Salmon in Yellow Sauce

My boy is my image. So what if the world says that he resembles his father, vada vada... I know in my hearts heart. My boy is exactly like me. Well, almost!Ya need the proof and here it is.

Similarities :

My boy's Birthday is on 19th June, 2011 and mine is on 19th Jan, 19** see see.
My boy loves red and yellow, and I love YelloW!!
My boy loves to be pampered and I love to pamper him.
My boy is a talker and guess who else is !!
My boy loves Salmon and I love Salman... see see.
And you can blackmail him into anything if you give him salmon. 
The only time he will eat something that has not been pureed to his consistency(watery). 

Well, since we are a bengali family from Burdwan where fish is what you have, twice or maybe thrice a day. So when it comes to special celebrations serving fish, the likes of betki, pabda, hilsa, king prawns is a must. For Champ's birthday party we had an easy answer. SALMON. 
The rest of the menu for adult guests consisted of haleem, achari bhindi, butter chicken, lau chingri and so, I needed to find a salmon recipe that would go with the rest of the menu and rice.
I finally stumbled upon this recipe which I then improvised to suit a more indian platter. It came out wonderful so wonderful that I did not have the time to click pictures of the party dish. I made it again to take pictures but Dh just could not wait for me to click pictures and took large spoonfuls before I could take a look at the dish. And that is exactly how it has been for the last two weeks, during which I made this dish thrice at home.

So here is the recipe:
Salmon in Yellow sauce:
 Ingredients:
salmon fillets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper 1/2 teaspoon 
Turmeric
chilli
groun cumin
1 can Coconut cream
half cup milk
1 tablespoon butter 
1/4 cup chopped onion 
1 garlic clove
Large pinch saffron(optional)


Directions: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Drizzle olive oil and season each fillet with cumin, salt and pepper. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake until the salmon is cooked through (Maybe for 20-25 mins). The sauce- melt the butter. Add the onions and fry for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the coconut milk, heavy cream, saffron, turmeric and milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.Put the Salmon in the sauce. Simmer for couple of minutes.an awesome dish is ready.It is so yum you will have this all the time. And the baby will love it too. Some other variations to this dish is adding lemon juice or adding yogurt instead of milk. Or adding coriander and finely chopped green chills.I have also made this dish with finely shredded coconut and milk. This come out much more crunchy and textures and is actually my favorite.I have made this dish in all these variations and it comes out beautifully each time. Great with white rice.

Home-made Chicken Stock

My favourite shows on food network are Giada at Home and the Barefoot Contessa. I keep watching the old episodes of these cooking shows, one for I love them and secondly the show time suits my schedule. I can clean the kitchen, the living room, feed the baby, give him a massage and take him for a bath and finish with my lunch, all while Giada is demonstrating the delish relish and while Ina Garten is going back to the basics of French and American cooking.

So, when Ina kept insisting on home-made chicken stock, I just had to make it for my son. He had just turned 10 months old and I had to introduce him to non vegetarian food. Chicken stock seems the best way to introduce his palate to a non-vegetarian life. I was fully inspired to do it on my own for my son. So I took Ina’s recipe and made my own chicken stock. The recipe is here.
The lard can be removed once the chicken stock has frozen and the fat layer solidifies above the stick. The picture below is of stock out of the fridge once the lard was removed. 

The clear fat free Chicken stock, ready to be stored. 

The lard that I removed from the chicken stock after I stored it in the fridge for 24 hrs.

Fried rice prepared by the chicken stock.

I did not have to store it for too long. the chicken stock was used in boiling rice, sautee veggies, and everything one can think of. So it was wiped clean in 5 days. In my experience, it is an easy thing to do initially but the straining of the chicken can be messy if you do not have the right size of containers and devices. Example I did not have a colander  or a juicer, so I used my food processor and a strainer to separate the liquid and solids, the result was messy transfer of the products. Well, the chicken stock was yummy and I guess that's what matters.  I can still smell the aroma of the herbs, while the stock was simmering. the aroma was so decadent it could make anyone hungry anytime.

Happy Cooking!

Marble Paneer Pakodas (Cottage Cheese Fritters)

One of the sad aspects of living abroad, in my case in California instead of somewhere in India is missing out on all the grand food that is served during festivals, weddings and other family functions. If I lived in India, say Bangalore or Delhi or Mumbai, I would have no excuse to make for not being present for maternal uncle’s daughter’s marriage or paternal aunt’s grandson’s annaprasan (First rice ceremony). Even if SH was unable to make it due to work or any other constraints, I would be expected to make my appearances and no excuse accepted.

But, we are far away in foreign shores and our participation in the familial joys is through long and regular phone calls and video chats. Often on the phone our way of participation is discussing the elaborate menus and in what great details we can talk about food. My Mother in law would say, “Uncle X was adamant to keep 3 appetizers but Uncle Y intervened and made it one veg and one non veg, so that they could include expresso coffee along with three kinds of soda”. But what did Aunt Z have to say because it was her son's ceremony? Hmmm.. well!!!
My participation in the conversation is also on these line, “I want to be there so that I can go shopping and dress up and well eat”.

During one such lengthy and very detailed discussion about a wedding in the family and the quintessential talk over the wedding menu my mother in law mentioned about these specific paneer pakodas (cottage cheese fritters). As she kept describing her bite size experience, my mind kept making a note that I want to have those pakodas. But how could I have those paneer pakodas? The wedding is long over and the caterers are gone. I will just have to listen to these food stories and be content. It has been a long time since this conversation and I am not content, because those fritters stayed planted in my brains. And finally, this week I decided to give a try to these paneer pakodas with a twist.

 Here you can see three kinds of pakoras - paneer fry, paneer pakoras on top left and the darker Marble paneer pakoras, served with Tamarind Chutney. 

So here is my own recipe for the Marble Paneer Pakodas (Cottage cheese fritters)

2 heaps of Tbsp Besan (Chana dal flour)

½ tsp Baking soda

Pinch of salt,

Pinch of chilli powder

Tamarind chutney

Oil to fry

Water

Method-

Mix the dry ingredients – Besan, Baking soda, salt, red chili powder.

Gradually pour water and keep mixing the ingredients. Note the mixture is not watery but on a thicker side so that it sticks to the sides of the cheese pieces. Let this mixture stand for a while.

Heat oil in a pan or wok and in the meantime, cute the paneer (cottage cheese) into thin one inch cubes/ rectangles. Take two pieces of paneer, Dip one slice of paneer in tamarind chutney and make a sandwich with the other slice. Now dip this slice into the besan batter and put it in the hot oil pan to fry. Let it fry till it is golden on all sides. Fry it to the consistency you like.

This is so yum… hope you try this and enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy cooking!!