Sriracha Teriyaki Meatballs

by Trisha Vaz
Where do I start with this post? I love meatballs. There I said it. I don’t make it often enough. But when I do, I enjoy it so very much. I’ve noticed so many variations of the humble meatball pop up all over the blogosphere, I have got to try some soon. Also, I love Asian flavours. I’ve always been a big fan of Chinese food. Very recently, I’ve sort of gotten hooked on to some amazing Malaysian and Japanese food. But back to the topic at hand. When I saw this recipe for Sriracha Teriyaki Meatballs, I knew I had to make it and soon. It combined meatballs with Asian flavours and the added bonus was the heat from the Sriracha sauce. What’s not to love about that?

I love how quick and simple this recipe was to put together. With a physically demanding job, that is sometimes more than I full time job, I need recipes that a simple and quick without compromising on the taste. This recipe checks all the boxes for me. You could make the meatballs ahead of time and that way you could put this recipe together even quicker. It is as simple as making the meatballs. Mixing all the ingredients for the sauce together and simmering. Tossing the meatballs in the sauce and that is it. Try this recipe out for yourself and you’ll be amazed. You can thank me later.  🙂
Sriracha Teriyaki Meatballs
For the meatballs – 
1/2 kg ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg
2 tbsp fresh coriander / cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1 tsp Soy sauce
3 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
2 birdseye chillies, finely chopped (optional)
2 slices bread
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
Salt, to taste
2-3 tbsp olive oil, for frying
Soak the slices of bread in water, squeeze out all the liquid and crumble the bread into a mixing bowl.
Tip in all the above ingredients, except the olive oil.
Mix well till combined evenly.
Shape into meatballs.
Heat a couple of spoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the meatballs till nicely browned and cooked through.
Don’t overcrowd the pan while frying the meatballs. You may need to fry them up in batches.
For the Sriracha Teriyaki Sauce – 
1/2 cup low sodium Soy sauce
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 cup + 3tbsp water, divided
t tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sesame seeds
In a small saucepan, combine the Soy sauce, honey, 1/2 cup of water, sesame oil, Sriracha sauce and ginger. Heat it over a medium low flame and stir constantly till the honey is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
In a little bowl, combine the cornstarch and the 3 tbsp water till dissolved. Add to the glaze and stir well to combine.
Increase the heat to medium high and keep stirring as the sauce cooks and thickens. It should take about 2-3 minutes.
Once the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and stir in the sesame seeds.
Add the sauce to the meatballs and stir to coat well.
Garnish by sprinkling some sesame seeds over.
Serve over some nice brown rice or noodles of your choice.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Chicken, Mains, Recipes, Starters / Appetizers

Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta with Pine Nuts and Lemon

by Trisha Vaz
Ok, so those of you who blog will be able to relate to what I have to say. I sure hope I am not the only one 😉  While I would love to be able to be more of a ‘from the plate to the blog’ on the same day kind of person, more often than not, life gets in the way, and some times it takes more than a couple of weeks for me to post about a certain recipe. As a matter of fact, I still have a couple of recipes from a couple of years ago that I still haven’t gotten around to sharing with you yet. Oh dear, did I just say that out loud!

Anyway, today, I wanted something quick and yummy for lunch. When I was at the shops this morning, this little beauty caught my eye –

I love the idea of smoked salmon, but I’m not too crazy about the raw-ish feel of the salmon. When I saw this hot smoked salmon, I was sold. I knew this salmon would be more cooked with a lovely smokey flavour. I’d never used it before but I was quite eager to try it out. The fact that I got it at a 40% discount was just a nice bonus. Now when I bought the salmon, I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew I would find some inspiration online, as always. Usually, I don’t pay much attention to the recipe on the box / packet of the ingredients I buy. But when we were unpacking our groceries, my husband noticed this recipe and I have to admit, it sounded interesting and I was very eager to try it out. I had all the ingredients on hand, so there was all the motivation I needed.

I am so very happy that I did. Not only was this pasta quick and easy to put together, it was delicious. It was so delicious, I knew I wanted to share this recipe with you as quickly as I could. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is one of the best pasta dishes I have made yet. And I really do hope you have an opportunity to try this out. I am going to pay more attention to these recipes on boxes and packets from now on.

Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta with Pine Nuts and Lemon
Serves 4

250g spaghetti
1 packet Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta, flaked
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup thickened cream
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Dill (Fresh if possible – I didn’t have any so I used the dried bottled variant)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.

Add a heaped spoon of salt and then add the pasta. Cook till al denté (it should still have a little bite).

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and sauté over medium heat, till they have softened and are nice and fragrant.

Add the wine, lemon juice and half the lemon zest. Increase the heat a little and cook till the liquids have reduced by half.

Add the cream and cook for a minute.

Take off the heat.

Drain the pasta and reserve half a cup of the cooking water.

Add the water to the sauce.

Put back on a medium-low heat and let it warm through (The original recipe doesn’t call for this step, but I felt the sauce was a little on the thinner side so I let it heat through a little and it was perfect)

Add the salmon, the pine nuts, the remaining zest and season with salt and pepper. Let it just about warm through.

Mix the pasta and the sauce together.

Serve and garnish with some fresh chopped dill. I just sprinkled some bottled dry dill since I didn’t have any fresh dill on hand.

