A to Z Challenge 2014 - Twinkling Tina Cooks

A to Z Challenge Day #6 – F for Fish in Mustard Sauce

I am breaking away from desserts and pastries for a while, 3 days to be precise, and I am going to share some other indulgent food. When you think about Indian food and Indian Cuisine I bet you only think about Indulgent food… we are such foodies that we don’t mind indulging on a daily basis!

Okay, today it’s going to be a fish preparation, and as you can see from the name of the post it’s going to be Fish in Mustard Sauce. Bongs and fish are like long lost siblings [only difference is we eat them]. You normally don’t have a day in a Bong household when they will not make at least one fish preparation.

I am going to share a simple yet rich recipe with Rohu fish and mustard. Rohu and katla are the most regular fishes amongst Bengalis. I had done this one with a popular fish called ‘Pabda’ then my laptop decided to play devil when it crashed and I lost the photos of that recipe. I wanted to re do that and share here for this post, but I couldn’t get that at the local super market or the fish market near my home. So I am doing it with Rohu. You can do it with Bhetki, Hilsha, even Prawns and in case you don’t find a Bengali fish you can do it with mackerel, red snapper or even Salmon!

We are quite used to having fish with bones, you can opt to use fillets as well.

So let’s get into doing it.

All that you need

Rohu Fish – 5-6 pieces
Salt – 2 teaspoon
Turmeric – 2 teaspoon
Mustard Paste – 1/2 cup
Onion Paste – 2 table spoon
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Mustard Oil – 2 tablespoon (to fry the fish & the sauce)
Kalunji or Nigella Seeds – 1 teaspoon
Green Chili – 2
Cumin powder, Red Chili powder, Coriander Powder -1/2 teaspoon each

Let’s get started

1. Marinate the fish with salt and turmeric and keep aside for 10 minutes

2. Heat 2 tablespoon mustard oil in a frying pan and add the fish when oil is hot.

3. Put in skin side first and fry for 3 minutes each side. Once fried take out and put them on a paper towel.

4. In the same oil put nigella seeds, once they start sputtering add onion paste and ginger garlic paste and sauté.

Tip – When you add ginger garlic paste in hot oil it will splutter big time, to stop it add a pinch of salt.

5. Make mustard paste with little salt. I am using a ready made mustard powder, you can make a paste from mustard seeds.

6. Add this mustard paste and fry till oil comes out from the sides.

7.Add rest of the spices and mix in the sauce.

8. Cover and cook it for 5 minutes

Look out for the bubbles in the gravy. That is the right time to add the fried fish

9. Add the fried fish to this sauce, add slit green chilies, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

This is the actual color, the below photo is clicked under white light and the color changes

Your fish is done. Just before taking off heat you can add 1 tablespoon of mustard oil to get that strong mustard flavour. If you can’t take that leave it just like that.

Serve it with steamed rice and enjoy your fish.

This is captured under white light and it looks so different

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #6 – post starting with F.

Visit A to Z and read awesome posts by bloggers.
I am also participating in this challenge from my writing blog and I’m writing fiction this time. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.

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A to Z Challenge Day #5 – E for Egg Chicken Rolls

Now that I am over with today’s fiction in my writing blog, I am now going to post here. So what do we have for E?? I have been posting dessert recipes all this while, let me do something else today.

Yesterday I had posted a Bengali and Italian Fusion food recipe and today I am going to post on a typical Bengali fast food recipe. Any one and every one in Calcutta loves the hot and lip smacking rolls. They are like wraps but in a rustic way which is typical to this place. You need a flat bread (or paratha) and you need fillings and you are good to go.

You get a variety of rolls in Calcutta and I am going to share a recipe of the most famous and indulgent one – Egg Chicken Roll.

So let’s not waste any more time in description and just start with our Egg chicken roll.

