A New Beginning for the same Passion: www.namakshamak.com

New beginnings are like a Sunrise on a clear sunny day! It marks a special start for each one of us! A couple of months ago , our blog rose to a new sunrise in the form of our own food websitewww.namakshamak.com ! It wouldnt have been possible without your feedback and following,and a common passion for food! This is an opportunity to thank you all for being there, and inviting you to our new horizon!

Unfortunately its a time to bid adieu to blogspot(though we would still keep running the blog, but updating the same regularly would not be possible). But we love all our fellow bloggers , hence we request you all , to follow us or add us on social media, google plus , twitter,facebook , whichever convinient! And keep posting us your feedback on our new site and the new content!
 

Achari Fish Tikka / Spicy Pickled Fish Fry

Here comes pickles season.....the markets are flooded with huge green kairis that are bound to make your mouth water!!!

Had gone shopping a few days back and picked up a packet of pickle masala just on a whim...guess just looking at those yummilicious kairis made me want to pick it up...Anyway, now that I had the masala I had to use it. Making mango pickle is really time consuming and needs accuracy. And time is something I am lacking right now with all the guest dropping over and my kiddo vacays and so on and so forth!!!

I had a huge and totally boneless piece of ghol fish which was sitting in the fridge so I though why not use it with the achar masala?? I make prawns pickle which stays for 8 to 10 days in the fridge but here making pickle was not possible as ghol fish is really delicate and tend to break so fish pickle was out....but since the fish was already marinating I went ahead and pan fried it...and it came out totally yummy with just the right amount of zing and punch!!

Since I had some left over marinade I just added the maida and besan to it and coated the potato roundels and pan fried them..they perfectly complimented the achari tikka...so do go ahead and make these.



Ingredients:

8 / 10 pieces       Ghol fillets (You can use rawas or surmai fillets also)
2 tsp                   Mango pickle masala (I used bedekar's)
2 tsp                   Ginger Garlic paste
2                         Lemons
1/2 tsp                Haldi powder
1/2 tsp                Namak Shamak (the pickle masala already had a little salt)
4 tsp                   Besan
4 tsp                   Maida
Oil for frying

Method:

Remove the juice of the lemons.

Marinate the fish pieces in the lemon juice, pickle masala, ginger garlic paste, haldi powder and salt and leave them for atleast an hour.

Mix the besan and maida. Do not add water.

Take the marinated fish pieces and roll them in the besan, maida mixture till evenly coated.

Shallow fry in oil on a skillet or non stick tawa on low heat till crisp and evenly browned.

If you have some left over marinade just toss in the remaining besan and maida. Add a little water to make a thick batter. Now dip the potato roundel in it and pan fry them on low heat.

Serve the achari fish tikka with crisp white onions.

Holi Specials:Pooran Poli

"Holi Re Holi , Pooranachi Poli!" that was the slogan we used to shout as children , when our mothers made this delicious Pooran Poli , on Holi festival day!
Pooran Poli is a sweet stuffed flat bread, stuffed with a delicious filling of boiled chick peas and jaggery and cardamom.Pooran means, stuffing , and Poli means Chapati or Roti in Marathi. So its a stuffed sweet roti!
Holi was the only occassion when we got to enjoy this delicious indulgence!
Here , at my inlaws place, this delicacy is made on a lot many occassions throught the year.
It is ofcourse eaten in different combinations though.
In a typical Maratha household, on Holi festival , Pooran Poli is made along with "Katachi Amti"- a curry made with boiled chick peas and ground masala of caramelized onions,garlic ginger,dry coconut. and served along with fried ragi papads, Onion Pakodas and piping hot rice!
And when its Akshaya Tritiya, Pooran Poli pairs up with Sweet Aam Ras-(Mango Pulp). For others , it might be an unusual combo , but believe me, when I first tasted this combo , I instantly fell in love with it!
Most find making this a very tedious process, but believe me, its all worth the effort! Afterall theres nothing like , enjoying a traditional meal on a Festival Day with friends and family!

Ingredients:

For the Puran or the Filling:

250 gms Chick Peas/ Chana Dal
250 gms Jaggery / Gur
1 tsp Cardomom Powder/Elaichi Powder
( the proportion of chana dal and jaggery has to be equal, however, if you feel you need more sweetness , you can increase the amount of jaggery)

3/4 Cup All purpose Flour or Maida
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour ( sifted through a fine sieve)
Water to knead the flour
1 tbsp Ghee + for roasting


Sift together the flours in a bowl. Heat 1 tbsp ghee and pour over the flour.
Let it cool for some time. Now add sufficient water and knead a soft dough.
Cover and keep aside.

