Karimeen Varuthathu / Fried Pearlspot using Hudson Canola Oil

Last month I received an email request to review a product on my blog. I agreed . And so, last week, I received a 1 litre bottle of canola oil for a sampling program from Hudson Canola oil, a brand recently launched in India. As canola oil is a neutral flavored oil, it suits all cuisines including Indian cooking.

  

So this week I thought I'll use this oil and review the product and tell you guys what I think about it. The recipe I thought of for this trial round was a simple one . Karimeen fry . I used  the Canola oil as a medium for frying my karimeen or pearlspot.

 

The oil has a high smoke point and is ideal for frying and sauteing. Moreover, the neutral flavor of the oil helps the canola oil stay in the background of the dish rather than dominate in the forefront like most oils. This makes the oil a must-ingredient in the kitchens of those who are into global cuisine. Fortunately, I loved the outcome of cooking with this oil and my verdict would be that I really liked the product received.

 Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• Cleaned Pearlspot - 4
• Chili powder - 3 tspns
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 tspn.
• Salt - To taste
• Canola oil - 5 tbspns.
• Lemon, onions, cucumber and oranges- to garnish

Directions:

• Mix chili powder, turmeric powder and salt in a small bowl. Marinate the fish with the mixed spices and let rest for 30-45 mins.
•  Heat canola oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
• Fry the fish for about  8-9 mins. on each side.
• Serve hot with a spritz of lemon and sliced onions. (I served it with a slice of orange and cucumber too.)

Appam and Stew

Diwali came with much excitement and enthusiasm. The house was cleaned spic and span. There was a sprawling rangoli at my door step and all the diyas glimmering away.  And then, all of a sudden, diwali came to an end with a lot of noise and air pollution.

Right now, we have bright sunny days in Bangalore. But, there is a chill wind indicating the onset of winter.  November is ticking away with only a few days left for everyone to start updating their new year's resolution. Can't believe that 2012 too is coming to a close. Wow! That was fast.  But, I'm looking forward to all the excitement coming up in December with Christmas and New year's and can't wait to try out some new restaurants this the festive season.

Coming to my recipe for today.  Appam and stew is a breakfast dish served in Kerala. It is a high calorie meal, but I or in fact we love it. Some folks like serving appam with milk an d sugar. But, i think that appam is best served with stew.  Click here for stew recipe.

Ingredients:( Makes 16 appams)

• Rice flour - 1-1/2 cups
• Cooked rice - 1 cup
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups
• Coconut milk - 1/4 cup (optional)
• Yeast - 1/2 tspn
• Sugar - 2 tspns
• Salt - to taste
• Milk - 1/4 cup (optional)

Directions:

•  In 1/2 cup of warm water, add yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 mins.
• Other than salt and milk, grind the rest of the ingredients together. Add proofed yeast mixture and let ferment for 5-6 hours. 
• Just before making the appams, add salt and milk to the batter.
• To make appam, pour one ladle of batter in a hot appam pan and rotate the pan so the batter coats the sides of the pan. Cover and let cook for 2-3 mins. And serve hot (Appams are cooked only on one side)
• I have demonstrated how to make appam with pics.
• Best served with stew. Click here for stew recipe.

Paneer paratta

I get fresh paneer from a vendor near my home. It's so fresh and has a crumbly texture to it, quite similar to home-made paneer and very unlike the perfect squares of packaged processed paneer that you get on store shelves. I was sure to put it to good use.  Hubby dear said paneer paratta .

So, paneer paratta it was.

 
This paratta tastes great by itself. It does not need any heavy gravies to accompany it. The best side-dish would be a light raita or pickles. An easy high protein meal, but paneer has high fat content too :(

 Ingredients for paratta dough: (makes 10)

• Whole wheat flour - 3 cups
• Olive oil - 2 tspns
• Salt - 1tspn
• Water - as needed

For filling :

• Grated or crumbled paneer - 200 gms
• Onion - 1 medium (finely chopped)
• Green chilies - 3-4 (finely chopped)
• Coriander leaves (finely chopped) -  5 tbspns
• Garam masala - 1 tspn
• Salt - to taste

Directions for making dough: 

• Mix salt and flour.
• To the flour, add oil and enough water . Knead to a soft, pliable dough.(Knead for about 5-8 mins)
• Make a ball of the dough, cover and keep aside for 15-20 mins.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal sized balls.

For the filling: 

• Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Keep aside.

Directions for making the stuffed parattas:

• Flatten and roll out each ball of dough to about 2 inch diameter.
• Place a tbsp of the filling in the centre. 
• Cover the filling by gathering the edges and making it into a pouch. 
• Press and roll out ,using little flour, into a small round parathas. (these 4 steps are portrayed in my collage)
• Cook the parattas on a hot tava, using little olive oil. Cook on both sides, till brown spots appear.
• Serve hot.

Chicken sandwich with red pepper relish and guacamole

Let's talk sandwiches today. I wonder why I never run out of ideas to make sandwiches. Maybe because I love them so. For this one, I shallow fried a spicy chicken breast in olive oil, made a relish of red peppers and caramelized onions,made guacamole (Click here for guacamole recipe) and to top it all grated a bit of sharp cheddar cheese. After all this work I was not going to ruin it by using plain slice of bread. So, I got a good crusty white bread , which is a rare sight in my home. I always opt for healthy whole wheat bread. But, once in a blue moon, it's fine to use white bread.  Right? 

