Varutharacha Mathi / Sardine Curry

This is the time of the year you start getting fatty oily sardines. Oil oozing out of the oily sardine float on top of the prepared curry. Eating these oily sardines have many health benefits and tastes good too.
In this preparation, the ingredients are roasted and ground to a paste. The fish is cooked in this roasted masala and you get a rich and oily gravy once the masala is cooked with the fish.

Ingredients

About 15 - Big Sardines / Mathi, cleaned
A big lime size - Tamarind
4 to 5 sprigs - Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Coconut oil

To Roast

3/4 cup - Freshly grated coconut
6 to 8 - Dry whole red chili
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1.5 tbsp - Coriander powder
7 big - Shallots/ Small onion
1/8 tsp - Fenugreek seeds /Uluva
1/2 to 1 tsp - Black peppercorns
2 to 3 sprigs -Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Heat oil in pan, lower heat, add fenugreek seeds, peppercorn, dry red chili, curry leaves, small onions and fry for few seconds. Then add coconut , turmeric powder, coriander powder and roast on low heat till coconut turns brown in color. Take off the stove and cool. Transfer to a blender and grind to a smooth paste with little water.

2 ) Pour this masala into a manchatty / earthern pot. Extract tamarind juice adding enough water to the tamarind. Add tamarind extract to the pot, then add fish, salt to taste and more water if needed for the gravy. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook covered till the fish is cooked well. Now pour little coconut oil on top of the curry, some fresh curry leaves. Take off the stove and serve hot.

Serve hot with rice, will make a delicious meal.

Chivda

Diwali / Deepavali ( festival of lights) was here and neighbors brought in a sweets and snacks. Chivda was one among other snacks that is made for diwali and shared with friends and neighbors . This is a traditional maharastrian snack, made during festive times. Even otherwise you can make chivda, store it in air tight containers and snack on it, when ever you want to.

Ingredients

6 cups - Thin Poha / Rice flakes
1/2 cup - Roasted unsalted ground nuts
1/2 cups - Roasted dalia / puttukadalai
2 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 tsp - Coriander seeds
2 tsp - Fennel seeds
1 tsp - Jeera / Cumin
6 to 8 - Green chilies, chopped
1/4 cup - Curry leaves
1/2 to 3/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 to 1.5 tbsp - Sugar
About 1/2 cup - Vegetable oil
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a big kadai / wok, dry roast rice flakes in batches on medium heat. Rice flakes will start curling up a bit and will get crisp. Take off kadai and transfer into a big plate. If the ground nuts are not roasted then dry roast ground nuts till done and transfer to another plate to cool. Now add puttukadai into the kadai and lightly warm it. Transfer to the same plate ground nut is in.

2 ) Now heat oil in the kadai, add mustard and allow it to pop, then add coriander seeds, fennel, jeera, green chili, curry leaves and let the coriander seed brown lightly. Then add ground nut, puttukadalai, turmeric powder and stir for a second on low heat. Then add salt to taste and mix in well in oil, then add rice flakes and stir in well from all sides and mix all the ingredients well.Turn the stove off, then add sugar and mix in well.

Serve with tea and snack on some chivda.

Note - You can add dried coconut /copra flakes to this mixture, after lightly roasting it. Also sev can be mixed after the chivda is made.

Go easy , when adding salt..too much of salt will spoil the taste.

Matar Pulao - Green Peas Pulao

Flavorful and Aromatic pea pulao is easy to put together. Get hold of some frozen peas from your freezer, of course defrost it and cook along with basmati rice and spices. Serve along with any meat gravy, raita and pappad.

Ingredients

2 cups - Basmati rice
4 cups - Water
1 cup - Green peas
2 - Black cardamom
5 - Black peppercorns
3 - Cloves
1/2 tsp - Cumin / jeera seeds
1.5 tsp - Fresh ginger paste
2 tsp - Fresh garlic paste
1 small - Onion, chopped
Salt to taste
Ghee Or vegetable oil

Garnishing

1 tbsp - Unsalted cashew nuts
2 large - Onions, thinly sliced

Method

1 ) Wash rice well then soak in water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside to drain out well.

