Beef Cutlets

This is another treat, thats really tasty, very moreish and can be served as a side at a meal or coupled with some homemade fries or mashed potatoes and a salad, is a meal in itself. Whenever I make these, I always like having a few extra, which I simply refrigerate and keep for another day. It stays good for about 3-4 days, it may last longer, but we always manage to finish it off by then. You simply bring it to room temperature and heat it in a skillet, covered, and you’re good to go.

P.S. I won’t be posting for the next few days, since I’m headed out of town for a week. See you when I get back. I have so many recipes lined up to share with you guys, I can’t wait to get those posted. So make sure you come back. 🙂

Beef Cutlets
(Makes about 10 depending on size)

250g ground beef (beef mince)
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2″ ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4-1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
Salt, to taste
2 slices of bread
Bread crumbs, to coat the cutlets
Vegetable oil, for frying

Soak the slices of bread in water for a few seconds, drain out all the liquid and crumble. Mix together all the ingredients except the bread crumbs and vegetable oil.

Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed and evenly distributed.

Shape into cutlets.

Coat with bread crumbs.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Carefully place the cutlets in the pan and let it cook on a medium heat till its done to your liking. Turn over and cook the other side as well.

Repeat till you’re done with the meat mix, adding more oil to the pan as and when you need to.

Serve hot with some fries and a salad, and some spicy tomato ketchup.

Enjoy!!!

This recipe is linked to –
What’s Cooking Thursdays
Full Plate Thursdays
Thrilling Thursday
It’s a Keeper Thursday

Skillet Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Today’s post posed quite a dilemma for me. I almost didn’t do this post, but then I decided that this delicious sandwich was too good to pass up. Its such a simple sandwich to put together, which is why I had second thought about posting it, but the taste obviously won that battle. I couldn’t help thinking of those that might be out there that haven’t tried this sandwich before. I know I hadn’t till a couple of weeks ago.

It so happened that early one evening, I was famished. I needed to eat something and I needed it at that very moment. I had just returned home from grocery shopping and didn’t bother to pick up anything to munch on. I’m glad I didn’t. Not eating junk food is always a good thing, isn’t it? So there I stood, before my open refrigerator, staring blankly at what was on the shelves, willing for something to shout out and relieve those hunger pangs. And friends, its during those moments of almost delirious desperation, that I decided to try this sandwich out. It took me just a few minutes to make since theres no need to wait for the butter to soften or even grate the cheese, and when I tasted it, it was so much better than I could’ve ever imagined. It was pure bliss. Later that evening, I treated my husband with one and he asked for a second one after just taking a bite. Thats how good it was. This has become a favorite in my house. I hope you will try it out too.

What I like about this particular grilled sandwich is that you don’t need any fancy equipment. Everyone has a skillet lying around in their kitchen, so this is a grilled sandwich that everyone can enjoy.

Skillet Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(Makes one sandwich, but you can easily make as many as you wish)

2 slices of sandwich bread
1 slice of cheese (you can use any variety you like)
A couple of tsp butter

Place the slice of cheese between two slices of bread.

Place a dollop of butter in a skillet over low to medium heat. You don’t want the butter to burn.

Place the sandwich in the pan and let it brown off, uncovered till a little crisp.

Carefully turn the sandwich over, place a couple of smaller dollops of butter on the sides of the pan and lift the edges of the sandwich to help it under. Brown off that side of the sandwich as well.

Take off the heat. I cut it into two rectangular pieces, but you don’t have to, cut them any way you like, if you want to cut it, or leave it whole.

Eat while its still hot.

Look at all that golden melted gooey goodness of the cheese.

This recipe is linked to –
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
Whats Cooking Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
What’s On The Menu Wednesday
Hearth And Soul

Fish Cakes or Fish Cutlets

Its been really long since I last posted here. Believe me, I missed it and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t because we were getting ready for Easter, then after the family get together I was recovering from Easter and yesterday my computer decided that it wanted the day off. So there was nothing much I could do about it. But I’m glad to be here today. I will be busy through this week with a wedding order and then on Saturday I’m off on a holiday for a week. Golly gee, I’m so excited, I can hardly wait for the weekend. But before I go I’d like to share something really yummy with you guys – fish cakes or what we call fish cutlets.

I love these cutlets. We don’t make them too often, and I’ve always wondered why. We love them, they’re crunchy little treats, and the flavors are to die for. It goes so well with a humble meal of rice and lentils, more commonly known as dal-rice and turns it to something quite extra-ordinary. If that doesn’t float your boat, how about using it to make yourself a yummy fish burger?

