Goan green-masala-stuffed grilled pomfret

Goan green-masala-stuffed grilled pomfret

(Heavenly if grilled by the beach, this Goan style green-masala grilled fish is easily one of my most FAV recipes of all time!)
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
20Min 4-6 20Min

Ingredients :

4 small white pomfrets or 2 big ones
salt, pepper & lime-juice to marinade

For the masala:
1 bunch mint leaves
1.5 bunch coriander leaves
2 large onions chopped
1 tsp garlic-ginger paste
salt to taste
oil to cook
1/4 cup tamrind extract
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cinnamom pwd
1/4 tsp cardamom pwd
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

Cooking Instructions :

Remove everything from inside the fish cavity- wash well. Make a slit about 2cm away from & along the top edge (away from the stomach cavity) and run your knife in gently to form a pocket. Repeat on the other side. Do this for each whole fish. Rub lime, salt & pepper all over & inside the fish grooves & cavity for 1/2-1 hour. Grind the leaves with a little water to a paste. Fry onions in oil till light grown, add the garlic ginger paste & powder spices & fry well. Then add the tamarind & vinegar along with salt to taste. Add the leafy paste & fry for 2 minutes. Wash the fish & apply this masala all over & inside the fish grooves & cavity & set aside for 10-15 mins. Spray oil on the fish & grill open until it is cooked.

Tomato Meatball Stew

Tomato meatball stew

(Meatballs in a healthy veg. stew with a tangy-peppery taste that hits the soul!)
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
20Min 4-6 20Min

Ingredients :

1. 1/2kg or 1lb minced meat/chicken
2. 1 tsp garlic-ginger paste
3. salt & pepper to taste
4. 1/2 tsp each of haldi/turmeric pwd, garam masala (all spice) pwd n coriander pwd
5. 1 finely chopped green chili or 1/2 tsp red chili pwd
6. optional 1 tsp vinegar
7. 1 medium onion - finely chopped/ minced
8. 2 large chopped onions
9. 2-3 red dried chilies
10. 1 half-inch cinnamon stick
11. 3 large ripe tomatoes - chopped
12. salt to taste
13. 1/2 tsp pepper pwd
14. 1/2 tsp cumin pwd
15. 1-2 cups cubed potatoes & carrots plus cauliflower florets


Cooking Instructions :

For the meatballs, mix ingredients 1 to 7 above and make 1" meat balls with the mixture - pressing tightly in your palm n then shaping. Set aside. For the stew, fry ingredients 8 to 14 above in 1tbsp oil in a pressure cooker in the order listed, frying well after adding each item. Cook till tomatoes soften, then put in the meatballs and vegetables & add water to just about cover the meatballs. Close and cook for 1 whistle in the pressure cooker or until the meat is cooked. Serve with bread, croutons or rice.

This stew can also work as a base for a gravy of your choice - a tomato and cream based buttery gravy (makhni) or one with coconut milk, etc..

Butter chicken

Butter chicken

(A flavorful dish of boneless chicken cooked in a tomato-based creamy gravy.)
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
30Min 4 30Min

Ingredients :

750 gms boneless chicken cubes
2 cups tomato paste
1 cup cooking cream
1/4 tsp haldi
1 tsp chili pwd
1 tsp cardamom pwd
1/4 tsp papper pwd
2 tsp dry mango (amchur) pwd
3 tbsp cashew paste
1 tbsp sugar
100 gms butter
1 chopped onion
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
cooking oil

For the masala:
1 pod garlic
1 inch ginger
2 inch cinnamon stick
2-3 cloves
4 cardamoms
1 tbsp vinegar
1.5 tsp salt
3-4 tsp chilip pwd
a pinch on red color or few drops
1/2 cup full-cream curd

Cooking Instructions :

Grind the 'masala' ingredients to a smooth paste. Rub lime & salt on the chicken & add to the marinade - leave for 20-30 mins (few hours is better). In a pressure pan, fry onions till pink & add the chicken to it along with the masala. Fry well, tossing gently for 2 mins. Add 1/4 cup water, pressure cook for 1 whistle & simmer for 2 mins. In a pan, melt butter & fry the tomato paste, cashew paste, pepper pwd, cardamom pwd, amchur pwd, haldi & chili pwd till the oil separates. Then stir in only the chicken gravy from the pressure pan & cook for a minute. Add beaten cream 2 tbsp at a time, stirring constantly. Last, add the chicken & simmer for 2 mins. Drizzle some cream or butter on it, garnish with fresh chopped coriander & serve hot with (garlic) naan or rotis.

Paneer Manchurian

Paneer Manchurian

(An indo-chinese dish of cottage-cheese dumplings in a mild-spicy soy-sauce gravy.)
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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
20Min 4 10Min

Ingredients :

200 gms paneer/cottage cheese
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup crushed cashewnuts or almonds
25 gms cornflour
100 gms flour
1/4 cup spring onions - chopped
1 clove garlic - flaked
4-5 green chilies - chopped
100 gms tomato sauce
1/4 tsp pepper pwd
1/4 tsp chilli sauce
1/4 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
onion leeks for garnishing
cooking oil

Cooking Instructions :

Mash together the paneer, leaves, nuts, flours, spring onions, garlic, pepper pwd, salt, sugar & green chilies. Add 1/3rd of each of these - the tomato, soya & chili sauces and vinegar. Mash to a thick mixture, adding a little water if reqd. Make golf-ball size balls of this mixture & deep fry till golden brown. In a saucepan, add all the remaining sauces & vinegar with 2 cups water bring to a boil. Taste & add salt/sugar and thicken the mixture with cornflour, while simmering. Last, add the balls & garnish & simmer for just 2 minutes.

