Crispy Spinach Using 5 Spice Powder

Looking for yummy, crispy and quick snack for kids using some healthy greens ? Then, check out my today's post which is prepared using Spinach leaves. This simple snack is a perfect party snack and can also be served as an evening snack for kids along with any varieties of dipping sauce. I have included 5 spice powder in this recipe along with all purpose flour to give a lovely taste and flavour to the snack. Including cold water rather than the regular one gives a crispy texture to the dish. Alternatively, the batter can also be refrigerated for few minutes before frying.

This recipe goes to a monthly event "Ssshh Cooking Secretly" and fried snacks is the theme of June month. I was paired with a fantastic blogger Amrita Iyer who blogs at thefoodsamaritan.com. She gave me Spinach and any flour of my choice as my secret ingredients. And I chose, maida / All purpose flour as my choice of flour to prepare this crispy and tasty quick snack.

Are you interested to know the secret ingredients which I gave to Amrita ? Then, click HERE. She used both the ingredients in a brilliant way and posted an interesting snack on her page.

Ingredients :

15 - 20 Spinach leaves
1 Cup All purpose flour
1 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp Five spice powder
1/2 Tsp Pepper powder
1 Cup Cold water
Salt to taste

Method :

Take All purpose flour in a bowl along with baking powder, five spice powder, pepper powder and salt.

Add cold water little by little and prepare a batter. ( The consistency should not be too thick or thin ).

Wash spinach leaves and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan for frying and simmer the flame.

Take one spinach leaf, dip it in the batter and carefully drop it in an oil.

Deep fry till it turns crispy and remove from the flame.

Repeat the process for the remaining leaves. ( Deep frying can also be done in batches ).

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Mayo or Tomato sauce.

Seer Fish Curry Leaves Kuzhambu Using FishANDMeat Product

After series of Fish recipes, here comes a flavourful and aromatic kuzhambu prepared using Seer Fish. Seer fish is also called as King Fish which is popularly known as Vanjaram in Tamil, Ney Meen in Malayalam and Vanjiram in Telugu. Apart from kuzhambu, these slices are perfect for fish masala fry or tawa fry. In this recipe, I have used freshly ground masala using fresh curry leaves and pepper corns which enhances the flavour and gives a lovely aroma. Adding coconut milk gives an excellent taste to the kuzhambu and also it is optional. This kuzhambu goes perfect with hot plain rice or Idly or Dosa. Especially, one day prior kuzhambu gives a lovely flavour and pairs up excellent with hot and fluffy idlis. Nothing can beat the taste of this combo and its so heavenly.

                                             Fresh and clean slices from FishANDMeat !

                                     Click HERE to know more about FishandMeat products!

Ingredients :

500 gms Seer Fish / Vanjaram Fish
3 Tbsp Oil
1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 Tsp Methi / Fenugreek Seeds
1 Tsp Cumin / Jeera Seeds
2 Green chillies, Slitted
1 Sprig of Curry leaves
6 Garlic pods, Sliced
1 Big Onion, Finely chopped
1 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2 Tomatoes, Finely chopped
1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder
1 Tsp Red chilli powder
2 Tsp Coriander powder
Salt to taste
Lemon sized Tamarind, Soaked in half cup of water
1/4 Cup Coconut Milk

To grind :

1 Tbsp Oil
2 Big Onions, Chopped
1 Tbsp Pepper corns / Milagu
6 - 7 Sprigs of Curry leaves

Method :

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add chopped onion.

Saute till it turns translucent and add pepper corns followed by curry leaves.

Saute it for couple of minutes and remove from the flame.

Cool the sauteed ingredients and grind into fine paste by adding little water. Keep aside.

Heat 3 tbsp of oil in the same pan and mustard seeds.

Once it starts spluttering, add cumin seeds followed by methi seeds.

Add green chillies followed by garlic pods and fry it.

Add finely chopped onion and saute till it turns translucent.

Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.

Add finely chopped tomatoes and saute till it turns soft and mushy.

Now add the ground curry leaves - onion paste and saute well.

Cook it for a minute and add turmeric powder followed by red chilli powder and coriander powder.

Mix well and add 1/2 cup of water.

Close the pan and cook in a medium flame till the oil separates from the masala.

Meanwhile, extract juice from the soaked tamarind and keep aside.

Add the extracted juice to kuzhambu along with 1 1/2 cups water and the required amount of salt.

Cook in a medium flame till the raw smell of tamarind goes off.

Add coconut milk and let it boil till the oil separates from the kuzhambu.

Now add the washed fish pieces, simmer the flame and close the pan with a lid.

Cook till the fish gets cooked and remove from the flame.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with hot plain Rice and Fish fry. 

