Lobster Curry | Lobster Coconut Gravy

Ingredients:

• Lobster – 10 no.s
• Shallots – 15 No.s
• Tomato - 1
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaf - few
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• To Grind
• Coconut - 1 cup
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tbsp
• Garam masala powder – 1/2 tsp

 

Method:

Take a pot and add enough water to cover all lobster add salt and bring it to boil. Wash lobster, once the water started to boil add lobster, cover and cook for about 10 – 12 minutes.

Remove lobster from water and let it cool. Removing the shell is a bit tricky, remove the head part and use a knife and carefully remove body shell.

Bring all ingredients together written under to grind and grind into a fine paste and keep aside.

Chop shallots and tomato.

Heat a pan, add oil. Add mustard seeds, let it splutter. Add curry leaves, fry for a minute.

Add chopped shallots and fry until it becomes transparent.

Then add chopped tomato and fry until it becomes soft.

Now add cooked lobster, fry for a minute, add ground coconut paste, enough water and salt for curry.

Cook for 8 -10 minutes and remove from heat once done.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Turkish style Semolina Helva with Pine nuts

Ingredients

Semolina – 2 ¼ cup / 450g/1lb

Butter – 1 cup/225g/8oz

Pine nuts – 3tbsp

Milk – 3 ¾ cups/900ml/1 ½ pints

Sugar – generous 1 cup/225g/8oz

Ground cinnamon – 1-2 tsp

Method

Melt the butter in a heavy pan. Stir in the semolina and pine nuts and cook over a medium heat.  Stir continuously until light brown.

Reduce the heat and add milk. Mix well and cover the pan with a dish towel and press the lid down tightly. Pull the flaps of the dish towel up and over the lid and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until the milk has been absorbed.

Add the sugar and stir until it dissolved.  Cover the pan with dish towel and lid again, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 1 hour.

While serving, mix well with a wooden spoon and spoon into bowl then sprinkle with cinnamon.

Strawberries and Blueberries Jam | Berries Jam

Ingredients

• Strawberries – 250gm
• Blueberries – 250gm
• Sugar – 400gm
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Method

Wash blueberries, hull the strawberries and wash. Add both berries and sugar in a blender and blend it to get puree.

Place 2 or 3 saucers or plates in the freezer for jam consistency test.

Heat a non-stick pan, add the puree and stir. Initially puree will be little watery. Stir continuously for 10 to 15 minutes. At this stage the puree will start to thicken. Now add lemon juice and continue stirring. Stir and cook for another 15 minutes. At this stage jam will be ready.  Switch off the heat and do the freezer plates test to check the right consistency of the jam.

Take a plate from freezer take a teaspoon of jam and put it in the center of the plate. Wait for a minute, push your finger through the jam. If there is a skin on top that wrinkles then it is done. If not take the jam back to heat and cook for another couple of minutes and do the test again. Remember to switch off the heat while you are doing the test or else jam may get over cooked.

Multigrain Atta Diamond Cut Biscuits | Fried Diamond Biscuits | Indian Snacks

Usually Diamond biscuits are made up of all purpose flour/maida.  But here I substituted it with multigrain atta flour to make it a healthier version.

Ingredients

• Multigrain atta flour – 2 cups
• Ghee – 4 tbsp
• Powdered sugar – ¾ cup
• Salt – a pinch
• Soda salt – a pinch
• Water – ¼ cup
• Oil – for deep frying

Method

Mix together the flour, powdered sugar, salt and soda salt in a bowl.

Add ghee and mix well. Add water little by little to make dough.  Divide the dough into 4-5 equal sized balls.

Roll out carefully a ball into 3mm thick flat bread. Meanwhile heat a pan on medium heat, add oil for deep frying. Cut diamond shapes out of rolled dough. Fry them as batches on medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until it becomes golden brown. Once done remove from oil, drain on kitchen towel.

Repeat the same for the remaining balls. Once the biscuits are cooled down, store them in an airtight container.  Can keep the biscuits for 2 weeks.

Kabak mucver | Courgette Patties - Turkish Style | Zucchini Patties

 

This is ideal for lunch, supper, a savoury snack or appetizer, these patties are versatile. If you like it hot add more Turkish red pepper or chillies.

Home made Pineapple Jam for Pineapple Tarts

Chinese New Year is around the corner and everyone is busy with baking goodies, shopping and all. Pineapple tart is my favourite and last year I made both open face pineapple tart and enclosed pineapple tart. I didn’t post the recipe of pineapple jam. So here I am posting it. Pineapple jam is easy to prepare at home. You can prepare the jam in advance and use whenever you want.

Ingredients

• Small ripe pineapple – 1 (about 2lbs/1kg)
• Sugar – ¾ cup (185g)
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Cloves – 2
• Star anise -2

Method

Peel and core pineapple. Chop into small pieces. Process them in a food processor or blender until smooth paste.

Heat a heavy bottom pan; add pineapple paste, lemon juice, sugar, cloves and star anise and mix. Simmer uncovered over medium heat. Stir frequently until it become thick about 20-25 minutes.

If you are able to make a ball out of the jam, then that is the right stage to switch off the heat. Transfer the jam to a shallow dish, let it cool. Remove cloves and star anise.

Store in airtight container and keep in refrigerator.

Open Face Pineapple tart

Enclosed Version