Salad for soul

I love salads (all my posts usually start with this line, cause' I really love to eat what I make or I make what I love to eat!). They can make the meal a healthy experience. A colorful salad bowl adds to the charm of the dining table. It makes the whole thing look so good.

And there are so many of them around. Veg salads, fruit salads, salads with meat & fish. So many different types of dressings - French, Italian, Thai and the list goes one. Or you can top-up the salad with anything that you like. I will be posting more of salads to be just with the variety thats available.

If you are having a plate full of meat the salad can still make it lighter. Or having salad with bread can make you feel healthier. Salads can be munched on any time. They are a good substitute to many sugary and oily snacks.

India has a wide variety of salads with so many ingredients available. However today the salad that I am presenting to you is a mix of Moroccan style salads (I have mixed ingredients from 2-3 different types of Moroccan salads!).

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Ingredients:

- One orange peeled and sliced
- Small bunch of mint leaves, cleaned and stranded (chopped or left whole)
- A cup full of chopped scallions
- One onion chopped
- One red radish grated
- 2-3 tbsp crumbled walnut

Ingredients for the dressing:

- 8-10 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp fresh & coarsely crushed black pepper
- A pinch of salt
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil


Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl
2. Use garlic crushed to get finely chopped garlic
3. In a small bowl mix the ingredients for the dressing - finely chopped garlic, lemon juice, crushed ground pepper, dried & crushed basil leaves, vinegar, salt and olive oil. Stir them well



4. Spread the dressing over the salad nicely and evenly. Stir it to mix the dressing with the salad.
5. Place the salad bowl in the refrigerator. Take out just before serving.





Happy eating!

Chilly Stir Fry

This is one of the simplest recipes and goes well will most of the meals as a great side dish. The chilly used for making this recipe is on the lower side of Scoville scale. My mom makes this whenever she finds fresh chillies in the market. My grandmother makes similar salted-stir-fried recipes with vegetables like brinjal and bitter gourd. Stir frying with just a little bit of salt out the natural flavors of the vegetables very well. You can try it with the veggies that you like!

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Ingredients:

* 2-3 Chilies (the long ones)
* Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
* Pinch of salt




Steps:

1. Cut the chillies in 1" long strips or squares or whatever shape you like. You can also choose to half them along the length.
2. Heat oil in a pan.
   
3. When oil heats up, add the cumin seeds and fry them till they are golden brown.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the cut chilly and fry it for 4-5 minutes (or till the chilly is a little tender). Usually when the chilly is done the skin will get a little wrinkly.
   
   
   
   
5. Chilly stir fry is ready.
6. Serve it with any meal as a side dish. (I like it with rice and dal.)
   
   
   
   

Enjoy!

Pomfret and Pink Perch Fry

Fish fry makes a great side dish for any meal. Some like it crispy and some like it soft. No matter how, it just makes the meal complete. It also adds a great deal of nutritional value to the meal. For brainy people fish is a must have thing in regular diet.

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Ingredients:

* 1 Pomfret and 1 Pink Perch (or any other fish that you like)
* 1 Banana leaf
* 4 tbsp oil

Ingredients for marinade:

* Dry Red chillies - 2 tsp
* Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
* Aniseed - 1 tsp
* Cinnamon - 1 " piece
* Cloves - 5
* Black Pepper -8
* Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
* Ginger & paste - 1 tbsp

Steps:

1. Except ginger and garlic, dry roast all the ingredients for marinade
2. Grind the dry roasted ingredients and mix with ginger garlic paste (maintain thick consistency)
3. Wash the fish under running water and slit them.
   
   
   
   
4. Apply the marinade to the fish and keep aside for 1-2 hours
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Cut the banana leaf in size enough to wrap a fish
6. Treat this leaf over heat to tenderize it, so its easy to wrap
7. Wrap the fish completely in this leaf and tie it with a cotton thread
   
   
   
   
8. Heat oil in a nonstick pan
9. When the oil is hot (you can see fumes), place the wrapped fish in the pan
   
   
   
   
10. Fry on both the sides for 8-10 minutes based on whether you like it crispy or soft. The frying time also varies from fish to fish.
    
    
    
    
11. Remove the fish from the pan and carefully open it as the wrapped leaf may have some oil in it.
    
    
    
    
12. Ready to be served with any meal as a side dish. Enjoy!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Happy eating!