Radish/Mulangi Curry With Prawns

I don't make prawns at home often but when I cook them its always in combination with some vegetable.

I bet most of you might not have heard about this dish, but it is a favourite in the areas around Cuddalore and Pondicherry in TamilNadu. Whenever Prawn is in the menu for the sunday lunch, my mom always keeps aside a handful of them in the freezer to make this delicious thokku/curry the next day. 

Other vegetables that can be used in combination with Prawns are Ridgeguard, Bottleguard, Drumsticks and  Raw Plantain.

Ingredients:

1 medium white daikon raddish 

8 - 10 large Prawns, cleaned (if small use about 1/2 cup)

1 large onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 tsp of fennel seeds

1 1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

curry leaves

salt as required

Method:

Take 1 tblsp of oil in a pan

Add the fennel seeds and curry leaves when the oil is hot

When the fennel changes colour add the chopped garlic and onions, fry well till translucent

Now add the cleaned Prawns, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt

Saute till the prawns turns pink for about 2 mins. 

Now add the chopped up radish and mix well to coat the masala.

Add about 1/2 cup of water , close with a lid and let it cook for about 10 mins.

Add some chopped coriander and switch of the stove. 

The consistency of the curry should be semi dry

Serve with plain hot rice.

Potato Mushroom Croquettes

This post is after a very long break, say about 6 months. Well,  this past 6 months has kept us very busy with moving from one place to another. First we packed our things and  moved back to Chennai from Brussels and then after  couple of months moved to a new house in Chennai. When we were just getting settled comfortably in our new home my husband got an offer at work to move to United States. So here we are now, back in the US trying to adjust to the weather from very hot to cold. But I must say that the weather is pretty nice and warm for the past few weeks in the New England area except for the surprise early snowfall in the mid-October.
While my son is slowly getting settled with his school routine, I thought its high time I write a post in the blog before life gets busy again..you never know :)
When I was clearing out some not so good pictures from my blogged and non-blogged folders (Thanks to Cham for that neat idea, it really helps a lot), I came across this picture of the potato and mushroom croquettes that I made way back on one cold evening in Brussels.
Here goes the recipe...

Potato and Mushroom Croquettes
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes
1 medium onion , finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped
2 cups of finely chopped mushrooms.
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp chat masala powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp lemon juice
3 tblsp finely chopped coriander leaves
oil and salt as required
2 cups of bread crumbs for rolling


Method
Boil the Mash the potatoes
Wash the mushrooms in running water and wipe with a clean kitchen towel.
Finely chop the mushrooms, onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilles.
Add 2 tblsp of oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger and chilies, stir well till the onions are translucent. Now add the chopped mushrooms and saute on medium flame.
To this add chilli powder, cumin powder, chat masala powder, and the salt.
Stir well to combine for about 2 mins. Just when the mushrooms are wilted, add the mashed potatoes, coriander, lemon juice and stir well to combine.
Switch of the stove and allow it to cool completely.


Make small balls or roll it into logs .Take the bread crumbs in a plate.
Heat the oil in a deep pan. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs and fry them 4 at a time in the medium heat oil .
Slightly turn the balls using a slotted spoon for even browning on all sides.
Enjoy with a cup of tea :)

Notes: 

• Do not immerse the mushrooms in a pot of water for washing as it will soak up the water and release it while cooking.Always wash with minimum running water from the tap, or wipe with a damp kitchen towel
• If the potato mixture is mushy add about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs to the mixture. Keeping it in the fridge  for 30 mins also helps tighten the potato mixture.
• If you are out of Chat masala, add about 1/4 tsp of garam masala and 1/2 tsp of amchoor powder.

A ride through the country side

Village of Torgny, one of the most beautiful village of Belgium. Placed on the French side of the country, each  house was unique in its own way. It was a delight to see the cute French houses, the vineyards and the yellow meadows at this time of the year.

A Peek into the Local Bakery in Dinant

Happen to come across this bakery when we were roaming around in Dinant.Their speciality is biscuits using large moulds 

Take a look :)

Kids food - Sweet Potato Muffins

Most of us do not use sweet potato as much as we use potatoes. This wonderful root is a rich source of several vitamins, antioxidants as well as fibre. In one of the recent articles that I read , was quite surprised to see that this humble vegetable being one of the seven food that kids should have on a regular basis, among the other foods like yogurt, salmon(or any other food rich in omega 3 fatty acid) , spinach, walnuts and almonds, berries and avacado.

While making oven roasted fries is an option, baking muffins with them is another easiest way to include this vegetable in the kids diet.

Here is a simple and easy recipe to impress the kids with sweet potato.


Ingredients:
1 cup Whole wheat flour
1 cup All purpose flour/Maida
11/2 tsp baking powder
11/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar or regular granulated sugar
3/4 cup sweet potato , cooked and mashed
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg


Method:
Preheat oven to 350F / 180 C
Cook the sweet potatoes till soft , peel and mash them
Beat the egg seperatly in a small bowl
Combine all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl .Mix well using a whisk
Add the milk, oil and egg to the dry ingredients and mix gently.
Stir in the sweet potatoes, combine until smooth


Fill in the muffin cups  and bake for 18 - 20 mins

Sending these healthy muffins to the "Show me your muffins " event by Divya at Dil-se