Showing posts with label Asian cuisine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian cuisine. Show all posts

Thursday, 8 January 2015

Healthy and Spicy Thai Fish Curry

A delectable Malaysian fish curry is cooked with goodness of your fav veggies, infused with lemony fragrance. This curry makes a perfect dinner for the chilly weather. It is spiced enough to prompt a dizzy drowsy appetite and keep you warm. The best part is that the curry not only works with all kinda fish such as snapper, warehou, ling but also with seafood, from crabs to prawns, lobsters etc. For now, I have tried the fish recipe using my fav tuna fish. 
Fish sauce provides the essential savory flavor that is typically found in traditional Thai cuisine. I just love the aromatic amber-coloured liquid. I have also used homemade orange sauce. Believe it or not, it can be made in a jiffy using few ingredients. I’m sharing my homemade sauce recipe too. Coconut cream is similar to coconut milk. It contains less water. It has a thicker and paste-like consistency. This is a lite recipe with very low calories. I have therefore chosen it to get rid of heavy meals, that we had in abundant on Christmas and New Year holidays.
Ingredients:-
3/4 cup Water,
1/2 teaspoon Salt,
Handful Curry Leaves,
1 teaspoon Fish Sauce,
3/4 cup Coconut Cream,
3 chopped Garlic Cloves,
500 grams firm Fish Fillets,
1 teaspoon Orange Sauce
1 tablespoon Tomato Paste,
2 tablespoon Grated Ginger,
3 tablespoon Extra-virgin Olive Oil.
Preparation Method:-
  1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add onion, garlic and cook over a high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to brown. Stir in grated ginger and cook for 2 minutes.
  2. Add the fish sauce and orange sauce. Cook, stirring for another minute. Add tomato paste, 1/2 cup of water, the coconut cream and salt to taste. Mix well. Allow the sauce to come to the boil.
  3. Stir in the fish cubes into the sauce. Then cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through, adding the extra 1/4 cup of water. Remove from heat.
  4. Take another pan and add oil. Add curry leaves. Sprinkle them over the curry just before serving. Enjoy with steamed rice.
 

Ingredients for Orange Sauce:-
3/4 cup orange juice,
2 tablespoons sugar,
1 teaspoons olive oil,
1 teaspoons cornflour,
1/4 teaspoons lemon juice,
2 teaspoons orange squash.
Preparation Method:-
  1. Take a pan. Add oil. Add orange juice, squash, sugar and cornflour. Cook until thick, by stirring continuously. Allow it to cool.
  2. Add the lemon juice. Now mix gently.
  3. Taste the sauce before you use. Enjoy!
Happy New Year!

Sunday, 20 July 2014

Eid-ul- Fitr Recipes and Celebration

Ramadan is AKA Ramadhan or Ramazan. During Ramazan, Muslims go on strict fasting. They participate in pious activities such as peace making and donating. However, at the end of fasting period, Muslims throughout the world celebrate the festival called Eid-ul-Fitr. It is known as the Festival of Breaking the fast. And as I always add that any festival is incomplete without delicious food, I have highlighted the best of Traditional Muslim Food. Though Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated worldwide, different places have different blend of spices and flavors, let’s see how.
South Asia (Indian Subcontinent) - The flavors from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are blended together to produce three fabulous dishes on Eid. These are Haleem, Biryani and Sevai Kheer. 
Sevai Kheer - A fine dessert that is a must for Id-ul-Fitr is Sheer Kurma or Semiya Payasam or simply Sevai. It is made up of vermicelli, sugar, milk, condensed milk, clarified butter, almonds, cashew nuts, saffron strands and kewra essence (flower essence). I personally love this recipe. 
Haleem - Haleem is a popular recipe that is served widely on Indo-Pak celebrations especially on Eid. Grains like lentils and bulgur are blended and cooked slowly with meat. The bones are removed lately from the recipe. But the value of the recipe is doubled since it is cooked in goodness of bones, what a delightful affair! Chicken Haleem and Lamb Haleem are very popular in this region. 
Biryani - Biryani is a rice dish that originated from Persia. Hope you liked my post, “Love for Indian Meat recipes”. Biryani takes lot of time to make and more time spent implies the tastier fest, isn't it? Biryani is made up of beef, chicken or lamb and Asian spices, strongly dominate the delights.
Middle East - One of the most popular food eaten in Middle Eastern countries is meat skewers (any meat especially lamb and beef). These are locally called kabobs. Meat patties is equally famous food here. These are made of minced meat accompanied by strong flavor of mint and pepper. These are pan-fried or grilled. The roasted spices make an excellent coating when added onto meat. The smoky spices give the best flavors out here. 
 
USA - All-American Whole Roasted Chicken with Cranberries over Rice forms major dish here. Saffron Road Artisan Roasted Chicken Broth is used to cook the rice and add to the chicken while roasting. The sweet flavor rice and not too much spicy chicken, completely satisfies the taste buds. Since cranberries are grown in abundance in US, they add ultimate flavor to almost any food especially rice, on the auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Wish you a very Happy Eid-ul- Fitr!!

Wednesday, 19 February 2014

Sweet and Sour Pork with pineapple

Pork is the staple food of various countries. It is rich source of vitamin B1, which is vital for growth and repair of muscles. It has riboflavin that helps to maintain skin and health problems. Vitamin B6, present in pork meat helps in increasing metabolism. Iron, on the other hand, gives you energy. Despite of being sweet and delicious, pineapple is blessed with number of health benefits like boosting up the immunity system. Hence, pineapple is considered more than a delicious tropical-fruit treat. Fresh and crisp bell pepper is a tasty vegetable that can be included in regular part of healthy eating plan. It is low in calories and contains no fat and is a good supply of vitamins and minerals. Soy sauce has strong umami flavor and is used in number of Asian cuisine. So lets try our hands at mouthwatering sweet and sour pork with pineapple.
Ingredients:-

20 ounces pineapple chunks,
1/4 cup vinegar,
2 tablespoons light soy sauce,
1 1/2 teaspoons salt,
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger,
1/2 cup water,
2 pounds boneless pork loin,
1 large diced onion,
1 medium diced green bell pepper,
1 medium diced red bell pepper,
3 tablespoons cornstarch.

Preparation Method:-

1. Drain juice from pineapple and pour juice in a Dutch oven. Add vinegar, soy sauce, salt, ginger, and 1/2 cup water. Stir until smooth.

2. Add pork and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, or until meat is tender. Add onion, green pepper, red pepper and pineapple chunks.

3. Simmer 10 minutes longer, or until onion and peppers are just tender. Put cornstarch in a cup and stir in 3 tablespoons water.

4. Stir into pork and juices. Then heat to boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer the sweet and sour pork for 1 minute. Serve sweet and sour pork with rice.
We have lot more yummy yummzzz!!!