Pan Grilled Fish, Accompaniments and a Yummy Dessert

This menu was created when I had to plan a lunch for some guests who needed a meal that was not too heavy or difficult to digest. Of course, the dessert isn’t too light - but then the lightness of the main course kind of balances it off.

The main course, with its accompaniments, is simple and really easy to make; the dessert however, requires a certain degree of patience. The recipe for the dessert looks like a short story or something but, I assure you that it’s not as complicated as the look of the recipe suggests.

As regular visitors to this blog may have noticed, I try to keep the names of the dishes, I create really simple and that’s what I initially did with the dessert too, I named it Chocorange but the sound of it does not befit the look and taste so I just went ahead and ‘Frenchified’ what it really is: Chocolate and OrangeJ If you think Chocrange is better, please let me know – I will go with the majority.

8a) Pan Grilled Fish with Mint

Ingredients:

500 Gms Fish Fillets (or largish pieces)

1 ½ Cups Mint Leaves

1 Onion (Medium Sized)

½ Piece Fresh Ginger

2 to 3 Limes (depending on the juiciness and size of the limes)

Salt to Taste

1 Tbsp Oil (or even less)

Method:

Cut the fish into medium size pieces which are not too thick. This is essential for even and easy cooking as the oil used in this recipe is next to nothing

Wash the fish and pat dry

Chop the onion and the ginger and extract the juice of the lime.

Blend mint leaves, chopped onion, ginger, lime juice and salt to fairly smooth sauce* in a blender or food processor

Marinate the fish in the mint sauce (that you now have) for at least an hour, do not marinate for too long as the lime kind of cooks the fish and we don’t want it to crumble or anything like that when we cook it.

Heat a non stick griddle or pan to medium and brush with oil, place the pieces of fish on the pan – if the griddle or pan is wide enough you can put in all the pieces, at one shot.

Brush the ‘top side’ of the fish with oil and leave to cook on gentle heat for about 3 minutes or until the fish begins to look cooked on the lower side.

Pour remaining marinade evenly over the fish

Flip and repeat

Once the fish looks nearly done, increase the heat and caramelise the pieces – serve hot.

* you can add a touch of water or a few drops of odourless oil to this mixture if the mix does not blend easily – a lot depends on which blender/liquidiser or food processor one uses

8b) Pesto Inspired Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup basil (fresh)

12 walnut halves

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

40 – 50 gms cheese (I use Monterey Jack but any kind will do as long as it’s not too strong)

Juice of ½ a lime

2 flat tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Throw everything but the salt into a liquidiser and blend till absolutely smooth. Taste and then adjust salt once the sauce is blended, cheese is salty and you may not need to add any at all.

8c)Mushroom and Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

1 Packet Mushrooms Of Your Choice (Or what’s available!)

½ of a Red Bell Pepper

½ of a Yellow Bell Pepper

5 - 6 really slim Spring Onions

4 – 5 Fresh Carom (ajwain) Leaves (substitute with a generous pinch of dry Carom (ajwain) seeds if you cannot lay your hands on the fresh leaves)

1 Medium Sized Tomato

2 Cloves of Garlic, Grated

A Pinch of Red Chilli Flakes or Paprika Powder

1 Tbsp Oil (conservative)

Salt to taste

Clean the mushrooms thoroughly and slice, retaining the stems as far as possible; the slices should be fairly thin

De-seed the peppers and slice into slender pieces, lengthways.

Cut off the leafy part of the Spring Onions so that the 'oniony' part is about the same length as the sliced.   peppers.

Grate the tomato and keep aside (needless to mention, you chuck the skin)

Wash and slice the Carom (ajwain) leaves into slivers

Heat the oil and garlic in a pan, adding the garlic at this stage (rather than once the oil is hot) prevents it from getting burnt and turning bitter

Add the spring onions and toss gently for about a minute or two.

If using Carom (ajwain) seeds, add as soon as the garlic begins to develop a few blisters and the oil seems sufficiently hot. You don’t want to singe any of the ingredients in this recipe.

