It is difficult to live in Hyderabad with Konkani tastes :) . I have had fish 2-3 times in a week for most of my life but we do not get good fresh sea water fish easily in Hyderabad.

WhiteBait is one fish which is slightly easily available. Apparently this fish flows from the sea to the river and hence probably it is available here...or maybe it is just transported from the coasts. So I deep fried WhiteBait (Belanji in Konkani, also called Bolanjeer ) for lunch today. 
This is one fish which can be eaten with its bones. Since its a small fish we deep fry it and the bones add to crunchiness to the fritters.

Here is my Konkani simple fish fry recipe

Ingredients
250 gms of white bait,cut, scaled and cleaned
Pinch of turmeric, 
1 tsp red chilli powder 
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
Oil - 500 ml
Rava - Semolina - 100 gms
Method

1. Clean the fish. Remove the head, the tail and the scales. 
                                         

2. Marinate it with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and ginger garlic paste and keep aside for 15-30 mins. 

                                        
3. Heat oil in a vessel for deep frying on medium heat till it is very hot (almost smoking).

4. Roll the fish in Rava (Suji, Semolina) and rice flour (in 3:1 proportion) and deep fry on medium flame. Fry in batches of 10 fish at a time. Fry on both sides till the Fish is golden frown and crispy. Since this fish is very small it cooks easily.

This recipe can be used to fry almost any fish but since it  needs a lot of oil, I prefer the Tawa fry Fish. WhiteBait is too small and hence this is the preferred way to cook it. 

Note: Reposting this today with a clearer picture 

Came across this quick and easy Microwave recipe on the Tarla Dalal's website and I had to try it. 
Tastes incredibly delish and doesnt take even 10 mins to cook.


Method
1. Mix 1 cup of full cream milk, 1 cup of grated paneer, 1/2 cup of condensed milk (I used Milkmaid), 3 spoons of sugar (adjust according to your taste), 2 tsp of Ghee, pinch of cardamom (Elaichi) powder in a large microwave bowl and cook in the microwave for 6-8 mins.
2. Remove from microwave and let it to cool. Once cooled, chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
3. Yummy rabri is ready. Garnish with Saffron(Kesar) strands and dry fruits and serve.

Here is the link to the recipe on Tarla Dalal's website.

This is a very easy dish to cook and the spinach and corn combination is very tasty. Really good for a light meal.






Method

1. Wash 2 cups of basmati rice and keep aside to remove the starchy content.
2. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker, add whole garam masalas like 3 cloves, 1 cardamom, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 2 medium sized onions finely chopped and saute till brown. Now add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and saute.
3. Add 1 cup of finely chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of sweet corn kernels chopped into 2. 
4. Add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp garam masala powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder and stir for 1 minute.
5. Add drained rice and saute for 2 mins till the masala coats the rice well.
6. Add 5 cups of water. Mix well. Add salt to taste and cover the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or till rice is just well cooked.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve

Method

1.     Make a mixture of 2 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp corn flour, 1 tsp green chilli paste, 2 tsp water or chicken stock and keep aside

2.     Heat a non stick pan till it is very hot. Put 2 tbsp olive oil and swirl the oil so that it coats the pan.

3.     Add around 250 gms of boneless chicken cubes and sauté on a high flame for 4 mins or till almost cooked and remove from pan and keep aside

4.     Add 5-6 cloves of garlic finely chopped and 1 inch of ginger finely chopped in the pan and stir for 30 secs.

5.     Add ½ cup each of broccoli, bell pepper and zucchini diced into cubes and stir for 1 min

6.     Add ½ cup of spring onions cut lengthwise and stir for 30 secs

7.     Pour ½ cup of water or chicken stock and steam the vegetables for 1 min

8.     Add the chicken that was kept aside and stir on high flame so that the water evaporates.

9.     Now add the soya sauce mixture and stir fry for 2 mins. The soya sauce is salty and hence you may not need to add salt to this dish. Adjust the salt only if needed.

This dish takes only 10 mins of cooking as it is cooked on high flame. Dont overcook else the vegetables lose their crunchiness.

This is a simple Salad I had first tasted in a my native village. I like it so much that I eat it like a side dish. It has a special smoky flavor which I absolutely adore.

Method

1. Grate 2 carrots
2. Add 4-5 tsp of freshly grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves
3. Add a pinch of sugar, salt to taste and around juice of half a lemon and mix well.
4. You can add red chilli powder or slit green chillies if you like. 
5. You can also burn one coal piece on stove till its red hot, place it in a bowl of salad, add 2-3 drops of coconut oil on top of it and cover with a lid for the salad to absorb the smoky flavour.

