Poha

This is a very tasty and easy to make dish. We often make it for breakfast. Poha is actually flattened rice flakes, can be found in any Indian grocery store. In Bengali we call it "chire". Usually there are three types of poha available in the market, thick, medium and fine. I use the medium one for this preparation.

Ingredients:

200 Gms poha (medium)

1 Boiled potato (cubed)

1 Onion (chopped)

2-3 Green chillies (chopped)

Handful of frozen/fresh peas

Handful of fresh coriander (chopped)

1 Tsp finely chopped ginger

1 Tsp lime juice

1 Tsp whole mustard seeds

1 Tsp turmeric powder

1 Tsp cumin powder

Few peanuts

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the peanuts and keep them separate. Now add the mustard seeds in the remaining oil, once it starts to splutter add the onion, chillies and ginger and fry for a minute. Now add the salt, cumin powder and turmeric powder to it, mix well then add the boiled potato and the peas in to it and let it cook for few minutes. Soak the poha in cold water for only a 1-2 minute, no more than that otherwise it will become like mash which you don't want. Drain the water and add the poha to the mixture in the pan and mix it well. If you think the mixture has become little dry sprinkle some water to it. Cover and cook for another few minutes. Now add the lime juice, fresh chopped coriander and the fried peanuts. Mix well, take off the fire and serve hot with tea or coffee.

Curd Rice

Curd rice is an inseparable part of any South Indian meal. Its a very simple yet delicious comfort food. This is a dish that is usually eaten after the main meals. One of my friend requested for this recipe, so here you go..

Ingredients:

100 Gms cooked rice (boiled)

2-3 Tbsp of curd/ yogurt (use Greek yogurt for richer taste)

1/2 Red onion (finely chopped)

1-2 Green chillies (finely chopped)

Few coriander leaves (finely chopped)

For seasoning:

(All of these below ingredients can be found in any Indian grocery store)

2 Tsp oil

Few curry leaves

1 Tsp mustard seeds

1 Tsp Urad dal (This is a type of lentil white in colour)

1 dry red chilly

Pinch of salt

Pinch of asoefetida (hing)

Method:

Mix the boiled rice and curd together, to that mixture you add the chopped onion, green chillies and the fresh coriander leaves. In a pan heat the oil and add all the seasoning ingredients and fry for a minute (be careful as the mustard seeds will splatter once you add them to the heated oil, so cover the pan as you do so). Now add that to the curd rice. Mix well everything, check the seasoning and serve.

Note: If you keep the curd rice for few hours the rice will absorb all the moisture and the curd rice will become dry. You can then either add more curd or a bit of milk to get back the moisture in it.

Chilli Fish

This is an easy and fast recipe to cook. If you are looking for a fish dish with lots of flavour then this could be a good choice. I have used Monk fish but you can use any fish you like.

Ingredients:

200 gm fish (cut into small cubes)

2 Onions (cut in cubes)

2 Green chillies (chopped)

1 Capsicum (cut in cubes)

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Salt to taste

1 tsp sugar

Oil for frying

For marination of the fish:

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp red chilly powder

2 tsp cornflour, diluted in little water (cold)

1 tsp lemon juice

Method:

Marinate the fish in the marination mixture for 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a deep bottom pan. Fry the fish pieces for 2 minutes (do not overcook it will make the fish chewy). Do not through the marinated mixture. Now add the chopped ginger and garlic in to the remaining oil. Fry for few seconds then add the onions and the chillies. Now cover and cook till onions are bit soft but not fully done. Now add the capsicum and the marination juice left. Cover and cook for few minutes. Add the tomato ketchup, sugar and salt, mix well, cover and continue cooking in a medium flame for another 2 minutes. Uncover the pan and check for seasoning. If require add sugar and salt to your taste. Serve hot with steamed rice. Enjoy!

Green lentil soup/ Mung Dal

Lentils are source of proteins. There are several types of lentils available in the market and each one of them looks and tastes very different form each other. Today, I am using green whole mung dal for this soup.

Ingredients:

150 Gms green mung dal (soaked overnight)

1 Onion (chopped)

1 Potato pealed and cut into small cubes

2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

2 Tsp ginger (finely chopped)

1 Tomato (chopped)

2-3 Green chillies

1 Tsp cumin powder

1 Tsp coriander powder

1/2 Tsp turmeric

1/4 Tsp red chilly powder

Salt to taste

Oil for frying (2 tbsp)

Optional:

Cube of butter (the dimensions of the cube-> I will leave it your imagination ;))

Cream for garnish

Fresh coriander (handful, chopped)

Method:

The method is quite simple and easy if you are comfortable using pressure cooker. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker, add the ginger and garlic to it and fry well. Now add the onion and fry till golden brown. Add the tomatoes, all the spices and keep cooking for 2 minutes. Now add the potatoes mix well and cook for a minute or so. Make sure all the potatoes are coated well with all the spice and onion tomato mixture cooking in the cooker. Now add the soaked dal to the mixture give it a good stir and then add 300mls of boiling water, add salt to your taste, mix well then cover the cooker and let it cook till 3 full whistle and then turn off the heat. Do not open the pressure cooker immediately let the cooker release the pressure slowly and when its done then open the cooker. Give it a good stir again, check the seasoning and most importantly the consistency of the dal. You can add more boilling water to to make it dilute or boil the dal for few more minutes to increase the consistency. It really depends on you and how you would like it. Add the green chillies now and serve hot with rice or bread of your choice.

You can make it a richer by adding cream and butter before serving the dal. Now how much cream and butter to add? That's really up to you. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and serve it hot.

Garlic Rice

Well, I am suffering from a terrible cold, and really don't feel like cooking a lot. I remember, when I was a little girl and used to catch a cold, my mum used to make this for me. I loved it because it taste good and now I have another reason to like it because its so easy to make. So, here you go....

Ingredients:

Rice (cooked) take as much as you would like to eat

2-3 cloves of Garlic (cut into pieces)

1/2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper

Ghee/ Butter

Salt (as per taste)

Method:

Simply heat the ghee/butter and fry the garlic. When the garlic is almost done add the crushed black pepper and salt, now mix it with the rice. Eat it hot you will feel good.

Note: You can vary the quantity of the ingredients as per your taste.

Chocolate Cake

Birthday without a cake is unthinkable! So, I thought of baking one and not just any cake its a chocolate and coffee cake. Its a home-made cake so nothing fancy but something made with love and a bit of butter (may be more!!).

Ingredients:

200gm all purpose flour

150 gms butter

3 eggs

150 gms sugar

150 gms dark chocolate

100gms mixed nuts (crushed)

2 tsp coffee diluted in warm water

2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Melt the butter, beat the eggs and add it to the melted butter and continue beating. Now add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes homogeneous. In a separate bowl mix the flour and the baking soda, slowly add that to the mixture and keep beating so that there are no lumps present. Now add the melted chocolate and the coffee in to the mixture and keep beating. I use an electronic hand blender to beat the cake mixture, it comes out well and less hard work!

When you get the consistency (like honey) and the you see bubble forming in you mixture as you stop beating, that means your mixture is ready. Add the crushed mixed nuts to it and mix well. Preheat the oven at 200 degree centigrade, butter your cake tin and pour the cake mix in the cake baking tin. Now place the tin in the centre of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Use a long pin to pierce in the cake, if it comes out clean that means you cake is done, else bake the cake for some more time until its done. You might consider bringing down the temperature as it might result in burning the top surface of the cake. Once cooked, let it cool then serve hot. Enjoy!!

Note:I usually use a 8" tin to bake, because it takes less time to bake and the surface area is big so the cake gets cooked evenly.