Dal Chawal Palidu -- from Bohri Kitchen

Belonging to a minority community in my adopted country and "God-alone-knows-what" community in my mother land, I stay away from discussing politics in this space. Also, I am not good at being a keyboard warrior.
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However even as I type and share news about what I cooked and served for dinner in the backdrop of chaos, a part of me cringes at the selfishness of it all. But then that's life. That is what you do.
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Bias as has always been a part of our countries. You peel away religion, there is region, then caste, then gender, then color -- there is always a minority community, whose voices are not loud enough to be heard. And it's always relative. If there is more of you, I am a minority.
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Many a times, we are not even aware of the communities outside our own and often stick to the stereotypes. Like say, all Indians are vegetarians or all Indian parents get extremely upset if their kids get anything less than a A+ grade or Girls like pink or  South-east Asian Muslims serve Biryani on all important occasions.
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To know a community, you have to break bread with them . It's best if you can share a meal but if not just expand your horizons and cook a meal. That way you learn a little and you find that your heart has space to share for more.
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So that's what I thought I will try to do. I usually stick to my known cuisine of Bengali, global Indian, Italian, American etc.  This time, I went out of my comfort zone to find a Bohri Muslim recipe. I know no one from that community and I know very little about their eating habits. However Bohri Thal has recently become very popular in Mumbai and so there were plenty of articles on the internet. The more I read, the more I was intrigued.

"The Bohra community originated from a Muslim sect in Yemen and Egypt, later spreading to India and Pakistan. Hence, the food influences have been heavily adapted from the Middle East. The initial settlement of the Bohra’s in Surat, Gujarat have led to major Gujarati influence on the cuisine as well.This is why you will find that Bohri cuisine is much lighter and lower in spice than Mughlai or Pakistani food." -- Mumbai Foodie

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I found a very, interesting and simple vegetarian dish that all those articles mentioned as the Bohri comfort food. So, I went out on a limb and made "Dal-Chawal-Palidu" for lunch today.

I followed the recipe from two sites -- Goya Journal and Farida's post in One Life To Eat

Did you know Dal-Chawal-Palidu and not Biriyani, is a dish for all celebratory occasions in the Bohri Muslim Community?

In the Bohri style of community dining, the family gathers around the thaal, eating the meal in courses that alternate between sweet and savoury.  One of the staples of the Bohri thaal is Dal Chawal Palidu – a dish with rice, lentils and moringa that is so beloved in the Bohri repertoire that no meal, no celebration, is complete without it. Gently boiled and spiced, the lentils are layered between freshly steamed rice, and cooked on dum, served with a side of tempered moringa - Goya Journal

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It was so very different from the Dal-Chawal I have grown up with that I had to actually compare 4 recipes to make sure this was indeed a Dal-Chawal. The Palida on the other was more in our line of food habit and the taste was very akin to sambhar. We really loved the Palida.
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Did we like Dal-Chawal-Palidu? Yes.
Will it be my comfort food? No.
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But I did learn something and if I befriend someone from the Bohri community, I will look forward to taste their authentic version of "Dal-Chawal-Palida".

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts -- with Sichuan Peppercorn and Peanuts

Since last December, on my morning commute, instead of tuning in to NPR, I have started listing to 102.7.

This is my daughters' favorite channel playing popular music in English, half of whose lyrics I do not understand. Like really not understand. For a long time, I would hum Pink's "Beautiful Trauma" as Mala Mantra Mala....

Until now, every evening, we would actually get into a fight because as soon as they got into the car, they would flip my car radio channel to 102.7 and disrupt my NPR or Radio Mirchi listening. Since December, I have voluntarily flipped to 102.7 in the mornings, to listen to holiday songs and stayed on because the Morning show is very funny. Like really, laugh out loud funny. And I need funnies to get my mind away from the news.

So yesterday, I was tuned on to the show, and this caller calls in about his girl-friend not returning his call blah, blah. It seems this is one of their regular segments where the RJ's then call up the girlfriend/boyfriend and gift them an all paid date, if they agree to go out together. So anyway, the girlfriend is called, she picks up the phone and seems not very enthusiastic about this all paid for date thing. They then ask her, if there was anything wrong and she goes, "Well, he is very nice and everything but he said he loves me within 2-weeks of knowing each other and I am afraid, he can propose anytime. I find it very insincere that someone can say "I LOVE YOU" in 2-weeks!"

