Baked red snapper fish + fruit salsa

I was looking for recipes on how to bake fish online and I came across quite a few recipes that combined fish and fruit salsa.
It got me excited right away.. cause I simply love fruits these days.

Fish:
I adapted this recipe from http://www.yoursouthernpeach.com/2012/02/chili-salmon-tropical-salsa.html

Red snapper: 2 fillets

spices for marination:
olive oil
lime juice
salt
pepper
kozambhu powder http://easyhappycooking.blogspot.com/2013/08/kozambhu-powder.html

I cut each fillet into 2 halves.
After cleaning the drying these fish fillets, I marinated them with the spices needed for marination.
I added the spices per intuition.
I lined an oven tray with foil and rubbed it with little bit oil.
I put the marinated pieces on the oven tray (skin side down).
I covered and chilled them in the refrigerator for 3 hrs.

After that, I preheated the oven to 450F and put in the marinated fish.
I left it on each side for 20 mins (total of 40 mins).
and tadaa.... its done!

Fruit salsa:
I adapted the recipe from http://rachelvoorhees.com/2012/09/drunken-fruit-salsa/
(except I didn't use the liquor... so, it's not quite drunken :D)

I pretty much did everything exactly as per that recipe except I didn't have pineapple and green peppers handy.. so, I skipped them.
And, I didn't bother to roast any peppers.
It tasted great and tummy felt calm and good :)

baked muffin pan idli's with baked sweet potato fries

Baked idli's

baked idli's have got to be one of the best discoveries I made.
The idli's come out soo soft and fluffy... they are just great! and the cleanup is so much easier than the pressure cooker method.

Method:
preheat the oven to 350F.
pour idli batter into muffin pan moulds (so, it fills upto half of each mould).
Get another oven pan half filled with water ready.

Once the oven is preheated, put the muffin pan on the top rack and the pan with water in the
bottom rack.
(The way I look at it, you are sort of emulating pressure cooker here with the muffin pan and the water to steam).
The idlis should rise and be done somewhere between 15-20 mins.
You need to pull them out as soon as you see that its starting to form a thin crust on the top.

Sweet potato fries

Serves: 4
Sweet potatoes: 2
olive oil: 1 tbs.
salt: to taste
pepper: 1/2 table spoon
paprika: 1/2 table spoon

(Note: vary amount of pepper and paprika to your taste)


Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into thick fingers.
In a bowl, mix the sweet potato fingers with olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.

Preheat the oven to 450F.
Now take a flat oven pan and line it with aluminium foil.
Spread the sweet potato fingers on it without crowding them (else, they won't be crispy).
Once the oven is preheated, put the pan with sweet potato fingers in.
After 10 mins, take the pan out and turn the fingers around.
Put it in for another 10 mins.
Now, take them out and enjoy :).

peas curry

My husband made this one.
He says it was easy to make.
All I did was eat it :). Feels good to not do anything and eat once in a while :)
It was very delicious.

You can find the recipe at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qyYskRfvDw

I realize that the video is in tamil. One of these days, I will translate it and put the recipe in words here.
But, I think the steps are pretty obvious from the video.

Until then, here's a picture of the outcome :)

masoor dal with green beans on the side

Coming from Andhra, I have almost always had toor dal and never really tried any other kind of dal or can't really remember if I did.
Its been almost 7 years since I left home in India... been very long...don't remember if I had any other
dal  before that.

Anyways, I got introduced to masoor dal when I tasted it at Mridula's place and loved the taste of it.
You can find the recipe of that at
http://easyhappycooking.blogspot.com/2013/01/orange-masoor-dal-with-rice.html

I did exactly the same except ... I added some garam masala just before turning off the flame cause I like the flavor of that.
Also, added red chillies when I adeed cumin and mustard. Love dry red chillies and try to put them in as many dishes as possible.

I found this really easy and really tasty and perfect side for dal - green beans dish and made it.
Loved how it went with the dal as a side.

Here's the recipe:
http://hungrydesi.com/2009/03/22/dads-french-style-green-beans/

Did everything the same except added some curry powder along with all the other spices so its not bland.

And Here's a picture of my plate :)

egg fried rice

I've tried many egg fried rice recipes but this so far has yielded the best result.
It was simply delicious.

Recipe:
http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/03/egg-fried-rice-yummier-than-take-out.html

Variations:
1. I didn't have jasmine rice.. so, used basmati rice.
2. Love eggs, so used 5 large eggs instead of 2 large eggs and enjoyed the result.
3. Used the frozen mixed veg. packet - corn, beans and carrot mix.
4. Put the dried red chilli for fun - don't think it add/reduced to the taste.
5. Didn't have maggi seasoning - so, instead used maggi masala chilli sauce
6. Used black pepper instead of white pepper

and the result was pretty darn good even with all the variations!

