Ahona Gupta's Methi Machchi -- my style

This is a recipe from Ahona who had said in a FaceBook comment two months back that she is in love with Methi and suggested her recipe of Sindhi Methi Machchi.

That "Methi Fish" remained in the subconscious strata of my brain. Now you might question the existence of "my brain" but we will not go there, we will just dwell on the subconscious where the "Methi Machchi" had sunk deep.

More than two months later, one hot, sunny morning in August I went on a quest to find that recipe. From my own FB page. It was a gargantuan task. Yes, "gargantuan". I have wanted to use that word for a while now and have never found the opportunity but this one fits, so we will stick with it. I searched high, low, through the timeline, through other people's vacation pics, through total stranger's family photos but could not find Ahona's recipe. There it was one fine day. Right there as a comment on one of the umpteen status messages I tend to post on my FB blog page. And then Boom, the next thing you know it was lost in the bottomless sink of FB status.

That kind of worried me. I mean here I am striving each day, spending precious time, trying to think up smart "Status Updates" and then couple months later ta-da there is no way to find them. My precious pearls of wisdom gone down the drain and without any copyright notice attached to them.

The very thought that there is some FB bin where my hard-worked on status is being messed around with someone's dumb updates like "Guess???" is totally freaking me out. Gawd, who ever wrote the code to this thing.

Anyway thank my stars that I finally found that recipe of Ahona's. By then it was almost lunch time and I had not moved a finger except on the scroll button. And then I realized that I did not have tomatoes or fresh methi which would have been good, errrm actually required ingredients for the dish. But I am an improvisation master and so I substituted tomatoes with yogurt, fresh green methi gave way to Kasoori methi and then I did a whole lot of other changes.By the time I was done and the house reeked of Kasoori Methi and the fish simmered in the beautiful gravy, I did not dare to call this dish "Sindhi". I have no clue on the "Sindhi"-ness of the dish, the "Methi" part is 100% fulfilled though.

This really is a beautiful dish with newer flavors to the same fish curry and was a hit at my home. Thank you Ahona and I am so glad you shared your recipe with me.

Methi Machchi -- Fish cooked in a Methi flavored Curry

I used Tilapia Fillet for this fish. You can use fillet of any other firm fish. You can also use steak pieces of Rohu or Katla. Pomfret too would be a good choice.

I started off with two fillet which I cut in 3x2 pieces. Rubbed the fish pieces with
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder 
1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder 
1 tsp Coriander Powder 
1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste 
Salt 
Little Lime juice 

Heat 2tsp of Oil in a Fry pan.
Fry 3/4 cup of chopped red onion(half of a large one) and
about 8-10 clove of garlic(6 of the fat ones should be good) till onion is soft and browned.

Cool the onion-garlic. In a blender jar put
 fried onion-garlic 
1/4th cup thick yogurt
Blend to a thick paste with aid of little water.
Note: Alternately, instead of yogurt use 1/2 Cup of pureed tomato

Next add 2 tbsp oil to the same pan and heat. Shallow fry the fish till they are golden brown on both sides. Remove and keep aside.

Now we will make the gravy so if needed add 1tbsp more oil to the same pan.

Temper the oil with 1/4 tsp Methi(Fenugreek) Seeds.

Once the oil is flavored, lower the heat and add
the onion-garlic-yogurt paste
along with 1/2 tsp sugar
Also add 1 tbsp loosely packed Maida/AP Flour and fry the paste for couple of minutes.
Note: If you are using the tomato, then add the pureed tomato after the above step. Fry till raw smell of tomatoes is gone

Next add the spices
1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder or 1 tsp Kashmiri Mirch(adjust the red chili to your taste) 
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder 
1tsp Coriander Powder 
2tbsp Kasoori Methi crushed between your palm 
Note: Mix the spices with 2-3 tbsp of yogurt and then add
Raise heat to medium and with sprinkle of water fry the masala for 3-4 minutes till there is oil separating from the masala and the masala has no raw smell.

Add a fistful of chopped coriander and about a cup of warm water. Add salt to taste. Add couple of slit green chilies. Mix everything together and let the gravy simmer and come to boil.

Simmer till you feel the gravy has reached right thickness. It should not be too watery or soupy. 

Add 2 tbsp of heavy cream towards the end for a richer taste

Slowly add the fried pieces of fish to the gravy. Let the gravy simmer for couple more minutes and then switch off heat.Wait for around 30-40 minutes for the flavors to blend in. Serve with rice.

Chicken Keema Pakora -- fasting or feasting

It was one of those days that deserve some deep fried love. I am not exactly sure what kind of exact day it was but it must have been pretty worthwhile to deserve pakoras being fried in bubbling hot oil.

Could have been the day, LS took the plunge and rode the bicycle with the training wheels. From three wheels to four, two of them in training waiting to be taken away.

Could also have been another one where she found her knee pads and elbow pads so overwhelming that she refused to ride the bike at all. "I don't want to ride anymore", she decided.

