Best ever Baked Basa (Swai) with a tangy twist

The winning streak: This recipe has drawn heavily from my weed-ful garden ;) The tangy wood sorrels fill in for the lemon zest I had initially imagined fr this recipe. I will shortly post about nutritious garden weeds for healthy alternatives in recipes.

Marinade: English mustard paste - 2tsp, garlic cloves - 4 big ones, ginger - 1"X1/2" should be enough, green chilis - as per your liking - I used two really hot ones, cilantro - 1/2 cup roughly chopped, oxalis (woodsorrel) leaves & stalk (discard the lowest end) - about 1/2 cup roughly chopped- , black pepper corns, turmeric powder (optional) 1/2 tsp, salt. 

Grind all of this to a paste with a little water, coat well on fish and refrigerate for 30-60 mins.

TING......did you notice I didn't use any oil yet ;)

Tip: I used frozen basa, so I used the water that was released while thawing the fish. It actually is raw fish stock...right? Well I couldn't throw that away!!

Baking: Preheat oven at 400degF/200 deg C. Bake fish in gravy for 30 mins.Save the gravy. Serve hot with white rice or bread.

Babycorn soup with wild garden greens

All the beautiful greens for this recipe came from my kitchen garden. Need: 

1. Baby corns 250 gms - roughly chopped up

2. Green chilis - 2 chopped

3. Basil & Cilantro - a handful of each

4. Fennel tips - a few strands

5. Other wild greens - I picked 2 broccoli leaves, 2 pumpkin greens, a few strands of garlic greens and watercress, wood sorrels, 2 leaves of Indian borage

6. 2 onions - roughly chopped

7. Garlic - minced about 1 tbsp

8. Sugar, salt and ground black pepper to taste

9. Water - 4 cups

10. Butter - as per your liking

Method:

1. Saute the garlic in olive oil or butter, add onions and caramelize with a little brown sugar.

2. Add the green chili and tomatoes. Mix.

3. Now add the baby corns, water, and salt; cover and bring to a boil.

4. Turn off heat, add the greens, mix, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

5. Blend this whole thing well and transfer back to the pot.

6. Bring to a boil just before serving, add the pepper, and garnish with a sprig of cilantro and serve.

Niramish Begun Malaikari

Well this is an authentic niramish dish - no meat, no onions/garlic. So absolutely puja friendly dish and I made this yesterday for Ma as she was following her Tuesday Hanuman brata (vrat). Here it goes:

Need: 

1. Small round brinjals, stem off and slit into 4 lengthwise. The big purple ones will work fine as well, will need less cook-time and may be cut into discs or slit open lengthwise, just like these. I used about 750 gms of the small ones.

2. Posto/khuskhus paste 2tbsp

3. Mustard paste 1 tbsp

4. Ground coconut - 2-3 tbsp

5. Green chilli minced - 1 tbsp

6. Ginger paste - 1 tbsp

7. Turmeric powder (optional) 1 tsp

8. Mustard oil 1 tbsp

9. Mustard seeds - 1tsp

10. Curry leaves - 2 stalks

12. Chopped cilantro - 1 tbsp

13. 2-3 Green chilis - slit lengthwise

14. Chopped tomatoes - 1/2 cup

15. Salt to taste

Prep: Soak the mustard paste in 1/2 cup water, add salt and strain off after 20 minutes. Mix the posto, coconut, ginger and turmeric in this strain and use this as a marinade on the brinjals. Keep for 15mins. Check the seasoning and adjust salt so that it is a little on the high side. The tomatoes and cilantro which will be added later will adjust it all.

Cooking: 

1. Temper the mustard seeds in mustard oil and wait for the spluttering to begin. When almost half of the seeds have popped, add curry leaves and minced chili. Wait for the fresh aroma.....arghhh can't describe it. You have to experience it to know how good it is.

2. Now add the tomatoes and mix. 

3. Add the marinated brinjals with all its marinade. Mix well, cover and cook on medium high until everything comes to a boil. 

4. Now simmer and cook until the brinjals are tender. Add cilantro and check seasoning. 

5. Turn off the heat, top with fresh cilantro and slit chilis. 

6. Serve with steaming white rice. Yumm!