Since the time we started bringing Tilapia fillets, I have always grilled them. I am fish lover and its been a while since i had fish curry. Since i am trying to not eat too much coconut, I didnt want to make our traditional fish curry so I came up with this one. Turned out awesome. Reminded me of my favourite fish curry from Nandini restaurant in Bangalore that i use to have frequently around 10 years back.


Ingredients
500gm Fish
1 Big Onion
2 Tomatoes
1 Spoon Tamarind
1/2 Spoon Black Pepper
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Spoon Jeera Powder
1/4 Spoon Coriander Powder
1/4 Spoon Garam Masala
1/4 Spoon Turmeric Powder
4-5 Garlic cloves
1 Spoon Ginger
Coriander Leaves

Method

• Marinate the fish with 1/4 Spoon Red Chili Powder, Coriander Powder and Salt.
• In mixie, add tamarind, onion and black pepper leaving 6-7 aside. Grind to fine paste. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in tawa and add in fish pieces. Let them cook for a minute.
• Flip the fishes and cook for another minute. Take out of the tawa and keep aside.
• In same oil add in onion paste and saute it till the raw smell from it goes away and you can only smell pepper in it.
• In mean time grind tomatoes, garlic, ginger in mixer and make paste.
• Add tomato paste, jeera powder, garam masala, turmeric powder, remaining black pepper and salt to onion and cook for 5 minutes with constant stirring.
• Add in fish and lightly mix everything together. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Notes
I used cleaned boneless Tilapia fillets each cut into four pieces but you can use any fish in any form but boneless has its own fun :)

The day I got dabeli masala from India, i had been meaning to try something like this.. I thought it might be nice change to normal aalu paratha or aalu sabji. Finally today when i had no other vegetable at home i decided to try this one.. Came out really well.


Ingredients
10 Spoon Wheat Flour
1 Potato
1/2 Spoon Kachhi Dabeli Masala
1/4 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Spoon Tamarind
1 Spoon Peanut Powder
1/2 Spoon Raisins
Handful of Corriander Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Mix in wheat flour, salt and a spoon of oil.
• Mix water and knead dough for paratha. Keep aside
• Pressure cook the potato and let it cool down
• Soak tamarind in 2 spoon of water.
• Grate the potato and mix it with dabeli masala, red chilli powder, peanut powder, tamarind water and salt to taste
• Add in chopped corriander leaves and raisins.
• Make 5 balls out of wheat dough and 5 balls from the potato mixture.
• Make a cup shape from wheat ball and stuff in potato ball. Close the wheat cover completely.
• Roll the parathas and cook on tawa til well done on both sides.

Notes
Make sure to cook potatoes really well so that they are soft and can be mashed to the paste.

I loved this dish a lot since my childhood. Probably then I didn't realise it was the healthiest dish that I loved :D Just like the name says it uses almost everything that's in your fridge :)


Ingredients
1 Cup Beans
1/2 Cup Mutter
2 Drum Sticks
2 Corn Cobs
1 Potato
1 Sweet Potato
1 Raw Banana
1.5 Spoon Tamarind
1/4 Cup Jaggery
1/2 Cup Coconut
1/4 Spoon Corriander Seeds
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/4 Spoon Turmeric Powder
A pinch of Asafoetida
2 Spoon Ghee
Salt to taste

Method

• In a half cup of water add the tamarind and keep aside.
• In a pan, add beans and 4 cups of water and cook over high flame for 5 minutes
• Cut each corn cob into 3 pieces and add the corn cob pieces and another 2 cups of water, Cook for another 5 minutes
• Add drum sticks - cut into pieces, potato cubes, raw banana pieces, pieces of sweet potato and another 2 cups of water. Cook till they are almost done
• Mean time grate coconut, tamarind (with its water that was it soaked in) and corriander seeds adding half cup of water.
• Add it and mutters to the almost done vegetables.
• Add turmeric powder, jaggery, red chilli powder and salt and simmer it.
• In another small pan, add ghee and let the mustard splutter in it.
• Add asafoetida and mix the tadaka with the vegetable.

Notes
You can optionally add 1 cup of pumpkin pieces too, but I couldn't as it wasn't available in the store here.

