I Welcome myself back

Its been a long time since I posted anything, the main reason for the same was, BlogSpot was blocked in our office and the aircard takes ages to open the site and then post!!! So, what I have been doing is saving the creations in my drafts and now, posting it all for you!

R and I went for a quick vacation last weekend to Goa and stayed in this beautiful property called La Calypso. We stayed in a wooden cottage and the cottage was right next to the beach, so our days and nights were filled with the sounds of the sea and lovely breeze…it was magnificent!

While in Goa, I saw R freaking out on prawns, though I always knew that he enjoyed prawns, I was quite fascinated the way he was relishing them. So I decided to dig out this recipe which I had tried my hands with sometime back and now I post it for you all.

Frozen Prawns – 200gms
Salt - to taste
Pepper -- 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Vindallo masala - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves

Thaw the prawns and sprinkle salt, pepper and red chilly and keep aside for sometime (I normally keep it for half an hour or so and do the rest right before serving).

Now, I n a pan heat some oil (2tbsp) and stir fry the prawns( this should not be more than a min or 2). Once prawns turn pink in color, sprinkle the vindallo masala and add a few drops of water, so that the prawns are covered with the masala. Now transfer the same on to a plate, squeeze some lemon juice on the top (just a bit because Vindallo masala is a little sour in itself).

And now…sprinkle some coriander leaves and serve!

It goes really well as a starter/ snacks with drinks or even with chai on a rainy day!

Relish!!!!!

The fruit for January, 2008 is PAPAYA.

This is the first time i am participating in an event, and I hope you will like what i am sharing.

I love papaya as a fruit, which i normally have it with a bit of chaat masala and lime juice and I relish it big time. But after being married to a Bong, I was served various papaya dishes.... which I could not relate to simply because I come from a panju family and in our family, Papaya has always been treated like a fruit and not as something which one can make a main dish with.

Anyhow, I tried the dish and loved it and on a later stage tried my hands with raw papaya, and the results have been pretty good.

Here goes dish one. I don't know what to call it, so I name it 'Pepe Paturi' (papaya in Bengali is called pepe)

- 1 small raw papaya - grated

- 1 tbsp oil

- a small portion of Kaala Jeera /onion seeds/ kalongi

- 1/2 cup coconut milk/ fresh grated coconut.

- salt

- a pinch or two sugar

- a pinch turmeric

- green chillies

In a pan, heat some oil, once hot enough, add green chilies, then add kaala jeera. Then add the grated raw papaya with salt, sugar and turmeric. Cover the lid and put it on simmer for about 15 mins, stirring it occasionally. After 15 mins, add coconut milk or grated fresh coconut. Stir it nicely and let all the water evaporate.

And Tahda the dish is ready.

Serve it hot with rice or roti or poories. Its yummm!

This one is going for Nags 'AFAM - January' 08. Papaya'

Another very tasty dish out of Papaya is, the Raw papaya salad. You can click here to get the recipe. It's always a hit.

There is another dish, which more like a chutney, which I will share with you in my next post.

But people 'Papaya' rocks. Thanks Nags for nominating Papaya as the fruit of the month.

Cheers!!!