lazy cooks mustard fish

Hi there!.....has this ever happened to you?a song or tune gets stuck in your head,keeps going round and round and you can do nothing about it!it might be something that you might not even like!..but  it remains stuck like a bad tape recorder...the jingle that remained stuck in my head was.....hold your breath...tobu cyles!if you were a wee thing in the 80's or early 90's you won't even remember it....there was a bunch of kids on their ..what else?..tobu cycles..and the jingle playing at the back.If this was something that I really loved,it was a different thing....but I don't even like the jingle..why on earth is it going on in my head??

Along with "tobu cycles" playing in my head..I made mustard fish.I have no bengali blood in my veins...and am  not related to any bengali either...but I make this pretty often..learnt this from my mom,the only touch that I added was the crushed garlic(mom doesn't add any)

INGRDS

1 kg of boneless fish(you can def use fish with bones..I just find it extremely painful!)

1 full pod of garlic(crushed)
1 green chilli
3 big tomatoes chopped fine

some cilantro chopped fine

soak and then grind-1 tablespoon of khus khus(poppy seeds)+1 1/2 tsps of mustard seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds

salt to taste,1/2 tsp turmeric pdr,1/2 tsp chilli pdr,1 tablespoon corriander seeds powder...make a paste of this with water(about 1/2 cup water) 

mustard oil-as required

METHOD

1.Marinate the fish in a little salt+turmeric pdr+chilli pdr,at least for half an hour.
2.Heat mustard oil in a wok/kadhai.....deep fry the marinated pcs.Drain on an absorbent towel.
3.In another wok/kadhai,add about a tablespoon of  mustard oil...once it heats up..addthe nigella seeds,the garlic and green chilli.....fry for a few mins..then add the chopped tomatoes.now add the spices(which we've made a paste of in water).cook this till you see oil leaving the masala.(about 7 mins or so).Add 1 cup of water,let it come to a boil.
4.Once the gravy has bubbled away,add the khus khus-mustard seeds paste.I add the cilantro at this stage too,reserving a little for the garnish.Taste the seasoning.
5.Add the fried fish to this.Serve hot with plain bolied rice.Its yum!I just realised something....have you noticed how bengali girls are so beautiful...its because they eat fish...all those omega 3's working! 
sending this to Akila's event.

lazy cooks manglorean fish fry

They say the ultimate female fantasy is to have two men at once!.........one washing the dishes and the other cooking!(what on earth were you thinking??????)Sunday night ,hubby dear decided to fry the fish ..his style. It's called the manglorean fish fry..but don't take my word for it....I'm sure there's another name for it..one that i'm not aware of..and one that my husband is not aware of either.......his reasoning was simple enough.".this is the only fish fry done in my house...we're manglorean's.....so manglorean fish fry!"Anyway...I never argue with the man who's making dinner!
INGRDS
1 kg fish ,cut into fillets
20 whole dried red chillis
4 tablespoons of whole coriander seeds
salt to taste
oil for deep frying.
METHOD
1.Grind the red chilli and coriander together,first dry grind then once it becomes a powder,add the water(about 3-4 tablespoons)and grind again till you have a paste.Add the salt.
2.Marinate the fish in the paste for at least 2 hours...then coat with rice flour and deep fry(I know that this is a bad word...but you have no choice..deep fry!)
3.Serve hot. My hubby normally has this with plain boiled rice and dalitoy.........and I have this as a snack with pickled onions(onions sprinkled with red chilli pdr and salt..then drenched with lemon juice)...the punjabi in me again!.I like my combination and hubby dear sticks to his....enjoy!

lazy cooks dalitoy

First I'll give you a little background.I am a north indian (punjabi-himachali mix) married to a south indian(a manglorean GSB....a konkani fellow).I have been married for 15 years and this dal(taught to me by my sister-in law) is made practically everyday in my house.......always called arhar dal (or the kids call it yellow dal).The other day i happened to see the similar dal at

ruchik randhap  and it was called dalitoy/dali tove....i told my husband of 15 years about this great discovery..and he told me that WE..call it dalitoy...huh??i asked him why he did'nt tell me and he said i hadn't asked!aaaaaaaaagrrrh.MEN!Onto the recipe...
INGRDS
1. 1/2 arhar dal(red gram)..if there is another name for it please let me know.
2. 1 big tomato chopped into small pcs
3. 1 inch pc. of ginger chopped fine
4. 1 green chilli chopped fine
5. some cilantro chopped fine.
6. salt and red chilli pdr to taste
7. a nice and healthy pinch of hing(asfoetida)
for the tadka
1.1 tablespoon coconut oil
2. 1 teaspoon rai(mustard seeds)
3. 2 dried red chillis
4. a sprig of curry leaves
METHOD
1.Put the dal and water in a presure cooker(1:4 ratio...1 dal:4 water).Give it one whistle.Let the pressure drop.
2.Open the pressure cooker and put everything till 7 in it.Close the cooker and give it one more whistle.When the pressure drops...put it in your serving bowl.
3. Heat the coconut oil,add all the tadka ingrds..after the spluttering stops ,put the tadka in the dal.This dalitoy tastes great with plain rice...and some fried fish or chicken on the side !

P.S..Old habits are hard to break...we're back to calling it arhar dal!...but you be wise and call it by its name:)