Sweet and Sour Fish

Ingredients

• 3 lbs whole fish, cleaned
• ½ cup cooking wine
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1½ cups vegetable oil
• 1 tsp ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped fine
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp vinegar
• 4 tbsp rice wine
• 4 tbsp sugar
• ½ cup water
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Coat fish with cooking wine, add 1-2 tsp salt and let rest for 20 min. Then add 3 tbsp corn starch and marinate for another 10 min.
2. To make the sauce, mix the rest of the ingredients except oil and corn starch, add salt to taste and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add fish and shallow fry for about 10 min. Peel off skin and discard.  Discard oil, leaving 2 tbsp in the pan.
4. Add sauce and mix well.
5. Add 1 tbsp corn starch to ½ cup water, stir well to remove lumps, then add this to the fish mixture. Stir well and cook for 5-10 min.

Serves 6
Recipe by Man Xu

Dal Dokla

Ingredients

• ¼ cup toor dal
• ¼ cup chana dal
• ¼ cup whole black urad dal
• ¼ cup long grain rice
• ¼ cup moong bean
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
• ¼ cup fresh green chili
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• ½ cup yogurt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 sprigs of curry leaves
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Soak toor, chana, urad dal, rice, moong and fenugreek seeds in 8 cups of water for 6-8 hours.  Drain water, add chili, ginger, and then grind coarsely with 1 cup water to get a thick dough.
2. Add yogurt, baking soda, salt to taste and mix well.  Let rest in a warm place for 1 hour.
3. Transfer to a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and steam cook for about 25-35 min.
4. Allow to cool slightly and then cut to pieces.
5. Heat oil, add mustard seeds and cover the pan.  When the seeds have popped, add curry leaves, stir for 15 sec and then pour on top of the dokla. Garnish with cilantro.
6. Serve with mint chutney.

Potato Poha

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 4-6 fresh green chili, coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 2 medium potatoes, 1″ cubes
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste
• 4 cups poha
• 1 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Soak poha in water for 2 min and then drain water and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and cover the pan.  When the seeds have popped, add urad dal and stir until lightly browned. Then add onions, chili, ginger, and stir until onions are lightly browned.
3. Add potatoes, turmeric powder, ¼ cup water, salt, and stir well. Cook covered on medium heat until potatoes are well cooked. Continue heating uncovered, until all water has evaporated.
4. Add poha, peas, and stir well.  Continue heating for 5 min.  Add cilantro and stir well.

Serves 6-8

Dal

Ingredients

• 1 cup moong dal
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 4-5 fresh green chili, chopped
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp oil
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 2-4 dried red peppers
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Fry dal on medium heat for 5 min.
2. Add 4 cups water, onion, tomato, green chilli, turmeric powder and stir well.  Cook until dal is soft. Remove from heat.
3. Heat oil in a sauce pan, add mustard seeds, and cover the pan.  Once the seeds have popped, add red pepper and curry leaves, stir for 15 sec, and pour into the dal mixture.

Serves 4-5