Having been brought up on healthy doses of Bollywood where the pair falls in love the minute they see each other and burst into a song at the end of the first meeting, I have always lamented that "love at first sight" has always eluded me. That it could be insincere is something I only now realized. The lady had a point.

However the caller guy, refused to understand this and kept pushing if he could meet her or come over and such. The lady very patiently explained that she liked it slow, and what he was doing was too much for her. The guy sounded, really desperate and I doubt their relationship will last. He was trying to do too much, too fast.

Sichuan peppercorns. And those are Big Sis's pretty nails

That could or could not be the problem for this Brussels Sprouts Dish. I was giving those cute vegetables too much attention and too many ingredients. Like usually I just roast them in the oven and they are good that way.
This time I seasoned them with Oil flavored with aromatics like garlic, ginger and my new found love Sichuan peppercorns. I also added a little of Maple Syrup to add a hint of sweetness

And then as if that was not enough, I roasted and crushed peanuts and added that on top of the roasted vegetables.

I am not sure if my Brussel Sprouts were feeling claustrophobic with all the attention because we ate all of them. This is one vegetable 75% of the family loves, only Little Sis does not eat her Brussel sprouts!

Chicken Roast for Christmas

Christmas is right here, the year is done, and I have been super lazy this month. The last few days has been crazy as it always does when the holidays are upon you and you have procrastinated.

But not my fault totally. The thing is my India trip this November, totally messed me. Though there was a lot of running around to do while I was there, I did not have to do any of the daily chores. I mean, no meal planning, no lunch or dinner to cook, no clothes to fold, even the cup of lebu-cha was brewed and brought to me. That kind of luxury goes to your head.

*At this point, if you are in India and reading my blog, you are probably rolling your eyes*

I get it. That is normal for you. Most of my friends and cousins back home, actually look upon me with pity if I happen to tell them that I actually have to cook the lunch that I pack for the school lunch boxes!! We live a hard life, I am telling you.

So anyway, all that life of pleasure totally ruined my system and I have calmly delegated almost all cooking to the husband man or to our favorite Sichuan restaurant.

If I had continued to live in India, I am telling you this blog would just go defunct. Thank God for small mercies!

Now, a couple of you had messaged me, asking to share a roast chicken recipe. I get it, it's Christmas and  a roast chicken is a delicious thing for a Christmas lunch. Also it's just the kind of dish you would like to make all through winter.  It is a one-pot, rather one-tray dish and you can stand near the oven and watch Netflix, all warm and toasty. Yes, I have my own weird reasons for cooking.

Whenever I make roast chicken, I do it with Cornish hens. We are not big meat eaters and two Cornish hens is perfect for our family of 4.  These are smaller hens which taste really delicious and easier to handle for klutz-es like me. Don't be ashamed of being a klutz. I am one and the world needs all kinds .
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This roast chicken recipe that I follow is fairly simple. I don't have the exact measures but if you are in doubt about how much olive oil or butter, i would just say err on the higher side.

Recipe is for 1 small Cornish Hen

Wash the chicken thoroughly inside out and remove giblets if any. They will be in a small pack, for your ease, the store does that!
Oh! And don't forget to pat the chicken dry.

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Now I take half a lemon  and rub it around the inside cavity of the hen. I also rub it in any crevices and nooks and crannies. Lemon is like deodorant for the hen.
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Then I make a spice paste with following
Olive Oil ~ 3-4 Tbsp
Little butter ~ 2 Tbsp
Garlic paste ~ 1 Tbsp
Ginger paste ~ 1/2 Tbsp
Tandoori masala or Garam Masala ~ 1 tsp
Black pepper powder ~ 1 tsp (best if you powder whole black peppercorns)
 Red Chili Powder ~ 1 tsp
Salt
Mmm...so good.


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Rub this paste around the inside cavity of the hen. Then gently lift the outer skin and massage the spice paste on the outer side.Make sure the spices and butter reach all the crevices. I have never had a massage this good myself.
Rub the paste on all sides of the chicken as you want your whole chicken to be flavorful.

Liberally salt the inside and outside of the chicken.
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Let the chicken rest for one whole hour. It has done hard work.