Cheesy Haleem Toast

If you are in Hyderabad, Haleem is a must try dish during Ramadan season. Haleem is a delicious dish prepared using meat, wheat and spices along with a generous amount of ghee. It is usually served with lemon wedges and fried onions. A small bowl of Haleem will make your tummy full and gives an instant energy. Lots of vendors are famous here in selling Haleem in their unique flavour but my personal preferences are Pista house and Shah ghouse haleem. Every year, my leftover Haleem turns into Haleem Egg Dosa for breakfast and this year, tried an interesting cheesy toast using Shah ghouse Haleem. No doubt that as such the haleem gives a delicious rich taste but the richness got enhanced, when it was served as a toast along with Mozzarella cheese. This toast can be served as a breakfast or starter or evening snack along with Tomato sauce. Adjust the quantity of cheese and haleem according to your taste bud and being generous on both the ingredients will make your toast heavenly for sure :)

Ingredients :

2 Cups Haleem 

4 Bread slices 

2 Cups Mozzarella cheese, grated 

1/2 Cup Cheese, grated ( I have used Amul cheese cube in this recipe ) 

Chilli flakes 

Method :

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly on top of bread slice and place it on a hot tawa. 

Simmer the flame and cook it for a minute or till the cheese starts melting. 

Using butter knife, spread the cheese all over the slice and top it with Haleem. 

Sprinkle grated cheese on top of the haleem followed by red chilli flakes. 

Toast it in a low flame till the base of bread slice turns crispy. 

Once done, remove from the flame and repeat the process for the remaining slices. 

Serve hot. 

Serving Option :

Serve with Tomato sauce. 

SailFish Biryani / Olameen Biryani using Pressure Cooker Method / Product Review on "FishandMeat" - 2

Here comes an another interesting recipe using Sail Fish / Olameen....

In my previous post, I had mentioned that the Sail fish / Olameen which I bought from "FishandMeat" looked like a boneless meat, so reserved few pieces after preparing Srilankan Spicy Fish Curry. The taste and texture of fish in a Srilankan curry made me to use the second batch of Sail fish in preparing a delicious and flavourful Biryani using Pressure cooker method. And I was not wrong, the biryani tasted so delicious and my family members loved the fish too.

As I had already mentioned about the service and quality of the "FishandMeat" product in my previous post, I would love to share few things about their webpage which I had missed earlier.

FishandMeat has wide varieties of fresh Seafood and Meat which are handpicked by them. It is then processed and stored in the most hygiene conditions.  Live chat section is also provided on their webpage to guide and assist their customers.

Apart from webpage, FishandMeat Application is also available for a comfortable order which can be downloaded from Playstore or Appstore. 

In addition, they also deliver Ready to cook products like Telangana Chicken Fry, Lemon Garlic Fish, Grandmas Fish Fry etc. 

My today's recipe using Sail fish is a flavourful spicy biryani using pressure cooker method. This one pot meal pairs excellent with onion raita or any varieties of raita. The freshly ground masala enhances the taste and flavour of the biryani. The fish pieces are marinated with a regular masala and seared in a cooker to avoid breaking into pieces while cooking. The fish pieces can also be seared in a different pan but the flavour gets enhanced when done in a same pressure cooker in which Biryani is prepared. This biryani tastes little spicy as it contains red chilli powder in the marination and pepper corns along with green chillies and red chilli in the biryani. So, adjust the quantity of the pepper corns and red chilli according to taste bud.

                                               The marinated fish looks amazing right ;) 

Ingredients :

250 gms Sail Fish / Olameen pieces 

1 Big Onion, Sliced 

2 Green chillies, sliced 

Few Mint leaves 

Mint Coriander leaves 

2 Tomato ( Medium Size, grind into fine paste ) 

1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 

1 Tsp Coriander powder 

1 Cup Basmati Rice 

4 Tbsp Oil 

2 Bay leaves 

2 Elachi 

2 Cloves 

2 inch Cinnamon stick 

1 Star anise 

Salt to taste 

1 1/4 Cups Water 

To Marinate Fish :

1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder 

1/2 Tsp Red chilli powder 

1/2 Tsp Cumin powder 

1/2 Tsp Coriander powder 

Salt to taste 

To Grind :

1 Onion, chopped 

1 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste 

1 Dry red chilli 

1 Tsp Pepper corns 

Few Coriander leaves

Method :

Wash the fish pieces and marinate it using the given ingredients in "To Marinate Fish" for 30 minutes.

Wash and soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes. 

Grind the given ingredients in "To grind" into fine paste and keep aside. 

Heat pressure cooker and 2 tbsp oil.

Sear the marinated fish for couple of minutes both the sides and remove from the flame. 

Now add the remaining oil followed by bay leaves, star anise, elachi and cloves. 

Add few mint leaves followed by sliced onions and green chillies. 

Saute till the onion turns light brown colour and add the ground onion paste. 

Saute till the raw smell of ginger - garlic paste goes off and the onion gravy becomes light brown colour. 

Now add tomato paste followed by turmeric powder and coriander powder. 

Add 2 tbsp water and cook till the oil separates from the masala. 

Place the seared fish in the masala and cook for another couple of minutes in a low flame. 

Meanwhile, drain the water from rice and keep aside. 

Now add measured water along with the soaked rice and required amount of salt. 

Close it with a lid and cook for 2 whistles in a high flame. 