Assembling was fun and I just kept piling layers and layers on. First, I slapped on some creamy guacamole. Then the relish went right on, then the chicken and then the cheese. No butter on this one. This sandwich makes for a good lunch or dinner :). For us it was weekend brunch.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• Good, crusty, long white loaf like ciabatta or baguette
• Red pepper - 1
• Onions- 2
• Dried oregano - 1/4 tspn
• Garlic - 2 cloves
• Olive oil - 2 tbspns
• Garlic paste - 1/4 tspn
• Chicken breast - 1 pc
• Paprika powder or Kashmiri chili powder - 1 tspn
• Garam masala - 1/4 tspn
• Guacamole - 1/2 cup (Click here for recipe)
• Sharp cheddar - to taste
• Salt - to taste

Method:

• Cut chicken breast lengthwise into 2.
• Marinate with chili powder, garam masala, garlic paste and salt for an hour.
• Shallow fry the chicken in 2 tbspns olive oil. Set chicken aside. Reserve the oil for making relish.
• Now, for the relich, slice onions and red pepper.
• Chop garlic finely.
• Saute garlic in the reserved olive oil. Add onions and peppers and saute.
• When slightly caramelized and golden, add oregano and salt.

Assembling:

• Slice the loaf horizontally. 
• On lower half, slather some guacamole.
• Add the onion-pepper relish.
• Top with chicken and finally grate some cheese on top. 
• Close sandwich and enjoy.

 

Potato Stew

 HAPPY ONAM everyone.

Posting the recipe for a kerala-style potato stew. This stew is usually served with appam and it is also served as an item on the sadhya ela (authentic kerala lunch) . I make my stew in a pressure cooker and I feel it is the easiest way to go about, without consuming much time. Very easy recipe.

Ingredients: ( serves 4)

• Potatoes - 4 medium (each cut into 6 pieces)
• Onions - 2 (sliced)
• Ginger - 2 tbspns (chopped)
• Green chilies - 3 (slit)
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Pepper corns -  1 tspn
• Coconut milk - 200 ml
• Water - 2 cups
• Coconut oil - 1 tspn (optional)
• Salt - to taste

Directions:

• In the pressure cooker, take 100 ml of coconut milk and add the water

• Add the potatoes, onions, ginger, chilies, pepper corns and salt

• Cook for 3 whistles and turn off the heat.  

• When the pressure has released from the cooker, open it and add the remaining coconut milk, curry leaves and coconut oil and simmer for 5 mins.

Here are some recipes which you might find useful this onam.

Sambar

Moru kootaan

Avial

Cabbage thoran

Chammandi 

Sambaaram

Paruppu payasam / paruppu pradhaman

Ela ada

Penne in marinara sauce with spinach and mushroom

 I have been so engrossed in revamping my web page that I forget my meals. It is such a fantastic learning experience for me, that I feel so irritated to move away from my laptop to even cook. Now that mommy dearest has left, I hurry to make quick meals. That way, I can spend more time trying out nerdy stuff that can give my blog a new look .

So the easiest meal I could think of for this day was pasta. Hubby always wants veggies included in his meals. Hates carbohydrate-only meals. So, I think...................Penne with veggies in a marinara sauce. This he really  loves and so it is a win-win situation. Very easy for me to cook and meets his requirements too. It needs less prep time in the kitchen. 

To this day, I make a mean marinara sauce. Marinara is a sauce made from tomatoes, onions and herbs.

I learned to make good marinara sauce from my friend Katrin,  when we lived in Germany. She was gracious enough to let me in on 3 secrets to the most delicious and flavorful pasta sauce. As you read on you will know what they are.

It is essential to use a good, extra virgin olive oil to make a good sauce.
I have added spinach and mushrooms to my pasta sauce because I love the combination of these veggies with my pasta . Hmmmm! I just remembered that I could tell you something about mushrooms. There is a trick to know if your mushrooms are fresh or not.

Freshness of mushrooms can be seen and felt. They should look a healthy white, plump and firm to touch . But more than anything, mushrooms should always be closed at the bottom near the stalk. If they are open and show brown veins it means they are not very fresh. But, this doesn't mean that they are bad or unusable,  but, it is always better to buy closed mushrooms, which means freshness intact.

Now, here are the 3 little secrets to a good pasta sauce :

1.  Add tomato paste to the sauce.
2. Add a splash of good red wine.
3.  Let the sauce simmer for atleast 25 mins, but at best 30-45 mins.

Some people as scared or wary of using wine and alcoholic beverages in their cooking. But fact is, that the alcohol evaporates in the cooking process and leaves only a hint of the wine back.

 

I have used ripe, country tomatoes in my sauce beause they disintegrate easily into the sauce while cooking.  

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• Penne pasta - 2 cups (cooked as per package instructions)
• Olive oil - 2 tbspns
• Onions - 2 (sliced)
• Garlic - 10 large cloves
• Tomatoes -5-6 (cut in halves)
• Sun-dried tomato paste - 2 tspns
• Chili powder - 1/2 tspn
• Sugar - 1 tspn
  
• Salt  to taste
• Water - 2 cups
• Wine - 1/4 cup (optional)
• Mushrooms - 5-6 (sliced)
• Spinach - 1 small bunch (chopped)
• Dried oregano -  1/2 tspn
• Basil - 5-6 leaves (chopped)
• Parmesan cheese - Optional ( I did not use it)

Method:

• Heat olive oil in a pan and add garlic and onions. Saute till transparent.
• Add tomatoes and sun-dried tomato paste. Saute well.
• Add chili powder, salt and sugar. Saute for 2 mins.
• Add water and wine and cover and simmer for at least 30 mins. 
• Stir the sauce occasionally (about every 10 mins)
• Add mushrooms. Cover and cook for 6-8 mins.
• Add the spinach and cook for 2-3 mins
• Finally, add the herbs and serve with the penne.
• Grate a little parmesan cheese over the plate after serving. (optional)