Orange Shrimp

Hi Sea food lovers, I bet you gonna love this recipe. Shrimp coated with a delicate batter, cooked in sesame oil to perfection which remains the shrimp juicy and coated with a tangy and sweet orange sauce. Orange shrimp is an Chinese delicacy with oceanic flavor.

Let's chit-chat about shrimp vs Prawn for some time

Every time when I cook shrimp (In America) or prawn (In India), I wonder wants the difference between shrimp and prawn. No worries, world is in our hands in the form of small device. We can find every thing in it. Finally came to know that, Shrimp will be small in size, with small legs and have claws only on two pairs, where Prawn will be large in size with large legs and have claws on three pairs. In India, we use the word prawn exclusively, as in America the word shrimp is used more.

Let's see how to cook Shrimp or Prawn

Shrimp and prawn may vary in size and cost but they almost taste alike. Shrimp and prawn will take very less time to cook and if they are cooked for long time they will become rubbery. Uncooked shrimp will be straight. When they are cooked,  they will turn into pink and curled into C shape. If they are over cooked they will turn into O shape.

Take egg white and add cornstarch, little salt and whisk  till frothy.

Throw in shrimp and coat them with the batter

Heat oil in a pan and fry shrimp .

Flip to the other side, cook and keep aside.

To the same pan add little oil and saute the chopped garlic for a sec.

Add orange juice, soy sauce, little salt, brown sugar and cook till
sauce thickens.

Add shrimp to the sauce and coat well with the sauce

Ingredients

• Shrimp - 1 lb
• Egg white - 1
• Cornstarch - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Sesame Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Spring onion for garnishing

For Sauce

• Fresh Orange Juice - 1/2 cup
• Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
• Soy sauce - 1 tsp
• Garlic cloves- 2, chopped
• Brown Sugar - 1/2 tsp or to taste (We can also use white sugar or honey)
• Red Chili Flakes - 1 tsp (optional, I skipped them)
• Salt to taste

Preparation

• Peel and clean the shrimp and let them dry by placing them on a kitchen towel.
• Crack egg and separate white and yoke.
• To the egg white add cornstarch, little salt and whisk it until there are no lumps and little frothy.
• Add the shrimp to the mixture and coat shrimp well and let it sit for  5 to 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan, add shrimp and cook them. When they turn pink on side flip them to the other side and cook. (Don't over cook them). Dish-out and keep them aside.
• For Sauce, add oil to the same pan, when oil is hot enough add garlic and saute for a minute. Add orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and little salt and cook till the sauce become little thick for 5 minutes. If you want to make it spicy add chili flakes.
• Add shrimp to the sauce and toss them till they are well coated with sauce. Switch off the stove.
• Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Read More

Butter Garlic Baked Fish Fillets

If you want to introduce fish to your kid this is the recipe you must try. My kid love Butter garlic baked fish. Not only kids, even adults will love this baked fish. With few ingredients, in no time we can do magic. In India, we mostly prepare spicy curries and spicy appetizers with fish. Sometimes, it will be nice and fun if we try something new like baking a fish, isn't it? Let's do it. Take a fish fillet, sprinkle some seasoning, bake it and enjoy it.

Ingredients

• Tilapia Fillet - 1(Any fish fillet can be used)
• Onion - 1, small
• Capsicum - 1, small
• Tomato - 1
• Seasoning
• Garlic - 1, chopped
• Garlic butter - 1 Tbsp (*Note)
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp(optional)
• Dry Basil - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Preparation

• Clean fish fillet and sprinkle all the ingredients except butter on fish fillet and rub them. Keep the fish in fridge for 15 minutes.
• Heat a pan, add little butter or oil and fry all the veggies for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Line a foil in a pan and keep aside.
• Take the fish fillet from the fridge and move to the pan lined with foil, add butter, veggies and fold the foil and cover the fish.
• Bake the fish for 12 to 15 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.
• Transfer baked fish carefully into a serving plate and enjoy.

