Rava surmai fry with mustard-mayo dip

My love for sea fish has  developed recently whereas PB has always been so fond of it. Though he never insisted me to cook them at home because of my disliking. Once we had guest at home over dinner & I didn't manage to get any other fish and had to buy some frozen basa fillets. I just made a pan fried basa but tasted awesome and that's how my sea fish cooking has begun at home. Then on our recent trip to Chennai and Pondicherry, fish and chips was a regular in our menu which we all three enjoyed to the fullest. After coming back home we  missed it so much that PB got surmai and basa  last weekend. I didn't check for any recipe for the surmai to prepare, whereas Basa fish I have made before as I have mentioned already. So I thought to use my own basic ideas to prepare the batter for marination and deep fry  them. My little girl who is not very fond of fish too liked the fish fry and as she always compliments me with her words "Mamma you are a great COOKER" ...that's where I know it really tasted great.

We got a  piece of Surmai of 250gms or so. I have cut it into 4 small pieces .

Ingredients:

Surmai Fish: 250 gms
Plain flour: 2 tbsp
Rava: 2 tbsp
Garlic paste: 2 tsp
Chilli flakes: 1 tsp
Mixed herb: 1 tsp
salt to taste
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
soy sauce: 1/2 tsp
lemon juice: 2-3 tsp

&
Oil for deep frying


Method:

Clean and wash the fish and keep aside.

Prepare a batter by mixing 1 tbsp. of rava and rest of the above mentioned ingredients except the oil, in a large mixing bowl with sufficient quantity of water. While preparing the batter keep it in mind that the batter should neither be too thick nor too runny. Should be thick enough to coat the fish properly. Marinate the fish fillets in this batter for about 15-20 mins or so.

Take the remaining 1 tbsp. of rava in a dish with some salt and keep aside.


In a heavy bottomed kadhai/pan heat enough oil. Coat the marinated fillets with the rava mixture and deep fry them  one by one on both sides till they are golden brown in low to medium heat. Keep them on a tissue paper.

Enjoy this hot crisp fried surmai soft inside with your choice of sauce/dip.

The dip that I made with this dish is a simple and super easy to prepare mustard-mayo mix dip. It goes so well with almost every snack.

Mustard-mayo dip:

Egg/eggless Mayonnaise: 2 tbsp.
Mustard sauce: 1 tbsp.
Chilli flake: 1/2 tsp
oregano: 1/2 tsp

Mix everything well and serve with your starter/snacks.

Choco Mousse cake with ganache frosting

 

Few things happen coz it is destined to happen. It was my daughter's 6th birthday on 27th April15 and she has been asking me for a hello kitty cake for her. I out of excitement promised her the same. Instead of doing any trial I decided to bake the cake directly on her bday. And as obvious everything went wrong and it was a disaster. We did not even order any cake for her thinking I would be able to make it at home. Okay so that was my over confidence! My daughter being such an understanding & sweet child , she immediately told me not to worry and get any normal cake from cake tree. The husband got a nice chocolate cake for her from the bakery. I then thought to bake at least one simple cake for her and I baked this moist choco mousse cake. Super soft and tastes awesome. Best thing is even after keeping it in refrigerator for three days the softness remains the same. How we all loved this cake. Then I baked few cupcakes also using the same recipe for her friends in her drawing class as well. This is the best chocolate cake recipe I have come across.

Ingredients:

Plain flour: 1 & 1/2 cups
Egg: 4
Butter: 100 gms
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cocoa powder: 3 tbsp.
melted dark chocolate: 50 gms
Heavy cream: 50 ml
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp



For Ganache:

Dark Chocolate: 2 cup chopped
Heavy cream: 1 cup
Sugar: 4 tbsp. (you can omit this or increase  as per taste)

Method:


Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.

In a large bowl sieve the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and keep aside.


In a large mixing bowl add the butter & sugar. Beat it with a electric whisk until its fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and beat everything well. Now add the vanilla essence, melted dark chocolate and cream. Whisk everything well. Add the dry ingredients slowly in small proportions and give a nice whisk until everything combines well and the batter turns into a smooth a bit runny texture. Now divide the batter into two equal proportions for baking two cakes. Instead of doing this you can also bake one cake and slice  the cake horizontally with a sharp knife into two halves and spread evenly the frosting on top of one half and place the other half above it.

Grease the cake tin with some butter and flour. Skip this step If you are using silicon mould. Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake it in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean. Bake both the cakes. Both of my cakes took exactly 35 minutes as baking time varies from oven to oven.

Ganache frosting :

In the mean time, prepare the chocolate ganache. Take the cream in a sauce pan and put it to boil. In a mixing bowl take the chopped chocolate. Now pour the hot cream onto the chocolate and let it remain like this for about 4-5 minutes. Then beat this so that everything mixes well, add the sugar and beat again so that no lumps remain. Once ready keep it in the refrigerator. I kept the ganache in refrigerator overnight as I had to use some for filling as well.


Assembling the cake:

Once the cakes are baked , let them cool in room temperature. Take one cake on a cake stand. If you don't have a stand, invert any bigger sized bowl and keep a dish on it & place the cake on the dish for icing/frosting.

Take half of the prepared ganache for the filling.
Place one cake on the stand or plate. If you want you can even the upper portion of the cake by cutting the fluffed up portion of the cake with a sharp big knife. I did not have to do that as it was even enough. Now with a flat spatula spread evenly a generous amount of ganache on the top & cover with the other chocolate cake. Even out the ganache on sides of the cake. Now refrigerate the cake for about an hour or two.

Now microwave the other half of the ganache or heat on low flame till you get a complete running consistency of the ganache by stirring continuously keeping in mind it doesn't get burn.

Take out the cake from the refrigerator. Place it on a wire rack keeping a large dish or by spreading newspapers below the rack. With the help of a round spatula/big round spoon, pour the ganache on the center of the cake spoon by spoon. Keeping the  back of the spoon on the ganache, move it in circular motion so that the ganache spreads all over the cake and to the sides as well. Rest it on the rack until the ganache stops dripping down.

Once done refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or so. Now you can decorate the cake if you want . I kept it simple as I did not have time . Cut a big slice and dig into this heavenly delight .