Traditional Bangali Chingri Malai Curry

Ingredients: (serves 4)

Fresh Large Shrimps: 16 to 20 pieces

Coconut Milk: 1/4 cup

Fresh Mustard paste: 3 table spoons

Onion paste: 1/2 cup

Ginger and Garlic paste: 1 table spoon

Fresh Creme: 1/4 cup

Bengal Spices 1 tea spoon

Mustard Oil for cooking

Turmeric, Chili , Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation: (time 15 minutes)

Soak the shrimps in Warm Salt water. In a plan on medium heat, add mustard oil. Toss in the Bengal Spices ('Paanch Phoran' in Hindi). Once the spices start spluttering, add ginger garlic paste and soon after add the onion paste. Once the paste gets a good saute, add Coconut milk, Mustard paste and fresh creme. Salt, Turmeric and Chili powder to taste and color. Let the mix cook on medium heat for 5 minutes so that the spices integrate with the ingredients.

Once the sauce starts reducing, add the shrimps and cover the gravy and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Let the curry sit for 10-15 minutes before serving!

Hearty Fruit Salad

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1/4th of a medium Iceberg Lettuce

4 - 5 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce

1/2 Apple

1/2 Star Apple

Fist-Full of Blueberries

5 - 6 Cherry Tomatoes

1 - 2 Carrots

1 medium Cucumber

1/4th Bell Pepper

Preparation: (time 10 minutes)

Finely chop the Carrots. De-vein the Romaine Lettuce leaves and give it a rough cut similar to the Iceberg Lettuce leaves. Slit the Cherry tomatoes into quarters. Make thin ring slices of the cucumber. Cut thin strips of the bell pepper. Slice up star apple. Make concentric 'V' shaped ridges into the apple and slide the pieces one on top of the other (refer pic in the blog). Once the ingredients have been sliced up, plate it. Toss in some blueberries over the plated salad and top the dish with salad dressing of your choice. What a healthy way to eat!

Italian Grilled Chicken Breasts

Ingredients: Serves 2

Skinless Chicken breasts: 2 psc

Red Potato medium: 3 psc

Bruschetta: 6 psc

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Herbs: Oregano, Basil, Rosemary

Preparation: (20-30 minutes)

Marinate the chicken for at least 2-3 hours in Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper after brushing 1/2 tea spoon each of the above Italian Herbs on to it.

Cut the potatoes into half (or 4 psc based on the size) and coat the Bruschetta with Olive Oil.

In a deep baking pan, arrange the potatoes, bruschettas and chicken. Spray Olive oil over them generously. Then place this baking pan in a preheated oven, grill it for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving!

Lasagne

Ingredients: (Serves 6 people)

Lasagne Noodles - 9 rectangles

Ground beef - 1 pound

Pork sausage - 2 medium pieces

White Onion finely chopped - 1/2 cup

Garlic finely chopped - 3 tea spoon

Crushed Tomato paste - 350 ml

Extra Olive Oil

Fresh Mozzarella - 1/2 cup

Finely grated Parmesan - 1/2 cup

Grated  mozzarella-cheddar - 1 cup

Basil, Chives, Rosemary and Oregano

Hot Cayenne pepper powdered- 1 tea spoon for heat        

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: cooking time 2 hours

In a pan put 2 tea spoons of Olive oil, add ground beef and skinned pork sausages and let it sauté till meat is no more raw. Add chopped garlic and stir, after 5 minutes add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and the Italian herbs as listed above. Mix well and simmer it for 1:45 hrs to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

In a separate deep pot of boiling water, add 1 tea spoon of salt and Olive oil, then throw in the Lasagne noodles. Once the noodles are cooked - remove from the pot of boiling water and place it under cold running water

Once the noodles and meat is ready, take a deep glass/baking pan (approx 9 by 11 by 3 inch). Smear Olive oil on the pan evenly and lay out a thin coat of meat/sauce at the bottom of the pan. Cover it up with Lasagne, on top of this layer coat heavily the meat /sauce, cover it with 3 cheese. Repeat this alternate Lasagne-Meat-cheese layers for another 2 times till we have 3 layers of Lasagne and meat (the top layer is that of cheese coated meat). Cover this baking pan with a foil of Aluminum and place it in a preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes. Then remove the Aluminum foil and let it bake for 10-15 minutes.

Once done - remove the baking pan from oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Using a knife cut into the Lasagne and make 2 by 2 inch squares, plate and serve!