Love and Calories!!

Sometimes you don't have to  cook really fancy. You just have to meddle with few fresh ingredients and boom...you get a masterpiece. This is one such dish which I make for my mid week supper and it takes no more than 30 minutes to prepare. Salmon is something that I stock up in my fridge all the time and the fish being so versatile, I  often try different marinade to get a different dish each time. Today I am sharing  an Asian inspired dressing for your lovely pink salmon and to go as accompaniment, what better than mashed spuds. Wasabi lovers out there...add a teeny weeny amount to your mashed potatoes and see that instant kick that you will get. ;)  Asian style Salmon Ingredients: 2 boneless salmon fillet 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 inch ginger (grated) 2-3 cloves of garlic (grated) 1 tbsp sesame seeds pepper to season Method: Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius. For the marinade, Combine the soy sauce, hone...

Gosh, it's been months since I posted anything on my blog and am feeling already guilty about it. I must admit that my work life has truly taken a toll on me that I have nearly forgotten what cooking is all about. London life is fast, super fast! Weekdays come, weekends go and I just go with the flow. Months have gone by and I just left my hobby, my passion somewhere that I did not even get the time to revive it.  But no more....today I bring to you not one, but two recipes of Indo-Chinese influenced dishes. The very popular Gobi Manchurian and Chilli-Garlic Fried rice. So be ready with your wok and spoon, we have work to do!! :) Gobi Manchurian Ingredients: 1 medium cauliflower (break into florets) 1/4 cup Maida 3 tsp cornflour 1 scallion or salad onion (bulb and green finely chopped) 1 bell pepper (cut into bite size chunks) 2 tsp chopped ginger 2 tsp chopped garlic 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp red chilli flakes 1 tsp milk 1 tsp soy sau...

 OKAY!! Am now getting too bored of salad postings in my blog. Salads are good but nothing like a gourmet. :) So here I am with a super good recipe of a Chinese origin. yummmmy right?? One normal day, my letter box was filled with umpteen number of take away menu cards and Chinese take aways were the maximum. I just went through couple of them and found that everybody were giving out the very same dishes. It simply struck to me that why not I try one of those dishes right at home. It is not that difficult if your pantry provides almost all the Chinese ingredients (hey there all the sauces!!) for your cooking. And moreover Chinese cooking is so easy & fast, that you will end up cooking something so simple, delicious & grand in no time.   "Sweet & Sour Chicken Drumsticks" would be a perfect accompaniment to any kind of Chow mein or fried rice. It is quite quick to make apart from the deep frying bit which takes the maximum time. You will be very happy to see...

It is the Year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese calendar. The Chinese New Year has begun from 23rd January 2012 & all are in a celebratory mood especially the people living in China Town all over the world not to forget the country China itself. Last year I witnessed the New Year Celebrations in China Town, Manchester where the festivities were in full swing. The Lion dance, Dragon parade, the fire works, Kung Fu show and more. And of course how can I leave out the delicious food. Oh it was yum!! Keeping New Year as a reason, I thought of baking some "Fortune Cookies". I had never tried it before & this was a good chance for me to bake some. A Fortune Cookie is a crispy biscuit made out of flour, egg whites, butter & sugar. The biscuits take very little time to bake but folding needs to be quick. As I read on about these cookies, I came to know that they were originated by Chinese Americans. Each biscuit contains a message, usually a proverb or a Chi...

This fresh tasting, Asian inspired noodle salad is speedy & nutritious. I always make this when am super lazy or in a mood to eat low fat food for a change. This noodle salad then comes to my rescue. Its tasty, quick and super filling. :) Ingredients: 100 g medium egg noodles 1/2 cucumber (sliced into thick baton) 1 bell pepper/capsicum (any colour, sliced) 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced) 4 tbsp sweet soy sauce (preferably ketjap manis, an Indonesian soy sauce) 1 lime 1 tbsp roasted peanuts (coarsely crushed) 1 egg (soft or hard boiled) 1/2 tinned cannellini beans (this is completely optional. I simply added it to my salad. You can use any other tinned beans or completely omit it) Method: Cook the noodles in boiling water until just tender. Drain & arrange on a serving platter. Top with cucumber batons, sliced bell pepper & onion. Add the beans at this stage if you want. Drizzle over the soy sauce & squeeze over the lime. To finish, sprinkle over the crushed roasted peanu...

Have you got loads of left over rice from yesterday? Don't know what to do with it apart from the usual curd rice, lemon rice or tomato rice? Why not try making "Nasi Goreng" with it for a change. I had a similar situation last night. So just took out my cold rice from the refrigerator, improvised it by mixing some vegies, eggs, garlic, onion & some soy sauce. And served a spicy hot fresh dinner in minutes. :) Nasi Goreng, is the National dish of Indonesia. It is popular in most of the South Asian countries & has got a Chinese influence to it if you see the use of the ingredients. It actually means fried rice where pre-cooked rice is mixed with any combination of veggies, chicken, prawns or eggs with the rice. You can cook fresh rice but should be done before hand & cooled for a long period of time. Or else, like me, use the left over rice to make this tasty & colourful Indonesian fried rice, if it has been kept well chilled. I didn't have plans ...

Two days back. when I was browsing the TV channels, I came across some chef making a grilled Sea bass Thai style. It was so damn easy & healthy that I thought, this should definitely go in to my blog. I don't know the chef's name, neither do I remember the programme's name, what I do remember is the recipe. I have improvised a bit from the original recipe. It taste yum. Trust me, you should try making it. Within 30 minutes, your healthy dinner is ready. Ingredients: 1 whole sea bass (cleaned, scales removed, if you want keep the head & tails on, its ok but I usually cut it off) 60 gm coriander leaves (finely chopped) 1 lemon (cut into thin round slices) juice of 2 lemons 1 big onion (cut into thin round rings) 1 tbsp of olive oil 2 tbsp fish sauce (if not available, then use soy sauce) 2 tbsp of ginger ( julienne) 2-3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) 2 thai red chillies (if not available, use the finger chillies) (cut into strips, seeds removed) 1 tbsp sesame ...

Ingredients: 500 gm of chicken breasts (cut into finger length strips) 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tsp turmeric powder 4 cloves garlic juice of 1 lemon 2-3 green chillies 3 tbsp cooking oil salt & pepper to season Method: Put the coriander, cumin seeds & the turmeric powder into a dry frying pan & fry for a minute. Tip into a blender & add the garlic, lime juice, chillies, 1 tbsp of vegetable oil & salt & pepper. Whizz for 1-2 minutes until smooth paste. Put the paste into a large, shallow dish, add the chicken & toss everything together. Cover & chill for atleast 20 minutes or upto 12 hours. Soak few wooden skewers in water for 10-15 minutes before cooking the chicken. Heat the Bar-Be-Que or grill or a non stick griddle until hot. Thread the chicken onto the skewers, drizzle with the remaining oil & grill for 4-5 minutes on each side until juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a skewer. ...

Ninhao!! Now who doesn't love Chinese cuisine! Its the all time favourite and the most popular oriental cuisine in the world. And its so easy to cook too. A few sauces handy and there you go! Relatives / friends popping up at your place all of a sudden???.....Just cook them some chinese....They will just admire your cooking all the way! Try on the this chilli chicken recipe, which I got from a dear friend of mine, Amritha Roy! Thank you Amritha! :) Chilli Chicken For Marinade 1/2 Kilo Boneless Chicken 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup 1 tbsp Soy Sauce 1 tbsp Chilli Sauce 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste 1 tsp Black pepper 1/2 cup Cornflour (For coating) & 1 tsp for gravy thickening 1 Egg Oil for shallow fry Salt to taste 1) Marinade the chicken with the above ingredients except for cornflour,egg and the oil. Marinade it for at least an hour. Heat a shallow non stick fry pan and pour little oil. 2) While the oil is getting hot, beat the egg with 1 ...