Sit back and be amazed 🙂

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Seafood

Aloo Bhaji

by Trisha Vaz
UPDATE: Over the years, I’ve made one little addition to this recipe, that I think makes this recipe even more delicious. After the mustard seeds sputter, add 1/2 tsp cumin seeds and let it release its aroma, should take a few seconds. Then continue with the recipe. Nothing else changes. Keep a close eye on the cumin seeds and don’t let it burn.
Also, I have come to realise that there is a difference in the size of sour limes found in India and other countries. You need just a few drops, maybe a teaspoon of it for a mild change in flavours.

I’ve been having such crazy days of late, I just don’t know where all the 24 hours off the day go. Things such seem to be happening at such a frenzied pace, and that too for no reason in particular. I wonder what brought this on. Since I haven’t been able to devote much time to this space, I decided I was going to make up for it by posting one of my all time favorites – the humble aloo bhaji (A mildly spiced potato stir fry.) I do love my fries and mashed potatoes, but sometimes I find myself longing for a portion of this stir fry.

Making this stir fry can be super quick, not to mention easy, if you have a few boiled potatoes at hand. Make sure that when you’re boiling potatoes for this stir fry, you don’t overcook them, else they will not hold their shape and get all mushy. It’ll still taste great, but just won’t be as much of a visual treat. I usually wash the potatoes and pressure cook them with some water and salt for about 10 minutes after the first whistle. Remember to turn your gas to low after the whistle. If you don’t want to use a pressure cooker, peel and cube the potatoes and cover them in water, add a little salt and boil them on the stovetop till tender.
This stir fry is a versatile side dish. In India, every region tweaks it a little and uses it in loads of different ways.  It can be served with some hot chapatis (Whole wheat flat bread), pooris (savory deep fried flat bread), used as stuffing for masala dosas (savory crispy crepes filled with this potato mix) and so on. I’m going to try to post each of these in the future. Oh! and by the way, this potato mix makes for a lovely topping on a slice of toasted bread or can also be used as a filling for a grilled sandwich. How about that!

Watch the video here –

Aloo Bhaji
(Serves 4)
3-4 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed (about 1/2 kg)
1 large onion, chopped
2 birdseye / green chillies, sliced (or to taste)
8-10 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp (scant) turmeric powder
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Heat the oil in a pan. 
On a medium flame, add the mustard seeds and let them sputter.

Add the curry leaves and the chopped chilly. Let it fry for a few seconds.

Add the cumin seeds and immediately after tip in the chopped onions and saute it for a few minutes till the onions have softened and turned a light brown.

Add the turmeric powder and stir well. Let it cook for about a minute. Stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan and burn.

Tip in the potatoes and stir well till the potatoes are well coated with the spice mix. 
Add the lime juice and salt to taste and stir well. 

Add the sugar and stir well.

Check for seasoning and adjust, if needed.

Once the potatoes have heated through, sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and toss lightly. Take the pan off the heat.
Serve hot.


This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Hearth and Soul

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Goan Recipes, Mains, Recipes, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian

Spicy Tuna Pasta

by Trisha Vaz
It feels so good to be back. I had a lovely week off, despite the sweltering heat and I’m ready to get back to the grind. I can’t believe how much I missed blogging and interacting with my blogger friends – I missed you guys loads.

Today, I’m going to share with you a meal thats so quick to put together, it never ceases to amaze me. The added bonus, is that you need nothing special for this pasta dish. All the ingredients are usually found in any pantry most of the times. I don’t know about you, but so often I find myself so hard pressed for time that I haven’t been able to put together something for dinner. I’m trying to increase my repertoire of quick and easy meals that I can use on days like this rather than ordering for take out. I somehow just can’t do takeout anymore, unless of course there is no other option. This is one of those meals that I stumbled upon in those times of desperation and I’m so glad I did. This ones a keeper. How do I know that? I’m going to share with you a piece of information I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. My husband does not like pasta. And thats that. This is difficult for me to understand, because me, I love pasta. Imagine my joy when he told me he really enjoyed it. I tell you, this ones good enough to convert even a non pasta lover (if there is such a thing). Go ahead and give this a try.

Spicy Tuna Pasta


1-1 1/2 cup uncooked pasta (depending on how much you need)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 green pepper, diced (You can use red or yellow peppers too, I just used what I had at hand)
3-4 tbsp canned tuna flakes or chunks
Red chilli flakes, to taste
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper, to taste
Grated cheese
1 tbsp olive oil

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive in a pan. Add the onion and stir fry for a couple of minutes, till it starts softening.

Add the chopped garlic and let it release its flavors.

Add the diced peppers and stir well. Let it cook off for a couple of minutes.

Add the tuna flakes.

Season this mix with salt, crushed black pepper and red chilly flakes. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Add the cooked pasta to this mix and gently fold everything till all the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Add some grated cheese. I don’t use a measure for the cheese, I just grate as much as needed. I taste to check if theres enough to match our liking.

Again, mix gently, you don’t want to break up the pasta. The heat from the cooked pasta as well as the fish mix will melt the cheese, making it even better.

Serve hot.

This recipe is linked to –
Not Baaad
My Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Mondays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Seafood