As a child, I hated fish, or so they thought. My mum and nana would try everything they could think of to try and get me to eat fish. Of course, I wasn’t a stubborn child except where eating fish was concerned so they had their work cut out for them. Eventually they realized that the reason I wouldn’t eat fish was that I was okay with eating fish but what I actually hated having to debone the cooked fish before eating. Ironically I didn’t mind eating fried sardines and fried karli (silver barfish), the boniest of the varieties available here, go figure! So my loving grandma would patiently sit and debone the fish on my plate, which I would very willingly eat up. Oh, the memories.
Anyway, moving on to the current day scenario, I love fish. And one of my current day favorites are crunchy (fresh) bombay duck fillets. The best part is, my husband, Ashley, is a genius at filleting these guys. Lucky me!!! Nothing could be simpler that making this dish. You really should try this. I want you to enjoy something this delicious. This is not so much a recipe, but simple pointers to making the fillets. Please adjust flavors to your liking
Crunchy Bombay Duck Fillets
Bombay ducks, cleaned and filleted
Turmeric powder
Red chilly powder
Salt, to taste
Lime juice to taste
Apple cider vinegar, to taste
Besan (chickpea flour)
Bread crumbs, to coat
Oil, for frying
Wash the fish and pat dry. Lay the fillets out flat on a plate.
Sprinkle the salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, lime juice and apple cider vinegar over the fish. Gently, turn over to make sure that both sides are seasoned. Its hard to give you quantities for the spices, since everyone has different preferences. I make sure that there is a little sprinkling of the spices on all the fish on both sides. Handle lightly as this is a delicate fish.
Sprinkle some chickpea flour over the fish on both sides till lightly coated. You can add a few drops of water to help you with this. The chickpea flour will help the fish stay together so please don’t omit it. Since this is a delicate fish, leaving it out will result in the fish breaking up while you try to move it around in the pan. You don’t want a thick layer or a chickpea batter coat, just a light sprinkling to bind it.
Keep aside for about 15 minutes.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan.
Dredge the fillets in breadcrumbs to coat them well. This will give you a crunchy fillet.
Shallow fry on a medium flame. Do not move the fish around in the pan, till a crust has formed on the bottom. Moving it to early will break the fish up. Once the bottom side has formed a nice brown crust, turn over and cook on the other side till done.
Serve hot.
This recipe has been linked to –
Delectable Tuesday
Whats Cooking Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Fun with Food Friday
Vanilla Custard In Guava Cups
Vanilla Custard in Guava Cups
For the Vanilla Custard –
1/2 litre milk
2 tbps custard powder
3-4 tbsp. sugar, superfine or to taste
Mix the custard powder and the sugar with the cold milk.
Place on a medium flame, stirring continuously till it has thickened.
Cool and refrigerate.
For the Guava Cups –
3 guavas, ripe but firm and not bruised (Use as many guavas as you would need to serve the number of people for the meal. You can serve half a guava to a person.)
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
5 cloves
Wash and cut the guavas in half. Cut off the brown parts near where the stem would’ve been.
In a large vessel, place the guavas cut side up.
Pour enough water to reach a little over the top of the guavas and add the sugar.
Bring to a boil and continue cooking till the seed portion of the guavas start popping out of the flesh.
At this point, you can pick out the guavas using a slotted spoon, cool the stewing liquid and place the guavas back in it and refrigerate till you’re ready to serve.
I picked out the guavas and let the sugar syrup continue boiling till it had thickened a little.
The stewed guavas are delicious even by themselves.
For Assembly –
When you’re ready to serve, scoop out the guava seeds and discard. Place the guava on the serving plate/bowl.
Spoon out the chilled custard into the guava cup. I always like a little extra custard for me.
Enjoy!
This recipe is linked to –
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
Fun with Food Fridays
Sweets for a Saturday
Crumb fried prawns
Crumb Fried Prawns
15 prawns, shelled and de-veined (Simply adjust the number of prawns based on the number of people you need to serve)
Salt, to taste
Juice of about 1/4 of a sour lime (A dash of apple cider vinegar can be used instead of the lime or a combination of the two. The apple cider vinegar adds a nice flavor to any sea food.)
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. chilly powder
A bowl of bread crumbs, to coat
1-2 tbsp. oil, for frying
Sprinkle the salt, lime juice, turmeric powder and chilly powder over the cleaned prawns. Toss the prawns well in this marinade.Set aside for atleast 15 minutes. (If you are in a hurry then minutes will do, but if it sits in the marinade a little longer, the prawns are well flavored.)
