Fish Molee

This post was supposed to go up on Monday, but like everything else in my schedule, this one also got postponed. Life has suddenly become chaotic. From not doing anything at one point, to coming back home tired after a back breaking day of baking is something I'm truly enjoying, (sans the back aches of course), but in the process I've neglected the blog and have just not been able to blog hop as well. Thanks to all you guys who still manage to stop by and put in a few comments, I promise il come visit you all soon.

Its also been ages since I've actually cooked something nice and even worse, styled and photographed. I'm off to Paris this weekend with a couple of friends and hope to come back with loads of pictures and fun stuff. Its going to be a total foodie adventure, and so I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. Once I'm back, I promise I'll whip up something nice for the blog and make a deal of it here. So till then, here's the simplest fish curry I've ever made...Fish Molee/Molly.

Recipe adapted from Flavours of the Spice Coast by Mrs. K M Mathew

Fish fillets- 250 gms, sliced (I used Tilapia fillets)

Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 2 tbsp

Onions- 1 cup, finely chopped
Green chilli- 2, slit

Garlic- 1 tsp, crushed

Ginger- 1 tsp, crushed

Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp

Thin coconut milk- 1 cup

Tomato- 1 small, cut into 4 (i used a couple of baby tomatoes)
Curry leaves- a sprig

Thick coconut milk- 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste

 

Marinate the fish with pepper, turmeric and salt and keep aside for about 10 minutes.

Heat enough in a pan and shallow fry the fish till just cooked, about 1 or 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels and keep aside

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions and green chillies. Cook till the onions have wilted and turns a golden yellow.

Add the ginger and garlic and continue cooking till the raw smell disappears.

Stir in the pepper powder and salt, followed by thin coconut milk and wait for the milk to simmer gently.

At this point add the fried fish and let it cook completely, with the gravy getting thicker and coating the fish.

In goes the tomato and curry leaves. Stir them in and cook till the tomatoes are done.

Finally, add the thick coconut and cook on low heat for a few more minutes and take it off flame.

Serve hot with appam, bread or even rotis.

Notes: The curry is not really spicy, so i will increase the number of chillies to 3 or maybe even 4

It somehow tastes even more fab the next day :)

Any fish of choice can be used. I have tried it with prawns and its yumm

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Beans thoran and Mooru kachiyathu

I decided that this year was going to be the year I learn how to make all those sadya dishes that I see around all the blogs and draft it here..maybe I'll have them all documented in time for onam and make a feast. That's highly unlikely, but its nice to think I may do it.

A friend of ours was relocating to India (a while back) and we decided to do a session at ours before she left. The husband decided to cook crab and for the two of us in the gang (yes me and this other friend) who didn't eat crab, I made beef fry. I actually suck at making mallu food which is why I rarely make them when I have people over. Even something as simple as a moru kachiyathu I can ruin, leave alone avial and such. But with crab masala as a main dish, I had no choice but to do a mallu centred meal. It was an elaborate two day expedition and the final outcome..was just about average I would say. Not even close to what my mother-in-law in Kottayam makes (on a regular basis).

The reason I'm posting two really simple recipes here is because each time I need to make these, I have to open recipe books and blogs and do searches and stuff. This way, I can just fall back on my blog and not waste time. That said, I still do end up searching for different versions of the same and pinterest-ing for photography inspiration. Do the same preparation with kale, Brussels sprout, asparagus etc. 

Beans thoran (beans sauteed with a spicy coconut mix)

Grated coconut- 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Green chilli- 2, slit

Small onions- 2 to 3, roughly chopped

Garlic- 2 cloves, optional

Oil- 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- 2 sprigs

Dried red chilli- 2

Green beans- 250 gms, finely chopped

Salt- to taste

Water- 1 tbsp

Into a grinder throw in the grated coconut, cumin seeds, turmeric powder, green chilli, small onions and garlic. Pulse once or twice, just to mix it well and don't grind to a paste. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a heave bottomed pan and splutter mustard seeds.

Throw in curry leaves and dried red chilli and saute till they turn slightly crisp.

Add to it the coconut mix and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes, just to get rid of the rawness.

Finally, add the beans, salt and water, mix tem all together, close with a tight lid and cook on medium-low heat for about 7 to 10 minutes. I like it a bit crunchy, so i don't cook it longer than that. But feel free to do so.

Turn off the heat and leave the pan closed till ready to use.

Serve with rice and mooru kachiyathu.

Moru kachiyathu (spiced buttermilk) Recipe adapted from here

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seeds- a pinch

Curry leaves- a sprig

Dried red chilli- 1

Small onions- 2 to 3, roughly chopped

Ginger- 1 tsp, peeled and grated

Green chilli- 1, slit

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Whisk together the buttermilk with salt. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds followed by fenugreek seeds.

