basmati - Travels for Taste

I cannot believe we are already into March 2016 – time truly does fly past at lightening speed. Of all the firm resolutions and changes for 2016 I am glad I have managed to stay true to my money saving ideas if not the ‘I shall blog 3 times a week’ or ‘ I will exercise at least 3 days every week’ type of resolutions.

One of the many things I have changed about how we manage our monthly budget on a single income is by doing batch cooking and also being mindful of where I buy my groceries from. Apart from the many sensible tips one can find for WHEN and WHERE to shop and how to make good with various supermarket offers, I also have some rules for my top 5 fresh ingredients for Indian cooking. Here they are:

Always buy fresh coriander bunches and curry leaves from your local Indian shop or Pakistani/Bangladeshi butcher shop – they sell larger bunches and you can buy two big fresh bunches for £1
Ginger – I make fresh ginger tea very often – the famous Indian masala tea or as we call it in Marathi – ‘chaha’ – again I buy a huge chunk of fresh ginger for much less from my Indian grocery and vegetable shop
Garlic – most of my Indian curry and vegetable recipes use a lot of ginger, garlic and red onion and this is another item I bulk buy from my local LIDL – they sell cute mini baskets with at least 5-6 big bulbs of garlic – deal!
Red onions – most Indian shops or Pakistani/Bangladeshi butcher shops stock sacks of red onion – 5 or 10 kilos at rates much lower than your local supermarket – I generally stock up and though that means having to sort these out and process them quickly, it’s totally worth it. I chop the best ones and store them in my fridge in an air-tight container. The not so fresh ones quickly become puree’ for curries and stews and go into my freezer.
Dried lentil packets, Rice – especially Basmati , Chapati Atta – flour to make rotis and chapatis – I hunt for deals on various supermarket websites and at my local stores and only buy the ones that give the best deal. I prefer to go in the afternoon just after noon so I can concentrate on checking out the offers minus having the store flooded with school going kids.

I truly envy those skilled enough to grow their own herbs and that is one of my top TO-DO’s this year – a container garden! More on this sometime later though and I hope these tips prove useful to all you thrifty shoppers out there. Now, I am guest hosting #CreditCrunchMunch for March 2016

For those of you have not heard about #CreditCrunchMunch (and for the regulars – a re-cap) , here are some cool ideas that you can consider when linking up:

Dishes using cheaper ingredients – cheap cuts of meat or vegetarian
Meals using leftovers
Meals using up the ends of packets
Substitutions of cheaper ingredients
Packed lunches
Meals that use less energy to cook
Pressure cooking
Slow cooking
Faster cooking – less oven time for example
Batch cooking for the freezer
Sustainable foods
Food you have grown yourself
Meals from reduced food in the supermarket

How to take part in CREDIT CRUNCH MUNCH:

Simply blog about any money saving idea or recipe that is vaguely food related. We do a full round up so I will be mentioning all the recipes that are submitted.

There are a few very simple rules:

Please link to this post, and the Credit Crunch Munch pages on Fab Food 4 All Fuss Free Flavours
Please use the Credit Crunch Munch Badge
Tweet using #CreditCrunchMunch and tag me @manjirichitnis @FabFood4All & @FussFreeHelen
Closing date – last day of the month – 31st March 2016
You are welcome to link up one or two old posts, but please republish them
By entering you are agreeing to let us use an image from your entry on this site, and to pin to Pinterest
If blogging a recipe from elsewhere on the internet or a book please be mindful of copyright
But feel free to send to as many other events as you like, let’s help everyone save money!
Please visit a few other blogs who take part plus comment and share
This is a blog hop so please grab the code and share the linky on your site too.We look forward to seeing your entries!

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Flavours of Konkan

When anyone asks me what I would like as my LAST meal,I always say I’d like some fried pomfret so naturally, when I go Indian grocery shopping I always check for this fish. Though I must admit, nothing beats the flavours one gets from fresh fish. But well, just have to make do with frozen fish as the one I love is a Pomfret local to waters of the Indian Ocean.

This is a relatively simple recipe and does not require much effort but the marination is key as it can really give depth of flavour which is what we need.

I had 3 of these beauties to cook and couldn’t resist getting them to pose for my camera all dressed with the dangerously delicious spices that I rubbed into the fillets.

Pomfret with all the spices that are used in the curry.

Okay, it’s relatively easy making fillets after this fish has thawed thoroughly as it has very few bones, I like to remove the bit in the front with the eyes and the tail and also remove the fins then make fillets the size fit for a curry or fry.

Pompfret Fish Curry

Heirloom recipe, a traditional CKP style fish curry

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 medium-sized Silver Pomfret
2 tbsp Coriander and green chillipaste
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1.5 tsp Red Chilli powder
1 tsp Turmeric
3 – 4 Cloves Garlic withskin on
2 tbsp Grated coconut
1 small pinch Asafoetida/Hing
2 tbsp Refined oil
1/4 Lime – juiced
Salt to taste

Instructions

Wash thoroughly and marinate with redchilli powder, turmeric,salt ,ginger- garlic paste,coriander-green chilli paste and set aside for at least 40 minutes.
After the marination is done,heat oilin a saucepan,add asafoetida just a tiny spritz and throw in the crushedgarlic cloves with their skins on. As soon as they start to brown add the marinatedfish n toss it around for about half a minute.
Add enough water to cover the fishand cook on a low flame.
As the water begins to boil add inthe finely grated fresh coconut and stir in well till the curry is nice andthick.
Simmer till the fish is cooked andsqueeze the lime into it.
Serve with steaming hot riceand allow yourself to enjoy this simple yet classic fish curry, an everydayfare in the houses along the coast of Konkan and a great treat in ours.

Keyword CKP recipe, fish curry, Pompfret

These beautiful flowers are on stalks of fresh spring onion!! Unexpected, I know right?!! My ma (in-law) very patiently chopped these stalks and created this cute little spring onion floral display and the whole idea of this photograph with books we are currently reading is hers.

Bengali Bhaja with spring onions and potatoes

I was so excited to see them and had to buy myself two bunches and look for a Bengali Bhaja or bhaji (Marathi) sabji/sabzee (Hindi). Found a lovely food blog called ‘Hamaree Rasoi’.