After resting the prawns in the marinade, dredge the prawns in the bread crumbs, making sure that each prawn is well coated with the bread crumbs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry the prawns on a medium flame, adding more oil if needed.
Watch the pan closely and don’t allow the prawns to burn. Drain the prawns well and serve with a wedge of lime. (The lime wedge is optional.) All the little crumb pieces that fall away are really delicious too. I never throw them away. I simply add them to the serving plate.
Remember, all the measures of the ingredients need to be adjusted to taste. So have fun and let me know how it goes!
Prawn Chilly Fry with Coriander Speckled Rice
Prawn Chilly Fry with Coriander Speckled Rice
(Serves 3-4)
For the Rice –
1 cup basmati rice
1-2 bay leaves
4 cloves
2 cardamom pods
6 peppercorns
1″ cinnamon
1-2 tbsp. Ghee or clarified butter
Salt, to taste
A bunch of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (This will be used while assembling the meal.)
Heat the ghee in a vessel and add the whole spices.
When the ghee had released the aroma of the spices, add the washed rice. Stir gently just until the rice is coated with the ghee.
Add 2 cups of water, salt to taste and stir a little. Make sure you don’t stir it too much as the grains of rice will breakdown.
Cover and bring to a boil on medium heat. On low heat cook till all the water has been absorbed. Make sure you don’t stir the rice during the cooking process.
Once all the water has been absorbed, use a fork and loosen the grains of rice and make sure that all the water has evaporated. Keep covered.
For the Prawn Chilly Fry –
250 gms. fresh prawns, shelled and de-veined
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 curry leaves
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 green chillies, cut into 1/2″ pieces (Please adjust this to taste. We like our food spicy.)
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
3/4 tsp. red chilly powder
Salt, to taste
A dash of lime juice
2-3 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Marinade the prawns with a little salt and a dash of lime juice and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan.
Add the curry leaves and when they release their flavor, add the onions and green chilly. Saute till the onions are light golden brown.
Add the turmeric powder and chilly powder. Stir well.
Once its mixed well, add the tomato and stir well.
When the ingredients in the pan have been sauteed well and you see the oil starting to separate, add the prawns and cook on medium heat. Still well and cook uncovered till the prawns are done.
Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and stir till combined.
To Assemble –
Layer about half the rice on the serving platter on in individual plates.
Spoon the prawn chilly fry over it.
Add another layer of the remaining rice.
Sprinkle generously with the chopped coriander leaves. Don’t be shy while topping the rice with coriander leaves. Its a generous sprinkling of the coriander leaves that brings the elements of this dish together and makes it one finger-licking meal.
Serve hot.
Enjoy!
This recipe is linked to –
Fun with Food Friday
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent
Herbs and Flowers in my Platter” – Coriander leaves/Cilantro
Coconut Pancakes
Coconut Pancakes
For the Pancakes –
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp. sugar, optional
Milk
Put all the ingredients except the milk in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add milk gradually to get the batter to the consistency ideal for making crepes. It should flow smoothly but should also be able to coat the back of a spoon.
Brush some oil on the pan.
Ladle the batter onto the pan and swirl the pan around to spread the batter. When the top of the crepe is no longer sticky, flip it over. Once this side has cooked as well, take it off the pan.
Repeat the oiling of the pan after each crepe is taken off and continue with the rest of the batter.
For the filling –
Freshly grated coconut (about 1/2 a coconut)
Grated Goa jaggery, to taste
Mix both adjusting the amount of jaggery to get the desired amount of sweetness.
To assemble the pancakes –
Once the crepes have cooled, spoon some of the filling onto the crepe and roll it up, making sure to tuck in the sides to stop the filling from falling out.
The pancakes are now ready to serve.
This recipe has been linked up with –
Decidedly Healthy or Horridly Decadent Saturday Party
Fun with Food Friday
Do stop by and check what the others have made.
Final Week of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Jujups
Considering how close we are to Christmas and how swamped I am with things that need to be done around my house and in my kitchen, I haven’t baked anything for this weeks round up. Now that doesn’t mean I didn’t bake anything. There’s a load of stuff happening in the kitchen … more on that later. However, it also doesn’t mean that I’m going to skip this weeks submission. This week I’d like to showcase what we in India call ‘Jujups’. This is a lovely sugary treat that can be made in a number of flavors and colors. Its quite a hit with kids. I haven’t yet made jujups this year, so I’m going to add a picture from last year. I will add a better picture when I make it this time around.
Don’t forget to check out what the others have put up this week!
Week 12 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: