CELEBRATION WITH FISH IN SPINACH & MUSTARD GRAVY

Celebrating what you may ask....well am finally going home. Yahoo..!!!! am all set for fun filled 2 weeks, just counting the days now :) . Since the last 2 weeks I was at a fix cause there was a high chance that my leave would be rejected and I spent most of the time shedding tears. Its been 3 years that I have visited my home so you can imagine how I was feeling when nothing seemed to be working. Finally by the end of this week I got the great news and I have been thrilled since then , of course fingers are crossed as we never know when things can change :) . I am so excited to be with my family....enjoy 'direct' talks with Mom, spend time bugging Dad...which is super fun, share stories with cousins and definitely relax and enjoy all those lovely home cooked meals. My ever growing to-do list is ready, well not just to-do ---- there are to-eat list , to-shop list , to-visit list....and many many more. The news of my leave being approved is something worth celebrating and today I partied with Fish in Spinach & Mustard Gravy. I consider it to be a very festive dish as its part of my families party food and is created  during very special occasions. The last time I had it was when I went to my ancestral home for my aunt's wedding and that was some 10 years back approximately. The fish used for this dish is 'Boal' commonly known as Wallago in English, I could not get the fish here so I used Rohu......I know the 2 fishes taste totally different but as its said Necessity is the Mother of Invention :P . Also the original version uses 'Lai Pata' (not sure of the English name) its a very loved green leafy vegetable in North-Eastern India, I have not seen it anywhere else so I could not find 'Lai Pata' as well so I used Spinach. As expected the flavour of my variation is way too different from the original however it was not bad and I enjoyed the day. I promise to come back with loads of new stories and recipes. When I am back, will share more on  the beauty of my hometown through my eyes...keep waiting, hope you would love them :) .

Rohu Fish pieces	4 numbers
Spinach	1 bunch
Mustard seeds	2 tablespoon
Sesame seeds (optional)	1 tablespoon
Green Chilly	1 numbers
Fresh Red Chilly	2 numbers
Nigella seeds	1 teaspoon
Dry Red Chilly	2 numbers
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Mustard Oil	2-3 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste

1. Roughly chop the spinach and set aside.
2. Soak the mustard seeds and sesame seeds in luke warm water. 
3. Marinate the fish pieces with a little turmeric powder , salt and a few drops of oil.
4. Blend the mustard seeds , sesame seeds and one green chilly with little water till it forms a smooth paste.
5. Heat oil in a kadhai(a cooking utensil that resembles a wok), and shallow fry the fish pieces. They should not be over done.
6. Remove the fish in a paper towel. The oil in the kadhai is used for the gravy.
7. In the kadhai, add nigella seed and dried red chilly, as it start spattering add the smooth paste and cook.
8. As the oil start separating out, add warm water , fresh red chilly and chopped spinach. Cover and cook in low flame.
9. After 5 min, add the fried fish pieces. Add salt as per taste and cover again. Cook for 7-8 min.
10. Uncover and cook for 10 min more so that excess water is evaporated.

I had a great celebration with a dish that reminds of home, now time to start packing the bags .

FLORENTINE MAC & CHEESE

Finally the weekend is here...yahoo!!! , I have been waiting for it so eagerly. Last 2 weeks were super hectic , double shifts in office are a serious NO NO but at times we are so helpless. I missed out a lot of things due to this -- cooking , post on my blog , checking out my favorite blogs , watching TV even missed out on Supernaturals and above all SLEEP :) . I have a huge list of tasks to be done in the weekend -- get all the electrical fixings done , shopping , cooking , blogging and catching up with all of my fav. TV shows. Lets see how many can be checked off by Sunday night :) . All I wanted today was relaxation , and I wanted some type of "comfort food" -- heard a lot about comfort food not sure what it means as I find every food to be very comforting. So I did a bit of research and found of long list of food in that category or as explained by Wikipedia - easy-to-eat, easy-to-digest meal rich in calories, nutrients or both. However my eyes twinkled when I saw Mac & Cheese....who needs an excuse for that :) . My love for pasta is no secret but off late I have been trying out the lighter versions without cheese so today I was up for some indulgence. I baked the dish as I love those crunchy bites of cheese, then it looked very pale and I wanted some color in my plate thats when Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach came into picture. So I call my variation -- Florentine Mac & Cheese.

