3 tsp raisins
a pinch of kesari powder
2 elaichi powdered

Fry the cashews and raising in atsp of ghee until golden brown
In the same pan fry the vermicilli in another tsp of ghee until golden brown.set aside.
In a kadai add 4 cups of water and bring it to rolling boil, add elaichi and a pinch of kesari powder to it.Then add the vermicelli to the boiling water and cook till the water is absorbed.
Now add the sugar and mix well for 10 mins.
Finally add the remaining ghee, cashews and raisins and mix well.

Note : Adjust the amount of sugar, and ghee as per your need.

Simple Cabbage Porial

Here is a simple cabbage porial receipe.I made this as a side dish for the black eyed peas kuzhambhu, but got time to post it only now.I think this is how everyone else makes day to day vegetables like cabbage, carrots, beans etc...so need not elaborate on that.However I would like to cook the vegetables such that they do not lose the colour and crunchiness.Most vegetables lose their vitamins when its overcooked.
Cabbage tastes delicious when cooked with crunchy moong dhal

Ingredients:
2 cups of shredded cabbage
2 green chillies
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp channa dhal
few curry leaves

Method:
Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan.When the oil is hot add the mustard , urad dhal, channa dhal, and curry leaves. Now add the onions and chillies and fry well.
Now add the cabbage and salt and mix well. Sprinkle some water probably a handful and then reduce the flame to sim and allow it to cook in its own steam for 10 mins.

Black eyed peas kulambhu with drumsticks and egg

This is my entry to the JFI event conducted by Sailu for the month of July.

My mom makes this kulambhu atleast once a month especially on saturdays.Back at home she used to soak the dry black eyed peas overnight and then cook it in the morning, whereas over here its much easier to make this kulambhu using the frozen ones readily available.The addition of boiled egg and drumsticks to this makes it more good.But those are optional you can always omit the eggs part if you are a vegetarian.Some other vegetables that could be used are raw plantain, brinjal, or potatoes.
To take it up one more notch, you can also add dried fish or dried shrimp to this kulambhu.

Ingredients:

1 cup black eyed peas(dried or fresh frozen)
10 pieces of drumsticks
10 small onions or 1 medium sized onion sliced thinly
1 medium sized tomato chopped finely
3 garlic cloves sliced thinlly
Juice of lemon sized tamarind soaked in 1 cup water.
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
1 tsp curry leaves powder (op)
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (op)

2 boiled eggs

for tempering:
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp channa dhal
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
few curry leaves

Method:

Add 2 tsp of oil in a thick bottomed vessel, when the oil is hot add all the tempering ingredients.
when the mustard pops add garlic and curry leaves, to this add onions and fry well.
When the onions are tranlucent add the tomotoes and fry well.
To this add the black eyed peas , turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder salt and fry till oil seperated.Now add the drumstick pieces and mix well. To this add the tamarind juice , check the taste for salt and karam.close it with a lid and allow it to boil for 1o mins or until the kulambhu becomed thick. Make slits on the boiled egg and add to the kulambhu at this stage and add the curry leaves powder, fenygreek powder mix well and boil for 2 mins and switch of the stove.

The kulambhu should rest atleast for an hour before its served.

Methi Channa

I completely ran out of onions last week for almost five days.I passed four days by making some mixed rice, but finally on the fifth day, I desperatly wanted to make some curry for roti's. Suddenly this receipe which was blogged by GaramMasala long back came to my mind.I also remembered that the original receipe was from Hemant's cookery corner.So I followed the same and used fresh methi leaves.
That's it my dinner was ready in 30 minutes, used canned channa though :).
I am not giving the receipe here as I followed exactly as Hemant's, So just posting the picture alone.Its surely a must to try receipe.

A delight for eyes

I sat down to post some receipes, but somehow I was not in the mood today.
Its cloudy and raining heavly outside.All the beautiful blooming trees are shedding their flowers...so sad to watch it.. I remembered taking some pictures last week when the trees were in full bloom,So thought of posting those.Why can't there be one more month of spring!!!!

Captured a squirrel enjoying its stolen food hiding behind a tree.

