Fish Cooked in Tomato Gravy

I am personally very fond of fish. This post is for all the fish lovers out there. Rohu/Rohi fish is very popular in Odisha; this being a fresh water fish tastes really good. Today I am gonna share a very simple and quick recipe of rohu fish in tomato gravy. It does not consume much time and goes very well with hot steamed rice.
So fish lovers let's get started with lean meat for lunch.

Ingredients required:

Ingredients	Quantity
Rohu Fish	2 large pieces or 4 medium pieces
Tomato	1 medium, chopped
Green chillies	2 sliced
Garlic	2-3 shallots
Cumin seeds	1 tbsp
Coriander/Cilantro fresh	chopped
Turmeric	½ tbsp
Oil	2 tbsp (for frying); 2 tbsp (for curry)
Salt	To taste
Sugar (Optional)	½ tsp
Water	1 cup

Marination Process:
Rub 1/2 tbsp turmeric & 1/2 tbsp salt to the fish evenly; set aside for 10 minutes.

Method of preparation for Curry:

• In a non stick pan, pour oil and shallow fry the fish pieces until they are medium brown in color on both sides
• Soak cumin seeds for 10 minutes and then blend it together with garlic until smooth
• Pour oil to the pan, once it becomes warn enough add chopped tomatoes and keep stirring at regular intervals for about 5 minutes
• Add the garlic and cumin paste to the tomatoes; allow it to cook until you see that the oil has separated from the paste
• Add turmeric, salt, sugar (Sugar is usually added if people don't prefer the curry to be too tangy; however this depends completely on individual's taste); Stir well and add water. Cover the pan.
• When the grave stars to boil; add fried fish pieces and green chillies. Cover and let it boil for 3 - 4 minutes
• Remove the curry from fire; garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro leaves.
• Fish in tomato gravy is now ready to be served with warm white or brown rice.

Enjoy Cooking!!!!

Panch Putana/ Panch Phoron- It's a mix of 5 whole spices

Panch Putana is a whole spice blend used primarily in Eastern India like Odisha, Assam, Bengal and Bihar.
This blend of spice includes seeds like mustard, fenugreek, fennel, cumin and kalonji or nigella seeds. All of them are mixed in equal proportions. They are readily available in the market however it can be easily made at home.

This is used with vegetables, santula or shukto, fish curry, lentils, pickles.
As I will be using panch poron in some of the dishes I intend to share here; thought it will be a good idea to share some of the spices used here. I shall keep posting spices which will be used often in my dishes; keep reading :-)

Enjoy cooking!!

Eggless Chocolate Brownie

Chocolate brownie is something I have always liked right since childhood. Be it with vanilla ice-cream or as it is; it never fails to satisfy occasional cravings that I have. I finally got my recipe right after couple of trials; the eggless version. Let's get to the ingredients and method of preparation.

Ingredients Required:

Ingredients	Quantity
All-purpose Flour/Maida	1 cup
Cocoa Powder (Hershey’s)	½ cup
Brown Sugar	1 cup
Baking Soda	½ tsp
Baking Powder	½ tsp
Oil	1/3 Cup
Milk	1 cup
Vinegar	1 tsp
Instant coffee powder	½ tsp
Vanilla Essence	½ tsp
Salt	A pinch
Walnuts chopped	Fistful

Method of Preparation:

·         Pre heat oven to 350 F/150 C
·         Mix milk at room temperature with vinegar ( Milk +Vinegar). Set aside.
·         Sift flour and mix it well with cocoa powder, baking soda, coffee powder, salt and sugar.
·         Add oil to the mixture and the milk + vinegar mixture too
·         Combine and fold it gently with spatula; make sure there are no traces of dry ingredients left in

       the bowl
·         Transfer the batter to a baking pan of your choice; add chopped walnuts on the top
·         Bake for 30 minutes; Since heat settings for each oven is different it is better to check at 

       regular intervals to make sure it is not over or under cooked
·         Insert a toothpick inside the brownie if it comes out with crumbs, it has baked fully
·         Let it cool down completely before you can cut them into squares
·         Now it’s ready to enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream  

Matar Paneer Curry (A healthier version)/ Green Peas & Cottage Cheese Curry

Well what made me try matar paneer differently? I was tired of adding cumin powder, coriander powder, cinnamon stick etc etc. Well though let's try and make something different and easy too, especially the healthy way. Came up with this recipe, trust me it tastes really nice. I would like to go the healthier route whenever possible. How about you?? Let's get rolling :-); without any further delay.

