Mini Meat Loaf

 

Mini Meat Loaf

 Ingredients (meat and to mix with the meat)

- 1 1/2 lbs of any ground meat of your choice
- 2 tbsps of garlic, ginger, and green chili paste
- 1 small chopped onion, fried
- 2 tbsps of yogurt
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/3rd cup of olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 2 tbsps ketchup
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (preferably fresh)
- 1 tsp of ground spice (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom)

 

Mix all the ingredients together.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Take a cupcake pan, spray with oil, and put a small amount of breadcrumbs into each cup.

Press handful of the ground meat mixture into each of the cups and sprinkle with breadcrumbs on top. Once more, spray or brush oil on top.

Cover with a foil and put it into the oven (middle rack). Set the timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of baking with the foil, remove the foil and back for another 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, and leave the pan inside the oven for another 5 - 6 minutes. It should have a light brown color.

Remove the mini meat loaf from the pan and set aside. Reserve the juice.

For the sauce:

In a pan, put a little oil, saute two diced tomatoes. Add 1 tsp of tomato paste, 1 tsp of diced garlic, and a little salt and sugar. Pour the reserved juice into this. As the gravy thickens, pour it over the mini meat loaves.

Garnish with parsley and serve.

Coconut rice

Coconut Milk Rice

 NOTE: The quantity of rice depends on how many people you are cooking for. These measurements (4 cups jasmine rice, 4 cups of water, and one cup of coconut milk) are approximately for 12 persons.

Start with 4 cups of jasmine rice, washed and set to dry.

Dice one whole red onion.

Pour three tablespoons of any white cooking oil.

Heat the oil and then fry the onions till they are light brown in color.

Sautee the dried rice with the onions. Add salt to taste and a little sugar.

Pour four cups of water and a half cup of coconut milk. 

Cover it and let it simmer at medium heat, stirring periodically

When the rice is nearly cooked, pour in the other half cup of coconut milk and reduce the heat to low and cover it until the liquid is seen to be fully absorbed and the rice is well cooked but not pasty. Turn off the heat.

Add 1 or 2 tbsps of butter and stir it into the rice.

Garnish (for example) with cranberries or dried coconuts or nuts and serve.

Bhetki Narkol Mach (Fish cooked in coconut milk)

Bhetki Narkol Mach - how to cook, step by step

Salt the fish.

Fry them and put it aside.

Pour more oil in the pan and heat it.

Slice one whole onion.

Fry the onion with green chillies and bay leaves in the same pan where the fish was fried.

Add pounded ginger to the fried onion mixture.

Add coconut milk in the pan, add salt, and allow it to cook for some time.

  Put back the fried fish in the simmering coconut milk gravy and allow it to reduce turning the fish once within the gravy. Turn off the heat.

Pour a spoon of ghee (clarified butter) over the prepared fish.

Garnish it with green onions.










Serve with hot rice.

Pumpkin,Ginger and Carrot Soup.


Ingredients -
. 1 cup diced pumkin.
. 1 cup diced carrot.
. 1 diced seeded jalapeno pepper.
. 1 tbs chopped fresh ginger.
. Half cup of milk.
. 2 tsp. butter.
. Salt for taste.
. 1 tsp. fennel seeds.
. 1 sprig of rosemary.
  


In a pot heat some vegetable oil. Put in the chopped ginger and fennel seeds.
Then throw in the diced vegetables with the rosemary.
Saute them together for sometime.
Put salt and 3 cups of water.Allow it to simmer for some time.
When the vegetables are soft enough, turn off the heat,  allow it to cool.
Pour it in a blender jar and blend it. The texture should be smooth and creamy.
Pour the whole mixture into the pot, and while it is heating once more, slowly pour in the milk, stirring it constantly. When the soup is hot enough, turn off the heat, stir in the butter and serve.

Puff Pastry Chaat

Ingredients
-puff pastry sheet( store bought)
- plain yogurt.
- tamarind sauce
- nuts,raisins and sev for topping.
- mixture of finely chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro and green chilly.
- half a lime.
- 1 tps fruit chaat masala.
- 2 tbs green mung sprout.

How to prepare:
Roll out the pastry sheet on a wooden board.
Cut into squares (size as desired).
Follow the baking instruction on the label and bake the squares, then arrange them on a platter.
For the filling ,mix all the above ingredients together or keep them separately into bowls so that the guests can assemble the pastry according to their taste.
Its really yummy!!! enjoy.

Fish-Potato Tikias (Patties)

Ingredients:

1. 4 pieces of any white fish fillet
2. 2 Yukon Gold potatoes
3. 5 cloves of garlic
4. 1 1-inch sized fresh ginger
5. 2 green chillies
6. Salt and pepper to taste
7. 1 tsp cummin powder
8. 1 tsp of powdered mix of cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
9. 1/2 of one white onion OR red onion, chopped
10. 1 egg
11. 1 green onion, chopped
12. Juice of half a lemon (OR half a lime)
13. Vegetable oil for frying
14. 1 cup of breadcrumbs
15. Served with Cilantro Pesto  (this is another recipe in this blog).

Preparation:
 
Boil the potatoes and the fish separately. Then mash them together.

Grind the garlic, ginger, and chillies together.

Add to the potato and fish mixture.

Add to the mixture all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the oil and the breadcrumbs. (This includes salt and pepper to taste).

Form patties out of the mixture. roll them in the breadcrumbs.

Pan fry, then serve hot with Cilantro Pesto (this is another recipe in this blog).

(VEG) Ricecake Salad (make with rice crispies too)

Ingredients:

(Ingredients pictured below; Quantities are for one person)

1. 1 rice cake OR 1 cup of rice crispies
2. 2 tbsp of chopped cucumbers
3. 2 tbsp of chopped green onions
4. 3 tbsp of beaten yogurt
5. 1 tbsp of tamarind sauce
6. 1 tbsp of mixed nuts and raisins
7. 1 tbsp of lime juice
8. 2 tbsp of green "mung bean" sprouts. (Also known as moong or as golden gram. Available in Asian markets)
9. 2 tbsp of Cilantro Pesto (This is another recipe is in this blog)

Preparation:

Arrange the rice cake (or rice crispies)on a plate. Smear it with the pesto. Pour the mung sprouts over the pesto. Squeeze the lime and a pinch of salt over the sprouts. Sprinkle the green onions, cucumbers, nuts over that and then drizzle the yogurt over the nuts and dot it with tamarind sauce.

This a very good salad for lunch - or to enjoy as a snack anytime!

(VEG) Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients:

1. 1/3 cup olive oil
2. 2 tbsp Tamarind sauce
3. 1 lime
4. 1 bunch cilantro
5. 3 green chillies (de-seeded)
6. 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
7. 1 handful of pine nuts (can be replaced by sunflower seeds)
8. 5 curry leaves

How to prepare:

In a food processor, combine cilantro leaves, de-seeded green chillie, pine nuts, curry leaves and a pinch of salt (to taste) and blend them together.

 Take half of the olive oil and slowly pour into the mixture and continue blending it, making sure the consistency is creamy. Taste the mixture and adjust the salt if needed.

Pour the blended mixture in a bowl and mix the tamarind sauce into it.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the mixture and let is stand for some time before serving.

This is an excellent pesto to serve with anything fried or to use as a salad dressing!