Note

• If you don't have garlic butter, chop two or three garlic cloves and cook them in 1 tbsp butter for 2 to 3 minutes.

Read More

Peethala Pulusu / Crab cooked in Tamarind Sauce // Crab legs(Chelipeds) Pulp Curry

I have craving to cook crab for my husband as he love crab curry. So last time when I went to India I learned how to clean and cook crab. After coming back to Dallas I found two types of crabs in Chinese market. One is blue crab and it's size is almost the same as Indian crab. The other one  is very big compared to Indian crab but same in color and one of my friend told me that this one will taste good when fried. I doubted to buy blue crabs for many months as I don't know how they taste, but When I tasted them in one Chinese restaurant, I fell in love with them. They tasted so good.   

Today's recipe is Peethala Pulusu/Crab cooked in tamarind sauce is famous in Coastal Andhra. Guddu Peethalu/Crab with eggs are very famous in East Godavari which are seasonal and available during the months of July and Augusta. 

Why adding green chilies and Lady's Finger:

Adding them is optional, but green chilies cooked in tamarind sauce taste so good.

In Andhra, We mostly cook Non-vegetarian along with a veggie. For pulusu/tamarind sauce based curries we prefer lady's finger or egg plant as they complement tamarind sauce very well.

When it taste good and what we must always remember:

Peethala Pulusu will taste good after 6 to 8 hours. If we prepare in the morning it will taste good in the evening. 

When we taste the pulusu/sauce, we may feel the spiciness and tanginess is perfect or little more, but after few hours they will go down. If you feel the spiciness and tanginess is more don't worry. If you feel they are perfect add little more.

Today's Second recipe was Crab legs Pulp Curry. Chelipeds are the front large legs of crab. In the market where my dad used to bring crab, these legs are sold separately and every time we must tell them we want them. Some people will add them to the pulusu/curry. But my mom boil them, take the pulp out and make curry. She use onion paste to prepare this curry but I am using chopped onion. This is one of my favorite curry.

Peethala Pulusu / Crab cooked in Tamarind Sauce

Ingredients:

• Crabs - 3
• Onion -1, Medium size
• Green Chilies - 3
• Bendakaya/Lady's Finger - 5 no.
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 Tbsp
• Tamarind - 1 big lemon size
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chili powder - 3 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Oil - 4 Tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves - 2 springs

Preparation ahead:

Blue Crab

• Soak tamarind in warm water and extract thick juice.
• Remove the shell from the crab and remove waste like gills and yellow stuff.
• Clean crab thoroughly and make into two pieces. We mush clean it properly to remove the waste and smell.
• Remove the front large front legs, Chelipeds and keep aside. We can make curry with the pulp inside that. If they are small we can add to our pulusu/Curry.
• Wash and cut lady's finger into medium sized pieces.
• Grind Onion into coarse paste, slit green chilies.

Let's Make Pulusu:

• Heat oil in a pan, add curry leaves, onion paste and cook till onion paste turn into golden brown and there is no raw smell.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add tamarind juice, some more water (Upto 2 cups), lady's finger pieces and cook till the pieces are almost done. (If plan to add egg plant, add them to the tamarind sauce along with crab as they cook fast).
• Add crab, salt, green chilies and cook on medium for 10 minutes or till oil oozes out.
• Serve with rice.

Crab Legs(Chelipeds) Pulp Curry:

Ingredients:

• Chelipeds/Crab front legs - 6
• Onion - 1, medium size
• Curry leaves - 1 spring
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil - 2 Tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

• Boil water in a vessel and dip chelipeds and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Take them out and let them cool.
• Now hit them with a pestle (Don't crush them) and remove the pulp and keep aside.

Let's Prepare Curry:

• Heat oil, add curry leaves, chopped onion (We can also use onion paste) and cook till onion turn golden brown.
• Add  ginger-garlic paste and all spice powders, turmeric powder and cook for 5 minutes on low flame..
• Add pulp from crab, coriander leaves and cook until oil oozes and Serve with rice.

Read More