The Indo-Italian “Family Food Platter”

Hope you all had yourselves a merry little Christmas!

With this beautiful holiday season and only few days to 2016 I’m sure you all are spending good time with your family and keeping busy. I too have been pretty busy with my oldest moving to a different state and a new puppy joining the family but isn’t that what the holidays are all about- Family?  And so, this post is especially for the readers with house filled with big families and noisy children!

The recipe might look long but it’s the easiest recipe you will come across this festive season. It’s easy to prepare, the ingredients are easily available and no complicated techniques are involved. But because there are many little elements in the platter it becomes quite a fancy and wholesome food platter!

The Platter is a beautiful fusion of Indian and Italian cuisine. It consists of Meatballs, Chicken tikkas, Fried Prawns, Fish fries and Veggies (great way to slide that carrot and broccoli in your child’s dinner). I have also added some rice and red sauce to make a complete family meal.

Ingredients

For Mutton Balls 

• Minced mutton 450 gms
• Curd 4tbl spn
• Ginger paste1 tsp
• Black pepper 1 tsp/Green chili 2 (chopped)
• Sea salt(kosher salt) as required
• Bread crumbs 6 tbl spn
• Oil to deep fry

Method

Mix the first five ingredients in an electric blender along with 2 tbl spn of oil, cover with a cling film and refrigerate to marinate for at least 5-6 hrs. Now add bread crumbs and make small balls out of the mixture and deep fry over high heat till browned.

Your meat balls are ready. They are pretty much the usual meatballs used with Spaghetti. (Find my Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe here, if you’d like )

For chicken tikkas (on a tawa /griddle)

• Boneless chicken breast 450 gms(cut into small 2″ cubes)
• Lemon juice 4tbl spn
• Green chili paste 1tsp
• Ginger paste 1tsp
• Garlic paste 1 tsp
• Salt as required

Method

Mix all above ingredients and marinate for at least 2 hrs. Heat a non-stick tawa, add 1 tbl spn of oil and fry the marinated chicken pcs over heat till slightly browned. Flip them over and add another tbl spn of oil and make sure the other side is slightly browned too.

Chicken tikkas are ready. Do not over do your chicken or else they will be dry.

Fried prawns/shrimps

• Prawns 500 gms (shelled and deveined)
• Vinegar 2 tbl spn
• Green chili 2 (finely chopped)
• Kosher salt as required

For batter

• All purpose flour 1 cup
• Egg yolk 2
• Garlic paste 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda 1/2 tsp
• Pepper 1/2 tsp
• Water/beer as required
• Kosher salt as required
• Oil to deep fry

Method

Mix the first 4 ingredients and marinate the shrimps for 1/2 hr.

Now mix all ingredients given for the batter and dip your shrimps in it. Deep fry them over high heat. Fried prawns are ready.

For fish fries

• Basa / Barramundi (bhetki) fillets ( cut in 2″ cubes)
• Onion 1 medium (paste)
• Ginger paste 1 tsp
• Garlic paste 1 tsp
• Green chili paste 1 tsp
• Egg 1 (beaten)
• Bread crumb 1 cup
• Oil to fry

Method

Marinate  the fish with onion, ginger, garlic and chili for about one hour. Then dip the fish pieces in beaten egg and coat them with bread crumb. Deep fry.

Your fish is ready.

A similar technique can be used to fry various ingredients such as chicken or egg and can work as great appetizers.

(Check out my Deviled eggs recipe for more ideas)

For veg fries

• Broccoli 1 (cut into small florets)
• Bean 1cup (cut 3″ long)
• Carrot 2 (cut as bean sticks)
• Potato 3 big ( cut as french fries)
• Onion rings
• Salt as required
• Pepper as required
• Butter 2 tbl spoon
• Oil to deep fry potatoes

Method

In a bowl add potatoes and salt as required and keep aside.
In a heated wok add butter and all vegetables (except the potatoes). Toss till the vegetables are done and are a little crunchy. Add salt and pepper.

In a separate wok, deep fry the potatoes before you serve.

You can also add other vegetables or mushrooms to this as per your preference, like capsicum.

For rice

• Long grain basmati rice 2cups
• Butter 50 gms
• Peas 1 cup (shelled)
• Water 3 cups
• Salt
• Red chili flakes 1/2 tsp

Method

Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes, drain and keep aside.

In a deep vessel add butter, drained rice and peas. Stir for 1 minute over high heat and then add water and salt as required.

Let it boil over high heat. Once the rice soaks all the water and little pores start appearing on the surface, add chili flakes and cover immediately. Now cook for another 5 minutes over low heat.

Your rice is done.

Red Sauce

• Olive oil 6-8 tbl spn
• Onion 1/2 cup (finely chopped)
• Garlic paste 1/2 tsp
• Tomato paste 1cup
• Tomato puree 4 tbl spn
• Dried basil 1 tsp
• Baking soda 1tsp
• Red chili powder 1/2 tsp
• Salt as required
• Sugar 1tsp
• Water 2 cups
• Corn flour 1tsp

Method

In a pan heat some oil. Add chopped onion and garlic to it. As the onions become translucent, add tomato paste and all the other ingredients except the cornflour.

Let it boil for sometime then in 1/4 cup of water mix the corn flour and add it to the tomato mixture. Boil till you have a saucy consistency.

Your red sauce is ready. It can be used as a dip for a lot of dishes and can come in very handy!

To serve,you may arrange everything on a plate along with rice and sauce or if you want to charm everyone at dinner, you can also use a sizzler plate.

To sizzle

You will need a sizzler plate to which add a little pure vegetable oil to the surface and
place the iron plate directly on heat . Cover the surface with cabbage leaves.

Reheat all the elements that you have prepared and then arrange everything on the sizzler plate. Heat the plate until hot and remove as it starts smoking. Make sure you do not burn the ingredients! Carefully remove the plate from heat and place it on its wooden tray.

Immediately add lemon juice, any sauce to the plate and place on
the dinner table or in front of the diners. As the cold sauce or lemon juice will touch the hot oil on the rim of the plate it will start sizzling. So there, you have your sizzle!

Just remember

• Meat always tastes better if you can marinate it overnight.
• Don’t overcook your elements. Especially if you are planning on using a sizzler plate later.

Hope you all have a great New Year’s Eve! Don’t forget to write your feedback down in the comment box.

Have a great time with all your loved ones and happy cooking 🙂