P.S. I won’t be posting for the next few days, since I’m headed out of town for a week. See you when I get back. I have so many recipes lined up to share with you guys, I can’t wait to get those posted. So make sure you come back. 🙂
Beef Cutlets
(Makes about 10 depending on size)
250g ground beef (beef mince)
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2″ ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4-1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
Salt, to taste
2 slices of bread
Bread crumbs, to coat the cutlets
Vegetable oil, for frying
Soak the slices of bread in water for a few seconds, drain out all the liquid and crumble. Mix together all the ingredients except the bread crumbs and vegetable oil.
Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed and evenly distributed.
Shape into cutlets.
Coat with bread crumbs.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Carefully place the cutlets in the pan and let it cook on a medium heat till its done to your liking. Turn over and cook the other side as well.
Repeat till you’re done with the meat mix, adding more oil to the pan as and when you need to.
Serve hot with some fries and a salad, and some spicy tomato ketchup.
Enjoy!!!
This recipe is linked to –
What’s Cooking Thursdays
Full Plate Thursdays
Thrilling Thursday
It’s a Keeper Thursday
Fish Cakes or Fish Cutlets
I love these cutlets. We don’t make them too often, and I’ve always wondered why. We love them, they’re crunchy little treats, and the flavors are to die for. It goes so well with a humble meal of rice and lentils, more commonly known as dal-rice and turns it to something quite extra-ordinary. If that doesn’t float your boat, how about using it to make yourself a yummy fish burger?
Whatever you decide to do with it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I mean, whats not to? For this recipe I used Kingfish slices. You can use any other white fleshy fish, but try and avoid the smaller varieties. Also, I’ve never really paid too much attention to quantities with any cutlets, its more about the mix feeling right to the touch. However, I have tried to give you an idea of the quantities I used. Feel free to adjust them as you like.
Fish Cutlets
4-5 large slices of fish
3-4 cloves of garlic
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1″ ginger
1 egg
1-2 slices of bread
Bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying
In a vessel, boil the slices of fish with a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, whole cloves of garlic and a little water. The fish needs to be cooked through. Let it cool.
While this is happening, chop up the onions, ginger, chillies and the coriander leaves and keep aside.
De-bone the fish, making sure that no bones are left behind. Its rather unpleasant to find a fish bone in a cutlet.
Add the chopped onions, chillies, ginger and coriander leaves.
Crack into this 1 egg.
Soak 1-2 slices of bread in water for a minute and squeeze out all the liquid and add one slice, crumbled to the mix. Using your fingers, make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. Try and form a cutlet, if it holds well, you’re good to go. If the mix is too moist, crumble the other slice of bread into it and mix well.
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape little portions of the mix into tightly formed cakes or cutlets. Coat with bread crumbs.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large flat pan and fry the cutlets on a medium flame till they are golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side as well. The fish is already cooked, all you want to do is let the cutlets get a nice brown color and in the meanwhile heat right through.
Serve hot.
This recipe is linked to –
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Monday
Tuesdays At The Table
Delectable Tuesday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
A Little Birdie Told Me
Crunchy King Fish Slices
Potato Chops
They taste best if served hot with some tomato ketchup. They also keep well, refrigerated. All you do, is pop them in a pan, cover and let it heat through on a low flame before serving. These chops are a good option to consider as travel food for a road trip.The crumb coating gives this a nice crunchy exterior.
Potato Chops
1/2 a recipe of Beef Mince (You can substitute mutton mince, if you don’t eat beef)
4-5 medium potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder (optional)
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 egg
Bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying
Make half a portion of beef mince and keep aside. This should come down to room temperature before you proceed with this recipe.
Boil the potatoes only when you are ready to make the chops you need to work when the potatoes are still warm. Cold potatoes make handling difficult.
Peel and mash the potatoes well. Make sure there are no lumps. Add salt to taste, cumin powder, turmeric powder and coriander leaves and using your hands mix well to ensure all the spices and herbs are evenly distributed. Feel free to adjust the quantities of the spices and herbs used to suit your taste.
Take a portion of the mashed potato, the size of a tennis ball, roll into a ball and flatten to form a thick disc on the palm of your hand. Place a spoon of the mince in the center and bring the sides of the potato disc up and over the filling to cover it well. Make sure that no mince is sticking out. If you feel the need to add more potato to it, feel free to do so. The mashed potato merges well. Shape it to form a patty and keep aside. Continue till you’ve used up all the mashed potato.
Crack an egg in a shallow bowl, wide enough to fit the chops. Beat well to incorporate the white and the yolk.
Pour some bread crumbs onto a plate and keep it ready. I have a little assembly line going for this, starting with the chops at one end, followed by the bowl with the beaten egg, the bread crumbs and a plate lined with some absorbent kitchen paper at the other end.
Heat some oil in a pan.
Briefly dip a chop in the egg and turn over, making sure it coats the chop well.
Dredge it through the bread crumbs making sure the potato chop is well coated. This is what will give it a good crunch.
Carefully place in the pan with the heated oil and shallow fry till it takes on a nice golden brown color. Turn and let the other side fry as well till it gets golden brown.
