Salt and Pepper Prawns (Shrimps)

I love prawns and Salt and Pepper Prawns is my absolute favorite. It is a great appetizer and a finger food for parties.

I rarely go out and dine these days so I make all my favourites dishes at home. It works out pretty good for me as I get to veg out in my trackies and gorge on these delicious meals without leaving the comfort of my warm home. It costs less to make these at home and you have more on the plate.

Anyway this is what I cooked last night for dinner. Simple, fast and delicious dish.

Ingredients

500 grams of shelled and deveined prawns
3 tablespoons of plain flour
2 teaspoon of five spice powder
1/2 onion finely chopped
3 chillies finely chopped
1 clove of garlic chopped
Small piece of ginger finely chopped
1 sprig of spring onion (scallion) finely chopped
Oil for frying
Salt as per taste
1 teaspoon of ground pepper

In a zip lock bag, put flour, 1 teaspoon of five spice powder, salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper and mix well.

Rinse prawn in cold water and pat dry with paper towel. Put the prawn in flour mix in the zip lock bag and seal the bag. Shake the bag gently to coat prawns with flour mix.

Heat oil in the pan for deep frying. When oil is hot, deep fry prawn in batches.

When batter is golden and crispy (takes 3-4 minutes of frying on high heat), remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl lined with paper to drain excess oil. It can be eaten as it is but I highly recommend following the next step to pack the flavours in this dish.

In another pan, heat a tablespoon of oil, fry onion, spring onion, chillies, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Add remaining of five spice powder, pepper and a dash of salt to season the mix.

Add deep fried prawn and stir well with the mix for a minute.

Serve hot.

Please try this recipe, it is superyum. Enjoy 😀

Chatamari (Nepali Pizza)

Chatamari is a rice crepe topped with savoury ingredients mainly mince meat (buffalo) and egg. It’s a very popular newari dish. It can be found in many local newari eateries. It’s very delicious and easy.

Chatamari are traditionally made for a puja. When you make it for puja (performing rituals by worshipping and praying to hindu god), it is just plain rice crepe with no toppings.

There are few different ways to make rice flour batter. Some use plain rice flour and water, others use black lentil paste or eggs to make pliable and smooth.

This is very easy to make and so very tasty.

Here’s my version of Chatamari
500 grams Lamb mince
1 small onion finely chopped
2 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
4 cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger crushed into a paste
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup of chopped coriander

In a bowl, put mince meat and add all the listed ingredients and mix well. Set aside

For Batter
2 cups of rice flour
Pinch of Salt
Dash of cumin powder
1 egg
2 cups of water or enough to make a batter that is not too runny or too thick and pasty. To make the right consistency check if batter coats the back of the spoon.

Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add water and whisk it. Add egg and whisk it through the mix.

Heat non stick pan on a low heat. When pan is hot, grease it with some oil. Pour a ladle of batter and swirl around to make a round crepe. Cook the crepe for 1-2 minutes until the looks set.

Top it off with mince meat covering the crepe. Crack egg on top and season with salt. Cover it with heavy lid (traditionally we use lid made of clay which looks like cover of tagine) and let it cook for on a gentle heat for 6-8 minutes until the egg and meat is cooked.

Serve hot and enjoy this delicious dish.

My Online Shopping Haul

As a busy new mom, I am still trying to find time to do regular things like shopping. Whenever I go shopping, regardless of meticulous planning, I have to rush while shopping or we just have to cut shopping trip short. My baby doesn’t like to sit in the pram for too long and he gets fussy so I have to hold him. It’s pretty good work out trying to shop while carrying little one.

When I plan and go shopping, I can’t find anything I like. But on random visits to mall, I find stuff that I want to buy. It happens to me all the time.

It’s one thing or another as so I’ve started to do lot more online shopping

Online shopping is very convenient. It’s the best thing for busy parents like me. I can browse for hours on my phone without having to leave the couch. There’s no pressure to buy the item, so I’m loving it.

The are many downsides of buying online. It’s hard to know if an item is going to fit or not. Regardless of standard sizing, the fitting are not same from one company to other. I can fit into size 10 easily with Target outfits but if it’s Zara then I have to buy size 12.

Item looks completely different to photo.

Return or exchange is always difficult as you have to bear the cost of postage and handling.

I have had lots of hits and misses with my online buys. But it does give me the satisfaction of getting retail therapy that I need once in a while.

Here’s my review of my retail experience and quality of produces from these companies

Boohoo

I ordered a pale pink midi, a striped tee, golden belt and pack of 3 belts with gold buckle and a polka dot skirt.
The communication was fantastic. After placing the order they kept updating my order status like when it left their warehouse to arrival in Australia. Also once in the country, I got tracking ID from Aus post and was also informed about the day it was being delivered. Mind you I opted for standard free shipping.

The order was neatly packed in clear plastic bags. I was very happy with the quality of the product. The most expensive item ($25) was for metallic belt which is gorgeous. It’s a on trend accessory which will add that wow factor to dresses.

Pink midi and polka dot skirt came with belts. I expected a pale pink midi as per description but it is very pink than it seems in the photo. I will mostly like wear a lot of striped tee and polka dot skirt. I think metallic gold belt and pink midi will go in my wish list pile. I have put on a few kilos after my baby’s birth so until I lose those kilos, they are waiting on my ‘wish I’m skinny to fit in these list.’

Overall my rating for Boohoo is 9 out of 10. Great communication, good quality items and affordable price.

Misguided

I’ve been watching this ads on Telly for Misguided. So I jumped online for my retail therapy. I wanted to buy some box tops. I went to entire collection and when I see the ones I wanted, there were only in size 6,8, 14 and 16s available. I couldn’t find any in my size. It must be quite popular item. I end up buying 2 jumpers, a black and white and a canary yellow. One was $35 and another $25.

I also bought a cream cigarette trousers for $45.

After placing the order, I got the confirmation of order email. I again opted for free standard shipping. I didn’t receive any information on my order status after that confirmation of order email. I waited for a week and kept checking my order status online but it didn’t have any information on whether it was shipped or not. After a week I contacted misguided team on the order status. I did get a prompt response saying the order has been shipped and due to free shipping, there’s no tracking ID. However next day I got my parcel so I was happy chappy.

The order was neatly packed. The canary yellow jumper is very nice and bright. It’s loose fit and not that thick so I can wear it with boyfriend jeans in spring, when it’s still that chill in the air. The black and white jumper I ordered is Med/large but it’s a tight fit for me. Again it will go in my wish list pile. The trousers is bit yellowish for my liking but I can work with it.

Overall I rate them 8 out of 10. Not great at updating on order status, but items are good quality and as described. It’s slightly dearer than Boohoo but nonetheless it’s good buy.

Happy shopping everyone.

Note: This is not endorsed review and it’s based on my personal experience.