Recipes for the Summer

Now that summer is here, most of us want to cook dishes which are light on the stomach and are not too greasy yet appeal to our taste buds. We got some easy and delicious recipe recommendations from two skilled chefs from two popular restaurants in Delhi namely Juhn Lepcha from Nagaland’s Kitchen and Lepcha from Druk which will help you prepare meals that suit your summer requirements.

Summer Salad

Preparation time: 3 minutes

Ingredients

Dry bamboo shoot – 1/2 tsp

Diced smoked chicken – 1 cup

Lettuce – 1 cup

Cucumber – 1 medium (sliced)

Tomato – 1 medium (sliced)

Olive oil – 3 tsp

Toss the dry bamboo shoot in a pan for about less than a minute. Take it out and add chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomato. Add diced smoked chicken and garnish with olive oil, salt and pepper

Lab Kai Salad

Preparation time: 7-8 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken – 1 cup (boiled and minced)

Onion – 1/2 chopped

Tomato – 1 medium (chopped)

Coriander – one bunch

Lemon juice – 2 tsp

Dehydrated and powdered lemongrass – one pinch

Mint – few sprigs (chopped)

Thai ginger – 1/3 tsp

Roasted rice and chilli flakes for garnish

Mix the chicken with mint, raw onion, chopped tomato, coriander, lemon juice, lemongrass and Thai ginger. Garnish with roasted rice and chilli flakes.

Nonya Lime Fish Curry

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Steamed Fish (Basa or Sole) – 5 pieces

Cornstarch – 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp

Lemongrass – 1/2 tsp

Thai ginger – 1/2 tsp

Coconut milk – 1 and 1/2 cup

Salt and pepper to taste

Lime leaf

Coriander

Marinate the fish in a mixture of cornstarch, salt and pepper. Keep on the side. In a pan, over medium heat, add coconut milk along with lemongrass, lime leaf, salt, pepper and turmeric powder. Add the marinated fish and fresh coriander. Cook for 10 minutes on low steam. Serve with steamed rice.

Chicken Liver

Preparation time: 7 minutes

Ingredients

Chopped chicken liver – 500 gm

Green peppers – 1 large (sliced)

Onion – 1 medium (chopped)

Tomato – 1 medium (chopped)

Peas – 1 cup

Chilli paste – 1 tsp

Oil

Put oil in a pan and add chopped tomato, chilli paste, green peppers, onion and peas. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Leave aside. Shallow fry chicken liver for 5 minutes with salt and pepper. Serve along with the vegetables.

Prawn with Bamboo Shoot Wrapped in Banana Leaf

Cooking time- 10-12 minutes

Ingredients

Fresh bamboo shoot – 1/2 cup

Green chillies – 4

Prawns – 500 gms

Dry fish – 1/2 cup

Tomato – 1 medium

Garlic – 4 cloves

Mix the fresh bamboo shoot with chopped green chillies. Add salt and pepper to the mix and use that to coat the prawns. Wrap small handfuls in individual banana leaves. Steam for 10 minutes. Make a chutney by grinding dry fish, chillies, tomato and garlic. Serve the steamed prawns with the dry fish chutney.