Healthiest Fish recipe ever known by man :)

Hey you like fish – healthy and delicious. Yeah Yeah I know. What you thinking but No. Not a pinch of oil...

So here it goes

The maker – The Momo making machine ..

½ Kg of any kind of fish – Try Bohu because that ‘s what I tried or any boneless fish or fish with less bones.. Actually it does not matter

The marinating process1) Take 2-3 pieces of garlic cloves (Mind you not too much. I smelt like garlic for 2 days when I made it for the 1st time)

2) Take 1 big piece of ginger . You would need more of ginger than garlic

3) Chillies based on your taste buds

4) A little salt

5) Lots of coriander leaves (Dhaniya patta

Once you have all the stuffs, Mix them in a mixer, or manual grinder. I like the latter and mix it with the fish. Here you can use little oil (Very little)

Now that you have keep it covered say for an hour. Please do not add Vinegar (it’s a request).

Now take an aluminium foil and place the fish in the centre and fold the four sides of the aluminum foil up to prevent the juice from flowing.Place the fish cupped in aluminum foil on the steamer tray.Steam the fish for 20 -30 minutes or till fully cooked. Use a fork to poke iknto center of the fish to check

Once done… enjoy with food or with your drinks. You may also add very thinly sliced Carrots, spring onions on top to garnish

To make the fish little crisper, what I tried what I took the fish out and grilled it. You do not need to go through all that. It works either way.

Now who said a girl who lived outside Arunachal for a decade can’t cook ;)

Its breakfast time - German potato pancakes

Looks can be deceptive. That’s what I thought when I made today's breakfast.

I always like heavy and fulfilling breakfast and did not want to spend too much time cooking. So I made German potatoes Pancakes

What is that 1st thing which comes to your mind when you think of pancakes

1)     Pretentious
2)  Never Heard of

I can vouch for that once you done cooking, those ideas will vanish from your head

What you need and I am sure you will have in the house

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour – Maida
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder – Even if you do not add, its fine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Mix in potatoes and onion.Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. 

By using a big kitchen spoon which looks like 

 Put the batter in the oil to fry

Make sure you Press to flatten. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp.

You can make this for your friends or guests when you have them over for breakfast… add some other fancy stuffs as side dishes and its all good

Would like to add that the picture of pancake is taken from Google as my camera battery died before I took a picture however that picture is the closest to what I made looks like

Tips for cocktails

A cocktail tip!!!

Always keep in my mind before making a cocktail is "cranberry juice' which is not very popular is however plays a big part in making any cocktail.80% of cocktails requires the use of cranberry juice

Malai Chicken which I made for dad

Adding this recipe for malai chicken as this dish holds a special place in my heart. I am not a big fan of malai chicken as I am on a diet but I made this for my father after 6 years. So this recipe is dedicated to my father who loved it when he came for dinner.

Before I start I would like to add that, do not be worried with the list of ingredients. All of them are easily available (See I keep mentioning this because lot of things are not easily available in Arunachal.)

• 1 kilogram of Chicken which is cut into pieces
• 1 medium Onion  - chop chop chopped
• 1 Red Chilli (Lal Mirch) (more or less may be used depending on taste preferance.)
• 2 Cloves (Loung)
• 2 Cardamom Pods (Choti Ilaichi)
• 1 (½" piece) of Cinnamon Stick (Dal Cheeni)
• 1 Bay Leaf (Tezz Patta)
• A bunch of coriander  (Hara Dhania) (chopped)
• 1 tsp. Coriander Powder  - Dhaniya powder
• ½ tsp. Cumin Powder  - Zeera powder
• 1 tsp. Garam masala powder
• 1 ¼ tsp. Red Chilli Powder
• ½ tsp. Turmeric Powder
• 3 small tomatoes which I pureed
• 1 carton of Light Whipping Cream (Kindly do not use any other but the Amul one. I tried once with a different one and honey.. It was baddddd)
• 1 tsp. Ginger Paste
• 1 tsp. Garlic Paste
• Salt (to taste)
• Cooking Oil