Whatever you decide to do with it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. I mean, whats not to? For this recipe I used Kingfish slices. You can use any other white fleshy fish, but try and avoid the smaller varieties. Also, I’ve never really paid too much attention to quantities with any cutlets, its more about the mix feeling right to the touch. However, I have tried to give you an idea of the quantities I used. Feel free to adjust them as you like.

Fish Cutlets


4-5 large slices of fish
3-4 cloves of garlic
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1″ ginger
1 egg
1-2 slices of bread
Bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for frying

In a vessel, boil the slices of fish with a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, whole cloves of garlic and a little water. The fish needs to be cooked through. Let it cool.

While this is happening, chop up the onions, ginger, chillies and the coriander leaves and keep aside.

De-bone the fish, making sure that no bones are left behind. Its rather unpleasant to find a fish bone in a cutlet.

Add the chopped onions, chillies, ginger and coriander leaves.

Crack into this 1 egg.

Soak 1-2 slices of bread in water for a minute and squeeze out all the liquid and add one slice, crumbled to the mix. Using your fingers, make sure that all the ingredients are mixed well. Try and form a cutlet, if it holds well, you’re good to go. If the mix is too moist, crumble the other slice of bread into it and mix well.

Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.

Shape little portions of the mix into tightly formed cakes or cutlets. Coat with bread crumbs.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large flat pan and fry the cutlets on a medium flame till they are golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side as well. The fish is already cooked, all you want to do is let the cutlets get a nice brown color and in the meanwhile heat right through.

Serve hot.

This recipe is linked to –
My Meatless Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
Mouthwatering Monday
Tuesdays At The Table
Delectable Tuesday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
A Little Birdie Told Me

Easter Goodies 2011 and a Big Thank You

Update – I’ve added one of my favourite marzipan recipes. Click here to view it.

This morning I feel full of life, I’m excited and humbled at the same time. I’m really happy today. And, in a big way, I owe it all to you, my awesome audience, yes you, all of you who take the time out of your very busy lives  to read my posts and comment on them. You truly are wonderful. It is because of you that the most amazing thing happened a couple of days ago.

I got a call from a lifestyle journalist from the Times of India (only the biggest newspaper in the country). They were doing a feature on Easter celebrations in Mumbai and had somehow reached my blog space based on the popularity (read number of page hits) of the Easter Goodies series that I posted in the last few days. They wanted a small telephonic interview with good ol’ me. I couldn’t believe it, and even though most may think it’s really no big deal and of course its just a fleeting mention of me in the article, it never would have happened if it wasn’t for you. Since I wasn’t too sure if I was dreaming the whole thing up, I didn’t mention it to anyone yet. However, they ran the article in today’s paper and yes I’m in it 🙂 🙂 🙂 
If you want to look it up, you can find it here.
Back to business, here’s a glimpse of the Easter goodies I whipped up this year. Look at these pretties all set, waiting to be fancied up.
Aren’t they pretty. You know I love to use just a plain white royal icing to dress these up. Here’s a peek at what they look like after they’re iced.
All packed with color co-ordinated ribbon, ready to go.
Some of you wanted a tutorial  on how to make these goodies, though I didn’t have the time to get it done this time around, here’s what the moulds I use look like.
Once again, thank you all!!!
Have a Holy and Blessed Week ahead!!!

Cabbage Fugad

I don’t know about you, but I’ve started noticing a trend of late. I have been posting quite a few traditional Goan recipes. I can’t help it, thats where my roots are and honestly I love the food. I promise you though, it won’t be the only thing I post on this blog. I love experimenting with all kinds of cuisines, specially the ones that we don’t find easily in this part of the world. So please bear with me while I share my love for Goan food on this blog from time to time.


One such recipe is a cabbage stir fry preparation. Its one of the simplest ways to cook a vegetable, I tell you. With a few basic ingredients, unlike most Indian food that calls for a long list of ingredients, this is a mildly flavored vegetable dish that many will like.



Cabbage Fugad


1 small head of cabbage, shredded (about approx. 300-400 gms)
A little less than 1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
2 onions, chopped
2 green chillies, slit
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
A pinch of asafoetida (optional)
4-5 curry leaves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt, to taste


Heat the oil in a vessel. Add the asafoetida and mustard seeds and let them sputter on a medium flame. Be careful not to burn them.


Add the curry leaves and the green chillies and let them release their flavors.


