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Well, my best pal’s mother is one heck of a woman when it comes to cooking and I have had the opportunity to relish the food cooked by her on several occasions. From delicious crab curry to crispy fish fry to fried idli to delicious chicken to yummy veggies, I have eaten and enjoyed it all. An amazing fish preparation that she churns out is the chutney pomfret. The pomfret is flavored with coriander-green chilly chutney in addition to a paste of turmeric powder, red chilly powder and garlic before being rolled into rice flour and semolina and deep-fried to give a yummy, crispy delight.

Now, if you have been tempted to try it out for yourself then simply go ahead, follow the recipe given below and tickle your taste buds a bit with this gastronomic delight.

Ingredients:
Pomfret (whole and cleaned) - 1 large
Fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves (crushed) - 4 nos.
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Red chilly powder - 2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Semolina/suji/rawa - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil for deep-frying
Lemon wedges for garnishing

Method:
1.) Make slits in the fish on the outer side as well as on the sides. Keep aside.
2.) Now take the red chilly and turmeric powders and along with two cloves of garlic make a coarse paste.
3.) By means of slit in the sides, apply this paste on inner side of the fish. Stand it for 5-10 minutes.
4.) In the meanwhile, grind coriander, green chillies, remaining garlic cloves and salt to obtain chutney. Once chutney is ready, add lemon juice.
5.) Now apply this chutney to the inner side of the fish in the same way as the first paste.
6.) Tie up the fish with strings so that the fish does not open up while frying.
7.) Roll the fish in rice flour and semolina. Deep fry until golden and crisp.
8.) Serve hot garnished with lemon wedges.

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Day in and day out on various cookery shows, we come across chefs pointing out the goodness of olive oil and the benefits of including olive oil in various cooking practices. Now, after seeing one such show you are inspired to pick up olive oil for your cooking at home. You head straight for the store near you but are in a daze after finding out the varieties of olive oil up for sale. Now, what do you do? How do you select an olive oil that is best and will suit your needs?

Here are a few tips that will help you opt for an olive oil that is best for you and how to store the olive oil.

- Color tells you a lot about the olive oil. Green-colored olive oil is one that is prepared from early-harvested olives and has a fruity, peppery and ripe flavor. On the other hand, olive oil that is yellowish-golden in color has a buttery and smooth flavor. The green olive oil has increased amounts of polyphenols and other antioxidants. These polyphenols and anti-oxidants are beneficial for our health.

- Stay away from the so-called light olive oils as they are thinned, have little to offer in terms of flavor and have same caloric value as the regular olive oils.

- If tasting the oil before buying is allowed at the store then do go in for it. This will help you in selecting the olive oil with the flavor you like.

- If you are lucky enough to be residing in an area where olives are pressed to extract oil, then pick oil that has been just recently bottled as the fresh oil is considered the most savory of all. October to late January is the time when olives are pressed, so watch out for olive oil during these months in such areas.

- For churning out recipes that do not require much frying use extra-virgin olive oil. For frying, it is advisable to use virgin olive oil, since it is less costly, gives off less flavor and does not burn as easily as extra-virgin olive oil.

- If your cooking involves a lot of sauteing and roasting, filtered olive oil should be selected and choose an unfiltered olive oil for salad dressings and to drizzle on soups or pastas.

- For olive oil to be flavorful, it is imperative that it is stored properly. A cool, dark place is considered best to store olive oil. Olive oils too can turn rancid as time passes. Different types of olive oils have different shelf lives depending on how they are prepared and bottled. An unfiltered, late-harvest olive oil packed in clear glass bottle can last for about as little as three months and an early-harvest, filtered oil filled in a well-sealed tin or dark bottle can last for as long as four years.

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Source: Sciencedaily, eHow

The mention of pizza and all you think about is a crispy crust covered with mouth-watering, rich tomato sauce and topped with meats spiced desirably and vegetables as per an individual’s wish along with generous sprinklings of mozzarella cheese. The spectacle of extra cheese, fried chicken pieces, pepperoni, sausage or ground beef on a pizza base would give many health pundits or weight watchers a fright. Nevertheless, millions relish it despite its junk food status. Now, Eugenio Luigi Iorio by inventing the anti-ageing pizza has given pizza lovers a new treat to indulge with little less guilt you could say.