Traditionally we also give a chaukh (seasoning with mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves) but I like it just like this. 

My mom used to cook this dish whenever we had some bread slices left from a previous day. This is a quick breakfast recipe and tastes really good.

Method

1.  Heat 1 tbsp oil and add 1 tsp mustard seeds and  1 tsp cumin seeds.
2.  When they start popping, add 2 twigs of curry leaves
3. Add 1 medium sized onion chopped finely and fry till they turn brownish.
4. Take 5-6 bread pieces and grind the bread pieces in a mixie to a coarse powder and add it.    You can also cut it into roughly one inch pieces and mix well.  
5. Add 1 tsp turmeric, red chilli powder, a pinch of sugar and salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well so that the bread is coated.
6. Garnish with coriander and freshly grated coconut.

A recipe from my good friend Rajneet's kitchen. Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet.

Method

1. Wash and Soak 1 cup of basmati rice in 2 cups of water with salt for 20 mins.

2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds.

3. When they start to splutter add 1 cinnamon stick, 4-5 cloves and 1 bay leaf.

4. Then add the soaked rice with water and boil it on a high flame till the rice soaks almost all the water. (Rice is generally more than half cooked at this stage).

5. Now cover the pan and cook rice for  5 mins on low flame.

6. Remove the lid after around 10 mins and your jeera rice is ready to be served with any gravy you like.

 I am a big fan of Pongal since my MBA days. Pongal used to be served regularly at IIMA along with Medu Vada. It was a combination that I used to look forward to at breakfast. Recently I searched online for quick pongal recipes and found this one which comes very close to what was served on campus.

Method

1.     Wash 2 cups rice and ½ cup Moong Dal (Basically 4:1 proportion)

2.     Now cook the rice and moong dal in a pressure cooker with 7-8 cups of water and 1 tsp of turmeric for 2-3 whistles. The rice needs to be well cooked till soft.

3.     Remove from flame. Add salt to taste

4.     Give a tempering (chaunk) of whole 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 twigs of curry leaves and 1inch ginger finely chopped in 2 tbsp of ghee.

5.     Add to the rice mixture and serve.
You can also add ghee - fried cashews if you like.

I have to confess that I am not a big fan of chocolates...I know that makes me a weird person :). The only form of chocolates that I devour eating is the caramel and peanut butter variety. Snickers has been my favourite chocolate ever since I tasted it.

I had bought this peanut butter jar from the market but somehow did not like it with my sandwiches. It was lying in the fridge since almost 6 months now. This Sunday while spring cleaning, I came across the jar and then decided to look for recipes online to finish it off.

After being inspired by the numerous recipes online, here is my recipe for Peanut Butter Bars.

Method

1. Take a glass bowl and melt ½ cup of butter with ½ cup of peanut butter in the microwave for 1 minute. You can melt it on a pan too on the stove 
2. Take 8 Marie Biscuits (I used Sunfeast Marie) and frind them to a coarse powder in the mixer.Take ½ cup sugar and grind them in mixer 
3. Now fold in the powdered marie biscuits and sugar. I also folded in ½ cup white oats in an attempt to make it healthier ;) This is how the mixture looks at this stage.

4. Take a baking try or an aluminium plate and grease it with butter.


5. Now pour the above mixture to form the first layer


6. Again in a glass bowl, melt 1 cup chocolate chips with ¼ cup butter. Mix well and spread on the first layer. I did not have chocolate chips and as a substitute I added ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup milk powder, ¼ cup castor sugar and ¼ cup milk. Whisked them well and spread it on top of the first layer


7. Refrigerate for an hour. Cut into slices and serve.


The above measurements make about 20 one inch square pieces of chocolate.

Recently I was part of a chain mail series with a difference. A friend emailed me about a recipe Exchange program where you email recipes back to the sender and then send the same email to your friends asking them for quick recipes.
My dear friend Nisha sent me this recipe. Though I like potato wedges a lot, I had somehow never ventured to cook it as I always thought that it needs an oven. I really liked this recipe. Quick and yummy.

Method

1. Slice potatoes into slim wedges (leave the skin on for extra crunchiness. Place in water for 10 mins to get rid of excess starch, drain and leave to dry
2. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan to medium heat. Add 1 tsp of jeera and around 1 twig of curry leaves
3. Add 1 tsp each of coriander powder and chilli powder and a pinch of turmeric powder and cook it but don’t allow it to burn
4. Add the potatoes before the masala burns out and add salt. Cover with a lid and let the potatoes cook on a small flame to about 75%
5. Add 1 tbsp seasame seeds and cook without lid. Add 1 tsp garam masala when the potatoes are fully cooked
6. Spike the heat up to crispen the potatoes (dont burn ;))
7. You can choose to garnish with Coriander leaves 

This recipe is ideal for a quick snack. You can replace the Indian spices with chilli flakes, pepper and some oregano.

