Flavours Of India

If there are food items which are traditional to India as well as they have the touch of foreign lands then it has to be the sea-food. Because no other food item prepared in India style has any sort of similarity with western country. But the other recipes have similarity with food prepared in neighboring countries like – Afghanistan (Afghani Chicken), Pakistan (Chicken Chengezi), Nepal (Rice puddings), Bangladesh (Rice and Fish Curries). Thus Indian food with foreign touch is exclusively the sea-food.

Foreign style food prepared in restaurants is not talked about. The food which people of India eat in general is talked about. And the sea food recipes are some which have some amount of foreign touch in them like baking, roasting and use of sauce along with them. Here are few recipes of sea food with foreign touch.

Baked Oyster

You need:
½ cup butter, 2 stalks celery, ½ cup floor, ½ cup sweet green peas, 2 cups of oyster juice, 2 cups of milk, 1 pie shell, 2 tbspoon Red pimiento (Charred) and salt and pepper for taste.

Cut the celery stalks and green pepper into dices. Drain the oysters. Store the oysters and juice. Heat the butter in a pan. Add diced celery and green pepper. Stir it with flour and cook it for 5 minutes. Keep the prepared stuff aside. Mix the milk with oyster juice and cook the mixture till it turns thick. Add salt and pepper. Add the red pimiento and oyster juice. Stir well; pour the mixture into a greased dish. Top the mixture with pie shells. Bake them at 375 degrees till they are golden brown in color. Your baked oyster is ready.

Cheese Prawn

You need:
50 gm of cheese, ¼ kg of prawns (deveined and boiled), 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tbsp chilly sauce, 3 boiled potatoes boiled and mashed,, ¾ mustard sauce, 1 tbsp Soya sauce, ½ tbsp salt, ¾ tbsp pepper powder, 1 tomato chopped, 1 onion chopped and fresh green coriander leaves chopped into fine fishes.

Mix the cheese sauce with prawns. Add the mustard sauce, chilly sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix the mashed potatoes and mixture well. Take a baking dish and grease it well with butter. Pour the mixture of potatoes and sauce in it and garnish it with onion and tomatoes. Add the prawns mixed with cheese sauce. Bake it in oven in 200 degree centigrade for 5 minutes. Your cheese prawn dish is ready to be served. Top the plate with coriander leaves and serve it with toasted buns.

The seafood recipes of India prepared in Indian style has different flavors of them. Though they are cooked and prepared in different styles in big restaurants by chefs, but the common man of India cook them in home completely in Indian style spreading the sweet aroma around the corners. Here are few Indian seafood recipes that you can try in your home and have a taste of it.

Tuna Curry

You would require ingredients for 4 servings. The cooking time would take approximately 15-20 minutes depending on your preparation and collection of recipes. It is a Kerala style non-vegetarian dish. 

You would require:
300gm tuna filled in oil, one cup of coconut grated, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, 5 green chillies choppedfinely, 1 tbsp chopped ginger, 1 large onion finely chopped, 1 tbsp coriander-powder, ½ tbsp turmeric powder, 2 tbsp red chilly powder, 1 tbsp fine tamarind paste, 1 spring of curry leaves, salt for taste and ½ cup water.

Make a kind of coarse paste with all the ingredients and grated coconut. But don’t use the water, tamarind, and curry leaves now. Add little amount of water if required while grinding is done. Take the paste in a pan. Now add water to the paste and also the curry leaves and tamarind paste. Take a spoon to mix all well and bring them to boil. Pour the grated coconut paste to it and water too. Cook till fine gravy is prepared. Open the can of tuna fish. Don’t forget to drain off the oil. Put the tuna fishes in the boiling mixture in the pan. Cover the pan with a good lid and cook for at least 5 minutes. When the gravy is coarse the tuna is cooked. Serve the hot curry of tuna with bread or rice.

Shrimp in Spicy Sauce

You would require:
¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 lb small raw shrimp de-veined and shelled, 2 small onions chopped finely, 1 clove garlic, ½ crushed red pepper, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 tomato chopped to fine pieces, 1 green bell pepper thinly sliced into rings, 1 tbsp packed brown sugar, ½ tbsp salt for taste and freshly grounded pepper.

Heat the oil in skillet till it is hot. Now add the onions and garlic and red pepper and sauté till they turn pink. Now add the shrimp and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Simmer without covering the pan till the shrimp are tender. The shrimp in spicy sauce is ready to serve with fresh bread.