Add 2-3 Cups water to washed chana dal and pressure cook for about 3-5 whistles, or until completely cooked.
The chana dal should be partially mashed and partially whole , but soft and cooked.

Now drain the cooked dal and retain the water , along with some cooked dal for making the curry if desired.
Once the dal is drained, place it in a wide mouthed pan along with chopped jaggery and cardamom powder.
On a medium flame, continue stirring and cooking the stuffing, till the jaggery melts and mixes with the dal , and finally the mixture dries up and starts leaving the sides of the pan , and makes a lump around the spoon. Switch off the heat and let it cool.

Now pass the mixture through a medium mesh , or grind it in a mixie , till fine and smooth.
The above process is to make the stuffing smooth and remove any lumps or any hard uncooked chana dal from the stuffing.

Pinch small portions of dough and the stuffing and keep aside. Reserve some dry flour for dusting.

 Roll the dough into small round rotis about 2-3 inch diameter. Stuff the stuffing into the rolled dough and gather the edges and seal.

 Pat the stuffed dough lightly in between palms to get a Kachori like shape.

Now roll the dough with the stuffing like parathas , gently, taking care not to let the stuffing break out of the dough.Dust lightly with flour if needed. With a muslin cloth , whipe out the excess flour from the rolled poli gently.

Heat a flat pan or girdle / tawa and place the pooran poli and roast lightly till small bubbles appear.

Immediately flip and roast this side completely till nice and brown with little ghee.

Apply ghee on the half cooked remaining side and flip.The poli should nicely puff up at this stage. Roast till light browned.

Serve with Ghee or Milk.

Tips:
If you want nice light and puffed pooran poli's:

• Ensure your stuffing is nice and smooth , without any lumps.
• Your dough is inice and soft.
• Ensure you gently roll out the dough , uniformly.
• Flip gently , preferrably using a wooden flat spoon.
• Apply ghee , when the poli is half roasted.
• Follow the flipping instructions and timings carefully.

You can serve them hot with Ghee, or Milk , or Basundi. Also , try serving with AamRas or Mango Pulp!

Continental Combo Meal: Perfect light Dinner

Me and my kiddo just love continental food! Light , lightly flavoured and Cheesy! And when it comes to desserts, we droll at the thought of anything with chocolates! Thanks God, atleast me and my kiddos food choices match!
We both have fun making some nice baked goodies,and desserts( with my kiddo playing the role of a time keeper..he stands right in front of my oven , from the moment the cake goes in.)So this weekend,when we both were alone, we decided to have a small meal party! My kiddo loves the Dominos garlic breadsticks...So with a mothers instinct to feed her toddler some veggies too , i stuffed up some brocoli and capsicum, with olives along with cheese,in my bread stick.
A quick potato,lettuce salad was a perfect pairing. And chocolate coffee trifle was a royal finish to our light but nutritious and healthy meal!

Main Course:Stuffed Garlic Bread Sticks:

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 Cup Maida/all pourpose flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Mixed Italian Herbs
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Dry Yeast
1/4 Cup warm water with a pinch of sugar
water to knead the dough

For the stuffing:
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese:I used a mix of cheddar,herbed gouda and Morzarella
1 Pickled Jalepeno,sliced
3-5 Black Olives,sliced
1/2 Cup Blanched Brocolli florets and Sweet Corn
2 tsp Mixed herbs

2 tbsp Garlic Butter: 2tbsp Butter mixed with 1 tsp finely chopped Garlic


Preheat oven at 200 degC.
Mix the dry yeast in the warm water and sugar mixture and keep aside covered for 10 mins, till it gets nice and frothy.

Sift flour with salt and add herbs to it.
Add the yeast mixture and mix. Add sufficient water to knead a soft dough.
Add olive oil and knead.

Keep covered with a damp muslin cloth for 45 mins till it doubles in size.
Punch back the dough and roll out a round roti .
Brush with garlic butter.

Mix all the ingredients for stuffing and place over the half semicircular portion of the rolled dough .

Fold the rolled dough over the stuffing and seal the sides. Make cuts over the bread. Brush with garlic butter.

Place in a greased baking tray and bake in a preheated oven 200 deg C for 15 to 20 mins, or until the crust is nice and brown.

Side Dish:Potato Egg and Lettuce Mayo Salad:

3-4 baby Potatoes,boiled and peeled.
1 Cup Iceberg Lettuce
1 Small Sliced red Onion
2 tsp Chopped Coriander

For the dressing:
2 tbsp Mayonaise
1 tbsp whisked Yogurt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Mixed herbs and Chilly flakes
1/2 tsp Vinegar
1 tsp Cream (optional)

In a salad bowl , mix together boiled potatoes,onion, and torn lettuce leaves and coriander and toss.
Whisk all the ingredients for dressing and pour.
Toss the salad and serve cold.