Iorio, a nutritionist and biochemist at the University of Naples along with Cosimo Mogavero, owner of a restaurant called La Fabbrica dei Sapori (The Taste Factory) restaurant created the exceptional “anti-wrinkle” or “primula” pizza using smart variations to the usual pizza recipe. This remarkable pizza makes use of ingredients such as whole meal flour, tomatoes, rocket, garlic, courgettes, basil, mushrooms, carrots and spinach. All these together make the pizza a storehouse of anti-oxidants that are beneficial in slowing down ageing.

The replacement of refined flour with whole meal flour has been the prime reason for improved nutritional profile of this one of a kind pizza. It is said that the bran and endosperm in wheat contributes antioxidant compounds to the whole meal flour. With the right determination of fermentation and baking times as well as baking temperature, the anti-oxidant levels are enhanced. The selection of veggies for sauces and toppings is also done keeping in mind their individual anti-oxidant properties. This combination of veggies and dough results in a pizza that is three times higher in its fibre content than its classic counterpart and has higher levels of magnesium and iron to offer.

Now, everyone should be happy with such a pizza? However, this pizza has not gone down well with the members of the True Neapolitan Pizza Association, who allege that the use of whole meal flour does not give a characteristic crust that an authentic pizza should have. This is the reason why they are not in approval of this new anti-ageing pizza as they consider it an insult of the authentic pizza.

Now, what you want from a pizza is your choice- authenticity with little or no health benefits or trade-offs in authenticity with age defying benefits? Pick is yours!

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Source: Rawstory

This very simple south Indian preparation is a great side dish to accompany any meal or can be served as a quick protein snack. The beans and coconut used here need to be tender and fresh.
Thoran has a crunchy salad like appearance and tastes very mild on the taste buds. It is a refreshing dish which can balance out a spicy table spread. The natural flavours of all the ingredients are retained in this method of preparation, giving it a simple unique taste.

Serves 2

1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
1 ⁄2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 ⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
1 ⁄2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
1 green chilli, left whole
200g fresh broad beans
salt, to taste
40g grated fresh coconut
8 fresh curry leaves, torn in half

Heat the oil in a pan, add the seeds and fry for 30 seconds. Add the onion, ginger and green chilli and cook for about 4 minutes over a lowish heat until the onions have softened.

Add the beans, salt and a splash of water and cook for 1 minute to warm through. Stir in the coconut and torn curr y leaves, turn the heat down, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Give the pan a stir and serve.

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Seafood has its own lure. This can be seen from the variety of ways of preparing it. From baked to fried to curries to even the raw fish in sushi, seafood titillates the taste buds in a unique way. Lobsters, crabs, squids, shrimps, oysters top the list of any epicure’s most desired foods. It is the spicy seafood preparations particularly that attract me the most. Hailing from a region where seafood is a staple, I have been lucky to savor the various seafood culinary delights. One of the many seafood recipes that I am fond of is the hot and sour prawns. A dig into this prawn preparation and you feel you are in heaven.

The hot and sour prawns recipe is easy, quick and worth the try. Here is how the recipe goes.

Ingredients:
Raw Prawns (deveined but try not remove the shell) - 15-20 medium-sized
Onions (finely chopped) - 2 medium-sized
Tomatoes (peeled and finely chopped) - 2 large-sized
Garlic cloves (crushed) - 3 large-sized
Curry leaves - 6-8 nos.
Red chilly powder - 1 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Fresh green coriander leaves finely chopped for garnish

Method:
1.) Heat a pan on medium heat. Add the oil and after the oil has heated well add the garlic and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
2.) Now add the onions and saute until they are translucent and slightly pink.
3.) Now add the dry spice powders, salt, tamarind pulp and mix well.
4.) Stir in the tomatoes and prawns together into this mixture and cook until the prawns are done.
5.) Sprinkle lemon juice and mix well before pulling off the stove.
6.) Garnish with chopped coriander before serving.
7.) You can enjoy this dish with rice or bread of your choice.

