Kitchen Experiments: Sizzling Prawns

Sorry people, for not blogging regularly anymore- but my new job’s started- and what with a 6-day week, I have very little time to myself!
This is a recipe I’d cooked a while ago (right on the heels of Prawn Rice, with the remaining prawns! :P) and finally I am sharing it with you!
It is quick, easy and delicious – and makes a great starter/sandwich stuffing/accompaniment to a roti.
So here I present to you – Mrs B.N.’s Sizzling Prawns!
Sizzling because that’s how hot and crisp they are when you dish them out from the pan – and also because of their gorgeous fresh-and-zingy taste!
(Mrs. B.N. hasn’t christened this dish, I have, so, if yours don’t turn out to be as sizzling as I described, lay the brickbats at my door and if they do, please deliver the bouquets at her door!)

Ingredients: (Am not giving any measures, because there are few ingredients and all are to be taken by eye or as per your taste and appetite!)

Prawns – shelled, and de-veined
Coriander (Cilantro) leaves
Mint leaves
Green chillies
Ginger
Garlic
Salt
Rice Flour (I guess you can use cornflour if you don’t have rice flour)
Any vegetable oil (avoid strongly flavoured ones like mustard oil, because while the prawns can hold their flavour against the onslaught of mustard, the delicately fragrant coriander and mint can’t; and we want the dish to be fresh and zesty, not a powerpunch of mustard)
Lemon/Lime wedges (as an accompaniment)



Pound/Grind all the ingredients except the prawns, rice flour ad lemon to a smooth paste. Do NOT add any water while making the paste – this is very important!

Rub this paste onto the prawns and let them marinate for half an hour.

Add the rice flour (or corn flour) teaspoon by teaspoon till it absorbs all the water the prawns have released and a sticky paste-like mixture is formed. Avoid using too much flour as the dish gets very doughy otherwise.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or a frying pan and spread it all round the pan. Once hot, add the prawns to the pan, preferably to make a layer (don’t just tip them in pell-mell) all across the pan, leaving some space between the prawns for turning them over. Like cooking mini-pancakes on a griddle.

Cook on high heat till the prawns are golden brown on one side. Turn them all over, one at a time and cook on the other side till golden too.

(All of this careful cooking-turning-cooking is needed if you’re rationing the amount of oil used. You can go the whole hog and deep fry the prawns for maximum crunch without having to be all careful and slow)

Remove from the pan – ideally, the prawns would be semi-covered with a crispy, crunchy batter cover and the kitchen (or the whole house) would be redolent with the aroma of prawns and herbs.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon/lime juice and some finely sliced onions on the side.

Enjoy!!

Kitchen Experiments: Prawn Rice

I know I have been blogging like crazy lately, but cant you guess – my long vacation is about to get over and God only knows when I can next have such an extended break?!! :)
Today I made an old tried-and-tested dish for dinner – another one-dish meal! It was taught to me by my wonderful cousin K, who's the epitome of perfection - she's gorgeous, sings like an angel, cooks like a dream and is a surgeon, to boot!
The dish is extremely simple, delicious and has the advantage of appearing like a party dish over which you have slaved for hours! :-D

Ingredients:
250 gms ready-shelled and de-veined prawns (if you get the ones with the shell on, you will need more than 250 gms)
¾ tablespoon garlic paste/ 6-7 cloves peeled garlic
Green chillies (to taste, say about 3)
A fistful of coriander leaves
2 medium tomatoes
2 small onions
1 dry red chilly, broken into 2 pieces (optional)
2 cups Basmati rice (any long grained variety will do)
2-3 cloves, 1 stick cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 3-4 peppercorns.
3-4 teaspoons oil

Method:

Chop the onions and tomatoes, medium fine.


Grind the garlic, chillies and coriander to form a not-too-fine paste.


Rub this paste onto the prawns and let them marinate for 30 minutes or so.


Wash the rice and cook it with about 3.5 cups water and the whole spices (cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and pepper). Cook it in an electric rice cooker if you have one so that the rice becomes a bit dry-ish. (Each grain being cooked but standing separate from the others) It should NOT be soft and sticky

Heat the oil in a kadhai/wok and once hot, add the chopped onions and sauté till softened. Add the dry red chilly and stir. Next add the tomatoes and sauté till the tomatoes are half-cooked.


Add the prawns (along with the marinade/juice they are lying in) and briskly stir on high heat till the prawns become opaque. Take care not to overcook the prawns.

Add salt as per taste.(Add more than normal because it is to be enough for the rice which will be added to the pot later on)

Add the cooked rice and give the whole thing a good stir and cook on medium heat till the rice absorbs the prawns’ flavour, say about 5 minutes. Make sure the rice is nice and dry like biryani, no juice should be left to make it wet and sticky.



Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve hot!
Squabble with everyone else at the table for the last prawn :P



The above quantities would GENEROUSLY serve 2, (maybe even 3) assuming this is the only dish being served, with maybe some raita.

A few tips:
Tip #1: Use fresh prawns as far as possible. Freshness is more important than the size of the prawns. (I used tiny ones) If using frozen prawns (like I did) make sure you make the dish ASAP once you get them. The prawns are the main flavour-giving ingredient in this dish and any lack of flavour in them makes the whole dish fall flat.



Tip#2: To get the maximum flavour, you can use a different method of cooking – do not pre-cook the rice. Rub the marinade off the prawns (yes, I am not crazy!) and shallow-fry them in the wok. Take them out in 15 seconds (when they are half-cooked). Next fry the whole spices in the prawn-flavoured oil, and continue with the onions etc. Tip in the prawns’ marinade along with the tomatoes. Then add water and salt and the washed rice and cook till the rice is almost cooked. Then add the fried prawns and cook till done. This method extracts the maximum flavour of the prawns - since the rice is cooked in a prawn-flavoured infusion, every grain will be imbued with prawniness!

Kitchen Experiments: Pudinewaale Aloo

I was in the mood for cooking something which would tease the palate, but was stuck with making plain old potato subzi (the other options were bhindi (ladiesfingers/okra) or cabbage, so you can see why I skipped to the potato!)
But the potato is the most versatile of all vegetables and I thought it could play the starring role in my Bollywood-esque production – lots of sizzle and mirch-masala! :D
The end result was quite pleasing and can get better with slight modifications as I keep perfecting the recipe (I thought it up just today!) But the EASE in making this dish makes it a winner!


Ingredients:
3 medium sized potatoes, boiled
2 small/1 large tomato
1 medium onion
½ inch piece of ginger
Juice of 1/8th lemon
Salt, sugar and chaat masala, to taste (If you don’t have chaat masala – use a mixture of rock salt, ground cumin and ground black pepper)
2 teaspoons oil
1/2 teaspoon jeera (cumin) seeds
½ teaspoon red chili powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon (or 1.5) of mint chutney (the standard dark green chaat accompaniment – paste of fresh mint, coriander, garam masala, rock salt, sugar and green chillies)
2-3 sprigs fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

Cut the potato into thick chunks, and the onion and tomato into medium-fine dice
Grate/Chop the ginger (don’t bother peeling et al!)
Heat the oil in a kadhai/wok. Once hot, add the cumin seeds.
Once they are done spluttering, add the turmeric, onion and ginger and stir till the onion has softened.
Add the red chili powder and stir.
Add the tomatoes and stir on high heat till you see the oil separating from the onion-and-tomato mix.
Add the mint chutney, salt and sugar. First add the mint chutney and then the salt and sugar (to taste) since the mint chutney already has salt and sugar in it.
Stir till you get a nice chunky paste. Add the potatoes and stir so that the paste coats the potatoes evenly.
(Tip: You can pierce the potatoes with a fork before throwing them into the pan so that the masala can enter the inside of the potato dice and the potatoes are tasty throughout. Else you can simply cut the potatoes into thinner pieces. (but not so thin that they break as you stir – boiled potato breaks easily!) Another alternative is to simple mash the potatoes and make the dish as an ‘Aloo Bharta’)
Simmer the potatoes on low heat, allowing the masala to impart its taste to the potaoes. Stir regularly, so that the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom of the kadhai.

Add the chaat masala, lemon juice and half the chopped coriander. Stir well and simmer for another minute. Switch off the gas and take the kadhaai off the heat.
Garnish with the rest of the chopped coriander.

This dish tastes yummy when served hot (with hot chapattis) as well as cold. You can also use the leftovers (if any!!) as a filling for sandwiches or as a base for chaat. Alternatively, you can mix any leftover subzi with dahi (curd) to make an aloo raita.

Kitchen Experiments: Grilled Sandwiches

Dad’s maiden entry into the kitchen was to make grilled sandwiches. Now of course, he is a Master. But the fillings are ever-changing, ever-evolving and a constant source of creative (and culinary) joy.
The best part about these sandwiches is that you’re the boss. Which bread to use, whether or not to butter the bread, the proportions of the ingredients of the filling – are all up to you.
Here are a few very simple yet very tasty filling fillings for grilled sandwiches:

1.Dad’s basic potato-and-chutney filling:
•Spread the bread slice with a thin layer of chutney (fresh grated coconut, green chilies, coriander, salt and sugar ground to a rough paste)
•Sprinkle red chili powder (or paprika) and salt on medium-thick slices of boiled and peeled potato
•Stud the chutneyed bread with potato slices (as many as you like)
•Cover with a second slice of bread and grill in the sandwich toaster/grill till golden brown