Bhel being one of my favourite snacks we end up preparing it often. I also prefer it during outings :) Preparing it at some nice picnic spot is the best, easiest and tastiest food :)


Ingredients
6 Cup Churmura
2 Cup All in One Mixture
1 Cup Shev
1 Cup Boondi
1 Cup Navaratna Mix
1.5 Cup Tamarind
2 Cup Jaggery
2 Green Chillies
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Spoon Jeera Powder
4-5 Dates
2 Onions
2 Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Corriander Leaves
Salt to taste

Method

• Soak the tamarind and dates in water for an hour or so
• Grind the mixture with jaggery, red chilli powder, green chilli, jeera powder and salt
• Strain the mixture and keep it aside
• In a big pan mix churmura(puffed rice), navaratna mix, all in one, shev, finely chopped onion, tomatoes and corriander leaves. Mix well
• Add the tamarind mixture prepared earlier and Mix well
• Garnish with boondi and serve immediately

Notes
Garnish it with Raw Mango pieces during mango season. It would be more fun :)
Its good idea to make the bhel in batches so that it doesnt become soggy while serving it.
I normally prefer to keep some tamarind mixture aside instead of mixing the full quantity. That helps giving the personal touch :) The taste depends on what one likes.
Very good item for picnics and parties. You can keep everything ready and mix all of the items just before eating

This one is prepared using the remaining water from the daal that is used to cook the Puran and puran itself. The aamati is sweet and sour in taste and goes amazingly well with the puran poli.


Ingredients
2 Cup Water from Cooked Chana Daal
1/2 Cup Puran
1/2 Cup Jaggery
2 Spoon Tamarind
1 Spoon Corriander Seeds
1 Spoon Jeera
1/2 Spoon Mustard
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
4 Spoon Grated Coconut
15 Curry Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Soak tamarind in a cup of water and keep aside.
• Heat a spoonfull of the oil and add corriander seeds and jeera.
• Add grated coconut and fry the mixture till golden in colour.
• In a mixie, add this coconut mixture along with tamarind. And grind to smooth paste. Keep aside
• Heat another half spoon of oil and let mustard splutter in it.
• Add curry leaves and fry for a minute
• Add the tamarind - coconut paste and fry for another minute
• Add the red chilli powder and saute for another minute.
• Add daal water, puran and jaggery. If needed add more water if it lookss thick.
• Add salt to taste and bring it to boil. Serve the sweet and sour curry with puran polis

Notes
You can use normal water if you do not have cooked daal water left over.
For preparing puran refer to Puran Poli recipe.

Ajoy had been asking me to prepare vada paav or batata wada since long time.. And I thought there is no better day to prepare this than his bday :) So here is what we had for our breakfast today morning.

Vada Paav


Ingredients
2 Potatoes
6 Paav
1/2 cup bason
1/2 Lemon
4 Green Chillies
1/4 spoon Garlic Paste
1/4 spoon Ginger Paste
A pinch of Eating Soda
1/4 spoon Mustard
1/2 spoon Turmeric Powder
1/2 spoon Red Chilli Powder
Salt
Oil

Method

• Boil the potatoes
• Grind the green chillies, garlic paste, ginger paste to form fine paste
• Cut the potatoes into small pieces.
• Add the ground paste, lemon juice to it and mix well
• Heat little oil, add the mustard, let them sputter and then add the half of the turnmeric powder
• Add this oil to the potato mixture and mix well.
• Prepare 6 round and little flat balls out of this mixture.
• In a small vessel, mix bason, red chilli powder, remaining turmeric powder, eating soda and prepare thin batter
• Heat oil in a pan, add 2 spoon of heated oil to the batter
• Dip the potato ball in the batter and fry it in oil
• Cut the pav in half, put the garlic chutney and wada in it and serve hot

Notes
The batter coating on the potato vada shouldn't be thick otherwise the wada won't taste good. Mix more water if its too thick.
We are adding heated oil to the bason because that will make vada less oily.. Making use of soda instead of oil will make it very very oily.
Potato Vada can be served separately with sauce as well. (Without paav)

Garlic Chutney


Ingredients
1/2 Dried Coconut
10-12 pieces of Garlic
4 spoon Red Chilli powder
1-2 pieces of Tamarind
1/2 spoon Sugar
Salt to taste

Method

• Grate the coconut
• Heat a pan and fry the grated coconut till golden brown in colour
• In a mixer, first grind garlic pieces, red chilli powder, sugar, salt
• Add the tamarind and grind again
• Now add the coconut and grind to fine powder

Notes
You can save this chutney for few days. It tastes nice with bhakari as well.

Tamarind chutney you can prepare and store for 2-3 weeks, so that you can use it on some chaat items, somosas etc.


Ingredients
3 spoon tamarind
8 spoon water
4 spoon jaggery
1 spoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method

• Soak tamarind with water for few hours
• Grind tamarind, jaggery, red chilli powder, salt in a mixie to get thich chutney

Notes
I sometimes add 1 date piece to the tamarind while soaking to get richer taste