Pre-heat oven to 425F

Now heat olive oil in a skillet and brown the hen on the outside. The skin should turn a pale golden.
It is NOT necessary to do this skillet step. Instead you can just brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil+butter.
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Now arrange the chicken on a roasting tray. Stuff the inside with whole sprigs of rosemary, plenty of cloves of garlic and lemon halves. You can add vegetables like small potatoes, carrots, onions to roast in the same tray.
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Roast for 70 mins to 90 mins at 425 F. You will know it is done when juice runs clear when cut between leg and thigh.
Baste the chicken with the olive oil+butter+dripping-in-tray halfway through the cooking

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Serve with bread, salad and the roasted vegetables.
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Portuguese-Style Fish Stew -- on hump day

Portuguese-Style Fish 

There was a recent @nytimes article which asked 18 families around the world what they were having for a typical weeknight dinner. Almost all the families in that article were eating a dinner cooked at home!! Other than India and Peru (where there was a cook), in all other countries, the dinner was cooked by members of the family. I really found it very interesting as did Li'l Sis. i love to learn about other cultures and seeing what a family is eating gives me a peek into their world.

https://www.nytimes.com/…/family-meals-around-the-world.html

Yesterday on my FB page I asked a similar question -- Are you cooking dinner tonight?

82% of readers said, they were cooking dinner at home.
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Though a small sample size, it gives me so much hope.💕

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Inspired by the families around the world, I decided to cook something different last night and settled on a Portuguese style fish stew. I had Tilapia loins that were waiting in the sink, already defrosted. The Fish stew required just the basic ingredients and little effort. Right up alley on a Wednesday.

I followed a couple of recipes, one of which was from Washington post. Interestingly this tomato based stew has a Portugese + New England influence from the Portuguese immigrants. To it I added some of my own Bengali influence with Bhaja Moshla and lots of green chilies and coriander leaves.🤣

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I cooked in a cast iron skillet and finished it in the oven, this reduced my active cooking time to about 20 mins. I loved this part about the dish, that it was so quick.

The dish came out really very good and I am adding it to my favorite weeknight fish curries recipes.

Portuguese-Style Fish Stew

Inspired by Washington Post -- Portugese Style Fish-Stew

What You Need

Tilapia Loins -- 4 Tilapia filet, each about 4oz, from Costco. Cut each into 3 pieces. Pat dry and then dust with salt-pepper.

You can also use fish like Cod or Bassa

Onion -- 1 medium or half of a large one. Chopped
Garlic -- 6 fat cloves minced
Tomato -- 2 large tomatoes chopped OR 1/2 Cup of canned organic no-salt added crushed tomato
Green Chili -- 4 slit and 2 chopped

Cumin powder (I used Bhaja Moshla) -- 1/2 tsp
Thyme -- a pinch of dried Thyme
Rosemary -- a pinch of dried rosemary
Red Chili Powder -- 1/2 tsp
Salt -- to taste

Optional
You can add some vegetables to this dish like I added diced carrots
Andouille sausage -- 2 cooked sausages chopped
White Wine -- a splash

Start Cooking

Preheat Oven to 350 F.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil a cast iron skillet.

Add the garlic and green chilies.

Once the garlic starts sizzling add the onion. Saute until onion is soft. 2-3 minutes.

Next goes in the tomatoes and carrots. Saute and then cover and cook for 10 minutes at medium heat. Tomatoes should not have any more raw smell.

Add the sausages and saute for a minute. You can add a splash of  white wine at this point.

Next add all the dry spices
Bhaja Moshla
Thyme
Rosemary
Red Chili Powder
Salt to taste

Add the fish pieces, moving them around gently so that both sides are coated with the sauce and they are touching the bottom of the pan

Add round sliced lime, some more green chilies if you like it hot.

Now put the skillet in the pre-heated oven. Cook for 15 minutes. At the end of this, fish should be flaky and cooked.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with salad and brown rice.

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Tumi'r Chicken Malai Kabab

Today is Bishawakarma Pujo.

And guess what ? I do not have a single food memory of this festival.

Tomato? Potato? Khichuri? Biriyani? Potol Posto? Neem Begun? Bishwakarma ki kheten🤔

Nothing. Zilch. Nada. My brain throws up a 404 Error at "Bishwakarma Pujo Food". Ki blasphemy!!