All that we need

For the Bread

1. All purpose flower – 2 and half cup (if you want you can mix in little whole wheat flour as well)

2. Oil – 2 teaspoon

3. Salt – a pinch

4. Warm Water – to make the dough

5. Oil for frying the flat breads you can use any oil – sunflower, ground nut or even olive oil

For the Filling

1. Whole Eggs – 6 (or the number of rolls you want to make)

2. Cooked Chicken – 2 cups – boneless and shredded

3. Onion – 1 sliced

4. Cucumber – 1 chopped

5. Green Chillies – 2 chopped

6. Salt & pepper – to taste

7. Lemon – half

8. Tomato Ketchup & Chilli Sauce – according to taste

Let’s get started

Dough for the breads

1. Mix flour salt and oil together in a large bowl.

2. Add water and kneed to soft dough (like how you would do for bread).

3. Divide in six to seven small portions and make round balls.

4. Roll them flat into parathas.

Frying the parathas

1. Heat a flat griddle or ‘tawa’ on high flame. When it’s hot enough add the flat breads/paratha one at a time.

2. Leave the paratha on the griddle for 1 minutes for each side.

3. Add 1 tale spoon oil on the griddle and fry the paratha on medium heat.

4. Break an egg in a bowl add little salt to it and beat it.

5. Add I teaspoon oil on the griddle and add the beaten add (how you would do for an omelet)

6. Quickly cover the egg with the fried paratha (so that it sticks to the omelet).

7. Fry it for a minute or till the egg is done and keep the paratha aside.

Repeat steps 2 – 7 for each of the breads.

Now we’ll get into the filling. It’s actually simple.

1. Take cooked chicken, shred them and keep in a bowl. You can use leftover cooked chicken as well from roast or curry.

2. Take the onion, cumumber, chilli in a bowl and add salt pepper to taste.

So now you are going to do the rolls in an order as if in an assembly line.

Arrange all these in a line on your kitchen counter.

How to arrange the rolls

Take the paratha, put a line of shredded chicken, salad, squeeze of lemon juice, a good dollop of ketchup and roll it.

Wrap a tissue around – which will help to soak the excess oil (if any) and it will be easy for you to hold and eat.

Repeat this for each of the rolls and your hot and lip smacking egg chicken rolls are in your hands to enjoy!

See super simple indulgent fast food.

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #5 – post starting with E.

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A to Z Challenge Day #4 – D for Date Jaggery Panna Cotta

Cool so we are on our fourth day today in the A to Z Challenge. I was checking the food blogs in the challenge and there seems to be only 14 of them in the challenge (when I seared with the code [cu] which stands for culinary). Actually 13, leaving mine aside. SO I have thought of visiting them every day.

So what do we have for D… It’s something that I tried for the first time. I come from Calcutta (in case you didn’t notice already) and we are crazy for food…good food actually, and our craze for sweets or ‘mishti’ as we call it is world famous. Winters are the time when you get a variety of different sweets across Bengal. Date jiggery plays a big part. We all know dates but did you all know you get these awesome jiggery from the sap of these date trees?

Date Jaggery or Nolen Gur is typical of Bengal and the aroma of this jiggery is super awesome when you mix it with any milk based product or by product. We do lot of sweets with the date jiggery but here I am going to do fusion food today, bringing Bengal and Italy closer!! It’s going to be Date Jaggery Panna Cotta.. Interesting no?? And it’s yummy too.. So let’s hop into making our exotic fusion panna cotta.

You get the nolen gur in this liquid state

All that you need

1. Fresh cream – 1 cup

2. Whole milk – ½ cup

3. Sugar – ¼ cup

4. Date Jaggery (‘Nolen Gur’) – ¼ cup

5. Gelatin – 2 tablespoon (you can use a gelatin sheet, or dust or granules, any gelatin is fine)

6. Warm water to soak & dilute gelatin

Let’s make our Panna Cotta

1. Add warm water to gelatin and let it soak and expand

2. Add fresh cream in a sauce-pan and put it on medium heat

3. Add milk and sugar and mix well.

[Don’t put on high heat or stir vigorously – you don’t want the cream splitting up]

4. After 4-5 mins take it off the heat and mix gelatin to this mixture.

5. Mix jiggery/nolen gur to this mixture. It will give a beautiful light brown color & super flavor

Now all that is left is to refrigerate and let it set!