Simmer the flame to medium and cook it for 1 whistle. 

Once done, switch off the flame and wait till the pressure releases completely. 

Carefully remove the fish pieces and add few coriander - mint leaves. 

Gently mix it without breaking the rice and serve with fish.

Serve hot. 

Serving Options :

Serve with Onion Raita. 

Note :

Adjust red chillies and pepper corns according to the taste bud. 

Srilankan Spicy Sailfish Curry / Thalapath Mirisata / Spicy Olameen Curry & Food Product Review on "FishandMeat"

After 2 months of fasting for our Temple function, the past couple of weeks was filled with Non - veg delicacies. Seafood holds a special place in my kitchen, especially Fish is my family's most favourite food. Our Sundays will be mostly like, getting up early to travel almost 6 kms to get some fresh catch. Though we have a market nearby, the bitter experience on the taste and freshness of seafood made us to skip it. Being a foodie family, only a tasty food gives happiness, satisfaction and makes our weekend the BEST :)

The worst part is when we can't travel to our favourite market or when we get craving over seafood on weekdays. We being in a place where no super markets are nearby, my most of the grocery list is being purchased through online including non veg at times. Nowadays, buying online meat and fish products is a common thing but it spoils the mood of cooking when the product is received in a improper way. Once it happened for me so as to make me return the meat for its bad quality.

But my recent food product (fish) from "FishandMeat" was Completely satisfactory. FishandMeat is an e-commerce firm operating solely in Hyderabad and serving fresh seafood and meat. It is a FSSAI and Halal certified firm operating with strict food and safety standards. The service was amazing and transparent. They provided me with the proper information on delivery time and as promised, the product got delivered too with neatly packed. Since, I had tried few online gourmet products, the package of this product really amazed me. It was neat and hygienic. The fish was sealed in a cover and then kept in a box, surprisingly so, the quality of the box was also strong. From a customer point of view, these things really add value and also gives 100% satisfaction. Personally, I felt the pricing is also reasonable.

If you are in Hyderabad, do visit their page and order your food product to get fresh and clean fish n meat at your door step. Delivery slots are available based on customer preference along with pre-order options. Click HERE to go to their website. I found their Facebook page very interesting with their facts and tips on Fish and Meat. Click HERE to view their Facebook page.

Absolutely no pain in washing the pieces. The sailfish pieces as such was so fresh and clean - all that it required was a quick wash.

Being a Fish lover, I was so tempted to prepare a curry immediately after receiving the product ( Sail Fish ). This is the first time, I heard about this variety of fish and after doing some research, found that this fish is very much popular in Srilanka. So, prepared a spicy Srilankan style fish curry using Sailfish which I learnt from youtube, but made few changes according to my family's taste. This curry is called as Thalapath Mirisita in Sinhala. Sailfish which is popularly known as Thalapath in Sinhala, Olameen in Malayalam and Koppara & Mayil Meen in Tamil has lots of nutritional values. Sailfish is a nutrient dense food which helps to control blood pressure, cholesterol etc. In addition, it is also rich in proteins and Vitamins. The pieces almost look like meat which no bones and personally, I loved it :) Apart from the curry, this variety of fish can be fried or baked.

The freshly ground masala is cooked along with the fish to give a delicious spicy and tangy flavoured curry which goes perfect with Rice. I have included ginger garlic paste in this recipe which can also be substituted with the fresh ones. The addition of onion paste is my enhancement to make the curry - my style with our preferred consistency. The addition of pepper corns, green chillies and red chilli powder gives a fabulous spicy taste to the curry. If you are a spicy food lover, then this is a must try recipe. 

The taste and flavour of this curry reminded me of Kerala fish curry because of the addition of Kudampuli. The preparation is also similar to the Kerala cuisine. Apart from Rice, this curry goes perfect with Idly, Dosa or Appam. 

Ingredients :

250 gms Sail Fish / Thalapath / Olameen pieces 

1 Onion, thinly sliced 

2 inch Cinnamon stick

2 - 3 Green chillies, sliced 

1 Tbsp Red chilli powder 

Salt to taste 

3 Tbsp Oil 

3 Sprigs of Curry leaves

To grind :

2 Goraka / Kudampuli / Kokum ( soaked in water for 30 minutes ) 

1 Onion 

1 Elachi 

2 Lavang

1 Tsp Pepper corns 

1 Tbsp Ginger garlic paste 

Method :

Dry roast red chilli powder and keep aside.

Grind the ingredients given in "To grind" into fine paste by adding little water and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions followed by curry leaves.

Saute till it turns translucent and add green chillies.

Saute for half a minute and add the ground paste followed by cinnamon stick and red chilli powder.

Mix well and add the fish pieces along with 1 - 1/2 cups of water.

Add the required amount of salt and cook it for 15 minutes in a medium flame or till the fish gets cooked.

Once done, remove from the flame and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with plain Rice, Idly, Dosa or Appam. 

                          Stay tuned for an another interesting recipe using Sailfish / Olameen.

Disclaimer : This is an honest review based on my experience Only !