CILANTRO RICE WITH TANGY GRAVY & SPICY FRIED FISH

The Mulligatawny soup with Toasted Bread and Pea Pesto was totally refreshing.....the sweet and tangy taste of the soup with the garlicy pesto was mmmm :) . Now lets move to the main courses and we will start with a FISH dish. People say Bengali cuisine is generally related to fish and sweet---actually they are not wrong :D . Being from a Bengali Family, we ate fish everyday. Infact my Baba(daddy) cannot enjoy his food without it even if there are 5-6 courses still he would need a fish dish :) . Me and my sister are not inclined towards fish (not real Bengalies may be... :D ), when we go out to any party as a family and if we (me and my sister) didn't eat the fish dish....then coming back home Baba would actually take our case---Why did you eat the fish dish? ... his most common question. Although I don't like seafood so much but ones a month I get the craving for fish , we bengalies eat every part of the fish--head to tail. As I have noticed most part of the world people discard the head but we have a lot of awesome dishes with that too -- I know it may sound very unappetizing but for me its UUU LA LA LA...!! :) . Well lets get to the story behind the dish. Recently I have developed a crazy of using fruits in savory dishes and you would be finding me doing that very often...honestly it does enhances the taste of the dishes. This dish is inspired by a cookery show in the TV called 'Twist of Taste with Vineet Bhatia' I like this series coz the chef Vinnet Bhatia uses the local dishes and re-creates a high class dish with the local produce. As I have shared when I decided to make a dish I just have to make it , but unfortunately I could not find all the ingredients he had used and I had not even noted down the process he followed so I added my twist to the already twisted dish :D .  I wanted to use fish fillets for the dish so I tried cooking with Tilapia for the first time.....and I just loved the fish and will be using it in future too. For the gravy the chef used raw mangoes, but where do I get raw mangoes now...so I used star fruit. Well the star fruit we got in my hometown - Shillong would be so tangy that using one would be just enough and we mostly used it for pickle but the ones I got here was not so sour so I used almost 3 of them for the right sourness.  I call my dish Cilantro Rice with Tangy Gravy and Spicy Fried Fish. Star Fruit also known as Carambola is a type of tropical fruit. The fruit has ridges on its sides (mainly 5), in cross-section it resembles a star and that's how it got the name.The star fruit has waxy, green to golden yellow skin with a citricy flavor that resembles the lemon or pineapple. The fruit is rich in Vitamin C and antioxidant. It has some amount of Vitamin B which helps to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attacks.The fruit is beneficial for blood and bones as it contains potassium , iron , calcium and magnesium.The star fruit is rich in soluble fiber, which can be useful to reduce cholesterol levels. Tilapia is a fresh water fish.Its a mild flavored fish that holds the seasoning very well. The best methods to cook the tilapia -- grilling and baking but not that we cannot try out the other options. Tilapia is rich in protein and low in calorie count. Its a great source of omega-3 fatty acid which helps to prevent blood pressure and heart disease. Shared the dish with - Foodie Wednesday @ Frugal Wannabe Cooks ; Real Food Wednesday ; WFMW: An Awesome Tradition ; Welcome Wednesday ; Homestead Barn Hop #32 ; Domestically Divine Tuesday & These Chicks Cooked Link Party - Featuring Your Recipes from All Around Blogland #22

FOR TANGY GRAVY
Star fruit	3 numbers
Ginger(finely chopped)	1/2 tablespoon
Yogurt	2 tablespoon
Mustard seed	1 teaspoon
Jaggery	1 small cube
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

FOR SPICY FRIED FISH
Tilapia fillets	Fillet from 1 fish
Onion	1 small sized
Garlic cloves	2 numbers
Tomato puree	1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1 teaspoon
Paprika	1 teaspoon
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

FOR CILANTRO RICE
Basmati Rice	1 cup
Onion	1 medium sized
Garlic	2 cloves
Cilantro	2 medium sized bunches
Milk	1 cup
Salt	As per taste
Oil	1 teaspoon

  TANGY GRAVY:-

1. Blanch the star fruits. Remove from the boiling water within 2-3 min.
2. Blend the star fruit without any extra water as it would give out a good amount of water.
3. Heat a pan and add the star fruit puree to the pan and let it cook over low heat.
4. Remove the pan from heat after 5 min, whisk the yogurt and pour it to the pan.
5. Stir the star fruit puree, yogurt and salt till it is properly incorporated. 
6. Place the mixture back on a very low heat and let it cook for not more then 5-6 mins.
7. Strain the liquid sauce using a muslin cloth. 
8. Heat a clean pan, add oil and mustard seed. After the spattering has stopped add the chopped ginger. 
9. Add the fresh strained liquid in the pan and cook for 2 min. Then add the jaggery and stir till the jaggery is mixed thoroughly.

  SPICY FRIED FISH:-

1. Blend together onion and garlic.
2. In a small bowl, mix the onion-garlic paste with tomato puree , turmeric powder , cumin powder , paprika and salt.
3. Clean the fish fillets and place it in a zip pouch bag. Pour the marinate on top of the fish fillets and mix it up. Let this stand for 1/2 hour.
4. Heat oil in a pan and fry the fish over medium heat just 5 min on each side or till the either sides get caramelized.

  CILANTRO RICE:-

1. Pressure cook the rice till it is parboiled. Finely chop the onion and the cilantro.
2. In a large pan, heat oil and add the chopped onion. 
3. Fry the onion till it turns translucent, then add the chopper cilantro and salt and cook f0r 3-4 min.
4. Add the parboiled rice to the pan add cook it for another 5 min.
5. Pour in the milk and cook again for 5 more min or till the milk is totally soaked in.
6. The dish is ready to be served. 

                   

A wonderful dish that was ready in a few minutes . Totally enjoyed it .. :)