Harbhara is a vegetable which is available only in the winters. The process of removing the shells of the pea itself takes time but there is some fun in searching for the peas and then deshelling and eating them. Though the seeds cab be eaten just like that, my mom used to make this for us which I used to like more than raw chickpeas. This is too simple a dish to write about but tastes yummy

1. Take 2 tbsp ghee/oil in a pan. When hot, add harbhara (green chickpeas) and sauté till slightly brown. Add salt to taste

The ghee gives the dish a richness which lingers on.

This is how Harbhara looks when removed from stems

And this is how it looks after cooking

This was a dish that my cousin sister taught me. It is a quick way to cook Dal and is ideal along with fish fry which is a staple in Konkani cuisine.

Method

1. Cook 1 cup Toor Dal with a pinch of turmeric and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker
2. Once the Dal is cooked, heat it on medium flame. Add salt to taste and mash the Dal. The consistency of Dal should be slightly thicker.
3. In a Chaunk/seasoning  pan add 1 tbsp ghee, Add 2-3 red chillies and 5-6 flakes of garlic mashed a bit. Fry till garlic is slightly brown and add it to the Dal and cover with a lid.
4. Serve hot with rice

This is my favorite pickle made my by grandmother. I love it so much that I eat it more like a side dish than a pickle.

This pickle needs to be refrigerated else it spoils quickly. The best part of this pickle is its crunchy texture and to retain it we make smaller quanities and finish it off within a few days. Hence don’t make a lot of it at one time – the recipe is simple and you can making it again quickly.

Method

1.  Take1 Cup finely chopped carrots (the orange variety) and 1 cup of finely chopped cauliflower (the vegetables should not have a trace of water - for this after washing the vegetables dry them on a towel/paper before cutting). Add salt and 1 lemon juice to it and keep aside for 2 hours
2. In the meantime, boil 1 cup of water and soak 4-5 dried red chillies for half an hour. Remove the chillies from water when soft and grind it to a thick paste with a pinch of turmeric, 1 tsp of mustard seeds, 1 generous pinch of asafetida. Use very little water to make this paste
3. Add the above mixture to the cut vegetables. Adjust the salt and leave overnight outside
4. Refrigerate it the next day after the vegetables taste pickled.

You can add half a cup of tendli to the vegetables (tindora in hindi /ivy gourd in English) if you like it. It gives a crunchier texture to the pickle. I  also add 2-3 tsp of finely chopped ginger or mango ginger since I like the taste of ginger in the pickle. The red chillies can be substituted with plain red chilli powder if you are in a hurry.

This is a simple started I like to make when I dont have enough time for elaborate cooking.

Method

1. Cut 250 gms paneer into 1 inch cubes
2. Marinate with 1 cup thick curd, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1tsp red chilli powder for an hour.
3. Shallow fry on a non stick pan with little oil. Dont let the sides burn.

If the paneer you have bought from the stores is very hard, soak it in hot water with a little bit of turmeric and salt for 5 mins, drain the water and then cook.

This is one quick Konkani dish to cook and requires no heating. This goes well with rice.

Method

1. Grind together 1 onion,1 cup grated coconut, 1 marble sized ball of tamarind, and 3 dried red chillies to a very smooth paste, adding sufficient water and salt. The consistency should be thinner than chutneys as this is used as a substitute for curry with rice.

Fine pieces of onion and ginger can also be added in the end to give it a crunchier texture.

Dal is one of the essentials of Indian cooking. However every different state has their own Dal version. Dalitoy is Konkani dal recipe and is a must in every Kokani festival or wedding menu. It is a quick non fussy recipe.

Method

1. Cook 1 cup Toor Dal with a pinch of turmeric, 2 green chillies (slit along the middle) and 1 inch ginger piece and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker
2. Once the Dal is cooked, heat it on medium flame. Add salt to taste and mash the Dal.
3. In a Chaunk/seasoning  pan add 1 tbsp ghee, Add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they splutter, add  2-3 red chillies broken into 2 at the centre, a pinch of asafoetida and around 10 curry leaves.
4. Pour this on the Dal and cover with a lid. Serve hot with rice
5.  Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve

My mom also adds one tomato finely chopped in Step 2 and let it cook with the Dal and serves it with coriander garnishing. You can also add garlic to the seasoning.