2. A’s spinach-corn-cheese-onion filling: (or Makarand Anaspure’s recipe given to me by A)
• Make a thick mattress-like layer of washed-and-finely-shredded spinach leaves on the bread.
• Sprinkle finely chopped onion on top of the spinach
• Stud the onion-and-spinach with boiled corn kernels or raw American corn kernels (incredibly sweet!)
• Sprinkle salt and chaat masala on top of the corn (For those who don’t know what chaat masala is or don’t have access to it, you can use any seasoning you like – mixed dried herbs/paprika/ground pepper/fried chicken seasoning/garlic salt etc etc)
• Top generously with grated cheese (of your choice, softer and creamier the better)
• Cover with another slice of bread and grill till golden brown (the spinach must be nicely wilted and the cheese should have semi-melted)
Cheat Sheet: Mix the spinach, onion, corn, seasonings together to make a nice mix. So making the sandwich is reduced to a 2-step process – generously layer with the filling, and then top with grated cheese


Ingredients for Paneer Toasties and A's corn-and-spinach sandwiches all set out!

2. M’s Paneer Toasties
• Slice some fresh malai paneer (Indian cottage cheese) into medium-thick slices (the slice should be the size of the bread slice)
• Sprinkle red chili powder, freshly ground pepper and salt on both sides of each paneer slice
• Place the seasoned paneer slice on the bread
• Cover with a second slice of bread and grill in the sandwich toaster/grill till golden brown

All of the above taste yummy when served piping hot from the grill with some ketchup and/or mint chutney!

If any of you have such simple-yet-yum recipes for sandwich fillings, please leave them as comments below this post! :)

Kitchen Experiments:Tehri

Yet another of Dad's Kitchen Experiments - though in all honesty it was a Kitchen Success.
Last night Dad (again!) took over the responsibility of getting us fed before bed. I must say, its amazingly peaceful (for Ma and I) to lounge about watching TV or reading and not having to bother about dinner AT ALL! :)
Dad was enamoured by the recipe for Tehri shown on Marut Sikka's cookery show 'Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Tikkas" on NDTV Goodtimes. Now, Dad is inspired to try out probably 1 in every 25-30 recipes that he comes across, and I have observed he has an eye for simple yet tasty one-dish meals.
So enthusiastic was he about making the Tehri that Ma scoured the loft to get out her old 'Langdi', a traditional brass flat vessel (like a pie tin, but much deeper) which is THE PERFECT vessel for cooking rice in. (Which we havent used for the last 25 years or so)
The recipe can be found here:, which I have reroduced below:
Ingredients:
1 cup rice
2 carrots
10 beans
2 potatoes
100 gm fresh peas
1 tbs mustard oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp garlic paste
1/2 cup kasoori methi leaves
1/2 cup thick yoghurt
2 tsp yellow chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
8-10 sliced green chillies
3 tsp sliced ginger
1 tsp green cardamom powder
1 tsp mace powder
1/2 cup cream
Salt
Water

Method:
Soak the rice in double the amount of water for twenty minutes.

Peel and cut carrots, beans and potatoes into small diagonal pieces. Boil water in a pan, add salt and blanch potatoes, carrots,peas and beans, separately for two to three minutes. Once they are boiled, rinse them in cold water.
Heat mustard oil in a vessel, add cumin seeds, garlic paste, kasoori methi leaves and saute. Add water and cook for a minute. Add the vegetables and salt. Cook for sometime. Now add yoghurt, yellow chilli powder, turmeric powder and cook for five to ten minutes. Add water and boil it for sometime.
Add green chillies, ginger, green cardamom powder, mace powder and rice. Gently stir and reduce the heat. Cover and cook for sometime. Once the rice is cooked add the cream and saute. Serve hot.


We didnt have mace powder nor the yellow chili powder, nor the mustard oil but Dad left out the mace and substituted red chilli powder (paprika) for the yellow and used peanut oil instead of mustard (we neither of us like the smell of mustard oil)
And it was a resounding success! The rice is fragrant with all the spices, yet there is no harsh heat on the palate. Its a delicately spiced and exqusite-looking dish to be savoured with a simple raita.
Here it is in all its glory:



All in all a pretty simple dish which is a meal in itself!

