Simple Stir-Fried Cauliflower - Bhaja Phool Kopi

 

Bhaja Phool Kopi

Cauliflower ranks at the top of my list of favourite vegetables. I like this recipe because the true taste of the cauliflower comes through since its made with minimal spices and cooked until al dente. Be free to chop and fry onions and garlic until golden brown, but my shortcut is to use ready made deep-fried onions and garlic. The cauliflower is seasoned very simply with turmeric, salt and roasted cumin seed powder. I get a bottle of McCormick cumin seeds, roast them in a dry skillet, cool and grind in a coffee grinder (that I reserve for grinding spices) to a fine powder. The ground cumin seeds are stored in the bottle and used as needed.

Serve with chapatis, pilau or biryani and raita.

Smelts Cooked with Unripe Mangoes

Smelts with Unripe Mangoes

Mango Fish reminds me of our life in Rangoon (now known as Yangon). Mum made this dish with Topshe Mach or Mango Fish at the start of the mango season when green, unripe mangoes are plentiful. In North America, frozen, unripe mangoes are available in Bangladeshi markets. I've made this with smelts, but any filleted fish or fish steaks can be used in this recipe.

Crab Claws Curry

 

Crab Claws Curry

Rock crab claws at our local supermarket looked so clean and tempting. There was a little over a pound of claws in the package which was perfect because I will be the only one eating them. Hubby is not fond of anything that has to be picked at, so a simple filleted fish curry will suit him.

Cooking the Crab Claws

A few tips before I dive into the recipe. First of all, make sure to use a nut cracker to crack the claws, and break apart each segment before cooking. It was a mess doing that while eating. Secondly, the claws came frozen and I dropped them into the gravy as is. They thawed and cooked over medium-low heat to perfection. And last but not least, I loved cooking them this way because this is a dump-and-go recipe. Make sure the gravy ingredients are minced so that the gravy comes out smooth and delicious when cooked. 

This is best served with hot, steamed rice.

Serving Suggestion

Burmese Meat Curry - အသားဟင်း a thaa hin

 

Burmese Meat Curry

I call this Meat Curry because the recipe can be used to cook any kind of meat. Beef Curry is called Ametha Hin and Pork Curry is called Wetha Hin. I used lamb leg, but I don't know what lamb is called in Burmese. One translation calls it Soetha Hin, but I'm not sure if that's correct.

The process is pretty simple and all the ingredients are readily available. Pieces of meat are marinated in a coarse paste of onions, garlic, tomatoes and paprika or soaked dried chilies. I used a pressure cooker to tenderize the meat for half an hour, but it can also be simmered on the stovetop for 2 hours. If a pressure cooker is used, it should be removed from the heat and left undisturbed (after the half hour of cooking) to de-pressurize naturally, which takes 15-20 minutes. After all the steam dissipates and depending on how much liquid remains, the curry needs to be simmered to reduce the gravy until the oil resurfaces.