This weekend we visited Holland , Michigan.It was a three hours drive from chicago, but the trip was worth it.Holland is a small town which proudly hosts 'Tulip Time' event every year...There are several tulip farms over there and we visited the largest one.Though the number of tulips and the way they were planted were not as great as they have boasted in their website, the various bright colours of tulips was a feast to our eyes. You know what, I was surprised to see some black tulips too!!! The pictures came out excellent.

Posting some of my favourite pictures for you all to enjoy.

Semiya/Vermicelli Uppuma

This is one of my all time favorite breakfast during schooldays.In those days I would see this uppuma as a savior from my regular breakfast - Idli & coconut chuney. But these days we crave for those Idli's and chutney's...thats totally a different story:)
Anyway this dish, like any other uppuma can be had for breakfast, evening snack, or dinner.
We can also make it interesting by adding all vegetables, spice it up a little bit and turn it into a kichadi. However I like to eat just the simple uppuma with teaspoon of sugar or some pickles to go with it. Unfortunately my husband hates semiya uppuma, the beauty is he loves all other kinds of uppuma even cracked wheat uppuma. So I generally choose to make this dish on the days when I have to make lunch or dinner for just myself.

Ingredients:
1 cup Semiya

1 green chilli
1 medium size onion, sliced thin
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp urad dhal
1 tsp channa dhal
few curry leaves

Method:
Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and roast the vermicelli to light golden colour. Add 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add the mustard, uraddhal , channadhal and curry leaves. When the mustard pops add the Onions and green chillies and fry till translucent. Now add 1 1/2 cups (one and a half)of water, salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric and cover the pan with a lid. When the water comes to a boil add the roasted vermicelli and cook for few minutes till the water is absorbed.Garnish with few sprigs of cilantro.

Notes: You can also add a pinch of turmeric with the onions just for the colour.

Banana Nut Muffins - A weekend treat

Usually we bring back a bunch of Bananas from shopping, a habit carried over from back home I guess,but everytime we happened to throw some out.The taste of our Indian bananas are so great that we can eat atleast two or three per day but here we get bored of the taste as soon as we eat one.Ever since I learned the receipe for Banana bread, I immediatly start whisking up the butter,as soon as I see the bananas change colour.

I am not posting the receipe here as I have already blogged about the Banana bread earlier.
This time I substituted egg with a 11/4 cup of milk.

Idli with Vadacurry - A mighty breakfast

Its been quite a busy weekend for us.We went out on a short trip with some of our friends to a lake near wisconsin and had a great time.The view of the lake was deadly.
Iam attaching a picture of that, for you all to enjoy.

On such weekends we prefer to have a nice and heavy breakfast/brunch and then hit the road.So I made some Idli's and vada curry to go with it.Since we have seen so many versions of making Idli's I do not want to elaborate on that one.(my ratio is 4:1).Vada curry is a most known side dish for Idli in chennai.I am not sure how many people have heard or tasted it.As far as I know if there is any dish that is indigenous to chennai city that would be vada curry.Its spicy and at the same time very subtle and has a delicate flavour.This is one of my favorite receipe from my Mom.Whenever I come home from college for the holidays, Iam very sure that mornings breakfast would be Idli and vadacurry.Those are the days that I yearn for nowadays.
Traditionally vada curry is made out of dhal vada's.But my mom makes it differently.She either steams the dhal mixture or make adais out of the mixture.Give it a try and let me know how it turned out.

Ingredients:
1 cup channa dhal (soaked for two hours)
1tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp jeera1

1 inch cinnamon strip
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp minced garlic
1tsp minced ginger
1 medium sized onion sliced thinly
2 medium sized tomatoes chopped finely
1 cup chopped coriander leaves
1tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
salt as needed
Method:
For Vada/Adai:


 Soak the channa dhal for two hours and grind it coarsly along with fennel seeds(like we do for masal vadai).Heat a dosa pan and make thick adai's(about 2 inch thickness) by adding little oil on the sides.Keep the heat in medium and allow it to cook well, until browned on both sides(as shown in picture above).Cool it and scramble it into tiny pieces.You can do this the night before, store it in refrigerator and use it the next morning.

