Wonton Wrapper Samosa aka Shingara

I love to eat shingara but I hate all the trouble involved in making it, specially the dough. The filling is easy to make but the dough for me is a complicated process with all the kneading and the rolling and the folding. So I made use of wonton wrappers (I never let any shortcut go by unnoticed!)and voila! Shingara is ready in minutes and tastes great too.

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 2 medium (peeled and cubed)
Ginger – a 2 inch root
Green chili – 4-5 (adjust according to your taste)
Coriander seeds (optional)- 1 tsp
Turmeric – a pinch
Salt – to taste
Oil
Wonton wrappers

Procedure:
Put oil in a pan on medium heat.

Add the coriander seeds and let it infuse the oil.

Meanwhile grate the ginger and the green chilies together in a food processor.

When the oil is hot and the seeds start to sputter take them out with a slotted spoon. (Or you can leave them if you want to.)

To the oil add the ginger and chili mixture. Be careful as it will sputter.

When the raw smell of ginger is gone add the potatoes and mix well. (You can also add cauliflower and green peas.)

Add salt and a pinch of turmeric.

Add enough water to let the potatoes cook.

When the potatoes are cooked and all the water has dried up remove from heat and let it cool.

When the stuffing has cooled down completely, put a spoonful of the potatoes on a wonton wrapper.

Brush the edges of the wrapper with water and seal them. I pressed the edges with a fork, just to be sure.

Repeat process until all the filling is used up or you run out of wonton wrappers.

Now deep fry the potato stuffed wrappers until golden brown.

Serve hot.

Chholar Daal

A special occasion like the Naboborsho (New Year) calls for a special daal like the Chholar Daal. I wonder how this daal got itself relegated to special occasions.

Ingredients:
Chhola or Chana Daal (Bengal gram) – 1 cup (soaked overnight)
Shredded coconut – 3 tbsp
Ginger paste – 1 tsp
Bay leaf -- 1
Dry red chili – 3
Cumin seeds – 2 tbsp
Ground coriander – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Salt & Sugar -- to taste
Ghee – 1 tbsp
Oil

Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan.

When oil is hot enough add the red chilies and let them turn black.

Now add the bay leaf and the cumin seeds.

When the cumin seeds have stopped sputtering add the shredded coconut and fry until the coconut starts to brown. Don’t let it brown all the way.

Now add the daal and mix well.

Next add the coriander powder, turmeric, salt and sugar.

Add water. Cover with a lid and let the daal simmer on low heat.

When daal is almost done add the ginger paste and cook until the daal is done all the way through.

Add a tbsp of ghee and serve.

Alur Dom -- Spicy Potato Curry

Since it was Poila Baisakh (Bengali New Year) I thought of making something special for dinner. And no Poila Baisakh is complete without the luchi. Since we were having a gala potluck party over the weekend at my sis-in-law’s place in celebration of the Bengali New Year I decided it was best to keep today’s dinner simple. So I made alur dom and chholar daal to eat with the luchi.

Ingredients:
Potatoes – 5-6 (peeled and diced into cubes)
Onion – 1 small (thinly sliced)
Ginger paste – 1 tbsp
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Frozen green peas – ¼ cup (optional)
Fresh chopped cilantro – for garnish
Yogurt – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ¼ tsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Oil
Water

Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan.

When oil starts to ripple add the sugar and let it caramelize.

Once the sugar turns brown add the garlic and ginger paste and the sliced onions and start frying.

Now add the chili powder, turmeric and the garam masala powder and continue frying.

Keep frying until the raw smell of the vegetables are gone and the oil starts to separate from the masala.

Now add the yogurt to the masala and stir it in.

Next add the potatoes and mix well with the masala.

Season with salt.

Add enough water so that the potatoes are covered halfway.

When the potatoes are cooked and the gravy has reached a consistency of your liking remove from heat.

Add the frozen peas (if using).

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro leaves and serve.

Seared Scallops with Lemon-Basil Pasta

Ingredients:
For the scallops:
Scallops – 4
Garlic cloves – 3 (minced)
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Olive oil – ¼ cup
Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper
For the pasta:
Spaghetti – 2 servings
Grated parmesan cheese – ¼ cup
Lemon juice – ½ lemon
Fresh basil – 5-6 leaves (chopped)
Salt & pepper

Procedure:
In a mixing bowl mix the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning.

Now add the scallops, turning to coat. Season with salt and pepper and let sit for 30 minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet on high, and drizzle olive oil.

Now add the scallops and sear them until golden brown. Flip with tongs and sear the other side.

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water. Drain the pasta, reserving a ladle of the pasta water.

In a skillet warm up the reserved marinade from the scallops, just to avoid the smell of raw garlic. Add the spaghetti and coat well.

Add the grated parmesan and lemon juice. If required to moisten add the pasta water, a little at a time until you have the desired result.

Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the chopped basil and serve with the seared scallops.

