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.
Address:
DRUK
M- 71, Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi
Nagaland’s Kitchen
S2, Ground Floor, Green Park Extension, Uphaar Cinema Complex, New Delhi
By Meghna Dutta
This article was first published in Eclectic Northeast June 2017 issue