For Curry:
Add 2 tsp of oil in a sauce pan.Add cinnomon, cloves and bay leaf to it.When the cloves pop add the sliced onions and fy till translucent and the add the chopped garlic and ginger.Fry well till the raw smell goes.Add the chopped tomatoes to it and fry till mashed well and the oil leaves the surface.Now add all the powders and stir well till the masala mixes well with the tomatoes.Now add 5 cups of water.It should be very watery at this stage.close with a lid and allow it to boil. After 10 mins, add the scrambled adai/vadai pieces to this liquid and mix well.The chana dhal mixture will soak up all the liquid.Add the chopped coriander leaves and stir well.

 Serve with piping hot Idli's!!

Variations. - Use equal measures of channa dhal and thoor dhal combination  or just thoor dhal  to make the Adais. These also turns out very well with slightly different taste.
You can also use ginger garlic paste instead of  chopped ginger and garlic.
Adjust the amount of water to the gravy according to the consistency needed i.e., reduce the amount of water for a thicker consistency.
Do not skip the coriander leaves, it is a must for this dish.

Rajma curry with Garlic bread

Last week when we went to Sams club, we could not resist the aroma of freshly baked french baquette. We ended up bringing home a big long loaf of french bread. My idea was to make some kind of sandwich or panini during the weekend. But then on Saturday night I changed my mind and tried some garlic bread with the french baguette and Rajma curry to go with it. Initially my hubby thought that my idea was an excuse for rolling out chappati's, but then he loved the combination.
The taste of garlic bread in Rajma curry was absolutely amazing.
Hope you all try it sometime.

Here is how I made it...

Ingredients:
11/2 cup Rajma (soaked for 6 hours and cooked)
1 medium size onion
1 can of Tomato sauce.
1 tsp chilli powder.
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
Some Paneer cubes - stir fried(optional)

Method:
Cook the soaked Rajma in Pressure cooker for 4-5 whistles
In a pan add 2 tsp of olive oil, add the garlic and ginger when the oil is hot.
Stir and add the chopped onions, fry till translucent, and add the tomato sauce.
Allow it to get heated thoroughly and then add all the powders.
Cover and boil for 10 mins.Add the paneer cubes which is optional. You can also add tofu pieces if you want. Simmer for another 5 mins. Add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove.

For Garlic bread

Take 4 tsp of olive oil in a bowl
Add 2tsp of chopped garlic to it and let it set for 15 mins
spread this oil over the top of the bread and broil in the oven for 5 mins or until toasted brown

Eggless Carrot Raisin/Walnut Muffins

I got this receipe long time back from the back of whole wheat flour packet, but didnt get the time or ingredients together to make this one.Today being Tamil New year, I wanted to make something sweet, but my hubby said no to the usual Payasam as he is cutting down on sugar. So I decided to make the long pending carrot mufins..which I thought would be a treat for the New Year as well as the weekend. Afterall we should eat what we enjoy the most right !!!!

Happy Tamil New Year Everyone...Enjoy.
Here is the receipe

Ingredients:
2 cups of shredded carrot
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar/white sugar
5tbl sp butter
1 cup milk
1 cup raisins
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnomon

Note:
You can substitute whole wheat flour with white flour if you dont like the smell of whole wheat.. I just wanted to make it more nutritious.
You can also add an egg, and reduce the amount of milk to half.
You can also add walnuts instead of raisins or both.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F .
Sieve the flour, baking powder, soda and cinnomon two ot three times.
Beat buter and sugar together until frothy , t0 this add the dry ingredients and the milk alternatively in small batches , end with the dry ingredients. Mix slowly till no traces of flour is found. The mix should be thick.Now add the carrots and raisins and fold in the mixture two or three times. Spoon the mixture into mufin cups and bake for 20-25 mins. A tooth pick inserted at the center should come in clean.
Serve warm with a cup of Tea!!

Updated on 2nd November 2009
Here are some recent pictures of these muffins .This time I added walnuts instead of raisins.

Spicy Turnips.

Have you ever tried this vegetable?