FOR MAC & CHEESE
Conchiglie pasta	2 cups
Milk	1 cup
Fresh Cream	1 cup
Flour	2 tablespoon
Worcestershire sauce	3-4 drops
Nutmeg (grated)	1 teaspoons
Mozzarella Cheese	1 cup
Cheddar cheese	1 cup
Butter	1 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste
Black Pepper	1/4 teaspoon

FOR GARLIC SPINACH
Garlic cloves(grated)	2 numbers
Spinach	2 bunches
Butter	1 teaspoon
Salt	As per taste

FOR TOMATO
Cherry Tomatoes	12 numbers
Butter	2 teaspoons
Salt	As per taste

    Mac & Cheese:-

1. Preheat oven to 180° for 10 min.
2. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add flour to the melted butter ; cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
3. Add milk to the pan and whisk so that no lumps are formed.
4. Add cream & worcestershire to the milk mixture and keep whisking till the sauce slightly thickens.
5. To the cooking sauce , add 1/2 cup of cheddar and mozzarella cheese each. Whisk till the cheeses melt.
6. Add grated nutmeg , salt and black pepper to the sauce. Remove from flame and set aside.
7. Boil water in a large pan and add the pasta with salt and a bit of oil. And let it cook till the pasta soften. 
8. Drain out the pasta and let it run under cold water for a min. 
9. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well. Pour the prepared pasta on a baking dish.
10. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the pasta dish and bake for 30-35 min or till the top is browned and cheese is bubbling.

    GARLIC SPINACH & CHERRY TOMATOES:-

1. Heat butter in a pan , add grated garlic and fry.
2. Add the spinach to the pan , sprinkle salt and let it cook in low flame.
3. Fry till the water is evaporated and the spinach is done. Remove and set aside.
4. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves.
5. Melt butter in a pan , add the tomatoes to the pan skin side down.
6. Sprinkle the salt on the top side. Cook for 5-6 min only and done.

A comfortable meal after all the hectic work was totally refreshing :) .

SPINACH STUFFED CHICKEN

I still remember those old days when I was a kid living with my parents, we had a routine and Sunday lunch without chicken was an impossible thing. Every Saturday Baba (dad) would ask us - me and my sister, what do we want for Sunday lunch and we would scream CHICKEN..... with wasting a minute. Actually this routine is still followed at home :) even I try to follow this here....... :D  My Mamoni(mom) is a wonderful cook and her cooking experiments have never failed till date. Not only me but even my friends are her fan, they keep asking me when my mom would be visiting next. Whenever my mom comes to visit me, all my friends come home with an excuse of learning from her...... :D  actually everyone whats to enjoy her awesome creations and she totally enjoys cooking for everyone . I think my desire to experiment with food has come from her for sure, not that m good like her coz I do have some disasters to my list still I  just love experimenting with all my recipes and chicken is non different. As for the story behind this dish ,it so happened that its Friday and I was getting bored in office and I started checking out some cooking sites and I saw a new preparation 'stuffed chicken'.The name itself attracted me; I found it supper interesting and had to give it a try .Most of their recipes had used cheese for stuffing but I wanted to try something else so I used spinach and so my Spinach Stuffed Chicken was created  :)

FOR SPINACH STUFFING
Spinach Bunch	2 bunches
Onion	1 medium sized
Garlic cloves	3-4 pieces
Fresh Cream	1/4 cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Oil	Quarter cup
Salt	A pinch

FOR CHICKEN
Chicken breast	2 slices
Honey	1/4 cup
Mustard Paste	1 tablespoon
Flour	1 cup
Breadcrumb	2 cups
Dried Basil	1 teaspoon
Black Pepper	1 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	2 tablespoon
Unsalted Butter	1 tablespoon
Egg	1 egg
Oil	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

                                     
    STUFFING PREPARATION:-

1. Wash the spinach in running water and chop it as finely as possible.
2. Cut the onion into julienne and soak it into ice cold water for 5 min. Grate the garlic cloves.
3. Heat oil in a pan , add the onion after squeezing off the water. Add salt and grated garlic to this and fry till the onion turns translucent.
4. Add the spinach to the fried onions on low flame. Cover the pan and leave it for sometime till the water from the spinach is soaked and the spinach is properly cooked.
5. Add red chilli powder to the cooking spinach and cook for 2 min.Finally add the cream and cook again till all the excess water is soaked in.

