Happy Recipe

Ingredients:
1. 250 gm medium size prawns.
2.Green Chillies 5-6.
3.Coconut Milk 200 ml.
4.Onion 1.
5.Garlic.
6.Bay leaves.
Method:
1.Wash the prawns and marinate with salt turmeric and lil. mustard oil for 30 mins.
2.Chopp the onions, and garlic finely.
3.Slit the green chillies.
4.Take 2 tbsp of mustard oil in a non stick fry pan, when its hot add the bay leaves and fry for 1 min.
5.Add the chopped garlic and then the onions, fry for 2-3 mins.
6.Add the green chillies and fry for another 5 mins in low flame.
7.Add lil. turmeric powder and then the coconut milk.
8. Bring it to a boil and add the marinated prawns, cook for another 20-25 mins in low flame.
9.Garnish with coriender leaves....you'll sure want to have more.
I had this prawn curry when I was in Ahmedabad and could never forget the wonderful taste. I had almost forgotten the recipe as I had not cooked this curry this long, mainly because coconut milk is not available here and I buy coconut milk when I travel out of Tripura. This curry made me happy and I had another yummy & happy dinner.

The best ever breakfast

The other day I had this really yummy chicken dish I decided to make it myself so I bought chicken from the not-so-clean Lakechoumuni Market and cleaned it for over 30 mins, I am not too with the way the meat is sold there but I bought 500 gms anyways. The recipe is super duper simple:

1. Cut chicken into small pieces.

2.Grind abt 20 green chillies.

3.2 thinly/finely sliced onion.

4.1 large garlic cut into small pieces.

Marinate the chicken with lil. salt and lil haldi and keep it for abt 30 mins.

In a non stick frypan, add abt 1 tbsp of oil (I used Olive oil) and fry the garlic, when it turns golden brown add the finely chopped onion and the green chillies. Fry for about 10 mins in low flame. Add the chicken and mix all the items together. Cook on low flame till chicken is done and have it wiit rumali roti. I had this for breakfast on sunday and felt so good abt making something new yet so yummy.

Food and me

What do I do when m really happy?
I treat myself. It can be a yummy black forest cake, Ilish mach, Ras gulla or anything yummy.
What do I do to decrease stress level after work?
I cook and sometimes I cook and do not eat, its funny but I do that sometimes.
What do I do when I am sad :(.
I eat...anything and everything.
When do I feel happy.
a) When I eat something I really like.
b) When I cook something really yummy like the ilish mach, biryani, fried rice, ooti, iromba etc etc.
c)When I reinvent a new dish with my own additions and it turns out really yummy.

Italian Khana @ Diva

My trip to Delhi this time was as usual about me going almost every places in search of good food. I had the best veg momo's from a really small corner shop @ Vasant Goan to the best of Italian khana at the upmarket GK 2. I have read and seen alot of tv shows on Italian khana and abt the restaurant Diva, famous for its Italian Food. I wanted to visit and try italian food since long and this happened last Sunday, I have almost no knowledge of Italian food except for Pizzas and spaghetti (macaroni's) and I went to Diva with a lot of expectations...I ordered a Spaghetti alla Chitarra con peperoni e salsicie (NV) Hand made "guitar string" pasta with a robust sauce of spicy sausages, peas and fennel, not knowing what Guitar String pasta in real life is nothing else but the very normal noodle...was I disappointed well not too much but yeah...I kind of cursed myself for not ordering something else. The food was not that great but ambiance was good and location of course is superb.

I will definitely visit Diva again to try some other interesting food and maybe try Anatra arrosto al miele con arancia -Honey-roasted duck with baby potatoes and aromatic herbs .

Momo's and happiness

Their was a time when having momo was = happiness, that was during my student days. The nearest and the best momo's were available only at Momo's Point, Kamala Nagar (I still love the momo's) and it was abt twice a month that I used to treat myself with momo's...well that was 10 years back and now momo's are available everywhere...every galli and almost all fastfood joints in Delhi sell momo's from Ramu, Shamu to Mainland China, Ramu and Shamu calls it Momo but Mainland China and other fancy restaurant calls it "Dimsum" but giving it a fancy name doesnt change the taste. Momo has sure changed from the exclusive and only avialable @ xyz, now its available everywhere and Ramu, Shamu se lekar sab koi momo ka business jamma diya hai...and with the new development.changes Am I happy....of yeah I am super happy....last time I was in Delhi had some really good momo's at Sarojini Nagar and this time at this really small food joint at Vasant Kunj, for 20 bucks a plate...its a loot.Mumbai and Ahmedabad were two cities where I was momo starved, thankfully in Agartala I can atleast have momo's whenever I want but its far from where I live and its expensive. I love to eat momo's and even bought the momo making container though I have never attempted making momo's but if ramu and shamu can make business from selling momo's from a galli then I should make momo's for my own happiness.

The yummy things I cooked

October was a month full of cooking yummy food and eating loads of yummy food. I want home..twice, the 1st time as part of my yearly break during Durga Puja and 2nd time for official work. Each time I ended up carrying back tons of veggies, I always get veggies back whenever I go home I end up buying almost all kinds of veggies available at Nagamapal keithel from maroi nakuppi to maroi napakpi to cauliflower to thambou to ou morok. I love to buy veggies at the Nagamapal keithel but the most annoying part abt buying veggies is the dirt and garbbage piled up near the keithel. When I was home I invited my fren "A" and her Husband "G" for lunch and ended up cooking the most yummy meitei style chicken after the one at D's place...was I happy??? oh yeah I was super happy.....I always thought I can't cook meitei style chicken but I was wrong! with the right ingredients and an iron kadhai I can sure cook yummiest meitei style chicken. The cook in me tried different things this month and the most succesful in all my attempts was the "maroi nakuppi paknam", I had never tried making paknam but always wanted to, the problem with making it was the availability of turmeric leaves but this time I managed to get one during one of my field visits and with lil help from "A" I got the recipe right and bingo...my paknam turned out to be as good as that of my mom's. I do plan to make paknam next time I visit home and surprise mom with my recipe of a very popular meitei dish.