Kitchen Experiments: Schezwan Chutney

To begin with, for all our non-Indian readers (ha ha…as if!) ‘Schezwan’ is a modification of the name Sichuan, the province of China renowned for its fiery spicy food.
In India, one gets an amazing array of ‘Indian-Chinese’ (or Sino-Ludhianwi, as labeled by former Minister Mani Shanker Aiyer) food – with smile-inducing names like ‘Chicken 65’, ‘Prawn Bullet’, ‘Singapuri Rice’, ‘Veg Triple Schezwan’, all of which are YUMMY- but as Chinese as filet mignon.
So, given this background, ‘Schezwan Chutney’ is a perfectly appropriate name for this Oriental-tasting spicy sauce/dip/chutney.
The recipe below is courtesy the wonderful Mr. S.N.
Mr. S.N., Mrs. S.N. and P.N. were my guides to foodie goodies beyond Indian food. I first tasted as well as learnt to make pizzas, pastas, tacos and much more at their home. I’ll always be grateful to them for broadening my horizons, food-wise.

Mr. S.N.’s Schezwan Chutney:
Take 10 whole dried red chilies and fry them in a tablespoon of oil till they soften and darken in colour.



Grate 3 " of ginger and sauté it in the same oil as the chilies (you can add the ginger halfway through sautéing the chilies)


Grind the chillies, grated ginger and about 15 cloves of peeled garlic, add 1 tablespoon of sugar,1 tablespoon of vinegar , 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and quarter teaspoon of salt and further grind to smooth paste.

The end result should be a glorious, smooth rich red paste. The colour will vary to the type and age of chilies being used and the amount of soy sauce, but aim for a toe-tingly red.



You can use this chutney as a dip or condiment or to add flavour to other dishes - it gives a zingy Chinese-like taste to whatever it is added to!

Mr. S.N.’s suggested recipe using this paste is:
Peel a boiled potato and cut it into thin finger-shaped pieces.
Heat 1 table spoon of oil, fry the potato fingers, add a quarter spoonful of roasted sesame seeds and stir in Chinese sauce to cover the potatoes

Though Mr. S.N. has kindly given the measures for all ingredients, I would urge everybody to experiment and find the proportion that works for them. That’s the point of a dip or condiment – it alters the taste of any food to what you like :-)

Kitchen Experiments:Arabic Chicken

I have taken over the kitchen from Ma this past week but today it was taken over from me by Dad. Today was the long-awaited day we were going to have one of the few dishes in Dad’s repertoire – Arabic Chicken!
Now, I doubt if the Arabs ever cooked chicken in this fashion, but this was the name given to the recipe by Sachin Pilgaonkar (a cinema and TV actor and producer) on a cookery show. More importantly, it was this recipe which spurred my Dad to not only the kitchen, but also to buy chicken and cook it at home. Mind you, till the fateful day Dad cooked this up the first time last year, we were STRICT vegetarians at home. For decades.
So this dish is doubly special – being both Dad’s baby AND the only non-vegetarian dish to be cooked in our kitchen in 30 years!
This is a quick and incredibly easy dish to make - and is fat-free too! Not to mention its fresh, zingy and tasty. So here is a sure-fire successful recipe for all new-and-bumbling cooks:

Arabic Chicken:
Ingredients:
250 gm boneless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes
250 gm onions,
A healthy-sized bunch of fresh (and I mean FRESH) coriander leaves (only the leaves and the tender part of the stems)
A smaller bunch of fresh mint leaves (say 5-6 sprigs)
Salt, pepper and lemon juice, to taste

For the marinade:
2 green chilies, chopped
¼ inch piece of ginger
1 tsp garlic paste or 3-4 cloves peeled garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs coriander leaves (only the leaves and the tender part of the stems)
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Grind the ingredients of the marinade into a rough paste.
I used the mortar-and-pestle, since the quantity was too tiny to bring out the mixer. (Besides, it’s always fun to use the cool-looking stone M-and-P!)

Mortar and pestle
Rub the paste onto the chicken pieces. Cover and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes.


Marinated Chicken
Wash and chop (medium-fine) the mint and coriander leaves. Peel and thinly slice the onions.


Take a steel/copper-bottomed saucepan. (About 6-8 inches deep) Line the bottom with a layer of onion slices.


Next, make a layer of half of the marinated chicken pieces.


Sprinkle half the mint over the chicken.


Make a layer of roughly half of the chopped coriander leaves. Sprinkle ¼ tsp of salt all over the leaves.


Repeat all the layers and use up all the chicken, onion and herbs.





Sprinkle the top with some salt and pepper.

Cover with lid and put the pan on the stove, on a low flame.
After 10-12 minutes, remove the lid. The coriander must have sunk a little and turned a darker green. Stir thoroughly. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes (till the chicken is just-cooked)
Add a spritz of lemon, stir and serve piping hot with toast or steamed rice.


You can substitute the chicken with prawns/malai paneer/mushrooms/tofu/boiled potato.
The cooking time will vary according to the ingredient used.
Enjoy!!

P.S.: End the meal on a sweet note with a bite of chocolate. A personal favourite: Twix, with its triple wafer-chocolate-caramel treat! :)