Saturday 12 December 2015

Raisu Kare




We go to Wagamama often(a Japanese restaurant chain famous in UK) just to eat raisu kare(curry rice カレーライス). This is one of our favorite places to eat and has the best curry. You can have prawn or chicken raisu kare and this is similar to our Soru/Kuzhambu combination.The difference between Japanese or Indian curry is the Japanese curry sauce is much thicker and sweeter and it’s always served with rice.

Though Wagamama has a cook book which gives many recipes it does not have one for raisu kare and they told me that it is a secret. I kind of reverse engineered and tried to get the closest taste possible.Here is the veg version of raisu kare..

Ingredients
Butter/Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Lemon            - 2 wedges
Cooked rice     - 2 servings
Roasted sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Coconut milk   -  150 ml
Ginger Garlic Paste     - 1 tbsp
Thai Red/Green Chilly    - 1
Salt - as needed

To grind
Fennel seeds   -   1 tbsp
Cashew nuts   -  4 
Almonds          -   4
Poppy seeds (Kasa Kasa in Tamil) - 1 tsp

Veggies to saute
Red Onions    -  Half 
Spring Onions - 2 Stems
Mixed color capsicum - 1 cup
Spinach          - 1 Handfull
Mangetout      - 1 Handfull
Mushrooms    - 4
Ginger            - Half inch 

                                                            Method
                                          Preparation time : 20 Minutes
1. Cut the veggies as shown below.Heat 2 tbsp of butter/oil in a frying pan and sauté all the veggies separately for 5 minutes.

2. Dry roast the ingredients under the "To grind" table and grind it with water and mix that with Coconut milk. If the mix is too thick add water and adjust the consistency (The sauce should be like thick milk) and keep aside.

3. Add 1 tbsp butter and add the finely chopped Chilles, Ginger Garlic paste some spring onions and saute for 1 minute and then add the prepared milk specified in step 2 and bring it to boil.


4. Now simmer the stove and add all the veggies and add required amount of salt.The veggies should dunk in the sauce, leave this mixture in pan for 5 minutes in a low flame and remove from the stove.



5. Serve it with the hot steaming rice topped with roasted sesame seeds and lemon wedges.



P.S : If you need the sauce to be sweet and tangy, squeeze lemon while serving.

Saturday 31 October 2015

Pan fried Salmon with caramelized onions


Ever-versatile salmon is as popular on our shopping lists as chicken. Make the most of it with this impressive italian cuisine. I got this recipe idea from Australian weekly magazine and made a little tweak to suit our indian taste buds and tried this recipe. It became a big hit in my home :-)

My husband(Senthil) and inlaws loved the new taste of caramelized onions and celery along with the fish.This dish makes a healthy family supper which has Omega 3 fatty acids, folic acid, B6 and B12 vitamins.

Serves : 2                                       Prep time : 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions for pan fried Pan fried Salmon with caramelized onions and vinegar


1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
10g Butter
1 small (80g) onion,finely chopped
1 stick celery,finely chopped
2 (500g)salmon steaks
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 sticks Asparagus
8 mange tout
salt as required
1.   Heat half the oil and half the butter in pan, add onion and celery, cook, stirring, until onion is soft; remove from pan.
2.   Mix flour,fennel seeds, chili powder with little bit of salt in a tray and spread the mixture in the tray and toss fish both sides,shake away excess flour mixture.
3.   Heat remaining oil and butter in same pan, and add fish, cook until lightly browned on both sides and tender.
4.   Add onion celery mixture and add vinegar, cook further 2 minutes.
5.   Blanch Asparagus and mange tout and top it with salt and pepper while serving. 


Recipe best made just before serving, Not suitable for Freeze & Microwave