Carefully take it off the pan and place on some kitchen paper to drain out any excess oil.
NOTE: You don’t need to fry these one at a time, place as many as your pan can accommodate, making sure theres a little space between them to help you turn these over.
Here’s what it looks like on the inside –
Enjoy!!!
This recipe is linked to –
What’s Cookin’ in the Kitchen
Feed Me Tweet Me Follow Me Home
Friday Potluck
Fat Camp Friday
Beef Mince with Potatoes and Peas – a.k.a Beef Kheema
So you see, when they come over for a meal, I have pretty high standards to live up to. One dish, I know for sure, I make much better than both of them do, is a minced beef with potatoes and green peas. Today, I’m going to share that recipe with you. I love this preparation.
Here are some serving options –
- with fresh bread
- in a toasted sandwich
- with plain rice
- with a wheat chapati, naan or roti
- in a tart shell
- within puff pastry layers
- in a potato chop
- with a lovely pulao
- over some pasta
- as a pizza topping
- …. and many more
Beef Mince with Potatoes and Green Peas
1/2 kilo minced beef, (I pick up lean meat)
1 large or 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillies, finely chopped
5-6 curry leaves
1″ cinnamon
6 cloves
5-8 black pepper corns, whole
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 potato, cubes
1/3 cup green peas
3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1-1 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Heat the oil in a large vessel. Carefully tip in the cinnamon stick, cloves and pepper corns. When they warm up and release their flavors, add the curry leaves and let it sputter. Be careful not to burn it.
Add the onions and green chillies and sauté till the onions have softened, stirring to avoid burning.
Add the ginger garlic paste and let it fry off for a couple of minutes, stirring well to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel and burn.
When the onions have slightly browned, add the turmeric powder, red chilly powder and garam masala powder. Still well and let the spices fry out for a few seconds.
Add the minced beef, and sear it well on a medium high heat, till it browns, stirring well.
When you see that all of it has browned, (no pink patches should be visible) and it has released some of its juices, add salt to taste and the Worcestershire sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and green peas. Stir well and let it cook for about a minute or so.
Add about a cup of water to the pot. Let it come to a boil. Cover and simmer till the meat is cooked. If you see that there’s too much liquid left in the pot after the meat has cooked completely, cook uncovered on a medium heat till the liquid has been absorbed, stirring occasionally.
Lastly add the chopped coriander leaves and stir it in.
Enjoy it hot!!!
This recipe is linked to –
Full Plate Thursday
What’s Cooking Thursdays
Thrilling Thursday
Its a Keeper
Healthy Spring Rolls
To be honest, I was pressed for time when I made these and hadn’t really planned on making them. So I had to make do with whatever I had on hand and improvise as I went along. I didn’t have a dipping sauce at hand and didn’t have the time to whip one up at the last minute. The next time I make these, I think I’ll make the sauce in advance. Anyway, I knew there had to be something saucy to go with the rolls. So what I did was, combine a cocktail sauce that I use for my shrimp cocktail with these rolls. You could think of these as shrimp cocktails in a wrapper =o) I was quite happy with the way they turned out and I plan on serving these at the next party or family gathering, whichever comes first.
Healthy Spring Rolls
4 sheets of Rice paper
A few prawns, peeled, de-veined and boiled for a few minutes with a pinch of salt till tender
Some iceberg lettuce, chopped fine
A carrot, julienned
A cucumber, julienned
A few fresh coriander leaves whole
2-3 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tsp tomato sauce/ketchup
A few drops of Tabasco sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
The trick to assembling these well, is to prep everything and keep it ready.
For the cocktail sauce, mix the mayonnaise, ketchup and Tabasco sauce in a bowl. Taste and adjust the flavors to your linking. If you like a hit of spice, you can use a tomato-chilly sauce and some extra Tabasco sauce.
Cut up all the veggies and keep aside.
I slit my prawns in half, lengthwise, like Candace suggested.
To assemble the rolls –
Place warm water in a shallow dish large enough to fit your sheets of rice paper.
Dip the sheets of rice paper in the water for a few seconds till they have softened and then place them on a flat tray or cutting board.
Place the ingredients prepped for the filling in the center. I placed the coriander leaves first, I like how they look through the wrappers. Place the veggies and prawns. Season with a light sprinkle of salt and pepper. Spoon some of the cocktail sauce over the filling and roll the wrapper tightly to form a spring roll.
Just to give you an idea I included the first sheet I rolled. It wasn’t rolled snug enough.Its the first one on the left. I wrapped the others tighter and I think they look so much better than the first one.
I hope these instructions can be understood. I now realize that it would have been simpler if I had pictures for each step. In any case, you can visit Candace’s blog for a step by step pictorial demo. Her spring rolls are really pretty.
Enjoy!