Add the chopped onion and sauté till the onions have become translucent. Add the turmeric powder and stir well. 


Tip in the cabbage and stir well to let the spices evenly coat the vegetable. Add salt to taste.


Add a small splash of water. Cover and cook till the water has almost dried up.


Check to see if cabbage is done to your liking, if you like it cooked more, add some more water, cover and cook.


When the water has almost dried up add the coconut and stir through. Cover and let it continue cooking for a couple of minutes. Turn off the flame.


Serve hot with some warm chapatis. 




Enjoy!!!




This recipe is linked to – 
Full Plate Thursday
Whats Cooking Thursdays
Thrilling Thursday
It’s a Keeper Thursday

Pancakes for the Breakfast Club!

I’m reposting these for a fun event I’m participating in called “The Breakfast Club” hosted this month by Krithi of Krithi’s Kitchen. This wonderful event was started by Helen of “Fuss Free Flavors”. Do head over and participate. This month you need to link up Pancakes.

I can’t wait for the round up. This is going to be so much fun!!!

Crunchy King Fish Slices

Here’s is a wonderful take on the King Fish, also known locally as Surmai. This is a large fish and the flesh is very meaty. I simply crumb fry the slices of fish after marinating it in some spices. Nothing can be simpler. The marinade is not complex and the process is simple. So the next time you have some fresh king fish, give this a try. Along with the crunch you get from the crumbs and the meaty flesh, you can also taste the subtle flavors of the marinade and they come together beautifully.

Serve this with a nice fresh salad and some bread and you have a lovely light meal. Traditionally, this would be served with some Goan Fish Curry and Rice or some wonderful Dal (Lentils) and Rice. I will get posts up on those as well. But for now, enjoy this recipe.
Crunchy King Fish Slices

4 slices of King fish
Salt, to taste
A combination of lime juice and Apple cider vinegar, to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
A little besan (Chickpea flour)
Bread crumbs, to dredge
A couple of spoons vegetable oil, to shallow fry the fish slices
Please note that these quantities are just a guide. Feel free to adjust them to your liking. Also, quantities will depend on size of the slices of fish.
Sprinkle the salt, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, turmeric powder, chilly powder and besan on both the sides of the slices of fish and gently rub it over to spread it onto the slices. You may need to add a few drops of water to help you with this process. Please be gentle, you don’t want to break the slices.
Keep aside for atleast 15 minutes.
Heat some oil in a pan.
Dredge the slices of fish in the bread crumbs to coat well. Carefully place the slices in the pan and let it cook on a medium flame till it has browned on one side. Flip over gently and cook the other side as well, adding more oil to the pan, if needed. 
Make sure you cook it on a medium flame and not a high one. A high flame will simple brown the outside, but leave the insides raw. Also, its best to have thinner slice of fish than thicker, they will cook faster.
Serve hot.
Enjoy!
This recipe is linked to – 

Coconut Coriander Chutney – Savory Sandwich Spread

A coconut coriander chutney is probably one of the humblest of all sandwich fillings. It has so many wonderful flavors that mingle to form one well balanced spread. There is absolutely no cooking involved, which is a welcome relief in these sweltering conditions. I’ve jotted down the quantities and the ingredients that I use for the chutney in this post, but you can play around with them to get the flavors you prefer. In India, theres probably hundreds if not thousands of recipes for this chutney. This is one my grandmother and mother used, but my husband tweaked and I’d dare say perfected it. Its not too spicy so even children can enjoy this, and believe me they do.

This chutney keeps very well. So you can make it ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to a week and use it as and when you need to.

Here’s a few options on what you can do with this spread –
1) Chutney sandwich – Spread it over some buttered slices of bread. I think it goes well with slightly toasted slices as well.

2) Chutney Cheese sandwich – Butter a slice of bread and spread some of the chutney over it. Top with a slice of cheese or grated cheese, whatever you have at hand. Cover this with another slice of bread.

3) Veggie Delight sandwich – Butter a slice of bread and spread some of the chutney over it. Place some slices of tomato and cucumber on it. Cover this with another slice of bread.

These are just a few sandwich combos to get you started. I’m sure you’ll come up with many more and I’d love to hear about them. And oh yes, how can I forget –

4) With rice – On days of fasting, my mum used to serve us this chutney with a small portion of warm, plain rice to get us through the day.