CHICKEN PREPARATION :-

1. While the spinach stuffing is being cooked, wash the 2 chicken breast and pat it dry.
2. Place the chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat the same with the other chicken piece too.
3. Divide the stuffing equally and evenly on both the flatten chicken breast. Roll up the chicken such that the stuffing is totally covered and secure it with wooden picks. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the stuffed chicken.
4. Place some flour in a place. Then beat an egg on a big bowl with some salt. Then take the breadcrumbs in a place and mix it with salt,pepper and dried basil.
5. Now coat the chicken in flour, removing the excess soak it in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumbs. Cover the chicken with the breadcrumbs.
6. Take a baking dish and drizzle some oil in it. Then arrange the chicken pieces in the baking dish and cook it in the oven for 20 min in 200 degree Celsius.

ASSEMBLING :-

1. When the chicken is done,heat butter in pan, add mustard paste to the pan and cook it for 2 -3 min or until done.
2. To the pan add red chilli powder and salt and cook it for some time.
3. Finally add the honey to the pan and cook the mixture thoroughly.
4. Place the chicken pieces in a plate and cover it with the honey-mustard paste.

 The Spinach Stuffed Chicken is ready to enjoy.... :) 

STUFFED CRESCENT ROLLS

Finally the exams are over , so whts the first thing i decided to do...quite obvious actually i decided to try something new today. And I made my very first Stuffed Crescent Rolls. Frankly this is the first time i had Crescents. But before I jump onto my recipe I would like to thank Manuela for passing me the award.  I dont know how to express in words the feeling am going through right now. Its the feeling that you have when someone whom you look up to appreciates your work. No words or expression are enough to express the feeling.....I am having the same feeling when i read a message from Manuela saying she has an award for me. I totally look up to her for all the innovative and wonderful recipes she has. A very talented lady I must say, I have learnt a lot new dishes from her. Thanks Manuela for making my day.  But blogging is about sharing and there rules to claim this award . So lets follow the rule. I prefer to visit different resturants and try out different types of food. I am totally addicted to TV  . The first thing is do when I wake up is switch on the TV and its on the whole time I am at home. I am a total believer of faith and destiny. I absolutely adore travelling...I love to go to different place and not only see the tourist attractions but also meet different people and have the local food. I dont like to make the morning tea and prefer if someone does it for me as of now its on to the small bakery shop near my house.... :) I am a very talkative person and love to spend time with my family and friends.I love talking to my mom over phone and we can do that for hours. I love to spend time watching the architectural beauty of the old buildings. 10 bloggers to pass the award, well that's the tough one :  http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/ http://recipesfortheverydaywoman.blogspot.com/ http://vegetariantastebuds.blogspot.com/ http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com/ http://www.mistress-of-spices.com/ http://thesaucykitchen.blogspot.com/ http://www.bitemekitchen.com/ http://thechefandherkitchen.blogspot.com/ http://superyummyrecipes.blogspot.com/ http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/

FOR CRESCENT DOUGH
All purpose floor	4 & half cup
Milk	1 cup
Instant dry yeast	1 tablespoon
Dried Basil	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Oil	Quarter cup
Salt	A pinch
Water	3-4 cups

FOR CRESCENT STUFFING
Chicken breast	2 slices
Onion	2 medium sized
Garlic	2 cloves
Corn	200 gms
Spinach	1 bunch
Cream	3 tablespoon
Mozzarella cheese	300 gms
Red Chilli Powder	1 tablespoon
Unsalted Butter	2-3 tablespoon
Egg white	1 egg
Oil	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