There are several for Durga Pujo, a couple for Lokkhi Pujo, a nice number for Saraswati Pujo, even one for Ma Mongol Chondi'r Pujo.

But Biswakarma? Nothing. My mother never made anything special for this guy. Neither did my Thama, paternal grandmother.

Even Dida, my maternal grandmother, who usually was the one with all the rituals and related food, did observe something called "Arandhan", on the day before Bishwakarma Pujo but that was for another goddess Ma Manasa.

Actually I don't remember my Mother making anything special on Ganesh Pujo or Karthik Pujo either.

Do you see the trend here ? I guess these Bengali females were more feminist than any. They made special dishes only for the Goddesses!

But I believe in equal opportunity. If Durga, Lokkhi can have their bhog er khichuri and narkel naru then Baba Biswakarma can have my Kababs.

So what if the women in my family never cooked anything for him! I have other resources.

These tender, soft, juicy malai kababs are my friend's sister's recipe. She lives in UK and she shared this recipe with me almost 4 years back. I have made it umpteen times since then and everytime I make it I remember her saying that she uses "Crème fraîche" for this dish, for that is what they get in Europe and not just some blah "sour cream".

There are many recipes of Chicken Kabbas out there but I always, always stick to Tumi'r recipes. And every freaking time I make these kababs with hung yogurt, some cream cheese, a little sour cream -- I say to myself I should have used "Crème fraîche"!!!

That is how recipes are for me, they are always about who told you about it, whom you learned from, where you heard about it, whose home you tasted it, who gave you those small to  and what you remember it by.

Chicken tenderloins cut in kabab sized cubes -- 1.5 lb

Marinade Ingredients

Thick Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt strained of whey) -- 1/2 cup
Sour Cream -- 1/4th Cup (I usually don't have sour cream at home so skip this)
Cream Cheese -- 3-4 Tbsp
Olive Oil -- 2 tsp

Spices for marinade

Garlic Paste -- 1 Tbsp
Tandoori Masala -- 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder -- 1 tsp
Chat Masala -- a sprinkle
Dried Mint -- 1/2 tsp
Green Chili -- 2 minced
Lemon Juice -- from 1/2 lemon
Salt -- to taste

Marinate the Chicken pieces with all the ingredients listed under "Marinade Ingredients"

Then add all ingredients under "Spices for marinade"

Toss the chicken pieces well making sure all pieces are well coated. Now refrigerate for 1 hr to overnight.

When you are ready to cook, put the pieces on a skewer. put the skewers on a grill rack with a dripping tray below. Into the oven at 375 F for 20 mins.

Then take out and turn the skewers. Drizzle a little bit more of olive oil and put to broil for 6-8 minutes

Serve it right away with salad or roti.

School Lunch ideas: You can also cool and freeze in portions and add these to noodles or fried rice or even make a chicken tikka gravy with these kababs

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Grilled Chicken with Sate Oil

I have been obsessed with this grilled chicken recipe and had to share it here. It is perfect for the summer. A little marination and a whole lot of flavor.

Usually I marinate my chicken with Indian spices for grilling. However that was getting kind of boring. The other marinades that the husband-man uses is bit bland for my taste and the chicken is not as juicy as I want to be. psst... he doesn't agree though.

Until...yes until last week...when this recipe changed my life and grilled chicken's.

The recipe is from Bon Appetit magazine, an annual subscription gifted by my lovely friend. I took two recipes of Chef Tom Cunanan and then made them my own.

First, I was blown away by the Sate Oil. This is very similar to the Chili Garlic oil that you get at Chinese or Thai restaurants.

Next was grilled Chicken where the chicken was marinated in a brine and that contained guess what ? SPRITE. Yes, sprite. The sweet-lemony and fizzy sprite did do wonders to the chicken. The aromatics (yes the author kept saying aromatics for ginger, garlic etc and I loved it) in the brine add a lot of flavor to the meat. The meat was also very juicy and did not become at all dry after grilling.

The original recipe of the grilled chicken called Chicken Inalsa, involved Acchiote Oil but I did not have it.

