Sanket's kitchen

Pan-seared salmon with green beans and white rice

This dish is a quick-fix meal. It's very tasty, easy to cook and most importantly, its a perfect balance of proteins, vegetables, healthy fats & carbs.

Ingredients (serves 2 people):

For salmon:
Salmon - 4 fillets
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp

For green beans:
Green beans - 1/2 pound
Water - 3 cups
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper - just a pinch
Lemon juice - few drops

For rice:
Parboiled white rice - 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup (parboiled rice needs more water than regular rice)

Preparation:

1. Marinade salmon - Mix all ingredients (except salmon) from the section 'for salmon'. Add salmon filets to it and coat the fillets with marinade. Leave it outside for about 15 minutes.

2. Wash and rinse white rice. Let it soak in water for about 15 minutes in a pan.

3. Wash and rinse green beans.

Recipe: 

You have to cook 3 things almost together to enjoy this dish. So its necessary to be organised and 'think on your feet'.

Step 1. Cook salmon - Heat pan on a high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Once pan is preheated, add marinated salmon fillets to pan and cook on one side for about 3 minutes. Now, turn over the salmon filets, and cook for 4 to 5 more minutes. Salmon becomes flaky when it is perfectly cooked. Put cooked salmon fillets on a serving plate. Note, there is some left over oil and spices in this pan. We'll use this later for green beans. So do not discard it.

Step 2. Cook green beans - This step goes hand in hand with step 1. Heat 3 cups water on a high heat in a cooking pot. Once water starts boiling (about 5 minutes), add green beans to it. Cook for 3-4 minutes till they become crisp-tender. Now, drain the hot water and replace with ice cold water and let green beans stand in ice-cold water for about 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the pan used to cook salmon. Add just green beans (no water) to pan and saute for about 3-4 minutes on a high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and squeeze few drops of lemon juice on it.

Step 3. Cook rice - Heat pan used to soak rice on medium-high flame. Once water starts to simmer, close the lid and lower the heat to low-medium. Cook for about 15-20 minutes (till water evaporates and rice is cooked thoroughly).

For a good presentation, arrange two fillets on one side of dish (one on top of another); put green beans close to salmon and white rice on other side of dish.

Enjoy!

Kolhapuri lamb curry

Ingredients: 

For marinade -
Lamb pieces - 1.5 lbs - cut it to about 2" pieces
Garlic-ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 1 finely chopped
Salt - 1.5 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tsp)
Chopped Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

For kolhapuri masala -
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Dry red chili - 6 crushed
Black pepper corns - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon stick - 1" piece
Green cardamom seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Cloves - 1/2 tbsp
Javantri - 1/2 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Bay leaves - 2 to 3
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp
Dry coconut powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp

For curry - 
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Black cardamom - 2
Green cardamom - 2
Bay leaves - 2 to 3
Onions - 3 finely sliced
Garlic-ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Tomatoes - 1 finely chopped
Salt - 1 tbsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander - 1 tbsp for garnishing

Recipe:

Step 1 - Marinade: Cut lamb pieces to appropriate size and wash thoroughly under lukewarm water. Make marinade by mixing ingredients from 'Garlic-ginger paste to Chopped coriander leaves' under section 'for marinade'. Add lamb pieces to marinade mixture and leave it for about 2 hours.

Step 2 - Making kolhapuri masala: Heat pan on a medium heat. Once heated, add ingredients from 'cumin seeds to bay leaves' under section 'for kolhapuri masala'. Lower the heat and stir the ingredients continuously for about 2 to 3 minutes till all the ingredients are roasted well and starts to give nice aroma. Now add dry coconut and roast for another 2 to 3 minutes (till coconut becomes golden-brown colored). Now turn off the heat, and add salt and nutmeg powder. Let it cool down and grind it with food processor to make a fine powder.

Step 3 - Cook lamb under pressure cooker: Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Once heated, add the marinated lamb pieces to it and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add 2 cups of water and close the lid. Turn heat to medium low and let it cook for about 5 whistles (about 20 minutes). See notes for alternative if pressure cooker is unavailable.

Step 4 - Making kolhapuri curry: Heat 1 tbsp oil and remaining 1 tbsp ghee in a pan on a high flame. Once heated, add cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter, lower the heat to medium and add black cardamom, green cardamom and bay leaves. Saute for about 30 seconds, then add sliced onions. Saute onions till they turn brown (about 30 minutes on medium heat). Now add garlic-ginger paste and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes. Now add tomatoes and saute for about 5 minutes till they turn mushy and oil starts to ooze from curry. Now add kolhapuri masala (step 2), salt, cumin-coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Saute dry spices for about 2 to 3 minutes. Now add cooked lamb with residual water (step 3) to the curry. Close the lid and let it simmer on a medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes. If there is too much water in the end, open the lid and simmer the curry till desired consistency is achieved. Turn off the heat, and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve hot with white rice or chapati.

Enjoy!