2 ) Heat oil in large pan, add sliced onions for garnishing into it and medium heat fry till onion turns brown and crisp. Drain off the oil and transfer to paper towel. Then in remaining oil, fry cashew nuts until golden brown. Drain and set side on the paper towel.

3 ) Add more oil if needed, then add black cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, cumin to the oil and fry for a few seconds. Then add ginger, garlic paste and fry for a few seconds, then add onion and fry till onion turns lightly brown. Now add peas and drained rice and saute for 5 minutes.

4 ) Add water and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to very low, cover and cook till all the water is used up. Turn stove off and let the rice remain on stove with lid for 5 to 10 minutes. Open and fluff rice gently with a fork. Serve on a severing platter. Garnish with fried onions and cashew nut.


Serve hot with raita and chicken curry.

Diwali And Blog Anniversary

If there is someone still out there, checking my new posts, thanks for reading. It's been 3 years and 'Simply Spicy' is 3 years old.

I take this opportunity to wish every one a ' Happy Diwali '

Marathi - Batata Baingan Bhaji ( Sabzi )

Brinjal and potato is cooked with spices and flavored with coarsely powdered peanut powder, which makes this dish interesting. A dry vegetable preparation, that will go well with roti, jowar bakri and like rotis.

Ingredients

3 to 4 - Green long variety brinjal, cubed
1 big - Potato, cubed
1 medium - Onion, diced
1/8 tsp - Hing / Asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/8 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
1 tbsp - Coarsely powdered roasted peanuts
Salt to taste

Garnish

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
2 to 3 sprigs - Curry leaves

Method

1 ) Soak chopped brinjal and potato cubes, till you have to add them to the pan, to avoid oxidisation.

2 ) Heat oil in a kadai / wok, add mustard seeds and pop them. Then add onion, curry leaves and fry till onion is reddish. Then add brinjal and potato pieces, drained from the water. Give a good stir and fry for a minute, then add the powders - hing, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt to taste, stir well and close with a tight lid and cook on very low heat, till potato and brinjal gets cooked. Sprinkle some water if the vegetables are sticking to the pan.

3 ) Once the vegetables are cooked, add little oil and stir and fry for a minute. Turn off the stove, then sprinkle peanut powder and mix in well.

Serve hot. This will go very well with roti/ bakri

Note - Can add one tomato and cook along with brinjal and potato. Other than green brinjal, small purple one can be used too.

Coconut - Lasun / Garlic Chutney

A combination of coconut and raw garlic, with red chili and tamarind, gives a rustic taste to this condiment, that is very popular Marathi chutney preparation. Whenever i shopped for groceries, i would come across this chutney in packets to be sold. Most of the times i would buy it and have along with dosa. Once i had this chutney served along with batata vada in a function and it had strong garlic taste to it. You will need an after mint after having this chutney, since raw garlic is used to make this chutney.

Ingredients

1/2 shell - Coconut, freshly grated
10 to 12 - Dry whole red chili, (or as to one's taste )
10 to 12 flakes - Garlic
Small marble size - Tamarind
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) In a kadai, dry roast, red chilies on very low heat. Once the chilies are roasted (take care not to burn it ), transfer to a plate. Then add coconut and dry roast on low heat till coconut, starts getting the light brown tint. Take oof stove and transfer to a plate to cool.

2 ) In to a blender/grinder, add garlic, tamarind pulp and make a paste of it. Then add red chili and run the blender to powder it. Then add coconut, salt and run the blender to combine all the ingredients together. Don't have to make the chutney too smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serve with dosa, roti or with rice.

Tangy Bengali Prawn Curry

As my dear friend subi said i am on a roll trying out new cuisines. After trying out Bengali coconut prawns curry recently, am too eager to taste more of Bengali cuisine. Here is yet another prawns curry, Bengali style. It's too very delicious and yum with rice. I should say mustard oil, indeed imparts special flavors and gives a unique flavor to bengali cuisine. Those you have not cooked with mustard oil, do try this curry and you will love it.