Now how do I cook this

1. Heat oil in a pot on medium heat. Add the red chilli, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Fry until the bay leaf turns golden brown. 
2. Add chopped onion; fry for a few minutes. Add ginger paste and garlic paste; fry for another 4 to 6 minutes. Kindly ensure that it is fried in low heat because you don't want to burn them
3. Add chicken pieces and fry for another 5 minutes or so. Sprinkle on top the salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and turmeric powder; mix
4. Add 1 glass of water; mix and cover on low heat; cook for about 20 minutes or until chicken is almost done.
5. Add can of tomato paste; mix and continue cooking on low heat until chicken is well done.

Finally add the whipping cream and cook for another few minutes. Add garam masala and coriander leaves; cook for another couple minutes and remove from heat.

Kindly ignore the messiness, as it was done without any hope of getting a cook book deal :) . May be with time, when I have more time, I will add pictures which are taken more carefully :)

This is the reason why I love cooking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIdbroOLvhw

Sex on the beach - Cocktail

Sex on the beach - Not that easy if you do not have all the ingredients. Sex on the beach is my 2nd favorite cocktail after Mojitos. But hey do not get an alternate ingredient because it will not be the same.

Ingredients and the process to get on the beach ;)

• 1 shot of vodka -Thats a picture of what one shot means ok and thats not THE drink


• 1 shot of peach schnapps – Use Archers because its easily available – FYI – Schnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage


• 200 ml of orange and cranberry juice


• 2 shots of raspberry juice

1^st mix orange, cranberry and raspberry juice in a glass and mix well.Than take a high filled glass, add ice to the glass, pour the vodka shots and mix the juices and enjoy ....

Hey weekend will be here soon. Invite your friends... Mojitos is one cool cocktail but lots of ladies prefer "sex on the beach" too :)

Healthy breakfast snack

This one tried, when I wanted a snack, nothing too heavy, leftovers not be wasted.

I had made some Chole one night and when I saw my fridge the next day, I knew I was not in for another round of Chole-Rice or did not want to fry those pooris again.

I made a quick snack with whatever I could find in my kitchen.

I made 3 big chapattis – Atta and not maida ok

• First I washed the cooked Chole in water (Mind you, here I am talking about the Chole masala that I had cooked the day before).
• some onions (You can use depending on your taste)
• one half cucumber
• one small raw tomato (Fine!!! I did not. I just wrote that to make the recipe sound good okay..but you know, you should add tomatoes. I don’t eat raw tomatoes but I have been told that it tastes good)
• 2 green chilies
• One big sized potato (Boiled and cut in small cubes)

I made some pudina chutney by mixing pudina, one clove of garlic, little salt, little sugar and mix them in the mixer with very little water.

My cabbage was good to be thrown but I took out the outer rotten leaves and was left with very small tiny cabbage which helped

NOTE – you can add any kind of vegetables that you want. I just don’t like to add too many as it confuses my taste buds.

After I got all the ingredients chopped, I was ready.

Now that I have it all, I mixed it all together, took one chapatti, put the mixture in between, spread some pudina chutney.rolled it, ducked the chappati from behind and awesome…. Healthy snack ever. No oil, No masala, no leftovers.. yeeehhh

I wont say try with bread because.. than you loose the authenticity of it.You can also use the chapattis that you made the night. It is nice to eat even if the chapattis are crispy – Just like Tacos ;)

I saw this on TV once. Some Indian street food vendor was making it in South Africa… Can you beat it… It’s a hit in that country

Easiest and quickest Spaghetti and something extra

There are 1000s ways to cook spaghetti and on the internet you will find plenty of recipes. My recipe is no different. I just have a tip on how you can make spaghetti easily and very quickly.If you think, early morning, you need a quick bite and do not have the time to cook, on a weekend, prepare the sauce and keep it refrigerated. The sauce is the life of spaghetti ( 4 people)

Now without much complication, make the sauce.You would need -

1) 8-10 ripe tomatoes

2) 4-5 onions

3) 4 cloves of garlic

4) Use basil/ tulsi leaves if you have but even if you do not have, don’t fret on it.