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Source: Bawarchi

Banaras, a humble place packing in everything from religion to arts to cuisine. None can deny the immense feeling of spirituality this city offers or can forget the maestros like Late Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar that have graced this city. Life is uncomplicated and pleasurable over here. Adding its own identity and color to this vibrant city is the paan. Such is the magic of the paan coming from the land of Banaras that it was used to create a song “khaike paan Banaraswala” that went on to become a phenomenon.

The paan is one thing the people of Banaras take delight in making, offering and receiving. In Banaras, the mere eating of a paan symbolizes everything from a daily ritual to a friendly gesture to indulging in life’s simple pleasures. In Banaras, you will find large number of paan shops spanning every lane in the city. A true Banarasi babu fond of paan can even spot for you which lane or even shop that turns out a specific paan by inhaling the aromas from a prepared paan.

The paanwalas too have mastered this art of paan making well enough. Making paans to suit the palates of their countless customers is what they take pride in. The recipe of paan consists of a betel leaf packed with a range of ingredients such as cardamoms, supari, chuna, katha, gulkand and tobacco (optional). It is said that a perfect Banarasi paan does not even require the effort of chewing it as it easily dissolves into the mouth.

Such is the love for paan in the city of Banaras that you will find an auction market called paan dariba exclusively dedicated to the paan. The market receives betel leaves from all over the country during the early morning hours. The leaves are auctioned in bunches of 200 leaves called dholis. The dholis sell from any thing between Rs. 50-150/ dholi.

The importance of paan in the culture of Banaras just goes to show all pleasurable things in life need not necessarily be expensive or complicated. Something as plain yet marvelous as the paan can be of great significance.

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Source: Uppercrustindia

The mere mention of bitter gourd/karela preparations for food and you are bound to make quite a few faces frown. The vegetable is disliked by many for its highly bitter taste. Nevertheless, it is packed with nutritionally important minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper, potassium and vitamins A, B1, B2, and C. That is why, people have devised ways to debitter it and include it in the diet. Relishing the vegetable is a matter of acquired taste but if you are trying it out for the first time fear not for the vegetable is indeed good and worth the try.

Follow this simple recipe of arriving at yummy, spicy karela masala that your loved ones will surely love to eat.

Ingredients:
Bitter gourd/ karela - 5-6 nos. small-sized
Onions (finely sliced) - 2 medium-sized
Red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Dhaniya(coriander seed) powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 2 tsp
Aamchur powder - 1 tbsp
Garlic clove (finely chopped) - 1 nos.
Ginger juliennes - 1 tsp
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
1.) Wash the gourds. Scrape them lightly. Slit and remove the seeds. Apply salt and stand them for 2-3 hours. Wash again and parboil the gourds. Drain and keep aside.
2.) Heat a pan on medium heat and add oil to it. When the oil turns hot, add in the garlic and ginger. Fry until they are lightly brown.
3.) Stir in the onions and fry until they turn pink.
4.) Add in all the dry powders, jaggery and salt. Mix well.
5.) Now add the bitter gourd slices. Mix well and cook until they turn tender.
6.) Serve hot with rotis.

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Source: Bawarchi

The name itself tempts one to attempt this dish.This Afghan delicacy is as royal as its name. The meatballs are mildly spicy, and when soaked in the tomato-onion gravy, they absorb the delicate flavour making it a delicious dish. And, the yoghurt topping balances the spicy taste.

Also, the preparation time will indeed surprise you. Less effort is needed but an exotic dish is ready. You surely would not want to give it a miss.

Serves 4

For the meatballs:
1 egg
1 medium onion
25g coriander
2 large garlic cloves
450g minced lamb
2tsp ground coriander
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp ground black pepper
1/4tsp ground cloves or 4 cloves

For the gravy:
2 medium onions
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp tomato puree
250ml water
250ml yoghurt
METHOD
Briefly whisk the egg in a mixing bowl. Peel and grate the onion. Finely chop the coriander leaves. Peel, chop and crush the garlic to a paste with 1/2 tsp salt.