If using fresh leaves, add these together with the mushrooms once the garlic and onions are soft and look glazed/

Lower the heat and wait for the mushrooms to sweat a bit and just about cook through, it is best to add the salt at this stage as the mushrooms will sort of shrink, giving one a good idea of how much salt to add.

Add the grated tomato and the peppers, toss till the tomato has lost its rawness and most of the moisture from the mushrooms and tomato has evaporated.

Take the pan off the fire and put a lid on the pan to allow the mix to cook in its own steam.

I placed the grilled fish over this item but that's a personal choice.

8d)Greens with Oriental Dressing

Ingredients:

Mix of greens of your choice.

I used iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, olives, spring onions and cucumber

For the dressing:

½ cup olive oil

1 inch fresh ginger, grated,

3 cloves of garlic, grated

½ tsp chilli flakes

Dash of Honey or sugar

½ a lime (or a teaspoon of Pomegranate Molasses if you happen to have laid your hands on it)

Salt to taste

Method:

Add all ingredients and mix thoroughly. I prefer to put all the ingredients into a small bottle, put the lid and then shake the bottle with much fervour.

Just before plating the meal, pour the dressing over the greens and give it a mix

You could make some sort of crisp potato preparation or even the one using sweet potatoes or beetroot, I decided to take the easy way out and served this meal with bought potato wafers.

8e)Chocolat et Orange

Ingredients: (Step I)

4 largish oranges (preferably the kind where the segments are easy to detach from the skin, like Nagpur oranges)

1 heaped tbsp corn flour

½ tsp cinnamon powder

Sugar to taste

Few drops of orange colouring (optional)

Method:

Chop the top off the orange to remove the segments without damaging the skin of the fruit. I find it best to carefully wrench one segment off and then gently remove the remaining segments.

Preserve the cap like top of the orange for its rind, which you will need

Remove the skin and pips from one or two of the oranges, taking care to keep the segment as intact as possible

Use a sieve to extract the juice from the remaining segments (this saves you the bother of fishing out the pips, string and other such undesirables)

Use a rinder or grater to remove as much of the skin of the orange as possible from the ‘caps’ of the oranges. Needless to mention, you must take care not to scrape any of the pith.

Place the juice in a pan, add the grated rind (save for a generous pinch for garnish during the final step) and boil on gentle heat till it is reduced by ¼

Take the pan off the heat

Mix the cinnamon powder with the corn flour and add minimum amount of water to this mix, to make corn starch and pour into the orange juice, stirring all the time.

Add the whole de-skinned segments of orange

Return to the stove and stir gently over low heat till the sauce is thick and starts forming bubbles around the edge

The sauce ought to be of the consistency of thick custard

It’s important to note that the amount of corn starch you use will vary depending on how juicy the oranges you use are

Finally add sugar to taste, take care to retain the tanginess of the orange sauce as that is an essential dimension of the dessert.

Step II

Ingredients:

4 orange shells

50 – 75 Gms of cooking chocolate

1 tsp butter (optional)

Method:

Use kitchen scissors to trim the top of the shell into a zig zag pattern (refer to the picture)

Remove as much of the pith and strings as possible – it is okay if a wee bit remains

Finely chop or grate the chocolate

Place in a double boiler to melt the chocolate

Remove from heat as soon as half the chocolate has melted, the remaining chocolate will melt on its own

Use the back of a teaspoon or any appropriate kitchen brush to ‘paint’ the inside of the chocolate shells

Pop in the fridge or freezer, till the rest of the ingredients are ready and you begin to assemble the dessert. It is essential for the chocolate coating to be firm else you will have one very messy dessert.

Step III

Ingredients:

200 Gms dark compound chocolate (or any other if you prefer their taste to that of dark chocolate)

200 Gms cream

1 heaped tsp instant coffee

1 Tbsp hot water

2 Tbsps butter

What we will be making at this stage is really a ganache of sorts, the authentic method is to warm the cream and pour it over finely chopped or grated chocolate. This recipe does not include this technique but a far easier one which I have found to be just as good for ganache that’s used as filling

Method:

Finely chop or grate the chocolate, place in a heat proof bowl.

Add all the other ingredients and place on a double boiler.

As soon as the chocolate begins to melt, whisk it using a balloon or a spoon.

