Stir-Fried Peas, Potatoes and Spinach

Karaishuti, Alu r Shaak Bhaja

I’ve noticed that if spinach is cooked uncovered, it retains its bright green color.

As a shortcut, I used deep-fried onions and garlic today instead of fresh. Vegans may omit ghee from the list of ingredients.

Catfish in Coconut Gravy

Magur Maach'er Malai Curry

Malai (cream) Curry usually refers to chicken, fish or shrimp cooked in coconut milk.  This fish curry is perfect for a hot and humid day or if someone in the family is feeling unwell.  It's light and delicious and goes well with steamed rice.

No-Cook Frozen Srawberry 'Cheesecake'

Frozen Strawberry 'Cheesecake'

This dessert was inspired by a recipe I found on the Taste of Home website. I used sweetened strawberries and omitted the sugar from the original recipe. Also, instead of making a blueberry sauce, I served it with the juices from frozen strawberries. It's one way to satisfy a craving for cheesecake without having to heat up the whole house by baking in the oven for 2 hours. Transfer the frozen dessert from freezer to fridge a couple of hours before serving and slice with a serrated knife.

Peach Jello Blancmange

Peach Jello Blancmange

This recipe was inspired by one on the Taste of Home website. Blancmange (blah-manjh) is a French dessert that is made with milk and gelatin, akin to Italian panna cotta. This is made with Cool Whip instead and orange jello. It's very quick and easy to assemble, tastes divine, transports well and is a cool, velvety dessert for these dog days of summer.

Chicken Feet and Fish Ball Laksa

Chicken Feet and Fish Ball Laksa

For a speedy lunch yesterday, a package of instant laksa noodle soup was simmered with laksa sauce and coconut powder (both included in the package of noodle soup), 2 chicken's feet, 2 bulbs of baby bok choy and 6 fried-frozen fish balls. A heartwarming and delicious lunch was ready in 5 minutes!

All the ingredients were picked up at our local 168 Asian Mart, a top quality supermarket in which to spend an afternoon. The chicken's feet were cleaned and pre-cooked with green chili peppers and red chili sauce. There are lots of other exotic cooked goodies in that section!

Mum's Peppery Cabbage

Morich'er Bandha Kopi

All of Mum's recipes that I have posted on this food blog reflect her nurturing. In spite of her busy schedule during the week, she devoted her weekends to bonding with the lot of us through the meals she prepared. Neighbours would drop by, tempted by the aromas emanating from her kitchen, and were always welcome to share our meals.

Cabbage is such a bland vegetable, but no one could work miracles with it like Mum did. I've made this from memory with some adaptations. For example, Mum would have used black pepper powder in place of white and would have garnished this dish with ghee, rather than coconut oil. I wanted to keep the coconut theme going and wanted the colour to remain white, which is why I used white pepper powder. The cabbage is cooked just until done, but still crisp, with loads of garlic and white pepper powder. Served as a side dish, it goes well with rice or chapatis.

Oven-Baked Begun Bhaja

Oven-Baked Eggplant

Frying eggplant on the stove top consumes a lot of oil. The eggplant acts like a sponge and soaks up the oil almost on contact. I prefer to bake the eggplant until it turns golden brown. I learned the scoring method from a 'foodie' on Facebook which ensures thick slices of eggplant bake evenly all the way through. I've cut Indian eggplants in half which work well in this recipe.

Chicken in Cashew, Mustard and White Poppy Seed Sauce

Kaju Shorshe Posto Murgi

This dish was inspired by a Facebook post for Shrimp cooked in cashew and white poppy seed sauce. After a number of adaptations, this is what I arrived at. It was made with chicken instead of shrimp with the addition of lime juice and mustard paste which completely changed the flavour and aroma of the original recipe.