Ingredients	Quantity
Paneer	400 grams cubed
Onion	1 small diced
Tomato	1 medium diced
Garlic	2 cloves
Ginger	1 inch piece
Green chillies	2
Cashew nut	2 pieces
Almond	2 pieces
Green peas (fresh)	¼ cup
Milk	¼ cup
Turmeric	¼ tsp
Oil	1 tbsp
Salt	To taste
Garam Masala	¼ teaspoon
Sugar	¼ tsp
Cilantro, chopped	For garnishing

Method of Preparation:

• In a pan boil the following ingredients: onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, chillies, cashew nut and almonds. Boil for about 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes tender.
• Allow it to cool down and blend it well until smooth. Keep it aside.
• In a non-stick pan add 1 tbsp oil, when it’s hot enough add the above mixture to it. Allow it to cook for 3 – 5 minutes and keep stirring so that it does not stick to the pan. Add turmeric, salt and sugar to it. Mix well.
• Add paneer pieces to it. Once it starts boiling, add peas and milk to it. Let it boil for another 5 to 10 minutes. The time would depend on the consistency you want for the gravy.
• Add garam masala and garnish with cilantro.
• Keep it covered for 2 to 3 minutes. Then it’s all ready to be served hot with rotis, naan or rice.

Enjoy cooking!!!!!

Masala Stuffed Buns/ Spicy Dinner Rolls

I have been wanting to bake this for a long time now. Finally got some time and the mood to do these. I personally felt the effort put in was worth it for the results. This is easily available in India however finding these here in US is not easy. Sharing this for everyone who has been craving to try this :-)!!!!!. Baking does require patience hence if it does not come out right the first time don't loose heart; try again. Baking requires the exact measurements to get it right. I enjoy baking; I hope you do too.

Ingredients for the Bun	Quantity
All Purpose Flour	2 cups +1/4 cup
Sugar	2 tbsp
Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast	1 envelope = 2 + 1/4 teaspoons
Salt	¼ tsp
Milk	½ cup
Water	¼ cup
Butter	2 tbsp
Oil	1 tsp
Sesame seeds	For sprinkling on the buns
Ingredients for the filling	Quantity
Onion	1 small , chopped fine
Carrots	½ cup chopped fine
Potato	½ cup, boiled and mashed
Peas	¼ cup chopped fine
Bell Peppers Green or Red ( I have used red to give more color)	¼ cup chopped fine
French Beans	¼ cup chopped fine
Green chillies	2 chopped fine
Garam masala	½ tsp
Chat Masala (Optional)	½ tsp
Salt	to taste
Turmeric Powder	¼ tsp
Oil	2 tbsp

Method of Preparation for the filling:

• Pour oil to the non-stick pan; when it’s warm enough add chopped onions and let it fry until it becomes slightly brown.
• Add all the vegetables to it except potato. Stir at regular intervals, keep it covered and let it cook.
• Add Turmeric powder, chillies, salt & garam masala to the above mixture. Add the potatoes. Mix it well.
• Set it aside and let it cool down completely.*

Note*: Keep the filling ready before making the dough.

Method of preparation for the bun:

• In a large bowl combine 3/4 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt.
• Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (130ºF).
• Add the above to the flour mixture. With the help of electric mixer beat at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add 1/4 cup flour; beat for 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic; apply oil to the dough.
• Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. It would double in size.
• Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. With the help of rolling pin roll the dough enough where you can comfortably stuff 1 tbsp full of filling/masala.
• Now close it well with no open ends. The shape should be round with slightly flat base.
• Grease the baking tray with oil, place these buns; sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the buns and place the same in the oven.
• Allow 20 minutes baking time or until done at 375 degree F (Temperature settings of each oven is different hence the baking time differs)
• Remove the baking tray from oven; do brush them with additional butter if desired. Serve it warm; these are now ready to be enjoyed.