Leave to cool till it is warm (if it is too hot, it will demolish the first layer of the dessert and if it cools down too much, you won’t be able to pour it too easily)

Step IV

Ingredients:

250 mls whipping cream

1 tbsp castor sugar

½ vanilla essence or a generous pinch of vanilla powder (I use the latter)

Method:

Mix all ingredients

Whip gently till it begins to hold its own shape

I must confess that I use Birds Eye Whipping Cream (which comes in powder form) and just follow the instructions on the packet – its easy because all you do is add cold water and whip and keep in the fridge for a bit and hey presto! One could also opt to use whipped cream from a can I have recently used Amul Whipping Cream for another dessert and that too was pretty good.

Step V

Assembling:

Fill the bottom of the orange shell with a layer of the orange sauce, how much of it you spoon in depends entirely on the size of the oranges. All you need to bear in mind is that roughly a third of the shell should be filled with it

Spoon in the chocolate sauce/ganache next, this layer should stop short of where the zig zag pattern begins.

Top this with whipped cream

Garnish with grated orange rind (or you could opt to use grated chocolate or a sprinkling of cinnamon or no garnish at all)

You will probably have extra sauces and whipped cream; arrange these in individual bowls or a bowl. As you may have noticed, I have included a picture of the dessert in an individual bowl.  In fact, if you do not feel up to it, you can skip the orange shell part and simplify the whole dessert by assembling all of it in individual bowls or one bowl. I would suggest using clear glass bowls for the visual factor.

Keep in refrigerator till you are ready to serve. Make sure that any other food that has a strong aroma is kept covered as it is quite inconvenient to cover the oranges and you definitely don’t want your dessert to smell of anything like garlic, celery, onion or that fish curry you have in the fridge

While it is not a hard and fast rule, try and keep the dessert in the fridge for at least an hour or so, allowing the sauces to firm up. You could even half make the dessert a day in advance; fill the shell with the orange sauce and the chocolate and add the whipped cream and garnish just before serving.

Fusion Meal with Achari Chicken

Achari Chicken is not an invention in itself, though I have added my own personal touch to the list of ingredients and method. My take on Achari Chicken calls for chips and a salad as accompaniment and thats where the fusion comes in. The recipe for the main course is long and elaborate compared to most of the main course recipes here; however, it is most certainly worth the effort.
The dessert is something that I thought up on my own, the best part of the recipe is the low fat and somewhat low sugar in it. The 'toffeed' walnuts are an essential part of it and the dessert will taste quite quite bland without it,  In any case, this dessert is like a shrikhand with a heavy English accent :)

7a) Achari Chicken

 

Stage I:  

Ingredients:

500 Gms chicken (you can go with leg pieces or drum sticks for best results)

Ingredients

1 tbsp ginger paste

1 tbsp garlic paste

Salt to taste (I would go with a conservative flat teaspoon of salt or even slightly less, best to adjust the salt towards the end)

1 ½ tsp vinegar

1 ½ tsp mustard oil

 Method:

Trim as much of the fat as is possible from the pieces of chicken, wash and either pat dry or leave for a short while for the excess moisture to drain or dry off.

Place the chicken in a wide bottomed  bowl (for even marinating)

Mix all of the ingredients of the marinade and rub into the chicken.

Cover and leave for a minimum of 3 – 4 hours in the refrigerator.

I would prepare the chips for frying during the period that the chicken is marinating.

Stage II

(step a): 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp Mustard oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp onion seeds

1 ½ tsp fennel

2 large onions (or three small to medium sized ones) finely sliced

¼  teaspoon fenugreek seeds(methi)

1 tsp Kasturi Methi

Method:

Take all the ingredients

Heat the mustard oil in a wide pan till smoking, switch off the fire and wait for the oil to cool enough to not burn the seeds that you are about to put into it.

Switch on the fire and add the mustard seeds first, as soon as they show signs of spluttering, add the onion and fennel seeds.

Reduce the heat to low and add the onion slices and the fenugreek seeds (I do this because the fenugreek seeds tend to burn very quickly and so adding it with the onions allows for better control over them)

Crumble the Kasturi methi leaves and add them.

