Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

BS lost her very first tooth last week, last Wednesday to be precise. Major excitement ensued.More than the tooth, it was about the Tooth Fairy and the cash she would bring.

I had no clue that Tooth Fairies brought wads of dollar bills.

A shiny quarter was all I knew. Apparently I am wrong, as suggested by little neighbor girl.

The little neighbor girl has raised the bar pretty high saying Tooth Fairy got her thirty dollars. T-HIRT-Y DOLLARS for a baby tooth !!! What was TTF(The Tooth Fairy) thinking. I am guessing there is a scam going on and it might involve Goldman but really T-HIRT-Y Dollars ?

Since this was BS's very first tooth, I did not want her psychologically snubbed by TTF's bias and so she got Fifteen dollars from TTF next morning, crisp 5 dollar bills under her pillow.

Later I learned that little neighbor girl might have duped me. Tooth Fairy still gives out single dollar bills so there I am the stupid adult.

To quickly retract my sin of giving too much cash to a 6 year old I made BS buy ten dollar worth of craft supplies with that money and now BS is left with 5 dollars which she has promised to give to her Mom when the need arises. In fact BS thinks her Mom can become rich herself if she loses her own tooth too.

Before that happens her Mom decided to celebrate the occasion by making Chingri Pakora or Shrimp Pakoda. It did not matter that BS did not even want to take a bite, everyone else enjoyed it to the bits.

Update for Indo: The toothless girl did not fancy pakodas on that particular day. She has her very own independent food ideas that change each day !!!

Fry some up, they are perfect on a rainy day with a steaming cuppa. Ok, they are good on any day and we will also serve it as a bhaja (something fried) to go with rice and dal. If you don't eat shrimp, don't lose heart, you can use sliced paneer or mushroom and they will taste as good.


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Chingri Pakoda -- Shrimp Pakoda

This recipe makes about 15-16 pakodis with 15-16 shrimp

Clean and de-vein shrimp. If using frozen defrost them. Remove shell and the tail. Toss the shrimp with 1/4 tsp of lime juice, 1/4 tsp of Roasted Cumin powder and salt. You can also add a little garlic paste and Red Chili powder, I usually don't. Keep the shrimp marinated for 10-15 minutes. If shrimp is large in size, chop in bite size pieces and then marinate.

In a mixing bowl add

1 cup of Besan/Chickpea flour
a pinch of Baking Powder
1/4 tsp of Red Chili Powder
salt to taste
Add 3/4 cup--1 cup of water gradually to above, mixing with a fork to make a smooth batter.

Note 1: You can add a tsp of rice flour to the batter to make it more crispy
Note 2: Sometimes I will add an egg to the batter. If you do that add less water.

To the batter add about 1/4 cup of finely chopped onions and 2 green chili finely chopped(optional) and mix well
This time I added 2 tbsp of crispy fried onions(the kind you can put in biryani etc.) to the batter and it tasted heavenly

Heat enough Oil for deep frying in a kadhai. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a little batter into it.

Dip a shrimp in the batter so that it is well coated. With a tablespoon scoop the shrimp along with some batter and gently drop it in hot oil. At this point heat should be high-medium. After a minute reduce the heat to medium. When the pakoda starts turning golden at edges flip and fry the other side. Approx. it will take 2-3 mins on each side. This is enough for the shrimp to get cooked.
Note: When you are doing several at a time, carefully separate each pakodis in the hot oil so that they do not lump together.

Once the pakoda looks brown and crunchy, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel

Sprinkle Amchoor or Chaat masala on the pakodis and serve with a Hot & Sweet Ketchup

Miss Masala by Mallika

A very dear blogger friend has written a book.

She is funny, witty, charming, chic and a terrific cook. Oh, wait and she is a fellow bong.

Can you guess who she is ?

Ok, she is already famous and you all probably know about her book. She is Mallika from Quick Indian Cooking, who blogs here at Quick Indian Cooking. Of course.

Book: Miss Masala
Author: Mallika Basu
Hardcover: 248 pages
Publisher: Collins (April 29, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007306121
ISBN-13: 978-0007306121
Buy from Amazon

She had very kindly sent me some copies l--o--o--n--g back. But they got lost in transit and after much travel only two of her gorgeous books landed at my door.