Notes: 
1. Under step 2 - do not let the ingredients burn under any circumstances; otherwise they will yeild unappetizing bitter taste.
2. You can cook lamb directly in a pan used to make curry. In that case, cook marinated lamb in curry for about 1 hour on medium heat. Lamb is well done when meat starts to seperate from bone easily.

Ingredients:

For marinade -

Chicken (leg piece - 4)
1/2 tsp fresh ginger paste,
1 tsp minced garlic (roughly 3 pods),
1 green chili - finely chopped
1 tbsp - salt,
1/2 tsp turmeric,
1 tsp coriander powder,
1/2 tsp red chili powder,
1/2 tsp garam masala,
1/2 tsp chicken curry masala,
1/2 tsp black pepper powder,
1/2 cup plain yogurt,
1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves,
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves,
1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice,

For curry -

Oil - 2 tbsp,
Ghee - 2 tbsp,
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp,
Whole spices - Black cardamom - 2, pepper corns - 6 to 8,  cinnamon stick - 1" piece, bay leaves - 2 to 3, dry whole red chili - 2,
Onions - 2 finely chopped
Ginger-green chili-garlic paste (ggg) - 1 tbsp,
Tomato - 1 finely chopped,
Dry powder spices - Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp, Red chili powder - 1 tsp, Cumin-coriander powder - 2 tsp, garam masala - 1/2 tsp, chicken curry masala - 1/2 tsp,
Salt - 1 tbsp (adjust per taste),
water - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp - chopped

Recipe: 

Step 1 - Marinade: Mix all the ingredients for marinade (except chicken). Add chicken to it and let it marinade in refrigerator for about 8 to 10 hours.

Step 2 - Making curry: Heat oil and ghee in a karahi (or large pan) on high heat. Once heated, add cumin seeds to it. After cumin seeds start to sizzle, turn the heat to medium and add all the whole spices to it. Fry for about 30 seconds till whole spices releases aroma. Now add chopped onion and fry till they turn golden brown (about 10 - 15 minutes), now add ginger-garlic-green chili paste and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes (you'll notice the raw smell of garlic go away). Now add chopped tomato and cook for about 5 minutes (until the gravy becomes smooth and oil separates from gravy). Now add 'dry powder spices, mix well and fry for about a minute. Now add water to it and mix well. Add marinated chicken to it, close the lid, and let it cook till chicken is well done (chicken easily falls apart and turns white from inside). Turn off the heat, garnish with chopped coriander and let it stand for about 10 minutes before eating.

Serve hot with rice or Indian bread (naan, roti, or paratha).

Enjoy!

Tandoori chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken thighs (with skin) – 4 pieces
Yogurt – 1 cup – whisk yogurt before mixing all the ingredients
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
Tandoori masala – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tbsp
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Black pepper powder – ½ tsp
Cumin-coriander powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Lemon – 1 tsp – freshly squeezed
Coriander leaves – chopped – 1 tsp
Mint leaves – chopped – 1 tsp


Recipe:

Step 1 – Marinade:
Mix ingredients from yogurt till mint leaves in a bowl to make marinade for chicken. Pierce chicken thighs with a fork and add chicken pieces into marinade mix. Let it marinade for about 8 to 12 hours at least (but not more than 2 days).

Step 2 – Cooking chicken:
1 Pre-heat the oven at 450F 
2 Meanwhile heat oil in a cast iron skillet at a high temperature. Add cumin seeds to pan.
3 Nestle the chicken pieces on pan (with skin side down) and let it cook for 2 minutes on high heat.
4 Now lower the temperature to medium and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes. Occasionally, rearrange the chicken on a pan so that heat distributes evenly.
5 Now put the skillet inside the pre-heated oven and let it cook for about 10-12 mins. Then flip the chicken and cook for another 5 mins.
6 Remove the chicken from pan and put it onto a serving plate and let it stand for about 5 mins.
7 Garnish it with coriander and lemon wedge.

Serving tip: Squeeze lemon juice on chicken and eat it with yogurt sauce. 

Enjoy!

Butter chicken

• Chicken – boneless pieces - about 1 - 1/2 pound
• Ginger/garlic – 1 tsp for marinade
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Tandoori chicken masala – 1 tsp
• Hung Curd (plain yogurt) – 3 tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Powder masalas: Red chili powder – 1 tsp, coriander powder – 1 tsp.

• Onions – 2 large (I prefer red ones)
• Tomatoes – 2 medium
• Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Cashew nuts – 6 to 8 pieces
• Heavy whipping cream – ½ pint
• Honey – 1 tsp
• Kasuri methi (fenugreek powder) – 1 tsp
• Red chili powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Tandoori chicken masala – ½ tsp
• Garam masala – ½ tsp
• Coriander – chopped handful – for garnishing
• Salt – 1 tsp (as per taste)
• Butter – 2 Tsp (I used amul brand)
• Oil – 1 tsp

• Cinnamon stick – 1 piece,
• Cloves – 3 to 4 pieces
• Bay leaves – 2 pieces

Lamb shank curry