New Orleans Seafood Creole Gumbo with Okra

This recipe is from TLC. I was looking for something new after a long absence from the kitchen after Christmas 2014 when I found this on TLC. It turned out pretty well for a TLC recipe.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 350 grams shrimp, pealed and deveined
• 1 can crab meat or about 150 grams fresh crab meat
• Cayenne pepper to taste (can use chilli powder)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 250 grams okra, (Lady's finger) chopped
• 3 tbsp tomato paste (pureed and thickened)
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 cup chopped green onion (white part)
• 1/2 cup green onion (green part)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 1/2 cups shrimp broth
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (capsicum)

Preparation

• Heat oil in a pan, add okra and saute for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions & saute for about 5 minutes. Add green pepper and celery and saute for 10 minutes.
• Add tomato paste & garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
• Add shrimp broth & seasoning (cayenne pepper, salt and pepper). Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. 
• Add shrimp and simmer for 15 minutes to reduce liquid. Add crab meat while simmering. 
• Add green onion to the soup and switch off. Serve hot with rice.

Fish Cake

Recipe tweaked from: http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.in/2010/04/fish-cake-and-fish-balls-noodle-soup.html

Ingredients

• 500 grams king fish (seer fish) (or any fish of choice)
• Sesame oil for pan frying
• Vegetables of choice 

Preparation

• Remove flesh from king fish slices.
• Scrape flesh from skin and discard skin.
• Place all the fish meat on a chopping board and chop for 10 minutes.
• The fish will become slightly sticky as you chop. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to chop for another 10 minutes. The fish meat will now become a fish paste.
• Wet your hands slightly with water and roll the fish paste into flat elongate size.
• Steam for 10 minutes in boiling water, drain and pan fry in hot sesame oil.
• Allow to cool and cut into thin slices.
• Serve with raw vegetables of choice!

Appam & Vivikkam (Sweet Rice Cakes)

This is another traditional breakfast dish from Tirunelveli handed down to my mother from my dad's family. My mother still makes them and sends them over to me. I tried it for the first time and it turned out quite well! 

Makes about 12 to 15 appams (அப்பம்) or vivikka (விவிக்கா)  

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw rice
• 1/2 cup sour yogurt 
• 3 bananas (Poovan variety)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (You can add more or less to taste)
• Cashews and raisins, roasted in oil
• Oil for frying

Preparation

• Wash and soak rice in water for an hour. Drain it completely and dry on a clean cloth under a fan for 2 or 3 hours till completely dry.
• Put it in a mixer and grind it to a fine powder. Using a sieve separate the coarse granular flour (semolina texture) about 1/4 cup. Set the fine powder aside.
• Heat about 3/4 cup water in a sauce pan and add the coarse granular flour in it with a pinch of salt. keep stirring till it forms a paste. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
• Once it is cool, add the yogurt into it and mix well. 
• Now add the fine powder little by little and mix well to make a ball of dough.
• Allow it to ferment at least for 18 to 20 hours. 
• Mash bananas and sugar and add it to the fermented batter. Add the roasted cashews and raisins and mix well.

Appam

Appams

• Heat a non stick pan. Add a tsp. of oil. Take a little batter and drop it into the heated oil. Spread it and allow to cook. (It must cook well otherwise it can tear when flipping it over). Now flip it over and allow to cook on the other side. 
• Remove from heat and serve hot.

Vivikkam

Vivikka

• Grease idli plates, pour batter into them, steam for 5 to 7 minutes or till done.
• Serve hot.

Mallidha (Sweet Sticky Rice Cakes topped with Grated Coconut and Sugar)

This is a traditional dish from Tirunelveli district, handed down to my mother from my dad's aunt. Made from white sticky rice (vellai puttarisi), it used to be a favourite breakfast dish when we were kids. After many years, I tried it and it turned out great!

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sticky rice
• 1 cup grated coconut
• Salt to taste
• Sugar to taste

Preparation

• Wash and drain sticky rice well. Spread it on a clean cloth to dry under a fan. After it has completely dried, (about 2 to 3 hours) grind it into fine powder. Using a sieve, separate the coarse granular flour and grind it again into fine powder. 
• Boil about 1 1/2 cups water and add it to the powder with a little salt to make a ball of dough.
• Divide into 5 equal portions and shape each portion with hand into a patty of about 7 to 8 cm in diameter and about 1 cm thick.
• Boil water in a sauce pan and drop each patty into it. When it is cooked it will come up to the top. Take it out with a spatula, set on a plate and drop the next patty into the boiling water. Continue till all the patties are cooked.
• Mix grated coconut with sugar and spread on the top of each cake. Stack them one over the other, 3 or 5 in a stack as much as you can eat.

Watermelon - Apple Green Smoothie with Pear and Spinach

Recipe from: http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/recipes/watermelon-smoothie-recipes-and-nutrition/

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 3 cups watermelon, seeds removed and diced
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 large handful spinach
• Sugar, sweetener or honey as required (My addition)

Preparation

• Blend diced watermelon in a mixer till smooth. 
• Dunk spinach in boiled water for 30 seconds, drain and cool in ice water. (You could use raw spinach if you like the raw flavour. The taste is the same, though!)
• Blend apple and carrot in a mixer till smooth. Add spinach and pulse till smooth. Add the watermelon juice and sugar and pulse till everything is blended. 
• Pour in a glass and serve. 

Pomegranate - Apple Green Smoothie with Carrot and Spinach

Recipe from: http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/recipes/pomegranate-smoothie-recipes-and-nutrition/

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large handful spinach
• Sugar, sweetener or honey as required (My addition)
  

Preparation

• Dunk spinach in boiled water for 30 seconds, drain and cool in ice water. (You could use raw spinach if you like the raw flavour. The taste is the same, though!)
• Blend apple and carrot in a mixer till smooth. Add spinach and pulse till smooth. Add the pomegranate juice and sugar and pulse till everything is blended. 
• Pour in a glass and serve. 

Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Pear and Hazelnuts

Recipe tweaked a little from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-pomegranate-salad-with-pears-hazelnuts/print

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 large handful of spinach
• 1/4 pear, cut into match sticks
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (Use fresh if you get)
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped (Almonds can also be used instead) 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Dunk in spinach for about 30 seconds and drain. Pour in cold water, drain and set aside.
• In a small saucepan boil pomegranate juice till reduced to 1/3. Let cool. Whisk in olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper. 
• In a large bowl gently mix pomegranate seeds, spinach and hazelnuts with the dressing. 
• Arrange pear on salad and serve.