Did I say they were gorgeous ? They were absolutely pretty and purple and pink and with the most charming pages(or settings or whatever the publishers call them). You know the kind of lined pages where you jot down your notes. Her book is like that, has that well thumbed feel of a recipe journal about it. And yet just like her it is witty, charming, chic and sexy.

It is filled with those terrific recipes which you must have got a glimpse in her blog and is filled with witty anecdotes. I have been enjoying reading it so much that I am yet to cook from it. In fact I had intended to do a review only after I cooked a couple (and it is hard to pick just a couple) of dishes from the book. But then I remembered she has a book tour all over India this week and I wanted to get the word out as quickly as possible.

Please,please check out her book tour and go visit if possible. Also buy your own personal copy. I was supposed to give out one but my Mom has taken over one copy and refuses to part with it. Me, I am not going to let go mine either. So go get your own and meet Mallika in her book tour if possible.

Dal with Beet Greens

Little Sis aka LS is a funny creature. She is the kind you would like to have at the other table at the fancy restaurant. The kind who will stick her tongue out at you, climb up and down the high chair, throw forks around, throw folks around and make you silently gloat on your own parenting skills. When she starts yelling you can pay your tip and leave.

I cannot leave however. I am the Mother. I have to grab her by the nape while I shovel Pad Thai down mine. I have to constantly remind her that throwing a plate(thankfully it was a copper or some metallic kind) around is not acceptable behavior, that she cannot pull tablecloths or poke ac vents.

People@Home think I am too soft with her. But trust me I am not. Ok, maybe I have lost the steam to discipline since Big Sis aka BS but even then I am not soft. It is just that LS is like that, naughty and funny and always on her toes.

Now BS is the quieter one, she doesn't scold her little sis when LS shouts "My Turn" ever so often, doesn't utter a word when LS takes away her crayons, lets her lick her ice cream and only sometimes complains that LS scratched her arms.

LS never complains. If needed she throws herself on the floor albeit carefully and expresses her anger. She plays mostly with BS's friends and uses her limited English editions of "Hello", "How are You Doing", "No, don't" and "My Turn". After that she just continues in Bengali. She figures her way around them, relying totally on BS for help and ignoring any grown up interference.

A couple months back when we were at Orlando, she shook hands with Mickey and told him a lot of stuff including "Hello", "How are you doing". Unfortunately Mickey did not understand a word. Since then she has a Mickey fixation. So she is the kid you can hear yelling "Mickey", "Mickey" at the library or the mall or anywhere the familiar mouse is visible.

She is the one with parents sporting an embarrassed look.

Next time when you hear a kid in the flight protesting to wear the sea belt, when you see a kid who is practicing target with forks and peas at the restaurant, when you hear a kid whose excited voice drowns the silence in the library please, please DO NOT blame the parents.

Think of LS. Some kids are "like that wonly".

Now to the Dal cooked with a bunch of beet greens. This again is my Ma's dish. Since we usually get a bunch of beet for LS, Ma uses the greens in this Dal and it has become a family favorite. You can work around with the spices and the type of Dal. I have always, always cooked this with only Masoor--Red Lentils but I have a hunch that this will go beautifully with Toor too.


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Dal with Beet Greens

Wash and cook Masoor Dal(Red Lentils) with enough water and little turmeric. I usually do it in the pressure cooker. I had about 4 cups of Cooked Dal. My dal was cooked rather thick, usually it should be more liquid.

Chop the Beet Greens. I had one bunch of it.

Heat 3-4 tsp of Oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Temper the oil with 1 small Bay Leaf, 4 cardamom, 4 clove and 1" thin stick of cinnamon

Add 2 cloves of garlic finely minced, followed soon by almost 1 &1/2 -- 2 cups of chopped onion. Fry the onion till it is soft and translucent.

Add the chopped Beet Greens. Fry the greens till there is no raw smell of the greens. If they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan, sprinkle water and scrape and fry.

Add about 1/4 tsp of Garam Masala powder if you wish and 1 more tsp of oil. Fry for couple more minutes

Now add the cooked dal. Do this gradually, sauteing the dal along with the greens so that they mix thoroughly

Now add water about 3-4 cups of it. Add salt and sugar to taste. Add chili powder to taste. Let the Dal simmer till it comes to a boil. Mix thoroughly. Switch off and squeeze a quarter lime juice into the Dal. Serve with rice or Roti or just by itself.