Check out how I make my Coconut & Coriander Chutney here –

Coconut Coriander Chutney


1 cup freshly grated coconut
1 large bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and tender stalks (About 1 tightly packed cup)
6 small cloves of garlic or 2 large cloves of garlic
3/4″ ginger
1 green/red chilly
1 tbsp sugar
1 walnut sized ball of tamarind, soaked in 1/4 cup water
Salt to taste

Tip all the ingredients except the coconut into a blender or food processor. Blitz to form a puree.

Add the coconut and blitz again. You can leave this spread as coarse or grind it as finely as you like. I like it ground fine but not too fine. You may need to add a dash of water to help the ingredients grind well.

Taste and adjust the flavors, if needed.

Store in a container, refrigerate for up to a week and use as and when needed.

This recipe is linked to –
Mouthwatering Mondays
A Little Birdie Told Me
Tuesdays At the Table
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Delectable Tuesday
Let’s Do Brunch

Methi Parathas – Whole Wheat Flatbread with Fenugreek Leaves

These parathas are another one of my favorite savory breakfast items. Like the Aloo Parathas, it can be served with some unflavored yogurt or pickle. But I like it served pipping hot with a dollop of butter and a mug of good hot coffee. To me that sums up a great breakfast. The parathas are easy to make because there is no stuffing involved, all the ingredients are mixed together to form a dough. They can be made the previous night and kept in  refrigerated in a covered container. All you need to do the next morning while the coffee is brewing, is warm it on a tava (griddle) and you’re all set. 


Usually fenugreek is known to have a bitter-ish taste. These parathas however aren’t. For this recipe, I don’t use the baby fenugreek leaves but the larger ones. Another thing to keep in mind, is that when you are cleaning the sprigs of fenugreek leaves, make sure you pick only the leaves and not the stalk, no matter how tender you may find the stalk to be.


You might want to allow a couple of extra parathas per person as these are not as heavy as the Aloo Parathas are and they are very more-ish. I added a couple of hot green chillies. You can either deseed them to cut down the heat or simply cut down the amount of chillies if you are not used to spice. Also, if you are calorie conscious, you can leave out the ghee and these parathas will still be tasty.





Methi Parathas
(Makes 12-15)


2 cups whole wheat flour
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 cup fenugreek leaves, chopped 
1 tsp carrom seeds, rubbed between the palms of your hands to release their flavor
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter + extra to smear on the parathas while they’re cooking (optional)


In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients well to make sure they are well distributed. 


Make a well in the centre and gradually add enough water to bind into a pliable dough.


Divide into portions the size of a golf ball and keep ready.


Roll this out to a thin disc on a floured surface.

Place this on a well heated tawa / griddle and roast for a while moving it around till light brown spots appear on one side. Turn over and cook on the other side till light brown spots appear on the other side as well.

To finish off, spoon a few drops of clarified butter on the paratha and spread. Flip over and repeat this on  the other side letting it roast for a few seconds after you add the clarified butter to the side.

Serve hot with butter and a mug of hot coffee.

You can leave out the clarified butter if you want an even healthier version, but it does wonders for the taste.
Enjoy.




This recipe is linked to – 
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays
Let’s Do Brunch
Not Baaad
Mangia Mondays

Herbs and Flowers in my platter- Fenugreek leaves 

(http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/p/herbs-flowers-hosting-schedule.html)

Monster Cookies

I think these bad guys need no introduction. Their reputation definitely precedes them. This was the first time I tasted one, let alone made one. I was very pleased with the way they turned out. They were nice and chewy. There are so many flavors and textures in there. In every bite you can taste the peanut butter, the chocolate and the candy. I think this is also a lot healthier than the average cookie since this recipe uses no flour. It just uses old fashioned oats, which are packed with fiber, which is really good for your health. This cookie is now one of my favorite ways to eat oats 🙂


When you sit down to eat these cookies, please make sure that you have a tall glass of milk to go with it. The experience will be totally blissful.



Monster Cookies


1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups peanut butter
4 1/2 cups old fashion oats
1 cup M&M’s candies (or Smarties or Gems)
Preheat oven to 175º C.
Lightly grease cookie sheets and set aside.
Cream together the butter and the sugars.
Add the eggs, peanut butter, corn syrup, and vanilla extract and beat well.
Add the oats, baking soda, and salt and stir well.


Stir in remaining ingredients.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out batter onto the cookie sheets, leaving some space between them. Flatten them out a little.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. The center of the cookies will be slightly soft. 


Enjoy.

Note: I halved the recipe and got about 20 cookies.
 
This recipe is linked to –
Sweet Tooth Friday
Fun with Food Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
The Homespun Bake Shop
Mangia Mondays