Ingredients

To marinate prawns

2 cups - Prawns / shrimp, cleaned
1 - Lemon
Salt to taste

For gravy

2 medium - Onion, chopped
1 tbsp - Fresh Garlic paste
2 tsp - Fresh ginger paste
1 tsp - Red chili powder
2 tsp - Coriander powder
4 medium - Tomato, pureed
2 tsp - Tamarind pulp
4 to 5 tbsp - Mustard oil
Salt to taste

Garnish

2 - Green chilies, split in center
1 tbsp - Coriander leaves

Method

1 ) Drain prawns well off any water, then marinate prawns in lime juice and salt to taste for 30 minutes.

2 ) Heat a kadai / wok, add mustard oil and heat the oil till it turns smoking hot. Take off from the fire and cool the oil slightly. Place the kadai back on stove add prawns and fry until half cooked. Remove prawns from kadai and transfer to another utensil.

3 ) In the same remaining oil ( if you have run out of oil, then again add mustard oil and bring to a smoking hot, then cool a bit and proceed with next step ) add onion and fry till the onion turns golden brown. Add ginger- garlic paste, chili powder, coriander powder and salt to taste. Stir and fry well for 5 minutes on medium heat.

4 ) Then add tomato puree and cook till oil rises to the surface on medium heat. Add little water if the mixture is sticking to the pan . Now add the fried prawns back to the kadai, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Sharpen the tangy taste with tamarind pulp and stir in well. Garnish with green chili and coriander leaves.


Serve hot with rice.

Malvani Pomfret / Paplet Curry

Recently visiting a mall, happened to see a malvani food counter in the food court. We ordered a malvani thali and had the option to choose any non-veg dish to be included in the thali. We went for fish curry. The fish curry was made out of surmai / Sear fish, with coconut based gravy. It turned out to be very delicious. Coconut is liberally used in malvani food. Kokum is used as a souring agent, which is more like kerala, kudampuli. After having tasted that delicious fish curry and the thali food, i was very keen to learn malvani way of cooking. With the help of my maid, who provided me with this recipe, i prepared this pomfret curry. Since i didn't have kokam, i used kudampuli instead to make this curry.

Ingredients

6 to 8 small or medium - White pomfret, cleaned & cut to pieces

2 big flakes- Garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

4 to 5 pieces - Kokum Or Kudampuli

Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 a shell of - Coconut, grated

1/2 '' piece - Ginger

2 big flakes - Garlic

4 to 5 - Green chilies

1 tbsp - Coriander seeds

3 stalks of - Coriander leaves, chopped ( about half a cup )

Method

1 ) Grind and keep ingredients to be ground to a smooth paste with minimal water and set aside. Wash kokum or kudampuli well.

2 ) Heat oil in a big pan, add chopped garlic and fry on medium heat to light brown color. Add the ground coconut paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder and fry for a minute or two. Then add enough water for the gravy, kokum, salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add fish pieces, simmer and cook closed with a lid till the fish is fully cooked.

Serve hot with rice.

Bengali Coconut Prawns Curry

Traditional Bengali food is prepared using mustard oil. Cooking with mustard oil, always intrigued me. How will it be cooking with mustard oil. When you open a fresh bottle of mustard oil, you are taken in by the strong pungent smell and makes you think, will cooking with this oil be okay. I had once asked one of my bengali friend, how is it to cook with mustard oil ? And she said it's like you keralite's like your coconut oil, we like our mustard oil. Today i was bent on finding out how it tastes cooking with mustard oil and went on to make this prawns curry. I was pleasantly surprised. The strong smell of the oil was not found in the curry. Curry had smooth flavors and was soothing to taste.

Ingredients

2 cup - Cleaned prawns / Shrimps

2 tsp - Coriander powder

1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder

3/4 tsp - Garam masala powder

1/2 tsp - Sugar

1 cup thick & sour - Curds / yogurt

4 tbsp - Mustard oil

Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

1/2 shell of a small - Fresh Coconut, grated

2'' piece - Ginger

4 - Green chilies

4 to 6 - Dry whole red chili

1 tsp - Mustard seeds

Method

1 ) Add all ingredients listed to be ground into a grinder, except mustard seeds. Grind to a smooth paste with little water. Then add mustard seeds and grind again to get the mustard seeds just enough ground (not too much ).