Now wasn’t that really simple??? It’s so easy yet so yummy.

You can set t in moulds if you want to de-mould and serve or u can do it in ramekins, glasses or even bowls!! I actually didn’t wait long for garnish or plating up because the aroma was too tempting to try it out. And that’s why the photo is very basic!

Do try it and let me know.

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day # 4 – post starting with D.

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Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and want me to share some more.

A to Z Challenge Day #3 – C for Caramel Custard

Hello beautiful people. Hope you are liking my Indulgent theme for the A to Z Challenge. Now after two pies it’s going to be one of my favourite indulgent dessert of all time. My indulgent food with C is Caramel Custard… There is some old world charm in a simple homely caramel custard that makes it so delicious. I do many varieties of caramel custards with different flavours and they turn out very impressive. But today it’s going to be a simple rustic caramel custard how your granma would make it… Like how I call it a no fuss caramel custard.

Let’s get into the ingredients

1. Eggs – 3 (whole)

2. Milk – 500 ml

3. Vanilla Essence – 2 teaspoon

4. Sugar – 2 tablespoon for caramelizing

5. Confectioners Sugar or Icing Sugar – 2 teaspoon

Now Let’s get going

1. Put sugar in a non stick pan over high heat to caramelize. Add a teaspoon of water to it.

[You have to keep a look over it – you don’t want to burn the sugar. Remember not to touch it with your hands/fingers because its going to be very hot.]

2. Pour the caramel in two ramekins or moulds.

3. In a separate saucepan beat the eggs and add milk slowly (milk should be in room temperature).

4. Add icing sugar and vanilla essence to this mixture

5. Pour this custard mixture in the ramekins. Leave some space on top of the ramekin because it will rise little.

6. Put the ramekins on a baking tray and add water (200ml) on the baking tray. (the steam from the baking tray will help in cooking faster).

7. Bake in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees C or 390 degrees F.

When done leave it for another 10 mins to cool down and it will get set.

Insert a tooth pick or a knife at the centre and if it comes out clean your custard is ready.

I like having my caramel custards chilled. I always prepare them in advance and refrigerate it for an hour or so when cooled. It feels awesome that way. But you may enjoy it warm as well. When its such a wonderful dessert you can indulge in any which way you want.

I in fact like to have it from the ramekin itself.. for the photo’s sake I have unmoulded it. You have to insert a knife at the side and turn around to release from the mould. Mine got lil messy in doing things fast but… what the hell.. who cares when a caramel custard tastes so yummy!!!

Go ahead and try it.

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day # 3 – post starting with C.

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Leave a comment below if you liked the recipe and want me to share some more.

A to Z Challenge Day #2 – Banoffee Pie

On the second day of my Indulgent Food challenge for A to Z it’s going to be Banoffe Pie. Banana + Toffee = Banoffee… isn’t that cool. Now I know you might not like banana as a fruit, but when it is there with a toffee sauce you cannot resist it for long. I absolutely can’t. This month hubby at home is quite happy due to all these indulgences! Check out all my indulgent recipes for the A to Z Challenge.

Let’s quickly get into our Banoffe Pie.

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Level: Very Easy | Prep Time: 10 mins | Cooking Time: 35 mins
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All that you need

Digestive Biscuits – 2 packs
Ground Almond – ½ cup
Melted Butter – ¼ cup
Banana – 4 large
Caramel Toffee Sauce – 1 cup [I am using Hershey’s because it’s easier]
Whipped Cream – 1 cup
Icing Sugar – ¼ cup
Chocolate shaving – 1 tablespoon
Cocoa powder for dusting

Okay that was easy and not too many ingredients that you need.