Cook on low fire till the onions turn a bit glassy, but not limp.

Remove the pan from the fire and take the onions and spice mixture out from the pan and keep aside.

(stepb)

Inredients:

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 – 3 dried red chillies

1 flat tbsp ginger paste

1 flat tbsp garlic paste

½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 ½ cups of water

2 small tomatoes, skinned and grated

Juice of half a lime

1 tsp mustard oil

Chopped coriander for garnish (optional)

 

Method:

There ought to be adequate oil left in the pan, if not add a few teaspoons.

Heat oil to just short of smoking, lift from the fire and put in the cumin seeds. (Lifting the pan off the fire reduces the chances of the cumin burning)

Add the dried red chillies and place back on the fire

Add the ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder and the Kashmiri chilli powder.

Stir (adding a touch of water if you like, to prevent the spice from sticking to the pan or burning) on low heat till the raw smell has gone.

Add the chicken pieces and cook, flipping sides, till they are sealed.

Pour in the water, bring to boil, cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or till chicken is cooked through. Flip the chicken pieces over at least once in between this process to ensure even cooking.

Add the grated tomato and the onion and whole spice mix (which you had kept aside), cook on low heat for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Take the pan off the fire, add the mustard oil and the lime juice, give it a good stir.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, if using.

7b) Garlic Flavoured Finger Chips

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large potatoes per head

8 – 10 pods of garlic

Salt

Water

Oil for deep frying

Chat masala

(A fair bit of patience)

Method:

Take a large pan add a generous amount of salt, say 1 ½ to 2 tsp, whole pods of garlic (with skin intact)

Set to boil.

Peel the potatoes and cut into fingers, try your best to keep all the pieces to the same size.

Place the fingers of potato in a bowl of water to prevent discoloration.

Once the water comes to a rolling boil, put in the potato fingers all at once and par boil (this should take a maximum of 5 minutes or so, depends a great deal on the sort of potatoes being used)
Remove the garlic pods, taking care that not traces of it remain stuck to the fingers.

Drain and keep aside for all the water to drain or else the chips will splutter alarmingly when you fry them.

Pour enough oil in a wok or deep enough frying pan for the potato fingers to almost swim in the oil.

Heat the oil and reduce flame to medium, fry the chips (in batches).

Fry till the potatoes look cooked and have turned to a pale golden colour.

Drain extra oil from the fried fingers by placing them on a tissue (kitchen roll, napkin)

Once all the fingers are fried, fry them once again till they develop blisters and turn a rich golden colour (not brown)

Drain the fried chips on tissue once again, sprinkle chat masala (if using) or salt (if required) and serve.

7c)Cucumber and Lettuce Salad

Ingredients:

2 – 3 cucumbers

1/3 cup whole mint leaves

1 ripe but firm tomato

A generous splash of olive oil

½ lime

A tbsp Honey/sprinkling of sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

Slice the cucumbers into thin discs (I use a cheese slicer to get really thin slices)

Quarter the tomato and remove the seeds and soft pulpy flesh, leaving only the flesh that is attached to the skin)

Cut the tomato into small (maximum of 1 cm) cubes

Crush the mint leaves - just squeezing them with your hands is adequate 

Mix all three ingredients and keep in the refrigerator.

Mix the olive oil, lime juice and honey and salt and keep aside.

Pour the dressing onto the cucumber, mint and tomato bits and give it a good stir; do this, just before serving as salads with cucumber, lime and salt turn limp and watery before you can say Jack Robinson 

7d)Caramel Yoghurt with Walnuts

For the Yoghurt

Ingredients:

400 Gms Thick Curds (using store bought curds is actually better as the water content is less in these)

2 tbsp Demerara  Sugar

2 tbsp Honey

1 flat tsp Butter

2 – 3 tbsp Warm Water

Method: 

Hang the curds in a clean cheese cloth and let all the whey drain from it, this should take a minimum of 3 – 4 hours. The curds ought to be thick enough to slice with a knife once all the whey has drained.

Add the honey and whip with a balloon (or fork) till it acquires a smooth and glossy texture.

Get your warm water ready at this point.