Pepper Chicken Chettinaad

Pepper Chicken Chettinaad

(A thick dark spicy gravy from the Southern-Indian state of Tamil Nadu, boasting strong peppery notes & a rich coconut flavor.)


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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
10 Min 4 15Min


Ingredients :

1 chicken cut to medium pieces
1 cup curd/ yoghhurt
4 tsp garlic-ginger paste
2 tbsp fresh coarsely ground peppercorns
few drops lime juice
cooking oil
3 large onions - finely chopped
2 ripe chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
salt – to taste
2-3 whole dried red chilies (to taste)
2 sprigs of curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 cup chopped coriander (garnish)
1/4 cup ginger juliennes (garnish)
1/4 cup dessicated / grated fresh coconut (garnish)


Cooking Instructions:

Marinade the chicken pieces in well-beaten curd, half the garlic-ginger paste, pepper & lime juice for upto 1 hr. Heat oil in a non-stick thick bottom vessel, fry onions in it & then add the remaining garlic-ginger paste & fry well again. Add the tomatoes and stir fry till the oil separates. Add turmeric & stir. Add the chicken-marinade mixture & add salt to taste - toss well & fry for 5-6 minutes. Add 1 cup of water, cover and cook till the chicken is cooked. In a small tempering-pan, heat 2 tbsp oil & toss in the red chillies & curry leaves. When chilies are turning dark, toss in the mustard seeds & when they stop spluttering, remove and pour at once over the chicken. Garnish with ginger juliennes, chopped coriander & coconut and serve with rice or Malabari parottas.

Goan Potato Chops

Goan Potato Chops

(An authentic Goan appetizer of potato patties with minced-meat stuffing)


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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
15 Min 6 15Min


Ingredients :

3 large potatoes - boiled, peeled & smashed.
250 gms minced meat (beef or your choice)
1 cup boiled and finely chopped vegs (or frozen peas & cut carrots, capsicum/bell peppers)
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1/4 tsp pepper pwd
1/4 tsp cumin pwd
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp garlic-ginger paste
1 tbsp vinegar
1 chopped green chili
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg - beaten
salt to taste
cooking oil


Cooking Instructions:

In a pan, heat oil, fry onion well & then add the garlic-ginger paste & salt & fry for 30 secs. Then add the other spices & chillies, fry well before you toss in the mince. Add 1/4 cup water & cover and cook until mince is almost done. Then, toss in the veggies & coriander, add salt to taste & the vinegar. Cook covered till vegs are tender & then simmer open till the mince dries up completely.

Add salt (to taste) to your mashed potato & mix well. Take a golf-ball size ball of the mashed potato in a moist hand & press to make a bowl in your rounded palm. Place a tbsp of the mince in it & with moist fingers of the other hand, fold in the edges of the potato bowl & seal well. Gently flatten & roll the edge on your palm to get a round, flat cutlet about 1 inch thick & 3 inches in diameter. Repeat with the rest & place the cutlets in the fridge to set for 5 minutes.

Roll the cutlets in beaten egg & into the breadcrumbs, covering evenly. Shallow-fry till golden-brown on each side & then serve hot with ketchup or any sauce of your choice.

Peanut-chutney stuffed Baby Brinjals

Peanut-chutney stuffed Baby brinjals

(An Indian dish from the state of Maharashtra featuring baby brinjals/ eggplant stuffed with a spicy peanut sauce & cooked in the same gravy)

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PrepTime : Serves : Cook Time
10 Min 4 10Min


Ingredients :

8 small brinjals (golf-ball size)
2 handfuls peanuts (w/o the skin)
1 cup dessicated coconut
2 green chillies
1/2 tbsp pepper corns
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2 chopped large onion
1/4 -1/2 cup curry leaves
cooking oil
2 ripe medium tomatoes -chopped
1/4 tsp cumin pwd
1 tbsp corriander pwd
1 tsp sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Run a knife into the bulb of each brinjal 3/4th way in towards the stem (not fully), the repeat perpendicular to this cut (cross cut). Repeat for all brinjals & place in a bowl of water with a pinch of turmeric powder & 1/2 tsp salt added to it.

Lightly roast peanuts, coconut & 1/2 the finely chopped onion and put these along with the chillies, cumin pwd, pepper corns, turmeric pwd, sugar, coriander pwd & 1/2 tsp salt. Coarsely grind (not a very smooth paste), pulsating only, till almost evenly coarse. Taste & add more salt if required.

Heat 4 tbsp oil in a non-stick kadai/ sauce pan, fry tomatoes till soft & then add this masala/ mixture & fry well for 5-6 minutes. Remove half of this mixture & stiff the brinjals with it.

In the pan with the remaining masala, add 1/2 cup (or 1-2 cups if you want more gravy) water, stir well & place the brinjals in it (stem above the gravy, bulbs immersed well into the gravy) & simmer covered for 5 minutes or till brinjals are cooked. Serve with piping hot rotis/ naan.