Fried Prawns Recipe | Jhinga Fry Recipe

Because we koknis LOVE seafood!! 😍😋😋
We have seafood at least five times a week here in kokan. Most of the time seafood is fresh straight from the sea to your doorsteps that too variety of seafood like many varieties of fish, oysters, prawns, crabs, bombay duck etc. But there are days when the fishermen are not so lucky to catch fish (for example stormy rainy days) and that time we have to go for dried seafood (surat, bombil, sore etc.) that we have already stocked up during summers. So basically we live on seafood lol. Anyway, I was talking about this dish - Jhinga Fry. This spicy and simple prawns preparation is one of the dishes that are frequently cooked at my home and I loved Jhinga Fry since my childhood. Sabzi, roti and Jhinga Fry would make a perfect dinner that you can even serve to your guests with a side of omelette and mango pickle.

Fried Prawns Recipe

Ingredients:

300 gm prawns
1 large onion
1 medium sized tomato
2 teaspoons red chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
A piece of dried raw mango OR 2 tablespoons tamarind pulp OR 2-3 dried kokum fruits
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Shell, devein and wash prawns and place in colander so that all the water is removed completely.
2. Finely slice the onions and fry in 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Once the onions have turned golden pink add chopped tomato and stir fry till tomato turns pulpy. Now add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder and salt and mix well.
3. Once the rawness smell of masala goes, add prawns and mix well. Keep the flame lowest and let the prawns cook covered for 4-5 minutes then add dried mango/tamarind/kokum and again cook covered till prawns are done.
4. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves while serving.

Grandma's Flan Recipe | Crème Caramel Recipe | Caramel Custard Recipe

I have a big sweet tooth that most of the times I skip main course and eat only the salads and desserts and if the saying "you are what you eat" is true then I must be very sweet! Haha 😛
Anyway, here I am sharing one of those light, filling and pleasant desserts that have been there since ages! These old style desserts don't have any fancy ingredients buy still rock till the date. I am sure most of you are already a fan of this superb sweet dish - Crème Caramel! I know it's not like many of our mix, whip and serve kind of fancy desserts but it's not that difficult either. When I tried it for the first time I ended up with a burnt mess of sugar which was not ready to leave the bottom of sauce pan lol so I had to prepare caramel once again and it was all so messy but like everything else I mastered the art of making a perfect flan with time. Alhamdulillah!

Easy No Fail Flan Recipe

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups full cream milk
1/2 cup thick cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
A pinch of cardamom powder
A pinch saffron soaked in 1 tablespoon of hot milk
1 cup sugar for making caramel

Directions:

1. Beat eggs in a bowl and add cream, half cup sugar, salt, cardamom powder and saffron. Beat well and slowly pour in the milk and whisk well.
2. Take 1 cup sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and place on very low flame till the sugar is liquefied and turns golden brown in colour. DO NOT stir the sugar while it's melting.
3. Take a glass baking dish and pour caramelised sugar. Rotate the dish so that covers the bottom and sides of the baking dish. Now gently pour in the egg mixture without disturbing the caramel.
4. Take some water in a baking tray and place the prepared flan dish and bake in the preheated oven till it becomes firm. Insert a skewer to check if it's done. Once done remove from the oven and let cool completely.
5. When the pudding cooled down completely invert it on a serve plate and and place in the fridge till its time to serve. You can serve fresh fruit on the top of caramel custard.

Dry Garlic Chutney Recipe | Vada Pav Chutney Recipe | Orange Sandwich Chutney Recipe

After many failed attempts at this popular chutney I finally went to ask a local vada pav vendor. As expected the vada pav wala was reluctant to share his recipe (trade secrets you know!) But after repeated "uncle please batao nah kaise banate hai ye chutney, please batao" he finally agreed and shared his secret chutney recipe. He said most of the stall walas in the area use this same recipe for vada pav as well as sandwich chutney. I was pretty excited to try this recipe and decided to make this in that same day. And the result was surprisingly awesome! The chutney same in taste as that of street vada pav chutney!

How to make Vada Pav Chutney

Ingredients:

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup fried besan batter (you can reserve and use the besan droplets that while frying the vadas) OR use 1/2 cup khara boondi
1 tablespoon grated coconut
3-4 cloves of garlic with skin
1 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil

Method:

1. Combine bread crumbs, fried besan (or in have used crushed khara boondi) and grated coconut and run in food processor (you can use blender) for a minute so that it forms a uniform mixture.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add garlic crush with skin. When garlic starts to change colour add salt and red chili powder and immediately mix in the crumbs mixture. Give it a good mix and turn off the burner. The chutney is ready!

3. You can use this chutney with vada pav or bombay sandwich.