Few months back, I was bored of having the regular vegetables you know like brinjal, carrot, beans, cabbage, spinach...etc.I wanted a vegetable to make a spicy fry.I came across this half violet vegetable and it immediately gained my attention.It was more similar to 'knol khol ' that we get back in India so wanted to give it a shot.This dish turned out so great that I have become addicted to it.Nowadays turnip gets into my shopping list just like, onions and tomatoes.
This receipe is kind of dry and spicy, but it can also be had with just plain rice/chappati as a curry and its also a good replacement for potato for people who count calories.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized turnip
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium sized onions chopped
1 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
few cury leaves chopped or 1 tsp of curry leaves powder
salt as needed

Method

Peel and chop the turnips into small cubes
Chope the onions and mince the garlic
Add 1 tsp of olive oil, and the garlic and onions when its hot
Fry till tranlucent, now add the turnip pieces and mix well with the onions and galic twice.
Now add chilli , turmeric, fennel powders and curry leaves/powder
Add salt as needed.Mix well , sprinkle some water and close with lid.
reduce the heat to medium and cook for 5-8 minutes.
Open the lid,Stir well cook in low flame for 5 mins and switch off the stove.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy.

Oven Roasted King Fish Steak

Both me and my husband love Fish compared to chicken or other nonveg items. But the grocery store we visit do not have much variety in fish, so we always end up buying tilapia fillets, not that its not great or anything, but we get bored of it sometimes.The past few weeks I found some king fish steaks which were very tempting, but the size of it made me think, morever I have not tasted king fish before..it looked more like 'vanchiram' in our place.But this week I decided to give it a try and brought back a nice beautiful piece of king fish steak.
Since the piece was very thick, I decided to roast it in the oven, as I do the chicken sometimes.
It turned out good and we both enjoyed it.
So here's how I did it.

Ingredients:
1 King fish steak (large)
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp sombhu/fennel seeds powder( optional)
1tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
salt to taste

Method:
Mix all the ingredients and make a paste.
smear oer the fish on all sides, and allow it to marinate in the refrigerator for minimum 30 mins
Preheat the oven to 425F, place the fish in a tray covered with foil
bake for 10 mins on each side and then broil for 3 mins on each side.

Enjoy.

.

Vegetable Lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna

I love Italian food, especialy pasta of any kind.I used to think Lasagna as this one great Italian dish which is very complicated to make.One day I came across a program by Giade De Laurentiies in the FoodNetwork about Individual vegetable Lasagna which made me completely change my opinion about this particular receipe.I like her way of presentation, she usually narrates the process slowly and in such a way that you feel like trying it immediately , if you have all the ingredients with you.That weekend I got some lasagna pasta and all other Ingredients needed.However I tailored the receipe to suit my convenience..hey thats how new receipes are born right.
There are a few things that I changed from the original receipe
Firstly The Original receipe calls for home made sauce, but I didnt have the patience to make the whole pasta sauce my self, So I took the store's help and bought some Prego pasta sauce.
Secondly I changed white beans to our favorite Rajma/kidney beans.
And the main change is I made the Lasgna in a whole casserole, rather than individual ..Other than that the procedure is the same.

Since this dish contains more vegetables , spinach, and beans its very wholsome and filling meal in itself. I have decided to send in this post for SweetNicks ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday event

Here is the receipe.Hope you enjoy this ...

Ingredients

1/2 bottle of Prego Pasta sauce
8 strips Lasagna Pasta
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup sliced Onions
1 cup chopped and cooked spinach
1 cup rajma soaked for 6 hrs and cooked /1 can kidney beans
1 cup shredded mozarrella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Method: Preheat the Oven to 375F

• Stir fry chopped onions, carrots and zucchini and keep aside
• Stir fri one cup spinach unil cooked and keep aside
• Cook Rajma in a pressure cooker and keep aside
• Cook the pasta in a deep vessel as per the cooking instructions on the packet
• Now Take a casserole dish and spread 3 tsp of pasta sauce at the bottom.
• Place the Lasagna pasta in single layer.If the pasta is too lengthy for your casserole dish, you can cut according to the size of your dish.
• Over this layer spread the stir fried vegetables.spread 3tsp of saue over the spread.

• Now again place a layer of pasta sheets.
• Over this layer spread the spinach and rajma beans.Spread 3 tsp of the sauce over this.



• Now place the final layer of pasta over the rajma and spinach spread.

Spread the sauce liberally over the pasta at this stage








Sprinkle the cheeses well over the Sauce.
Place the Casserole in the Oven and bake for 20 mins or until the cheeses melt and turns a little bit golden.
Cut and serve.