Herb roasted salmon with caramelized onions

While cleaning the house last weekend we chanced upon a printout of a salmon recipe dated Nov 2005. The recipe was shared by my husband’s friend who is an awesome cook and a food connoisseur. Hubby had prepared this dish before but it was from his memory and tasted good. But once he followed the recipe it tasted awesome. And along with the salmon he made a simple spaghetti (his specialty btw) with cherry tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Saturday night dinner didn’t taste this good in a long while. Thanks Dr. Ghosh for the recipe :-)

Unfortunately the recipe doesn’t mention any exact amounts, and neither did my hubby measure out anything. So I am unable to give any measurements, just eyeball everything. The original recipe uses sour cream along with the caramelized onions, but we didn’t have any in the house. And instead of oregano and basil we used Italian seasoning and fresh basil leaves.

Ingredients
Salmon – two 8oz pieces
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Italian seasoning
Fresh basil
Onion – 1 (sliced)

Procedure
Preheat oven to 400F.

Marinate salmon fillets in red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, basil, olive oil and garlic salt for about one and half hours.

Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and bake the fish for 15 minutes. Then flip and bake for another 10 minutes.

Then broil the fish until a red crust forms on one side. Turn over and broil the other side. Be careful not to over fry or else it’ll become dry.

Add a squeeze of fresh lime and serve with caramelized onions.

To caramelize the onions warm olive oil in a skillet and add sugar. When sugar starts to melt throw in sliced onions. Cook till the onions turn brownish in color.

Hot and Spicy Sea Bass

Any type of firm fish will work well for this recipe.

Ingredients:
Sea bass filets – 4 (cut into cubes)
Soy sauce – 2 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce – 1 tsp
Red chili powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Corn flour – 1 ½ tbsp
Garlic cloves – 5-6 (minced)
Grated ginger – 1 tbsp
Scallions – 2 (sliced)
Serrano chili – 2 (chopped)
Yogurt – ¼ cup (beaten smooth and seasoned with salt and pepper)
Fresh chopped cilantro – 2 tbsp
Lemon wedges – for garnish
Salt – to taste
Cooking oil

Procedure:
In a mixing bowl add the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, red chili powder, cumin powder and lemon juice to the fish cubes and marinate for 15-20 minutes.

After 20 minutes coat the cubes with corn flour.

Meanwhile heat a skillet with oil. Now fry the fish cubes until they are browned evenly on all sides. Set aside.

Now in the same pan (add oil if necessary), fry the garlic, ginger and Serrano chili.

Next add the fried fish cubes.

Now add the beaten yogurt and coat the fish pieces well. Let the yogurt dry up. (If you want some gravy don’t let the yogurt dry up completely.)

When the yogurt is almost dry add the sliced scallions. Cook for a minute or so and remove from heat.

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, chopped green chili and lemon wedges and serve hot.

Great as a snack food or as a side with fried rice.

Fajita Roll

All of a sudden I had this craving for some sizzling fajitas and so I thought…ok let’s make some fajita today. But to have a real fajita experience you need to have all the sour cream and the guacamole which I didn’t have and I didn’t quite feel like going out and getting the ingredients. So I decided to just make the sizzling filling of the fajitas. As I was cooking an idea struck me. What if I stuff this filling into an egg roll? So that’s how this dish came into being. When I finished assembling the rolls they looked like tacos because I stuffed them so much that it became a little difficult to fold them.
To make the egg rolls, I used tortillas because that’s what I had at hand, but you can use the frozen parathas. Without doubt they taste much better than the tortillas, which by the way ,are much more healthy. You can also use rotis or make parathas from scratch. Totally up to you.

Ingredients:
Chicken breast – 2 (cut into strips)
Eggs – 4
Tortilla – 4
Onion – 1 (sliced)
Red bell pepper – 1 (cut into strips)
Green bell pepper – 1 (cut into strips)
Green chili – 1 (optional)
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Salt and pepper – to season
Hot sauce – 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup – 1 tbsp
Dash of lime
Cooking oil

Procedure:
In a mixing bowl add 1 tsp red chili powder to the chicken strips. Mix well and keep aside for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat a cast iron skillet and fry the chicken pieces until they are golden brown.

While the chicken is being fried, season them with salt and add a tbsp of tomato ketchup and hot sauce each. When sauce dries up and chicken is cooked, remove from heat and keep warm.

In the same skillet (add oil if necessary) fry the bell peppers until the edges turn brown. Set aside.

Next sauté the onions and reserve with the bell peppers.

In a bowl beat an egg until fluffy. Season with salt and pepper.

Now heat a nonstick pan. Drizzle a little oil and pour the beaten egg.

When egg starts to set but is still a little wiggly in the middle, put a tortilla on top of the egg and let it set. When egg has set completely flip the tortilla and lightly fry the other side. (If using frozen parathas, fry the parathas according to the directions on the pack and keep ready before frying egg.)

Remove from heat and onto a plate. Follow the method for the rest of the tortillas and the eggs.

Now stuff the tortilla (egg side up) with the chicken, bell peppers, onion and chopped green chili (if using). Squeeze some lime juice on top.

Fold the tortilla like a roll/ wrap and grab a bite.