Add all the remaining ingredients except buttermilk and sauté till the onions turn light brown.

Pour in the buttermilk, and on medium heat keep stirring till you see steam coming through the spatula. If you are not careful, the mix can curdle.

Serve hot.

Notes: If using yoghurt, dilute it with water to make a loose mix.

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Netholi fry (Fried anchovies)

I've been a bit busy (good busy) with work catching on and a cousin visiting from India. Its been quiet around here and I haven't really cooked that much or taken pics in a while. Its a long weekend here and for some strange reason, the weather has been great. We've been out enjoying the sun before the next set of rains and temperature drops happen. 

I made nethili fry a couple of weeks back with the intention of serving it as a starter for a party we threw at home. Since it was my first time with the fish, I decided to try it out a day before, just to see if it would turn out ok. It didn't. It went all soggy on me and I decided to not serve it at the party. Instead I just bought crisps :)

I have this thing against deep frying and after some helpful inputs from Ria, I decided to give it a shot again. I didn't deep fry it, instead shallow fried it. It does make a terrible mess (or maybe that's just me) and takes a tad longer than deep frying, but you do get crispy anchovies..the way its supposed to be. If cooked well, they are great to snack on and perfect with some cold beer. 

Recipe adapted from here and here (serves 2)

Nethili- 250 gms, cleaned- remove head, tail and all the unnecessary inside parts

Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Oil- to fry

Marinade

Kashmiri chilli powder- 2 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Fennel powder- a lil less than 1/4 tsp

Pepper powder- 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp (optional)

Ginger paste- 1/2 tsp

Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Yoghurt- 1/2 tbsp (optional)

Curry leaves- a sprig

Salt- to taste

Marinate the fish with lemon juice and salt for about 5 minutes. This really gets rid of the fishy smell. Rinse well and keep aside.

Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade. If it is too dry, feel free to add a spoon or so of water to get a smooth paste. 

Do a taste test and add more salt or spice if required.

Add the fish to the marinade and mix well to coat the pieces well. Keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a kadai or frying pan (enough to cover the base of the pan properly). It should be really hot, otherwise you will end up with soggy ones. 

Add the fish (in batches if required) and fry on both sides, till brown and crispy. Keep the heat on medium all through.

Remove the fish and the crispy curry leaves with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Squeeze a lemon over and serve warm.

Notes: The recipe can be easily doubled.

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Prawn pollichathu (cooked with spices in banana leaf)- A guest post for Manju's Eating Delights

 

Manju of Manju's Eating Delights and I don't go a long way back, but it feels like I've known her forever. I only recently started following her blog posts and I must say I'm hooked. We are facebook friends and needless to say, you invariably end up being a part of each others food journey, and even life. She's a pro at cake decorating (seriously, check out this Carousel Cake she made for a birthday) and is a friendly and cheerful person. I hope that some day I get to meet her in person and maybe even taste a dish or two made by her. While she's busy setting up her new home, I'm taking over her page today to share a lil something I made. 

I am not too much of a seafood fan, or should I say, I WAS not a seafood fan, because these days I do indulge in a seafood of choice once in a while, which is mostly fish that is masala-fied so much it hardly tastes like fish. I know its sacrilegious to even say that, but sadly that's what works. Prawns are a different story altogether. I have never had an aversion to it, well, my husband would roll his eyes at this. But I can usually handle any prawn prep, except when its just boiled, like in a prawn cocktail. Ok fine, you can say I'm a fussy eater and a pseudo foodie :)

 

Coming to the prawn pollichathu recipe, its an absolutely delicious prep and a crowd pleaser. Don't be put off by the crazy list of ingredients, its really not that difficult at all. Banana leaves impart that special taste to the whole prep, but I understand that its not readily available everywhere. I myself usually just use aluminium foil in its place, but this time I wanted to give banana leaves a try and had to go all the way to the Indian store to get myself a batch. I cleaned and froze a couple of them in a zip lock bag for future use.

Hope you enjoy this mallu dish, and thanks to manju for having me over at her space. Check out the recipe here

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Padavalanga mooru curry (Snake gourd and yoghurt curry)

We love yoghurt. Period.

We almost always have a stash in the fridge and can easily go through a pot in two days. That said, I have never tried making yoghurt at home and have to depend on the store bought ones (which is not bad at all)

So when YoghurtDirect sent me the Easiyo yoghurt maker to review, I was excited. I'd never tried making yoghurt  at home and this was going to be fun. The yoghurt maker promises fresh yoghurt with three easy steps and makes use of the finest quality New Zealand milk powder, available in a range of plain and flavoured varieties (of course with varying or lower fat contents as well). The instructions were really easy to follow and on a cold night I set about making my first yoghurt.

