Simple yet Complete

After a hectic day at work most people come home and grab the nearest and the easiest thing to eat .Calories and vows to work towards a better body are forgotten ..All that matters is taking care of the hunger thats poking holes in your stomach ....

I often try to live up to my vow(pun intended ,wink!!) There are few days when I dont care for anything but boiled eggs (atleast they are healthy) and other days when I am capable (and thats mostly the situation) when I cook up a 2-3 course , healthy meal ...

The picture represents just that...boiled or steamed rice , yellow lentil soup(in india its called toor or arhar dal ), minced mea(called keema in india) with vegetables ,yogurt and some fresh salad ..A meal like this mostly takes care of my body , soul and my hunger and gets rave reviews..

Bon appetit :-)

Grilled Salmon with steamed vegetables

yeah ..healthy ,yummy and fast to cook..loaded with omega 3 fatty acids...

the vegetables(mushrooms, carrots, spinach , zucchini ,onion and yellow bell paper) were steamed and the salmon was marinated in olive oil and seasoned with salt,pepper , lemon and some "special masala "I have :-)

Enjoy !!

Durga Puja fare

I become extremely nostalgic when Durga Puja is around the corner and miss home ..The pandals ,the endless fun, the camaraderie and the food...Since I no longer get that food I decided to make it myself and fill the void.For those of you who dont know what Durga Pooja is,Well, it is a prominent festival amongst bengalis in India .

My menu had the quintessential Khichudi(a mixture of rice, lentils ,veggies and spices),cabbage with peas,Labda(a funny name but dont get mislead by it )a delicious,aromatic& sweet-salty mix of vegetables like squash, aubergines and potatoes,seasoned with five spices and cooked in mustard oil),tomato chutney(I also added dates,rasins and cherries to the mix), Begun bhaja(sliced aubergines marinated in turmeric and salt and panfried in mustard oil) and the dessert was khejur gud paish (rice pudding cooked in palm sugar)...

Shubho Bijoya everyone !!



khichudi


Labda (yeah say that again ..its a funny name):-)


cabbage and peas


begun bhaja (aubergines pan fried in mustard oil)


tomato chutney


khejur gud paish(rice pudding made with palm sugar)

Rock Fish fillet in Red Curry

Last evening I did'nt feel like eating fish grilled or the Indian way ,so I decided to go Thai.And cooked some Rock fish in thai red curry.

Cooking the curry :
This involves dicing rock fish fillets in medium sized cubes .Diced a large red onion into cubes and chopped soem baby carrots.Heated some sesame oil to which I added a couple of dried red chillies and then sauted the vegetables.When the veggies were a little soft added the fish cubes ,salt,red pepper flakes ,black pepper and some fish sauce .When the Veggies and fish were almost cooked ,added some thai red curry paste to which I had added coconut milk .Simmered the vegetables in sauce for a little while and there you go.

Cooking the Rice :
The rice that I cooked to accompany the fish curry was'nt the traditional jasmine rice but long grained basmati rice .For this ,I heated some ghee(clarified butter) and then added Nigella seeds(kalonji),whole red chillies and a couple of bay leaves .Added water and salt and then when the water was hot and bubbling , added the rice .And then cooked the rice on slow heat till it was done.



The fish in red curry



Fish curry and rice

Pastalicious

I love pasta , noodles and sphagetti ....I dont eat them very often but when I do,its always my first priority to make it wholesome .

So I concocted one of these pasta dishes ...It has pasta that comes in 5 different shapes which I mix up with chicken and vegetables (spinach , peas, beans and carrots )I do a tomato based sauce with garlic in olive oil to which I add italian seasoning , black pepper ,salt and red chili flakes and cook the veggies and chicken in the sauce .Then I add boiled and strained pasta and garnish with cheese.

Viola ,An interesting mix of spices, texture and healthy food.And ofcourse ,you can always turn it up a notch with a glass of red wine :-)


Enjoy !!

Doi Maach

And so I continue with more "fishy" recipes.This one is called Doi maach ...and I love it .I do a quick version and sometimes a slow version.The slow version is obviously more labor intensive .One can use catfish, seabass, halibut fillets or any other that are available.

the recipe usually involves marinating the fish fillets in a mixture of ginger ,cumin,red pepper,salt, corriander powder,turmeric etc etc in yogurt..The rest can be discussed in any one wants to know(wink!!)

Enjoy:-)