So, I grilled the chicken as per the recipes and then basted it with previously made Sate Oil. The best thing ever. That oil is amazing. Be liberal with Sate Oil if you wish to kick up the flavors. Serve grilled chicken with a simple salad, add it to pasta, or in a sandwich. It is delicious.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Indian Spices

When my kids were younger, I used to have this dream -- that they are now older, responsible teenagers and hence doing everything on their own, leaving me with huge expanse of plump, golden afternoons of nothingness. I used to crave for those afternoons of nothingness. I used to fantasize about all things I could do then like -- exercise,new recipes every other day, social media updates by the minute, blog every hour, write a new book every week...

Future seemed glorious.

I was like that kid who wanted to be an adult until she becomes an adult and has to pay mortgage!

Now that my kids are older, those afternoons seem to have vanished. I do not have afternoons. And if I have any, they are gone so fast that I miss them. My afternoons seem to sprint faster than Usain Bolt and vanish in the blink of an eye.

My younger one thinks I could have got hold of those afternoons to do some conditioning and get fit abs like her. My older one thinks I should use those afternoons to do anything but check her Physics hw.

I do neither and honestly I have no idea what I am doing really other than wasting my time browsing what-to-watch-on-Netflix. I keep saying I will get more time once the kids are in college, but those are all excuses. Clearly I am ignoring all these well-meaning quotes about "Living in the now". Or maybe I am actually "living-in-the-now" by doing nothing.

So anyway, instead of wasting my time describing afternoons, let me share the recipe of these delicious grilled lamb chops or more like grilled rack of lamb. With fresh garlic, ginger and Indian spices it is a very, very flavorful recipe. I learned it from my friend Deepsikha and just like her I make this dish completely in the oven. No browning in skillet or anything. You can use the same recipe for lamb chops too, only cooking time may vary.

Technically this is not grilling as I am doing it in the oven but I will take convenience and taste over jargon any day. So you can call it what you may but a morsel of that lamb in your mouth and you will agree it is delicious. Period.

I am sure you will love it as much as we do. For a summer dinner, I served it with a salad and a cool Tzatziki which Big Sis made.

Fish in Ajillo Sauce -- Inspired by Vacations

Over the Christmas break in December, we went to Los Cabos, Mexico. A mini reunion of of some of our college friends from million years back. If I think of it, friends = family for us now.

Anyway, only 4 families could join this time. But don't think that was a small number!! The four families made us 16 people in all, and this was more than enough to turn the service folks crazy at the resort we stayed in. If there were more of us, there is a fair chance that we would be banned from the resort in future.

This was the first time we were going to an all-inclusive resort. So far, we had avoided that wonderful thing, thinking it will be boring and give us an insulated view of the country. That is true but when going in a large group with kids of myriad ages, there is nothing better than an "all-inclusive-resort". I will tell you why.

The first thing you have to understand is, when you have been brought up in a developing country, like me, the word "FREE" comes with a lot of magic.
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Not "born to be free" or free-dom or such.
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More like " Buy 1 Get 1 Free". Or better still -- "Free Food". That raises our dopamine level and makes our heart race faster than if #FarhanAkhtar was in town.
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I don't know about yours, but my mom-in-law gets immense pleasure in picking up free sachets of ketchup at any place that has them and my Dad brings home tea-bags and sachets of sugar from every hotel we stay in. There was time, when I had no idea that you could buy toothpicks at the store. We always got them from the restaurant we ate at and stored them as precious possessions.
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The point is we love anything that is "FREE". Many years back, when we were still new to this country and scratching our heads at -- 1% Fat Milk, 2% Fat Milk or Whole Milk, my Baba had excitedly picked up the Fat-Free Milk on basis of the argument that this had "free fat" and why would one refuse milk that has "free fat" added to it!!!
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So in these #allinclusive hotel/resort deals, you pay upfront and then you don't have to glance at the cheque, end of each meal. Which to us meant -- the food is practically FREE!!!
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Yehhhh!! 💃🤸‍♀️🤜🤛
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And if anything is FREE, we make sure that we get lots of it. Much more than we need. Even if we don't need. .
"Take it na, it's free anyway"!!! .
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That is ingrained in our DNA..So we ate like gluttons at every meal. As if we had arrived at the land of plenty from some famine struck place where we were deprived of food and drinks. That the food was delicious and the menu was tantalizing made it worse.

