Fish curry with prawns/shrimps

| Rekha Vengalil
Delicious fish curry that is so easy to make… now download the recipe card for a quick reference…
You need –
  • Firm flesh fish – 400 grams, cut into bite size cubes
  • Prawns/shrimps – 200 grams
  • Onion – 2 medium, grated
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, grated
  • Ginger – grated, 2 teaspoons
  • Tomato – 1/2, chopped
  • Tomato paste – 2 tablespoons
  • Coriander powder – 3 teaspoons
  • Chilli powder – 2 teaspoons
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
  • Thick coconut milk – ¾ cups
  • Thin coconut milk – 1 ¼ cups
  • Coconut oil – 2 tablespoons
  • Salt to taste
  • Curry leaves – 1 twig

How to –

Heat oil in heavy bottom pan, fry the fish till golden on all sides. Set aside.

Add the grated onions, garlic and ginger. Cook till translucent. Add the spice powders, salt and fry till fragrant and oil start to separate.  



Add the tomatoes and paste. Mix well and cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Pour in the thin coconut milk and simmer for 8-10 minutes or till the sauce starts to thicken.




Add the fried fish and prawns and cook till done. Add the thick coconut milk and bring to gentle simmer.





Turn off the heat and serve with rice.


Cauliflower and spinach fried rice

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Cooked rice – 1 cup
  • Grated raw cauliflower – ½ cup
  • Spinach – Thinly sliced ½ cup (I used red spinach)
  • Garlic – 1 clove, minced
  • Onion – 1/2, thinly sliced
  • Olive oil – 2 teaspoon
  • Egg – 1, scrambled
  • Soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
  • Salt and pepper – as per taste

How to- 

In a large pan, saute garlic and onions in olive oil on a medium/high heat, until onions become soft and transparent.

Stir in scrambled eggs, cauliflower, spinach and soy sauce. Add the rice, Salt and pepper and cook stirring frequently for about 3-4 minutes.

Turn off the heat and serve warm.


White bean puree

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –

  • Butter bean – 250 grams, soaked overnight
  • Onion – 1, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, finely chopped
  • Olive oil – 2 tablespoons
  • Chicken/veg stock – 2 cups
  • Thyme – 3 sprigs
  • Thick cream – 2 tablespoons
  • Salt and pepper to taste


How to –

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan.  Add the onion, garlic and cook till translucent. Add the broth, Beans and 2 sprigs thyme. Cook till the beans are soft stirring occasionally.

Drain the beans (reserve the stock). Separate the thyme and puree the beans.

Stir in the cream , 1 tablespoon olive oil and enough broth to make a cream puree. Season with salt and pepper. 

Garnish with the thyme leaves and serve with bread.

Spicy vegetable noodles

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Instant noodles – 3 nests
  • Carrot – thinly sliced 1 cup
  • Baby corn – 3, quartered

  • snow peas– thinly sliced 1 cup
  • Mushroom – sliced 1 cup
  • Broccoli – cut into little florets 1 cup
  • Egg – 2, scrambled (optional)
  • Onion – 1 medium, thinly sliced
  • Garlic – 1 clove minced
  • Chili – 1, thinly sliced
  • Light soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
  • Chili sauce – 2 tablespoon
  • Rice wine vinegar – 1 teaspoon
  • Sesame Oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Spring onions – to garnish
  • Salt and pepper – as per taste

How to –

Boil the noodles as per the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the onion, chili and garlic and saute till the onions are soft. Add the veggies and stir fry till the veggies have cooked through but still crunchy. Add in the soy, chili sauce and Rice wine. 


Increase the heat and add the noodles and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well to coat and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or till the noodles has heated through.

Turn off the heat. Garnish with spring onions and serve.


Grilled prawns with polenta

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Prawns – 6 tiger prawns, de-shelled and cleaned

For the marinade
  • Paprika – 1 teaspoon
  • Chili powder – ½ teaspoon
  • Dried Oregano – 1 big pinch
  • Olive oil – 1 teaspoon
  • Lemon juice – 1 teaspoon
  • Salt to taste

For polenta –
  • Instant polenta – ½ cup
  • Chicken stock – 1 cup
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Parmesan cheese – 2 tablespoons

How to –

To make the polenta

Bring to boil the stock and milk, add the polenta and stir continuously for 2-3 minutes or till creamy. Transfer the polenta into a greased dish and refrigerate till set. Once set, cut the polenta into 2 pieces. Transfer to a baking tray, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and bake on 250C for 8 minutes or till the cheese has melted and forms light golden crust on top.



To make the prawns

Make a paste of all the ingredients under marinade, add in the prawns and marinate for an hour.

Heat a griddle and grill the prawns till done.


Place the polenta into a serving plate and top with the grilled prawns. Serve with steamed veggies of your choice.


Grape and orange smoothie

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Orange – 3
  • Seedless black grapes – 2 cups
  • Cold milk – ½ cup
  • Thick cream – ½ cup
  • Sugar as required
  • Ice cubes – 5

How to –

Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Pass through a sieve.



Into a serving glass and serve chilled. 


Semiya upma

| Rekha Vengalil


You need –
  • Dry Roasted Semiya/Vermicelli made from hard wheat – 200 grams
  • Onion – 1 medium
  • Ginger – 1 cm, thinly sliced
  • Green chilli – 1, slit (de-seed if need)
  • Curry leaves – 1 twig
  • Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
  • Urad dal – ½ teaspoon
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
  • Dried red chili – 1
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil – 1 tablespoon
  • Hot water

How to –

Heat oil in pan and add the mustard seeds and allow crackling. Tip in the dried chilli and urad dal and curry leaves. Fry till the urad dal turns golden brown.

Add the onion, green chili and ginger; fry till the onions turn golden brown. Add the turmeric and cook briefly. Add the roasted vermicelli and mix well. Add 2 – 2 ½  cups of hot water  and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low; cover and cook till done and the water has evaporated.



Serve hot.

Tomato and celery juice

| Rekha Vengalil
Say yes to this healthy sip…



You need –
  • Tomatoes – 2 (I used buffalo tomatoes)
  • Celery – 1 stick
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Lemon grass – 1 stalk, remove the outer layer and roughly chopped
  • Honey/sugar as required
  • Water – ½ cup
  • Ice cubes – 6 nos + extra for serving

How to –

Blend all the ingredients till smooth. Pass through a sieve.


Into a serving glass with ice and serve chilled.


Chocolate cookies

| Rekha Vengalil
You need –
  • All purpose flour – 3 cups
  • Cocoa powder – 2/3 cup
  • Salt – 3/4 teaspoon
  • Baking powder – 1/2 tsp
  • unsalted butter – 1 cup, softened
  • Caster sugar – 1 ½ cups
  • Eggs – 2, room temperature
  • Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
  • A pinch of cinnamon 
 
How to –
Pre-heat the oven to 180 c.
 
In a bowl swift the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.  In another cream the sugar and butter till pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and then vanilla essence. Gradually add in the dry ingredients  and mix to form a dough.
Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Unwrap and roll the dough to 3.5 mm. Using a cook cutter, cut  and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Bake the cookie for 8 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.