       CRESCENT DOUGH:-

1. Take water in a bowl; place it on low flame and add sugar, stir till the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the yeast to the sugar-water bowl after removing from heat and leave it for 10 min or till the yeast dissolves properly and the water gets a little frothy.
3. Sift and pour the flour into a large bowl.Add salt and dried basil to the flour and mix them thoroughly.
4. Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture and oil.Using a spatula, combine all the ingredients properly.
5. Then mix the dough with hands and place it in a large bowl and let the dough stand for at least 1 hour so that the yeast can work on it.
6. After the dough is double its original size, punch it down to eliminate the air bubbles.
7. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Knead  the dough by pushing and folding till it forms a smooth dough.
8. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

CRESCENT STUFFING :-

1. Cut the chicken and onion into cubes.Chop the spinach into medium pieces.
2. Boil the corn in a cooker with a pinch a salt, one whistle of the cooker is enough to soften the corn. 
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and fry till it turns translucent.
4. Add the chicken cubes to the pan. Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the chicken turns soft.
5. Heat oil in a separate pan, add grated garlic cloves and fry the cloves.
6. Add the boiled corn and chopped spinach to the pan.Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the water is evaporated and the spinach is cooked.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and combine all the ingredients. Cook it for 5-6 min more.

CRESCENT ROLLS :-

1. For the final assembling, punch the dough down to eliminate the air bubbles.
2. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Cut the dough into 3-4 pieces.
3. Cover a oven rack with a baking paper. Drizzle some oil on the baking sheet and cover it with oil properly.
4. Roll the dough using a rolling pin into 1/4" thick circular shape and brush some butter.
5. Cut into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Remove the excess flour. 
6. On the wide-end on the wedge, place the stuffing and grated cheese.From the same end roll-up each wedge; bend into a crescent shape and place point-side down in the baking pans about 1 inch apart.
7. Repeat the process with all the other doughs.
8. Brush the top of the crescent rolls with egg white.
9. Cook the rolls in the oven at 220 degree for 20 min.

                   

The Stuffed Crescent Rolls are ready to be enjoyed with all the Movies.

BABY PIZZA

Since my childhood I had a huge craving for Pizzas. Even now when am sad or I feel too lonely I order a Pizza and watch FRIENDS :) . I always loved Italian foods, in fact the every word ITALIAN deeply attracts me. Although I have never been to Italy yet but what ever I have seen in television has deeply impacted me, the sexy language, the breath-taking architecture and the cheesy gooey cuisine...UUUHHHH LA LA LA!!!! ...told you its attracts me a lot, I secretly wish I could go to Italy ones.... hehehe :D . Well reality stroked again and am back to my senses. The Cricket World Cup matches are going on, not that am very crazy about Cricket but I do watch the World Cup match.....that my Indianness kicking in :) .On the 27th Mar'11 the match was India vs England and since Saturday I had planned to make some good appetizer to enjoy with the match. For the first time I made crescents rolls , pasta frittata , baby pizza and chocolate mousse. I will share all the recipes one by one but lets start with Baby Pizza.

FOR PIZZA DOUGH
All purpose floor	4 & half cup
Milk	1 cup
Instant dry yeast	1 tablespoon
Dried Basil	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Oil	Quarter cup
Salt	A pinch
Water	3-4 cups

FOR PIZZA TOPPING
Chicken breast	2 slices
Onion	2 medium sized
Garlic	2 cloves
Corn	200 gms
Spinach	1 bunch
Cream	3 tablespoon
Cheese- grated	1 cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 tablespoon
Oil	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

      PIZZA DOUGH:-

1. Take water in a bowl; place it on low flame and add sugar, stir till the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the yeast to the sugar-water bowl after removing from heat and leave it for 10 min or till the yeast dissolves properly and the water gets a little frothy.
3. Sift and pour the flour into a large bowl.Add salt and dried basil to the flour and mix them thoroughly.
4. Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture and oil.Using a spatula, combine all the ingredients properly.
5. Then mix the dough with hands and place it in a large bowl and let the dough stand for at least 2 hours so that the yeast can work on it.
6. After the dough is double its original size, punch it down to eliminate the air bubbles.
7. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Knead  the dough by pushing and folding till it forms a smooth dough.
8. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

PIZZA TOPPING :-

1. Cut the chicken and onion into cubes.Chop the spinach into medium pieces.
2. Boil the corn in a cooker with a pinch a salt, one whistle of the cooker is enough to soften the corn. 
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and fry till it turns translucent.
4. Add the chicken cubes to the pan. Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the chicken turns soft.
5. Heat oil in a separate pan, add grated garlic cloves and fry the cloves.
6. Add the boiled corn and chopped spinach to the pan.Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the water is evaporated and the spinach is cooked.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and combine all the ingredients. Cook it for 5-6 min more.