Here's the picture proof :)

frankie (kati roll)

Anybody from India would know frankie (or) atleast would have heard about it.
I don't know about all the other states, but the hyderabadi malls rock the frankies... can never get enough of them... and my trip to india is incomplete without getting a taste for these.

After thinking about it for a while, we (husband and I) finally attempted making them at home.
After browsing multiple sources, I felt like this recipe would yield the best result and I think I was right.
Although my roti didn't come out quite round (:p)... but it tasted good neverthless.

We followed this recipe verbatim:
http://showmethecurry.com/non-vegetarian/chicken-kathi-rolls-chicken-frankies.html

Note (for people who use food processor to make the dough):
I made atta dough in the food processor once before and it came out perfect. As soon as I added 1/2 the amount of water as the atta flour, the food processor would make the atta into a nice dough ball.

So, I tried doing the same this time (except this time the dough was a mix of atta dough and all purpose flour). Based on the recipe video, the amount of water to add is the half the amount of atta flour you use in the dough. However, I didn't see the dough ball shaping so I went on adding water and it became too much - and created enough extra work.
I suggest after you add half the water, and if it still doesn't seem like its coming together like a dough ball, stop and take it out and do the rest with the hand.

yogurt parfait (for breakfast)

In a world where health and taste don't meet very often, this one is an exception.
It's healthy (rich in protien), attractive, very tasty and very easy to put together! Can it get better than that?

Its this simple to put together:

1. Take a wine glass.
2. put a good layer of greek yogurt
3. Top it with granola.
4. Add some honey, sliced almonds, walnuts and pecans.
5. Top it with sliced strawberries.

Ofcourse, you can get as creative with this as you want.
You can use plain or flavored yogurt, plain or flavored granola, any kinds of nuts, any kinds of fruits...
tastes great!

Recipe source: http://www.recipe.com/berry-parfait/

egg fried rice (the easy peasy version)

This morning, I had 1/2 a cup cooked rice and 5 eggs in the fridge and no lunch yet (except some left over manchurian from last night dinner).

My husband suggested that I make egg fried rice with it.
I thought that was a good idea and that it would go well with the manchurian curry.
But, I didn't want to set the knife to the cutting board (there were enough dishes in the sink already)..

So, I thought I'll try making quick egg fried rice without onions or chillies... and it actually turned out pretty tasty even without any of that.

Here's the recipe:

oil: 1 tablespoons
rice: 1/2 cup (if the rice is left over rice, use a spatula to get rice grains separate and not be one block together)
eggs: 5 brown (beat well)
cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
vinegar: 1 tablespoons
soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
maggi masala chili: 1 tablespoon
salt: to taste
pepper: to taste (I use a good amount of pepper cause I

Heat oil in a frying pan.
Once hot, add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
Add ginger garlic paste..and cook it for 30 seconds.
set the flame to slightly less than medium.
Now adds the well beaten eggs and let it set  for about 4 mins.
It should be just forming an omelet. Now, break it and scramble it.
Now add soy sauce, masala chili and vinegar. stir well.
Add salt and pepper now. (I use a good amount of pepper cause I like how pepper goes with
egg and rice. Add per your taste).
Mix and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Now add rice. Cook for another 5 minutes (keep mixing in this time).

Ofcourse, at the end, you can do a taste test and add salt and pepper if you'd like some more.

coconut daal/lentils

Today being black friday, we shopped like crazy last night .. slept late .. got up late and went to the stores as soon as we got up...
I think it was all worth it.. we found some nice deals ...  and it was good fun :)

We got back home late in the evening..really tired... and obviously, I wanted to cook something simple
but delicious.
From some of the recipes bookmarked, I chose coconut daal from usmasala blog.
I am totally in love with her blog. Her recipes are unique and love the pictures that she posts with her recipes and so far, every recipe of hers that I tried has turned out wonderful.
The pictures itself get me excited to make the dish!!

Here's the recipe that I followed
http://usmasala.blogspot.com/2012/02/coconut-daallentils-simmered-in-spicy.html

Few changes:
I didn't have masoor dal and so, I used toor dal.
I followed her instructions and made the dal in the sauce pan instead of pressure cooker.
    I put the heat on medium initially until it boiled and after that, I put the lid on (left it ajar) and put the heat on sim.
    The dal took about 45-50 mins to cook to the consistency I wanted.
     Next time, I am going to try to make the dal in a pressure cooker.

As you can guess, the recipe doesn't take too much effort. It just takes time because of the cook time for dal.
     
Here's the picture of what I made:
I just loved how it turned out. It was sooo good!
The flavor of coconut with dal was amazing and has a nice calming/soothing effect.

ra.. ra.. rasssaammmm!!! (pepper rasam)

rasam is soo eassy too make and needs such few ingredients...
anyone can make it :))

Basically, the main ingredients you need are tomatoes, tamarind and rasam powder.
In the recipe, she actually gives the recipe for the rasam powder too. I didn't make it since I had the rasam powder from India. So, I just used that and added some pepper on top of it because I wanted the pepper effect.