Dessert: Chocolate Coffee Trifle:

Ingredients:

2-3 slices Chocolate cake
1 Cup Whipped Cream ( Substitute with vanilla icecream , for immediate consumption)
1/4 Cup Water mixed with 1 tsp Instant Coffee and 1 tsp Sugar
1/2 Cup Chocolate Ganache or chocolate sauce
Chocolate curls for decoration (Run potato peeler over chocolate block at room temperature for nice and round curls)

Line the base of a serving glass or bowl with a slice of chocolate cake and moisten it with a drizzle of black coffee.
Pour some ganache or chocolate sauce over it and layer with a dollop of whipped cream.
Place another slice of cake over it and again drizle with coffee, followed by ganache and cream.
Pour ganache to cover the top of the dessert and decorate with chocolate curls.
Refrigerate atleast for 10 mins. before serving.

 

Punjabi Meal :Pindi Chole/Mutter Pattice/Mini Paneer Parathas/Lassi

This one is a quick combo meal for all those who love Punjabi food. Very easy to make with the ingredients readily available at home. What you need is just a little planning!!!Actually it is ideal for all those working ladies. It comes especially handy when you have to host some guests at home,or plan kids party!

The potatoes can be boiled, mashed and kept ready as also the green peas filling or better still you could make the pattice and keep it in the fridge. Similarly you can keep the boiled channa ready. Also the dough could be made in advance.

Pindi Chole:

Here I have tweeked the recipe and tried to simplify it. For all those who dont want to waste time making the masala just use the ready made one but then reduce the tamarind or the tomatoes as the masala has amchur powder in it. Also I have used tamarind pulp here instead of tomatoes. 

Ingredients:

1 cup        Chole chana
2              Onions
1 tsp        Tamarind pulp
1 tsp         Red Chilli powder
1/2 tsp      Turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp    Namak Shamak
4 tsp         Oil

for the masala:

8 to 19      Garlic cloves
1 inch       Ginger
2 tsp         Coriander seeds
1 tsp         Cumin seeds 
10 to 12    Peppercorns
1 inch       Cinnamon stick
1              Big Cardamom (badi elaichi)
2 tsp         Dagadphool
5              Staranise
5 to 6       Cloves

Grind all these together using very little water.

Method:

 


Pressure cook the chole chana till tender. You can add a tea bag or make a small potli of tea leaves while cooking the chana. This is impart a nice flavour as well as colour to the chole.

 
Heat oil in a kadhai, add all the ground masala and saute till oil separates out.Now add the chopped onions and cook till tender. Add the haldi powder, chilli powder and salt. 

Remove the tea bag from the chole channa and add the chana to the masala. Let it boil for 5 mins. Now add the tamarind pulp. Cover and cook for 5 more mins.

Serve hot with coriander leaves.


Green peas stuffed pattice:

Since green peas are in season I decided to use them in the stuffing. The frozen peas can also be used. Also you can substitute the peas with corn.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup        Green Peas
5 to 6              Potatoes
3 to 4              Green chillies
1 tsp               Saunf
1/2 tsp             Jeera
1 tsp               Garam Masala
1 tsp               Coriander Powder
1 tsp               Namak Shamak
2 tsp               Cornflour
1/2 cup           Rawa
Oil for frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes, remove their skins and mash them till smooth. Add the cornflour and 1 tsp salt.

Prepare the filling by boiling the green peas with a little salt. Drain and grind coarsely along with the green chillies and saunf.

Heat about a tsp of oil in a non stick pan and the jeera and let it splutter add the ground peas, now add the garam masala, coriander powder and salt. Mix thoroughly. Keep aside to cool.

Take the potato mixture and make a katori out of it, fill the green peas filling and close it. Give the pattice a round shape. Coat the pattice with the rawa and shallow fry on a griddle on low flame till golden brown and crisp.


Plain Paneer Paratha:

Here I have kept the parathas spice free so that the flavour of the chole is not lost. The same dough can be used to make bhaturas. Just roll them and deep fry in hot oil.

Ingredients:

2 cup       Whole wheat atta
1 cup       Crumbled Paneer
1 tsp        Curd
1 tsp        Namak Shamak

Method:

Knead the dough using all the ingredients. Cover and keep aside for sometime.

Heat the gas oven tandoor. Roll out small parathas and cook in the tandoor till lightly browned.

Serve hot.

Lassi:

Here again I have made sweet lassi to counter the spiciness of the chole, but you can make salty one or even flavoured ones like pudina or rose.

Ingredients:

1 cup       Fresh curd
4 tsp        Sugar
1/2 tsp     Salt

Method:

Mix all the ingredients using a blender. Serve chilled.