From the two sachets I ordered, I tried the Full Fat Greek Yoghurt and kept the Sweet Forest Fruits sachet for another day. Followed the manual to the dot, kept it to set overnight and by next morn I had a kilo of perfectly set Greek yoghurt. The yoghurt turned out exceptionally thick and creamy and the slight sourness reminded me of the curds you get back in India, perfect for those south Indian curries. 

Its a no mess, no fuss system and I would think, much more economical than buying store bought yoghurt. The fact that the sachets can only be picked up online is a bit of an issue for me- the non planner that I am, I would invariably end up forgetting to order them and will have to head over to the nearest store to buy yoghurt when in need. If the online store is not an issue, I think Easiyo is a really good addition to your kitchen. 

We enjoyed half of the yoghurt on its own, and the other half, I used for a "mooru" curry (yoghurt based curry) which turned out really nice. 

Recipe adapted from here

Yoghurt- 1 1/2 cups (beaten well)

Water- as required

Salt- to taste

Snake gourd (padavalanga)- 1 cup, peeled cleaned and diced

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Water- 1/2 cup

To grind

Dessicated coconut- 1/2 cup

Green chilli- 1, roughly chopped

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Tadka

Oil- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- a large sprig

Dry red chillies- 2 to 3

Beat the yoghurt with enough water and salt to make it lump free. It shouldn't be too thin. Keep aside.

In a saucepan mix together the diced snake gourd, turmeric powder, chilli powder and water and cook covered over medium heat till the vegetable is done. A fork should easily break through the flesh. 

While that's taken care of, grind the coconut, green chilli and cumin seeds in a coffee grinder to a coarse paste. Add a tsp or two of water if required.

Once the snake gourd is done, reduce heat to low and add the ground coconut mix.

Stir it all together and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Take the pan off heat and keep aside to cool for a couple of minutes (around 7 to 10 mins).

Add the beaten yoghurt and stir well to combine. 

Do a taste test and add more salt if required.

Do a tadka by heating oil and adding all the ingredients to it once the mustard starts to crackle.

Pour over the curry, give a good mix and serve warm with some rice, pappad, fish fry and pickle :)

Notes: The snake gourd can be replaced with the Indian cucumber or ash gourd.

Of course you can omit the coconut mix and instead just add some chopped onions and ginger to the tadka and pour over the curry for a different, but just as good, version.

With thanks to YoghurtDirect for sending me the Easiyo yoghurt maker to review.

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Kerala kappa masala (Tapioca masala)

In my mind I keep thinking I have loads of time and think of taking part in all these cook outs and blog events and such. But then in reality, I am either busy with something or the other or lazy. Being a hard core mallu, I am ashamed at the low number of mallu recipes from down south. Even though I don't make mallu food that often, it is definitely a favourite of ours and I really wished I knew how to make those authentic dishes.

That's when Kerala Kitchen, this group I'm part of on Facebook, decided to do a cook out together. I decided it was the best time to learn some new dishes, and feed my mallu-food-deprived blog some fab dishes from the mother land. But as usual, I waited till the n-th minute to post it. But better late than never right? So here I am with a very popular dish from Kerala- tapioca. Since I couldn't get hold of fresh tapioca, I had to make do with the frozen one. Its not that bad, but if you get fresh ones, that's the best.

The husband loves it to no end, but not in the mashed sort of way, just boiled and served with some spicy onion-chilli chutney. I on the other hand, am not that big a fan of it, but if I do have it, I prefer the mashed one with coconut and such, served with some spicy curry. This prep. is new to me, and since it is very close to the one I prefer, i loved it. I paired it with a fish curry and dinner was sorted. Thanks Nags for the simple, but tasty recipe. 

Recipe adapted from Edible Garden (serves 2)

Tapioca- 500 gms

Garlic- 5 to 6 cloves

Dry red chillies- 2

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves- a sprig

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Oil- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

 

Cook the tapioca till tender. A fork should easily cut through. I pressure cook it with some water for about 10 to 12 minutes. Lightly break/ mash the pieces. (Not too smooth like mashed potato though)

In the mean time, coarsely grind the garlic and red chillies in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar.

Heat the oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Add the ground mix along with turmeric and cook for a couple of minutes, for the raw taste to disappear.

Tip in the cooked tapioca and enough salt, stir it all together and cook for a couple more minutes, just to heat through the tapioca.

Take it off the heat and serve with your favourite curry or chutney

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