Heat a pan to medium temperature and pour the sugar in, try and ensure that the sugar is spread more or less evenly and just watch the sugar caramelize. Do not attempt to either stir the sugar or leave the pan for even a second.

As soon as all the sugar has melted, switch the fire off,  add the butter and whisk.

Continue whisking as you pour the warm water in a slow and steady stream.

In case any toffee-ish lumps form, don’t worry at all – just pour in a wee bit more of warm water and whisk away the lump.

The liquid mixture ought to be like a caramel syrup when it cools down to room temperature. Add a little bit more of warm water if the syrup is too sticky or give a brisk boil (be very very very careful when you do this) to reduce it if you have ended up making it too watery.

Once the syrup has cooled down to room temperature, whisk it into the hung curd and honey.

It is a good  idea to check the curds at this stage to see if it is too tart or too sweet – if it is still tart, add some more honey; if it is too sweet, add a tiny bit of yoghurt.

Keep in the refrigerator to cool and set for at least an hour.

For the Walnuts:

Ingredients:

10 – 12 Walnuts

1 tbsp Demerara  sugar

½ tsp butter

Method:

 Break the walnuts into tiny pieces.

Caramelize the demerara sugar in the same way as you did for the syrup.

Add the ½ spoon of butter and the broken bits of walnuts into the pan and stir till all the pieces are coated with caramel and turn toffee like.

Allow to cool and break any pieces that may be stuck together (doesn’t matter much if all the pieces are stuck together, they come apart quite easily)

To serve, place a portion of the caramel yoghurt and sprinkle the walnut toffee bits on top.

Tandoori Style Succulent Chicken

Recipe #6

The main course in this recipe is Tandoori style Grilled Chicken. It needs to be made in two stages, I know it looks long and complicated but it really is quite simple and the end result is fabulous! It really does not require too many accompaniments and we often stick just a salad and avoid the roti or bread altogether.

The dessert that is included in this menu looks long and elaborate, it is really easier than a pie and anyone can make it.

I will post pictures of the chicken and the dessert really really soon.

6a) Tandoori Style Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

Stage I

500 gms chicken pieces of your choice (though drumsticks work best)

1 large onion chopped

1 inch piece ginger, chopped

8 – 10 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp kasturi methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

1 heaped tsp tenderiser (optional)

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp chilli powder

½ litre milk (can be fresh from the packet or carton)

Salt to taste

Pinch of orange food powder or a few drops of orange food colour

Method:

Grind all ingredients except for the chicken and the milk.

Place the chicken in a pressure cooker, pour milk and the paste you have just made.

Pressure cook for 8 – 10 minutes.

Allow the pressure to drop by itself.  

Take the pieces of chicken out, there is no need to drain the pieces too much or remove the bits of curdled milk and spice that may be sticking to the pieces, they only add to the deliciousness of this dish.

Tip: You can preserve the ‘gravy’ that will remain and use it to make a curry or moist rice preparation.

Stage II

Ingredients:

1 tbsp lemon juice

60 gms of ghee (or butter in case you do not have any ghee)

Pinch of orange food powder or a few drops of orange food colour

Chat masala or roasted cumin powder

Slices of lemon for garnish

Method:

Grease a flat baking dish and lay out the pieces of chicken in such a manner that you have easy access to each piece during the grilling process. 

Melt the ghee (or butter) and add the lemon juice and food colour.

Brush the chicken pieces with the ghee and lemon juice and bake in a moderately hot oven (400⁰ F or 205 ⁰ C) for 7 – 8 minutes.

Take the dish out, turn the pieces of chicken around and brush with remaining ghee and lemon mix. Bake for another 8 to 10 minutes.

If the top of the chicken pieces have not crisped up, you can grill the chicken for a few more minutes. This can be done in the oven or on a griddle. I use a blow torch to achieve that charred crisp appearance to the chicken pieces.

 Sprinkle with either chaat masala or roasted cumin powder, garnish with sliced lemon. Serve with pickled onions slices, tangy mint and coriander chutney, a salad and bread or roti.

