Fish pickle

Pickles

Pickles add to the spiciness of life. You make it once and use it for months together, so they help you to make life easier. Most of the people love to eat pickles but might not be the healthiest dish. An old saying goes that eating too much pickles may create an acidity problem in the stomach. May be because the pickling process creates some acids as part  of the fermentation.

We can make pickle with almost any food item. Different people prepares pickles in different ways. In many traditional households, they have their own process of preparing and preserving pickles. Pickling is the process of preserving or expanding the life span of food either by anaerobic fermentation (meaning fermentation without air, in a tightly closed jar) in brine (solution of salt) or immersion in vinegar.

Fish Pickle

Today let me write about how to make a non-vegetarian pickle, which is made out of shark fish. This  pickle makes me feel nostalgic because this is one of the best dishes of my mother used to send me to the hostel during my collage days. Whenever I see the fish pickle that reminds me of how me and my friends used to compensate the tasteless mess food with the spicy and tasty home prepared pickles that many of us have brought with us.


Typically fish pickle can be made with shark, sardine, butter fish (moda), seer fish, prawns etc., except mackerel. Here we will used dried shark, and not the fresh shark.

Ingredients:

1) Shark Fish,dry                1 Kg(Cut in to small square pieces and soaked in water about 8 hours, for to remove its salt);
2) Ginger                           1 tbsp, cut in to thin slices;
3) Garlic                           8 cloves;cut in to slices;
4) Green chilly                  6 no(slit through center);
5) Kashmiri chilly powder        2 tbsp;               
6) Curry leaves                   1 spring;
7) Mustard                       1 tsp;
8) Coconut oil                   As needed;
9) Vinegar                       1 tbsp;
10)Salt                         As needed;

Marination

1) Kashmiri chilly powder     2 tablespoon;
2) Turmeric powder            1/2 tsp;
3) Salt 
4) Oil                        For Frying ;   

Method of preparation:

1. Marinate the cleaned fish  with Kashmiri chilly powder (2 tsp), Turmeric powder (1/2 tsp) and salt. Keep this for half an hour. Heat oil in a pan & fry the fish. Keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and sprinkle in mustard seeds,When they start sputtering add curry leaves, garlic, ginger and chilly pieces, stir well. To this add chilly powder, add fried fish pieces. Switch off the flame and add vinegar. Mix everything well. After it cools down, keep it in glass jar or bottle.

Sandwich with corn

Reminds you of Subway? Well if you or your children are addicted to those footlong Subway sandwiches, then here are some other options for you to try at home. And let's make it a bit 'desi' by adapting the filling a bit.


Sandwiches are typically made by wrapping some food items such as vegetables, sliced cheese or meat between two or more pieces of bread that serve as a container or wrapper. Children today like to take sandwiches as part of lunch, taken to school. Though sandwiches are widely available in restaurants and cafes, they can be very easily made at homes as well. When you make them at home, you can choose to include healthy food within the the wrap, thus making sure that you get the right nutrition out of it.


Today let me introduce one sandwich, which has some healthy vegetables wrapped inside. It contains corn along with carrot, tomatoes and onions as the filing. In this Sandwich I also used cream cheese, especially to make the bread softer and make the sandwich tastier for the children.

Ingredients:


Steamed corn: 1 bowl,
Onion (big): medium size, cut in to cube shapes,
Carrot : 1no (cut in to small pieces),
Tomato sauce: As needed (I typically use 1 table spoon),

Capsicum: One piece (cut into thin pieces),
Salt: As needed
Ghee or oil: As needed


Method of Preparation


Take one pan pour some ghee into this. Add the onion pieces, saute the onions. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the carrot pieces and salt. Saute it well. Once they are cooked well, add the steamed corn and tomato sauce. Mix everything well and, switch off the flame. Keep it aside.

Take two bread slices, and spread some cream cheese on the top. Fill the mixture in between the two slices. Put it in the sandwich maker or a pan. Your sandwich will be ready in 5 minutes.