The only thing I really had to buy for this recipe were the tomatoes.
I already had the other needed ingredients stocked at home.

I guess tamarind and rasam powder may be not be regular ingredients at someone's home based on how regularly/irregularly you use them.

Maybe, we should create another post where we list all the ingredients (that have good shelf/refrigerator life) someone should keep at home needed for most of the easy recipes.. so, we don't have to go to the indian store on the day of cooking..
don't know about the rest of you all.. but, for me a trip to indian store is a 1 hr deal..so, it will work well for me to have such a list :)

Here's the recipe I followed:
(btw, this works as a really good cure for clearing throat/runny nose).

http://www.sailusfood.com/2010/12/03/miriyala-charu-andhra-pepper-flavored-rasam/


and here's a picture of what I made

Dahi Bhendi

When I come across recipes like this, life seems beautiful ...:p

seriously, though, this recipe is simple (no onion cutting), tasty and healthy..

Here's the recipe that I followed...
vahchef is the man... I tried quite a few of his recipes and they all come out pretty great...
Love his enthusiasm and passion for cooking..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQhcI3sRPtM&feature=g-all-u


Here's a picture of what I made:

tamarind rice - simple yet tasty

Yesterday, I left work after 7pm. There were no veggies at home and I didn't want to go to the grocery store and then go home and then chop them and then cook....blaaah..
But I had to cook something.. so, I wondered what I could easily make from what I had at home...
and then I thought of tamarind rice..its soo simple... and soo tasty...there was no looking back from there... :) (the best part is you don't have to cut any vegetables except chillies and ginger)


Here's the recipe... I followed all her instructions except I didn't add roasted sesame powder (since I didn't have that at home) and jaggery/brown sugar (cause I dont like the sweet taste).

http://www.sailusfood.com/2008/10/30/pulihora-andhra-tamarind-rice/

Here's a picture of what I made... was delicious!

the red pulav

Red pulav is nothing but radish pulav (radish leaves its red color).

I had radish in the refrigerator and so I cut it up and added it while making the pulav and I really enjoyed the color and taste.

Pulav is an easy dish but tasty and healthy (based on what veggies go into it).

Recipe

Rice: 1.5 cups
Water: 3 cups (i.e 1:2 ratio with rice)
Radish: 2 (cut it into cubes)
Beans, corn, carrots and peas (you can get a mixed frozen bag of these in most grocery stores): add as desired
onion: 1 (sliced)
chillies: 2 long (sliced) (so, it leaves its flavor)
ginger garlic paste: 1.5 tbs
garam masala powder 2 tbs
cashew nuts
garam masala: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pulav leaf
cashew nuts
curry leaves
cilantro
turmeric
salt to taste


Wash the rice and keep it aside.

Heat oil+ghee in a pan.
After the oil heats up, add cashew nuts, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and pulav leaf.
Fry them for a minute and then add all the veggies (i.e. onions, chillies, frozen bag mix of beans, corn, carrots and peas, radish and curry leaves.
Add some turmeric to this mix.
Let it cook for 2-3 minutes (keep mixing the ingredients).
Now, add the ginger garlic paste
Let it cook for another 3 minutes.
Now add the washed rice to this mixture.
Add some garam masala powder to it and mix in.
After 2 minutes, turn off the stove.
Add 3 cups of water to the rice cooker and all this mixture to it.
Turn on the rice cooker.

and that's it, the dish should be cooked in about 20-25 minutes after that :).
Attached is the picture of what I made today :).

make your own fruit on the bottom yogurt cup

Just came across this and absolutely love it. Can see myself doing this many a times in the future.

http://www.thekitchn.com/make-your-own-fruitonthebottom-125467

Few other related ideas:
(in the order of interesting to boring):

http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/2011/09/fruit-and-yogurt-parfait-how-to-make.html
http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/01/20/fruit-yogurt-granola-parfaits/
http://www.ehow.com/how_4678944_easy-yogurt-fruit-granola-treat.html
http://www.manicmommies.com/index.php/2011/05/04/recipe-of-the-week-yogurt-parfaits-for-a-group/

I haven't gotten around to making this myself..but plan to do so soon and will post a picture here then.

test

Assorted ideas

http://showmethecurry.com/category/quickfixes/

http://www.bestofkanchan.com/indian-recipes/a-collection-of-indian-recipes-for-school-lunch/

scrambled eggs

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Akoori+(Masala+Scrambled+Eggs):495

Quick yogurt rice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R2O21fcfMg

Easy fried rice recipe

http://www.rakskitchen.net/2012/02/easy-fried-rice-recipe-indian-style.html