Let’s Get Started

1. In a food processor pulse the biscuits to form crumbs. You don’t need it too fine, if some little chunks are left its okay.

2. In a bowl mix biscuit crumbs, ground almond, melted butter and mix them together.

3. Take a pie dish/flan dish and transfer the biscuit base in it, press it to form an even base and put it in a chiller for 15 minutes

[I am using a spring form flan dish for this recipe.]

4. Peel and slice the bananas and arrange them on the biscuit base.

5. Pour the caramel toffee sauce to cover the bananas.

[If you don’t have a caramel toffee sauce you can create it at home. Take an unopened can of condensed milk and put it in a pot of boiling water. Cover with lid and cook it for 2 hours. Take it out after 2 hours and let it cool, your toffee sauce is done! As simple as that.]

6. In a bowl combine some icing sugar and double cream and whip it till soft peaks are formed.

7. Spread the whipped cream above the banana and toffee layer.

8. Dust some cocoa powder on top and garnish with some chocolate shavings

9. Refrigerate the pie for 20 minutes.

And your Banoffee Pie is ready for you to dig in. Wasn’t that easy?? See it’s not even 10 steps!! It’s like the easiest pie recipe that you can try on, no need to bake, no need to cook – now that’s what I call pure indulgence!!!

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day # 2 – post starting with B.

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Leave a comment below if you have liked the recipe and you want me to share some more pie/dessert recipes.

A to Z Challenge Day #1 – Apple Pie

Hello people… Howdy??

Are you ready for a month long indulgence?? I am so ready for it. And here goes my first recipe for the month long A to Z Blogging Challenge – its Apple Pie. I promised you indulgence, and indulgence it will be. As a kid I used to be a finicky eater and my mum used to find different ways of getting fruits in me. Apple pies, apple strudels and apple crumbles are those things that I enjoyed forgetting there was apple in them – which I quite didn’t like as a fruit (I still don’t like eating a whole apple) !

Okay I want to keep the post short and will have loads of photos. Let’s straight away go to the ingredients.

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Level: Moderate | Prep Time: 50 mins | Cooking Time: 55 mins
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All that you will need for the pie crust (minus the apples)

All that you will need

For the pie crust

Plain flour – 2 ^{1/ 2} cup
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Sugar – 2 table spoon
Unsalted Butter – 1 cup (chilled and diced)
Cold water – ½ cup

All that you will need for the Filling

For the Apple Filling

Apple – 4 large
White Sugar – ¼ cup
Brown Sugar – ¼ cup
Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
Raisins/ Sultanas – ½ cup
Cinnamon – ½ stick grated
Nutmeg – ½ grated
Salt – a pinch
Unsalted Butter – 2 tablespoon
Cornflour – 1 tablespoon

Let’s get our pie rolling!

Prepare the dough for the pastry first because it will take some time. Steps are for piecrust and filling separately so go through it carefully.

1. Sift in flour, mix salt and sugar in it in a large bowl.

2. Add butter and mix in with your fingers.

3. Add water and bring the dough together.

[There is no need to kneed the flour as you would do while making a bread or pizza dough. We don’t want the glutten to get activated. Mix the butter in gently with your fingers till you get light crumbles.]

4. Flour your work board/surface and gather the flour and butter crumbles and bring them all together.

5. When you find the dough’s coming together you are there.

6. Divide the dough in two halves, press them to make flat discs, wrap them in cling wrap and put in freezer for 15 mins.

[We will have a base pie layer, and a top layer, to add to the crunch.]

Unless it’s cold you won’t be able to roll them for your pie base.

7. After 15 mins, roll out 1 half of the dough that will make the base of the pie.

8. Put the rolled pie crust in a lightly greased pie dish and blind bake it for 12-15 mins in a pre-heated oven about 220 degrees C or 425 degrees F.