Bangla-fied Kashmiri Fish Curry -- that is how we roll

Bengalis eat a lot of fish. Growing up, I think we ate fish almost every day of the week. Not Fridays, because that is my Mother's Puja Day and not Sunday because that was the National Bengali Mutton Curry Day. But all other days there was fish for lunch and dinner. And not just one kind of fish. We could go a month without repeating the same fish actually -- mourala, magur, shingi, chara pona, tyangra, pabda, parshe, rui, katla, bhetki, ilish, chingri, the variety was endless. With each kind of fish the fish curry too varied. Crispy fried mourala, a dry dish of tyangra with eggplants, a soupy curry of shingi, pabda in a mustard sauce, fried fish with bhetki, malaikari with chingri --- ahh just the names make my mouth water.

In my home here, we eat a lot of fish too. Not always the fish that I would actually love to eat but mostly the fish that my girls love. I had never thought being a mother would involve so much of "Mother India" martyrdom but that is what has happened. I cook what the girls will eat rather than I want to eat, just because it is difficult to cook 3 different dishes. This means though we eat a lot of fish, it always hovers between -- salmon, bassa, tilapia or prawns. To add variety I try to cook these fish in different ways, grabbing recipes from far east, unknown west and anything in between.

When I saw a fish curry posted by Anita @ A Mad Tea Party on insta, a few months back, I knew I had to make it. Her photo was so alluring that I wanted that fish curry right then. I pinged her for the recipe and the true blue Kashmiri that she is, she shared her home recipe with details as to what to do when and what to substitute. The recipe was not on her blog yet and so there was no measurement.

When it comes to recipes, I trust a "home-cooked" recipe above everything else and so I took her recipe of Kashmiri Fish Curry as the guide and then "Bangala-fied" it. Which means, I added all those ingredients that a Kashmiri wouldn't but a Bengali would when she doesn't have Kashmiri suggested ingredients.

So instead of thinned tamarind water --I had lime juice, Ginger powder --was subbed with grated Ginger, and the Ver Masala -- was replaced with Garam Masala but Anita had suggested this. And then i added some fried boris or vadis as we do in a maacher jhol often.

The gravy had no onion, tomatoes and was a thin, runny gravy just like our Bengali jhol. But what made it taste different was the fennel. What a lovely flavor it added and the mild sour punch of the lemon juice was so very refreshing. We all loved this curry and I have been making it often.
I dare not call it Kashmiri as I respect an authentic recipe and I think I deviated quite a bit from the original. We will just call this Bangla-fied Kashmiri Fish Curry and rest our case.

Garlicky Tilapia with Milk and Lime

This is my friend K's recipe. I am not sure if he would like his whole name here so we will just leave it at K. This is a Tilapia with loads of garlic and bit of milk which he thinks he learned from a Italian Cooking show. When I saw the original video however I realized that this dish is more his creation than any Italian grandmother's. The addition of milk gives the dish a texture like my Mother's Dudh Maach, which the kids love, and then the garlic and green chilies take it to another level.

This dish can be served just by itself with some bread or with rice. We love it with rice like everything else.

Both K and I, have come a long way when it comes to honing culinary skills. There was a time 20 years back, when I had a reputation for frying cauliflowers by throwing them at the kadhai from a distance. Ahem, a considerable distance. Given that I was non-athletic and had hardly every netted a basket, the cauliflower throwing was a hit and miss affair. That I ever managed to make a "aloo-phulkopi" with cauliflowers in it, seems like a complex probability problem to me now.

K, has his own stories from the similar time period. His culinary experiments ranged from pressure cooking rice in milk to make "dooddh-bhaat" and making a dal-gosht that even the stray dog in their neighborhood refused to touch. None of that deterred him though and that is a good thing.

As you can well imagine, our friends still make fun of our amazing skills. But believe me, all that is a thing of the past. I have come a long way from those disasters. And same with K. Actually he is far a more adventurous cook than me and tries his hands at new technique and recipes all the time. He goes well beyond his comfort zone and every time we visit, there is a new dish waiting for us.

I pick up the ones, that my girls oooh and aah over. I know those are the ones I can pass off on weeknight dinners. I also make sure that I pick only the simple ones to try at home.