Add the onion, garlic and meat to the mixing bowl and add the ground coriander, cinnamon, cumin and black pepper. Add the ground cloves or, if using whole cloves, crush the ball directly into the bowl and discard the rest. Use your hands to pummel and mix, continuing until smooth and sticky, allowing several minutes for this. Rinse your hands and with wet fingers form into walnut-size balls, rolling between your palms. Make around 35 such balls.

Cover with clingfilm and chill while you make the sauce (or for up to 24 hours).

Chop the onions. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan that can hold the meatballs in a single layer and over a medium-high heat and stir-fry the onions, adjusting the heat so that they soften and colour without burning. Allow 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the tomato puree until the onions turn terracotta, then add 250ml water. Bring to the boil, then drop the meatballs into the sauce, one at a time, in a single layer. Cover, but leave a small gap, turn the heat very low and cook for 15 minutes. Shake the pan so that the balls are totally immersed and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt.

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This coastal dish from South India is full of flavours with the right balance of coconut and tamarind. Its a great dish which goes well with rice and also with any kind of pancake. If you are a lover of sea food, then this preparation just can not be ignored.

The preparation time may seem to be a little longer but it is indeed worth the effort. And, this dish can be made in larger than the required amount because it tastes even better when it is a day or two old (when refridgerated) .

Serves 4
3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 ⁄2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

25 curr y leaves, torn

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

15g garlic (approximately 5 large cloves), peeled and roughly chopped

8g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp turmeric

3⁄4 -11 ⁄2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

350ml water

450-500g whole mackerel, cleaned and cut into steaks 2.5cm thick

3-5 green chillies, left whole

11 ⁄2 tsp tamarind paste, or to taste

250ml coconut milk

salt, to taste

Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan. Add the fenugreek, cumin seeds and 10 of the curry leaves and fry for 10 seconds. Add the onions and cook for about 6-8 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile, puree together the tomatoes, garlic and ginger and powdered spices. Add to the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes over a high heat or until you can see little droplets of oil on the sides of the masala. Add a splash of water at any point, if necessary.

Add the water, bring to a boil and then add the fish, green chillies and remaining curr y leaves. Bring back to the boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Stir in most of the tamarind paste but leave a little to add later. Once the fish is cooked, add the coconut milk. Stir well, taste and adjust the seasoning and sourness (adding the remainder of the tamarind paste if necessary) and add more water if you prefer a thinner curry.

Mmmm. Delicious.

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This spicy-marinade snack is made with the usual ingredients of the Indian dishes, but, it is the amount of the spices which makes all the difference. These brochettes turn out best when marinated and kept overnight. And, they are best served with fresh green chutney or cool cucumber-mint raita and with naan. Or serve it with spinach rice as a main course.
This recipe is from Anjum Anand, known as UK’s TV’s spice girl. Check out the source to find more recipes from her. Meanwhile, put on your apron and try this spicy dish.

Serves 4-6
450g boned lamb, cut into 2cm cubes and pierced with a fork

marinade

150ml thick yoghurt
1/2 small onion, roughly chopped
15g garlic, peeled
8g ginger, peeled
2 tsp. each garam masala and cumin powder
1 tsp. coriander powder
1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, powdered
¼ tsp freshly ground black peppercorns
2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tbs. coriander leaves
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder or to taste
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt or to taste
1-2 tbs. melted butter
6 wooden skewers, soaked

Blend all the marinade ingredients in a food processor till smooth. Stir in the lamb pieces, mix well and leave to marinate for as long as possible, overnight in the fridge would be best. Bring back to room temperature 1 hour before cooking. Discard the marinade.

Thread the cubes onto the skewers and place under a preheated grill. Cook until tender, around 5-6 minutes turning halfway through cooking. Alternatively cook in an oven preheated to 200C for 10 minutes. Smear the butter and cook another minute or two for slightly pink meat.
Serve hot.

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