5) Salt and sugar

Now boil the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes. Than take the tomatoes and keep it aside in a small bucket of iced water. Remember even if you dont have that, it is absolutely fine because it is done to retain the color of the sauce. So like I said "dont fret on it".. Oh by the way peel the skin off. In the meantime, slice the onions thinly and fry them in little oil till they are little brownish, add chopped garlic, red chilly powder, salt based on taste and 2 teaspoon of sugar. Fry for 4-5 minutes and in low flame and keep aside

Boil 1 cup of water in another pan, crush the tomatoes and add into the water. Also add the fried onions and the rest of the mixture. Once all the ingredients are little soft, please take out the basil leaf and mix them all together to make a puree in a mixer.

OK, every household has a mixer, however keeping in mind that my recipes are written based on the idea that “I can cook without getting it complicated”, you can crush the puree in a manual grinder as well. It really does not matter.

And guess what – that’s your sauce. That’s the basic thing that you need to make spaghetti

Now in a pan, Add 8-10 cups of water and once the water starts boiling, add the spaghetti and cook for 8-10 minutes. Boil till they are not crunchy and its ok to for the noodles to be little hard in the centre. Once it is cooked, take it out, wash it under cold water and in another pan, add the noodles and the sauce and cook for another 5-6 minutes and it is done my friend

I made this in the morning :)

Here is another tip – if you do not have spaghetti – do you have Maggie – Yes my friend!!! In a pan, boil the Maggie with little water and DO NOT add the masala. Once the Maggie is about to be cooked, add the sauce and let is cook for 1 minute or so that you made and see the wonder

Mix vegetables with Tinned fish - Its healthy and its yummy

If you like Tinned fish, you will like this too

All you need (if you are cooking for say 4 people)

1)      vermicelli –White ones (Sewai) . So when you go to a store, ask for sewai which is not fried.One packet is enough

2)      Two medium size potatoes

3)      2-3 capsicums

4)      Green chilies

5)      1 small Cauliflower

6)      1 mooli – I seriously don’t know the English name

7)      2 tomatoes  - Not too raw

Oil, Salt and water

Basically, you can add other vegetables that you like. I have mentioned the above because they go well with Tinned fish

The process

·        Cut all the vegetables in small cubes and set it aside. In a Pan/Karahi, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the potatoes, mooli and cauliflowers.

·        After 5-7 minutes, check if they have softened little bit.

·        Once they are, add the other vegetables and add little water and cook for another 5 minutes. Let the vegetables soak the water completely. Mind you, don’t get too greedy with water as the cauliflower is going to break its water ..Ha ha Here comes the baby cauliflower…

·        While they are being cooked, boil 4 cups of water in a different utensil  and add the vermicelli and bring it boil. Once the vermicelli is done, set is aside by throwing the extra water.

Now check your vegetables, add the tinned fish, fry in low flame for 2 minutes, Add salt and than add the vermicelli and cook for another 5 minutes in low flame

  

If you prefer gravy, you can add extra water

And if you add something extra… Please go on food lovers. If you love food, "EXPERIMENT" 

Mojitos -Care for a cool refreshing Rum drink

You can have it on a hot summer day as well however I cannot guarantee the after effects. If you are a Rum drinker, you know what I mean. Lets not forget that this is no Russia

What you must have

1) White Rum (Obviously)

2) Ice - Crushed

3) Lemon slice

4) Lime juice

5) Club Soda

6) Powered-ed or say granulated sugar (Arre nahin hain toh mixer main grind kar do…)

7) Mint leaves..lots of them (Pudina- Please note that it makes the entire drink, hence it’s a must)

Place the mint leaves (8-10 for one glass),1 and 1/2 cup of club soda,2 tea spoon of sugar and mix well till the sugar dissolves.
Than add 3 tablespoon lime juice, add the rum (depending on how strong you want your drink to be) and mix. Add crushed ice and Mix well again.
Strain the drink and garnish with lemon slice and 2-3 mint leaves.