That is how you blind bake. Tip by Jamie Oliver

9. Take out and keep the pie dish in a wire rack once baked.

Apple Filling

While your pastry crust is bind baking start with your apple filling.

1. In a bowl add peeled and chopped apples, lemon juice (this will avoid discoloration), brown sugar, white sugar, raisins, salt, grated cinnamon and grated nutmeg.

2. Mix them well and leave it for half an hour.

Leave it till it leaves juices

That is the kind of caramel sauce you will get
from the apples

We are doing this to take out the juices, too much juice from the apple will make the pie crust soggy.

3. After half an hour, strain the juice from the apple and keep it in a microwave safe cup/bowl.

4. Add butter in that juice and microwave it for 3 minutes, you will get a wonderful apple caramel sauce out of it.

5. Add corn flour and this caramel sauce to the apple filling and mix well.

Arranging the pie

A good Egg wash with 1 whole egg will give you this
wonderful golden color

1. Arrange the apple filling in the pie dish.

2. Roll out the other half of the dough and cover the pie, sealing the edges carefully.

3.Take a knife and make several slits on the pie cover to let the steam come out.

4. Give it a generous egg wash with a pastry brush to get that lovely golden colour

5. Bake it in a pre-heated oven for 40 minutes at 220 degrees C or 425 degrees F.

And you are done with your Apple Pie.

Leave it on a wire rack to cool down a little

You are ready to dig in!

I like my apple pie warm, I always heat it up in the microwave before digging in. You can enjoy it with vanilla ice cream also, the combination is awesome.

So there was my first Indulgent recipe for the A to Z Challenge. Watch this space for some more super awesome indulgent recipes this month. Tomorrow it’s going to be Banoffee Pie for all pie and dessert lovers.

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Linking this post to A to Z Challenge 2014 for Day #1 – post starting with A.

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Leave a comment below if you have liked the recipe and you want me to share some more pie/dessert recipes.

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

Hi guys, how are you doing beautiful people? I am super excited as I write this post from this hotel room in Vizag, and before I have to rush off for work I want to be over with this post. So finally I have thought of taking up this A to Z blogging challenge. It’s going to be my first time and I am very excited about it.

Now what would be my theme for the challenge?? Little tricky to have things with A to Z under same group!! So I’m on this ambitious plan of doing what I have not done so far. Write all about indulgence.

So the theme is Indulgent Food. You will have loads of dessert recipes, with some mains and entres but for a month forget calories or salad, let’s indulge and celebrate food.

And here goes the A to Z.

A – Apple Pie

B – Banoffee Pie

C – Caramel Custard

D – Date Jaggery Pannacotta

E – Egg-Chicken rolls

F – Fish in Mustard Sauce

G – Garlic prawn

H – Hamburger

I – Indian Semolina Pudding

J – Jam filled cookies

k – Korma

L – Lamb Kebab

M – Meat Balls in cream sauce

N – Nawabi Biriyani

O – Oreo Frappe

P – Pizza

Q – Quiche

R – Red velvet cup cake

S – Shephard’s pie

T – ~~Tarte strawberry~~ Tea Cake (because i am not getting any strawberries!)

U – Uber Cup Cake

V – Vanilla panacotta with blueberry

W – Wacky shirmps with Mango

X – X-mas cake

Y – Yogurt cookies

Z- Zuchini fritata

Okay some are little difficult to name so that’s why named so!

I am keeping this post really short cause I have to rush off for work and then catch my flight.

One more thing, I am participating in the challenge from my literary blog as well. Visit The Sunny Side of Life and show some love.

C ya. Hope to read lot of themes today from the airport.

If you have stil not signed up for the theme reveal visit Vidya Sury’s blog and sign up now.

P.S. Okay, So I have added the links of the recipes in this post for your ease. And hey its 2016 and I am participating yet again!