PIZZA ASSEMBLING :-

1. For the final assembling, punch the dough down to eliminate the air bubbles.
2. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Cut the dough into 3-4 pieces.
3. Cover a oven rack with a baking paper. Drizzle some oil on the baking sheet and cover it with oil properly.
4. Roll the pizza dough using a rolling pin into 1/4" thick circular shape.
5. Using a small circular cookie cutter, cut small circular shapes. Remove the excess flour and place the small doughs in the baking sheet.
6. Add good amount of cheese on top of the pizza dough.Add some tomato sauce on top of the cheese layer.
7. On top of the tomato layer, place the cooked chicken layer and top it off with the spinach-corn mixture.Finally place some more cheese on top. 
8. Repeat the process with all the small pizza doughs.
9. Cook the pizza in the oven at 220 degree for 20 min.

 The Baby Pizza is ready to be enjoyed for each fours and sixs the players hit.... :D 

SOYA BIRYANI WITH VEGETABLES

It was Monday a new week had started and along with that loads of works :) . Its was  very hot in the morning and by evening we had experienced the first rain of the year. It was raining cats and dogs but everyone seems to be enjoying the rain and so was I. I just love the smell of the land after the first rain..... :)  I also love to see the rain through the window with some pakoda and ginger tea....... somehow it feels just awesome :D . For dinner , if its raining, I love to have khichdi with pickle and brijal fry . Yesterday being a Monday , is the day of the week when I fast and eat vegetarian dishes only, so while I was in office I had already made up my mind to prepare khichdi for dinner. When I reached home and saw all the vegetables I had at home....my plans had changed. Inspite of being tired and hungry I still decided to make spinach rice with vegetable and crunchy brinjal fry.  I had got everything prepared and suddenly the electricity went off....I generally happens here when there is heavy rain , so I thought of waiting for some time. Finally after one hour of patience , I started preparing the dish under the flickering candle light. I hate to do anything in the dark but it was an experience......not a very good one really :) . I have shared the dish with Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays {No.21} hosted by Rebecca , Meatless Mondays in My Sweet and Savory , Just another Meatless Monday #48 in Hey What's For Dinner Mom

Rice	2 cups
Potatoes	2 medium sized
Carrot	2 medium sized
Spinach	2 bunches
Soya Nuggets	2 cups
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Cherry tomatoes	1 cup
Green Chilly	3 numbers
Onion	1 medium sized
Garlic	5-6 cloves
Refined Oil	Half cup
Salt	As per taste

1. Soak the rice in water for 5-10 min. This allows the rice to cook faster.
2. Soak the soya nuggets in water till they soften. Then squeeze out the water for each of the nuggets. 
3. Cut the potatoes and onions in cubes , the carrots in julienne. 
4. Makes a smooth paste of spinach with the garlic.
5. Heat oil in a wok , add half teaspoon red chilli powder in the oil and then add the soya nuggets and fry till they are brown on all sides, remove and set aside.
6. In the wok, add oil and fry the vegetables. I fried the vegetable separately because I wanted then to keep their color intact.
7. Heat oil in a cooker, and add the rice and salt. After stirring for 5 min add the spinach puree to the cooker and cook till the water evaporates and the spinach no longer smells raw, at this point just beware that the rice does not stick in the bottom.
8. And cherry tomatoes and the fried vegetables to the rice and mix them properly.
9. Add some water and pressure cook the rice. The dish is ready to be served. It tastes awesome with Crunchy Brinjal Fry , the crunchy brinjal fry was prepared the same way as the Crunchy Fish Fry :)