Could have been when BS after many, many days of tearful practice of the same piano piece over and over again, found her reward that only hard work can bring.

Could have been when I learned of "gentoo penguins" from a smart 6 year old as we painted pottery on a cold day.

Could have been the day a flower bloomed.

A leaf fluttered.

The rains splashed.

And nothing happened.

It could have been this day or the other but there must have been something to make me heat a kadhai full of oil to bubbling.

This recipe was adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe on YouTube. I don't know if there is some divine intervention that I happened to post these keema pakoris on Ramzan when it was indeed adapted from Khana Khazana's Ramzan Special. I have also modified the recipe according to my Chicken Meatball recipe where the breadcrumbs give amazing soft results. This is a simple enough recipe to follow if you have minced meat at home and is a sure fire entertainer.

 Chicken Keema Pakora

Chicken keema -- 1 lb
Onion -- 1 small finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic Paste -- 1 tsp
Cumin Powder -- 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder -- 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder -- 1/2 tsp (I don't add this)
Garam masala -- a pinch
Salt -- to taste
Green Chili -- 4-5 finely chopped
Lime Juice -- 1/2 a lime
Freshly chopped coriander -- a fistful
BreadCrumb -- 1/4 cup
Egg -- 1
Besan/Chickpea flour -- almost 1/2 cup
Vegetable Oil -- for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients together adding the egg and besan only towards the end. Fashion small balls out of the mix.

Heat enough oil for deep frying. Drop the balls in the hot oil. Reduce heat to medium, slowly fry the balls so that the keema cooks. When both sides have turned golden brown, raise the heat and fry for a minute till it turns crispy.

Take out with a slotted spoon and drain the oil on a paper towel. Serve hot with some spicy chutney.
Your way to celebrate a fast or a feast.

Grilled Mushroom and Quinoa Salad with Cucumber-Onion

For years I have resisted Quinoa.  And for what reason I do not know. The internet had been alive with it but I refused to budge.

"Quinoa ( /ˈkiːnwɑː/ or /kɨˈnoʊ.ə/, Spanish: quinua, from Quechua: kinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds.It has a high protein content and it is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is also a source of calcium, and thus is useful for vegans and those who are lactose intolrant."

Brown Rice -- Check.
Daliya -- Check.
Flax Seed -- check.
Quinoa -- Ummm...

And then one day I got a frozen box of cooked quinoa from Trader Joe's, the kind which says defrost and cook in microwave for 12.5 minutes. It was a disaster. Really. I don't know how I could have gone wrong with those instructions, there were barely any. But it was so bad that D refused to eat any of it.So there went my Quinoa dream.

Then again one fine day while on vacation in Cape Cod, I spotted a Trader Joe's. Of course I had to go in. More important than disturbing the colony of whales and ogling at them I tell you.Since I couldn't buy anything frozen, I bought a whole packet of uncooked quinoa and carried it all the way back home where it sat in the pantry for almost two months. Until today that is.

Watching the opening ceremony of the London Olympics seemed a befitting time to try a new grain. The opulence of one could mask the other's failure, I assumed.

The idea of a quinoa salad with cucumber came from here also the instruction to cook it right. I also decided to pair the quinoa salad with a grilled mushroom and sweet pepper on the side. The idea of the marinade for the vegetables came from Progna's blog.

This is what went in the marinade:

1/4cup Olive Oil
Juice of half a lime
1 tsp whole black pepper coarsely crushed
3 clove of garlic coarsely pounded
1 tsp Red Chili flakes
2 tsp Brown Sugar
Salt
1/4 tsp or more Lime zest

The baby portabella were rinsed, dried and tossed in the marinade along with some sweet peppers. After an hour soaking up the marinade the vegetables were set on the outside grill to char and cook. Alternately you can also roast them in the oven.

Now comes making the Quinoa Salad:

Meanwhile 1 cup of Quinoa was soaked in water for 5 minutes.

On the stove was set to boil a pan with 3 cups of salted water. When the water comes to a boil, drain the quinoa on a strainer and add to the pan. Lower heat to medium and cook for 12-15 minutes. Little thread like thingy will come out from the seeds when they are cooked and the tiny seeds will turn translucent. Once done, drain the Quinoa, put it back in the pan and let it sit for 5 minutes. I also rinsed it in cold water while draining and then fluffed it with a fork.

Chop cucumber, red onion and green chili and in a bowl toss them with olive oil, salt and lime juice.Add some finely chopped coriander leaves. Gradually add the cooked quinoa to this bowl and toss. Taste and adjust for seasoning as you go.

The Quinoa Salad was darn good by itself  and we had it with the grilled mushroom and sweet pepper.

Faster, Higher, Stronger....the amazing power of the Human Bean. Go Olympics.

Now when I had started this post I thought I would send it to Jaya's "Healthy Food--Whole Grain" event. But Quinoa is technically a seed and not a grain so I am not sure if it deserves an entry.