6b) Pickled Onions

Ingredients:

2 onions cut into thin rings

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of black salt

¼ tsp chilli powder (preferably kashmiri/deghi chilli powder)

1 tsp of finely chopped mint or coriander leaves.

Salt to taste

Method:

Separate the onions slices and mix all the ingredients. 

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

If you keep this for too long, you may find a lot of liquid which you ought to drain before serving.

6c) Tangy Mint Chutney

Ingredients: 

1 cup of chopped fresh coriander (include as much of the stalk as you can, that’s where the real flavour and aroma is)

½ cup chopped mint leaves (no stalks here)

¼ - ½ cup raisins

1 green chilli

Juice of ½ a lemon (reserve other half)

Pinch of black salt

Table salt to taste

Method:

Begin by washing and soaking the raisins to allow enough time for them to soften a bit. Do this even before you begin chopping the coriander and mint leaves.

Check the mint leaves to be doubly sure that none of the stalk is attached to it, mint stalks lend themselves to a bitter after taste.

De-seed the green chilli if you prefer less heat. I find it easiest to top and tail the chilli, rub it violently against the chopping board and then slit it; the seeds just need a gentle scrape to be removed.

Put all ingredients into a liquidizer and grind till a smooth paste is formed

Check the taste and add more lime juice if it is too sweet or hot for your palate. Adjust salt and add some sugar if you see fit.

Tip: It is a good idea to wash your hands with milk or rub a slice of fresh lemon on your hands after handling the green chilli. This prevents burning of your hands and other parts that your hand comes into contact with.

.

6d) Salad with Curd Honey and Mustard Dressing

Ingredients:

½ cup thick curds

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp whole grain mustard sauce (I use kashundi)

Salt to taste (kashundi is salty, so if you are using this, skip the salt)

Crisp salad vegetables of your choice, chopped or sliced

Method:

Whip the curds till it is smooth and resembles whipped cream.

Beat in the honey and the mustard sauce

Pour the dressing over the vegetable and mix it in, ensuring that it coats all the pieces/slices of your salad vegetables.

6e) Peach n Cream

Ingredients:

8 peaches, stoned and halved

3 tbsp sugar

2 – 3 cups of water

1 flat tbsp corn flour

1 tsp butter

3 inch piece of Cinnamon

200 ml fresh cream

½ tsp vanilla essence

1 flat tbsp castor sugar (either readymade or just ground up sugar)

4 dollops of Vanilla ice cream

2 tbsp plum/strawberry/raspberry jam

2 tbsp water

Tip: To halve the peaches, run a knife along the length of the peaches and then gently twist it. Ease the stone off with a knife.

Method: 

Place the halved peaches in a pan, add 2 – 3 cups of water (depending on the dimension of your pan, the idea is to cover the peaches) to which the cinnamon stick and 3 tbsp of sugar have been added.

Bring to boil and then simmer till the fruit is soft. Remove the pan from the fire and take the fruit out, keep aside to cool. Leave the syrup in the pan.

Add a tiny bit of water to the corn flour in order to make a paste. Stir the syrup (from the boiling of the peaches) in the pan as you add the paste of corn flour.

Stir over low heat till the syrup thickens to the consistency of thin custard.

Remove from fire, take out the cinnamon stick and stir in butter.

The halves of the peach out to be cool enough to handle by now and you can remove the skins, which will slide off easily.

Keep the cooked peaches and the sauce in the refrigerator as soon as they have cooled down.

Heat the 2 tbsp of water in a pan, add the jam and stir till smooth.

Remove from fire, cool and refrigerate.

Whip the cream along with the vanilla essence and when it is nearly form, add the castor sugar.

Leave this in the refrigerator too.

To assemble:

Place 4 halves of the peaches in wide bottom clear glass bowl or tumbler.

Pour the thickened syrup on top of this.

Put two scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of this.

Pour a tablespoon of the sauce you have made with the jam.

Top with the whipped cream; if you can and like, pipe the cream to give it a great look.

Serve immediately.

Tip: To make sure that the cream does not split or curdle, whip it when it is cold and add a few drops of lemon juice before you begin whipping it. I promise you it works! 

 A hand whisk is the safest option when it comes to whipping cream.