So there you go - A cool refreshing Rum drink Mohitos (Pronounced as MOHITOS). Dear friends, enjoy clubbing at home :)

If you like pumpkin, you will love this pumpkin dish

Cut one small pumpkin and two potatoes into small cubes.

Wash and keep it aside

In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add Pass puran/Pancho purno in Bengali

Add the pumpkins and potato and keep frying till they are little soft.

Now add 1 teaspoon of turmeric (Haldi) and zeera powder and salt to taste

Cook for another 2-3 minutes on low flame.

Now add little water and cook for another 5-10 minutes

Take one small garlic piece, mash it and add it and cook for another 5 minutes or till they are cooked well

(DO NOT forget to mash the pumpkin little bit )

Very Important tip – the garlic is the essence of this dish. It won’t taste the way it should if you miss to add “Mr Garlic”

Chicken soup/boil chicken

Being an Arunachali/ Naga/Mizo we all eat mostly boiled stuffs. How about making it little different than the everyday’s boiled stuff- Chicken soup or boil chicken with bread or with rice (Rice if you are a north eastern)

So this is what you need to do…
The ingredients

1) 1/2 kilo chicken

2) 3 Tomatoes - sliced

3) Chillies

4) 1 Tbs black pepper - Jaalmuris..Lol

5) 2-3 cloves of garlic and ginber

6) 2 eggs

6) Salt to taste

Bring 4 big cups of water to boil. Add 3 sliced tomatoes – Big sizes (If you can please remove the seeds), Chilis if you like.

Crush 4 pieces of garlic and ginger – not mash but crush and add them

Add small pieces of chicken , add salt and bring it to boil (please keep it covered)

Cook for 15-20 minutes based on what kind of chicken you are using – You know local murgi has thick skin

Before you take out the chicken, add one/two raw egg /eggs(beat the eggs well first)..2 eggs are more than enough for 1/2 kg chicken

Let it cook for another 2-3 minutes and see how different it tastes that your usual boil chicken

A good food tip for vegetables/dal - This is specially for my North eastern friends

Use "Kasuri Methi" by MDH ;) in your dal or vegetables (Obviously not boil ones) .... It simply delicious

TRY

Aaloo Pitika with a difference -Works when you only want to have daal and rice

All you need are potatoes, Red dry chilies (sabut that means not powered), salt and onions.

Boil the potatoes and in the mean time, fry the red chilies and sliced onions till they are little crispy (I said Crispy .. so something brownish. YOU MADE IT BLACK duh!!!)

After 4-5 whistles, take the potatoes out, mash it (use Steel glass – works well –saw one Manipuri friend of mine doing it) and add salt, chilies and onion.

(See I forgot to tell you that the chilies and onions are supposed to be fried in “Meetha teil”/Mustard oil ONLY) If you are one of those olive oil users, America is THAT way.

And now that you have mixed them all, enjoy the simple dish with your Rice and daal. And important tip – No leftovers. It looses its charm when its cold

Another add on – heard about those famous bamboo shoot pickles from Nongpoh (Meghalaya)????Well honey if you love it, add little bit of the pickle with the aloo. I love it that way

Something sweet when you don't have lot of time - All you need is bread

This is the easiest and quickiest dessert one can make when one has a craving. These recipes are easily available on the net however I thought I would make one so that some of my food lover friends who are little lazy can use this

What we need

1) Bread (cut the brown part) - say 4 pieces of bread and cut them into two slices - sandwich style

2) Oil to fry

3) Milkmaid

4) 2 1/2 cup of milk (NOT powdered milk)

The process....

• Fry the bread pieces in the oil till they are crispy and set them aside
• Then mix the milkmaid and and milk and mix them religiously or with a fork whatever works best for you
• Put the bread slices in the mixture and keep in the fridge for sometime (Till it cools down) .. I have kept it in the freezer when i got greedy ;)

And Voila