This recipe is linked to –
A Little Birdie Told Me
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesdays
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Tuesday’s at the Table
Delectable Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
What’s On the Menu Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
Caldeirada or Goan Fish Stew
Homemade Burgers with Fries – Made from Scratch
Now don’t get me wrong, we love the ready made stuff too. But the satisfaction of making your very own version, tops most of those ready ones. Also, not surprisingly, these turned out really tasty. Heck, they were tastier than a lot of the burgers that we’ve eaten from many different places. I think the only burgers that can top these are the ones that we had at BLT’s and Al’s Diner in Hong Kong. I used to think that the best burgers in Mumbai could be found at Hearsh’s or Candies in Bandra, but I now beg to differ. Though the burgers from both these places are good, I’d rather have the home made ones whenever possible. To sum things up, this was a wonderful treat. With a little planning you’ll enjoy the flavors and you’ll save a few bucks while you’re at it.
Over the past few months, whenever I pass by most eateries, fast food places or restaurants and am considering stopping there, I realize that a lot of my favorite stuff can be made at home, which turns out tastier and more economical. So really, I think I’ve ruined eating out for myself. (Well, except when we are at Candies. That place, I think, has some really wonderful food.) Do you find this happening to you? It’d be nice to know I wasn’t alone and possibly crazy, thinking like this. 🙂
Anyway, back to the burgers. Just yesterday I posted the recipe for these delicious Burger Buns.
In the past I’ve also posted an easy recipe for Homemade Mayonnaise. This can be made earlier, if you like, and refrigerated till you’re ready to assemble the burgers.
For the Burger Patties –
Yields 6
1/2 kg beef mince (ground beef)
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 green chillies, chopped fine
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1″ ginger, chopped fine
Salt, to taste
Freshly cracked black peppercorns, to taste
Oil for frying
Mix all the ingredients together till they’re well distributed.
Shape into patties.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Carefully place the patties on the pan and cook through as desired. We like out beef well done. So we let it sear on high heat for a few seconds to lock in the juices and then cook on a medium flame till done.
To assemble the burgers –
Slice the burger buns in half.
Spread some mayonnaise on the bottom half.
Place the beef patty on in.
Top with a slice of onion, a slice of tomato and season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add a leaf of lettuce. Cover the the top half of the bun. Obviously, you can pick and choose the stuff that goes into your burger but this is what I used. Other interesting options are pickles, sauteed onions, maybe some crispy bacon etc.
Enjoy!!!
P.S. Don’t be fooled by the size, this fills you up fast. The burgers that we buy here are seldom filling so we made a third burger which my husband and I figured we’d split in half. It was a task for both of us. I guess thats what you get with wholesome food. You know exactly whats in it, it tastes great and satisfies those crazy hunger pangs. We had these bad boys with some homemade fries.
Homemade Fries
2 potatoes, peeled and cut and kept in salted water.
Pat dry and deep fry till done.
Drain on absorbent kitchen paper. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Serve with some ketchup if you’d like. We prefer ours without it.
This recipe is linked to –
What’s Cooking Thursdays
Full Plate Thursday
Thrilling Thursday
Its a Keeper Thursday
Made From Scratch
Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)
Chole (Garbanzo beans curry)
100 gms. dried kabuli channa (Garbanzo beans)
2 kashmiri chillies (dried red chillies)
3 onions, peeled and cubed
2 green chillies (or to taste)
1″ ginger, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly cubed
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. red chilly powder
1 tsp. garam masala powder
1 t 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water.
Rinse out with fresh water the next day and pressure cook with 2 kashmiri chillies and about 1 tsp. salt. Cook for about 15 minutes after the 1st whistle.
If you aren’t using a pressure cooker, simply cook till tender. Reserve the stock.
In a blender, blitz the onions, chillies, ginger and garlic till you get a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a pot/vessel and tip in the onion paste. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn.
While this is cooking off, tip the tomatoes in the blender and puree. Keep aside.
When the onion paste has thickened, add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and garam masala powder and stir till well mixed with the onion paste.
Add the tomato puree, stir well and let it cook off on a medium flame till you see a little of the oil at the sides of the masala paste. It should take a couple of minutes.
Add the cooked beans and stir gently. Let it cook in the masala for a couple of minutes.
Add some of the water in which the beans were cooked to the pot till you get the desired consistency. Let it thicken a little.
Check for salt. Adjust if needed.
Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and gently mix through.
Serve hot!
**Check back for the next post which will show you another interesting use of boiled garbanzo beans.**
This recipe is linked to –
Not Baaad
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
The Blog Entourage
Mouthwatering Monday
Spicy Goa Sausage Chilly Fry
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do 🙂
Spicy Goa Sausage Chilly Fry
1/3 packet Goa sausages, taken out of casing and chopped
1/2 tbsp. oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2″ ginger
4 curry leaves
2 green chillies, chopped in to 3-4 pieces
1 tomato, chopped
1 large or 2 small potatoes, cubed
Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion, curry leaves and chillies and sauté till the onions have softened. Add the finger and sauté till the onions have browned.
Add the tomatoes and continue cooking till they have softened.
Add the sausage meat and let it fry a little and release its flavors. Once the aroma has released, tip in the potatoes. Stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Add a splash of water, not too much, cover and cook till the potatoes are done.
Serve hot with bread.
This recipe is linked to –
Whats on the Menu Wednesday
Delicious Dishes
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try