Spicy Baked Basa Recipe

I love baking. So, here are my four simple steps to baking a spicy dish of Basa

You will need: 
500 gms of skinless and boneless Basa
3 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp chilli powder
1½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp sugar
1½ tsp dried basil

Step 1: In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except the fish.

Step 2: Cut the fish into pieces. A 2X2 inch cube should be just right.
However if you want to use the fillet as is, you can do so.

Step 3: Into a baking dish pour a little of the mixture, now place the fish onto it
and empty the remaining contents over the fish.

Step 4: Bake in an oven for about 20-25 mins at a temperature of 150 degrees.
Serve hot.

Pork Stir Fry

Ingredients: 
1 Kg pork, cut into big cubes
Olive Oil
Crushed Pepper
5 Kashmiri Chillies
Salt
4 capsicums, cut lengthwise
6 onions, sliced

Method of Preparation: 
Slow cook the pork for about 2 hours till tender. Let it rest for about 30 mins.

Transfer to a skillet and to the pork, add the pepper, salt and olive oil. Pepper and salt as per taste. Give the pork a healthy Olive Oil drizzle. Break the Kashmiri chillies into half and drop it in. Mix all the ingredients well and leave it to marinate overnight.

Heat a large pan with oil. Saute the onions and capsicums. To this add the marinated pork and cook for 30 mins on a low flame. Once the meat is tender saute the mix to add some colour.

Serve hot with bread.

A Chef’s Special – Paneer

Last Christmas we had new additions to the family, many of whom were vegetarians. So when faced with the daunting task of preparing a veg dish, I had to call on the expert – Executive Chef Conrad. Well he improvised a recipe on the go and it was delicious. 

Here's the recipe:

1 kg Paneer (block)

• Cut the Paneer into two inch squares and roughly one finger thick. See that you have even number of pieces as you will need to create a sandwich of sorts.
• Now onto the paste that will come in between the Paneer blocks.

The Paste

1 tbsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tbsp Chilli Powder

½ tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste

Pinch of Salt

• In a bowl mix the above ingredients to a coarse paste. Add a little more ginger garlic paste if need be.
• Now smoothen this mixture between two blocks of paneer, like a sandwich.
• Keep aside while you work on the chutney.

Chutney

1 bunch Mint leaves

½ bunch Coriander leaves

2-3 tbsp Curd

2 limes (only juice)

A little salt to balance the flavour

• Blend the above in a blender to a smooth paste. In case you are having trouble blending the mixture, add a little water.
• Now add the paneer sandwich blocks to this mixture and let it marinate for an hour.

• After an hour remove the paneer sandwich blocks and roll them in semolina (rava) coating them evenly. Place onto a hot pan and cook for about 5 mins on each side or until the semolina starts to darken.
• Place on a kitchen towel to drain out excess oil. Serve hot.
• You can use the chutney used for marinating, simply transfer it into a bowl. 

And here's the Chef with his little girl supervising the prep.

Photos by Lovell Dsouza Photography

Garlic Chive Prawns

Masterchef Australia and the various shows I watch on TLC are the inspiration for this dish.    

I came up with this recipe one Friday evening when all I wanted was to cook some prawns without a lot of hassle. Do try it and let me know how you liked it. Let a comment, I'd  like to hear from you.

For the ingredients you'll need 1 whole pod of garlic skinned, a few stalks of fresh chives, prawns, and olive oil.

For the prep, add a little salt and olive oil to the prawns and leave it to rest for a few minutes.

Roughly chop the chives and garlic too.

Now let's start cooking, 

 

Step 1: Pour some olive oil in a wok. Bring it up to a sizzle.

Step 2: Add the chopped garlic. Cook till lightly golden.

Step 3 Add the chives to it and cook for a minute.

Step 4: Add a little more salt for seasoning.

Step 5: A little bit of pepper.

Step 6: Add the prawns and cook on a medium flame,
till the prawns turn pink.

Step 7: Cook on a low heat for another 5 minutes
till the prawns are golden brown. Serve hot.