This Fish dish with loads of garlic, a touch of lime and then milk was what he made on our last visit. It was a simple dish, taking 30 mins max from start to finish.  The perfectly done fish in a pale daffodil gravy was as pretty to look at as it was to eat. You could have it with some bread or white rice. My girls loved it so much that I had to make it once we were back and since then it has become a fixed dish on the menu every week (until they tire of it).

Prep

Buy Tilapia Fillet. If You have got the bigger ones, I would suggest to cut it into two. I got the Tilapia Loins and they were slimmer than the filet.

This recipe serves 4 and I cooked with 4 Tilapia loins

Get a whole head of garlic, about say 12 pods. Either use a garlic press to press them or mince all that garlic. Garlic plays a important role in this dish so don't skimp.

We are going to make this Bengali hot, so grab a bunch(4-5) of green chili and chop them fine. If this scares you just use 2.

Start Cooking

1. Rinse and pat dry the fillet. Dust the filet with flour.

2. Season with salt and generous helping of fresh crushed black pepper on both sides

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Warm 2 tablespoon of olive oil and then add the tilapia fillets. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until pale golden and cooked through.

4. Stir in the minced or pressed garlic and the green chilies. I needed add little more Olive Oil. Move the garlic-chili around so that they cook in oil and become soft.

5. Add 1/2 Cup of water at this point. You are supposed to add white wine or broth, but we all just make do with water and it tastes fine.

6. Next goes in 1 tsp of lime juice, zest of a lemon and salt to taste. If you have added wine just check if you need the lime juice.

7. When the water bubbles and reduces to half, add 3/4 Cup of Milk.

8. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Add some parsley or dhonepata (I had neither). Taste for seasoning and adjust salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Serve with the sauce but we love it as a jhol with rice.


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Goat Sukka -- a spicy dry meat dish to blow you off

Goat Sukka | Goat Sukha

Goat Sukka or Goat Sukha is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with  the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.

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Though I am not fond of winter or cold or snow, I love the festive spirit that is all around during this time of the year. Shopping around for little gifts to be sent to school, lighting up the house, putting up the Christmas tree, each tiny thing seems to be filled with light and joy. There is something to look forward to every evening. And the houses look so pretty shining brightly against the winter sky.

Also this is the perfect time to cook the spiciest, richest dishes as both the food and process of cooking warms you up. Like this Goat Sukka which I will tell you about but I need a preamble...

Many years ago when I had started blogging, it was a small, close-knit community of Indian bloggers. We read each others blogs, commented on posts, cooked from each others blogs, and slowly via food became familiar with a sliver of their lives.

Slowly though the community disbanded, they are still there but they don't blog as much. If I have to search for a recipe and I google it, there are thousands thrown at me and I have to cautiously scroll through to find the one that will work. There is always some that will work but I don't trust them blindly any more.

So all this reminiscing is because of one single dish called Goat Sukka. It might actually have been Goat Sukha, given that it is a dry meat preparation but I have seen it blogged as Sukka and I like to call it that way. Goat Sukka is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with  the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.

I had first made Goat Sukka from SigSiv's blog. We loved it too much and I bookmarked her recipe. It had just the right amount of fennel, peppercorns and whole coriander, the perfect aroma of kari patta, a little bit of coconut, and was way easier than making kosha mangsho. I made it a few more times and then I forgot about it. These things happen. I get obsessed about some dish, cook it every other day, and then bam I forget all about it for the next 2 years.

So after this long gap, I felt a strong urge to cook goat sukka again. To refresh my memory I clicked on the url I had so carefully saved. And guess what happened ? I got a "This site cant be reached error"!! I tried hacking around and yet nothing. In desperation I sent Sig a Facebook message to see where her blog was. Turns out she hasn't blogged for a while and now her domain has expired. In the process she has also lost her blog posts.

I was so depressed by the news that I decided not to make Goat Sukka at all. But I had already bought 5 lb of mutton and no one wanted a mangshor jhol or kosha mangsho again. So I googled and pages upon pages of Goat Sukka washed over me, none of which seemed liked my old Goat Sukka. Then I searched up another favorite and very very reliable Konkani blog Aayis Recipes and no wonder she had the chicken sukka recipe.

Based on the old recipe I had in mind and with help from the one that Shilpa of Aaayis Recipes had, I made the Goat Sukka again. It turned out to be so so good. I also didn't want to risk losing it again and so right away got down to blog about it.