2 ) Heat 4 tbsp of mustard oil in a heavy pan till it starts smoking. Reduce heat or remove the pan from fire to cool oil, a little bit. Then place back to fire and add the ground masala paste. Fry on a medium heat till brown. When oil separates, add coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and sugar. Fry lightly for a minute , then add curds, prawns and stir in. Now add about 1.5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer and cook covered, till the prawns is cooked and the gravy has thickened a bit.

Serve hot with plain boiled basmati rice.

Dahiwalli Gobi - Cauliflower In Spiced Yoghurt Gravy

A north Indian style of preparation of cauliflower in spiced yogurt gravy. Will go well with Chapati /Roti / tortilla.

Ingredients

1 big - Cauliflower, cut into medium size florets
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tsp - Coriander powder
1 tsp - Jeera / Cumin powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1 cup - Thick & sour yogurt / Curds
Salt to taste

Grind to a smooth paste

2 medium size - Onion
2''piece - Ginger
8 big flakes - Garlic
3 to 4 - Whole dry red chili
1'' piece - Cinnamon
4 - Cloves
1 - Cardamom
1 tbsp - Poppy seeds, soaked in water for 1/2 hr

Garnishing

1/2 cup - Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1 ) To clean cauliflower well - Take enough water to soak cauliflower in an utensil, add 1 tsp turmeric powder into the water. Add cauliflower to it and keep it soaked for 15 to 20 minutes. Then wash well with plenty of water.

2 ) Grind the ingredients listed to be ground to a paste well. Heat a kadai or a wok with 4 tbsp of oil, add the ground paste into the kadai and fry on medium heat till the raw smell goes and till the oil starts separating. This will take a while, let the ingredients get cooked well and get lightly browned.

3 ) Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chili powder and salt to taste. Stir and fry the powders well. Then add cauliflower florets and saute lightly.

4 ) Add yogurt / curds, stir in well. Close with a lid and cook the cauliflower on low heat till the cauliflower turns tender. Now open the lid and dry off excess liquid gravy on high heat, stirring the cauliflower in between. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Serve with chapati /roti / tortilla.

Note - The dish is more reddish in color, since i used more than suggested chili powder in the recipe.

Chattipathiri - A traditional Malabar Moplah Sweet Dish !

A traditional Malabar Moplah / Muslim dish, which is made on special occasions, like during the time of Ramadan, when breaking the fast and feasting on good food. A sweet dish that is layered with chapati /roti, with filling of sweetened egg mixture and sprinkled with nuts, raisins and poppy seeds. A rather heavy sweet dish, that you can indulge in, occasionally. This is my first attempt at making this dish and am not sure if i have cooked this to perfection.

Ingredients

For the chapati / Roti

1 cup - Wheat flour
1 cup - Maida / All purpose flour
1 tbsp - Ghee
A pinch of salt

For Filling

6 to 7 - Large Eggs
200 gram - Sugar, powdered
2 tsp - Rose water Or Vanilla essence
10 - Green Cardamom, powdered

To Fry

100 gram - Poppy seeds / Khus khus
100 gram - Cashew nuts
100 gram - Golden raisins
100 gram - Ghee

Method

1 ) Make the chapati dough - Mix both the flours, ghee, salt and mix well. Then add water little at a time and make a soft dough.Divide the dough into 6 or more small balls. Then roll out the dough into very thin round chapati's. Size of chapati should be as per the size of the chatti or non-stick pan you are going to cook this dish in.

2 ) Heat a tawa or a griddle to cook the chapati's. Place one chapati at a time and cook very lightly on both side. Chapati should not get fully cooked. Just cook one side lightly, flip and cook the other side too lightly and take off the tawa. Do like wise to rest of the chapati dough. Spread little milk on each chapati.

3 ) Heat little ghee in a pan, add raisins and fry till it puffs up, drain off ghee and set aside in a plate. Then add cashew and poppy seeds and fry in ghee. Once they have browned lightly, drain off ghee and set aside along with raisins.

4 ) Egg mixture - Beat egg well then add sugar, rose essence, cardamom powder and beat well.

5 ) To Arrange and cook the chattipathiri - Take a non stick kadai, spread some ghee all around the bottom and sides of the kadai. Then sprinkle a little of the raisins, cashew and poppy seeds( sprinkle little, since you need to sprinkle this in each layer and then finally there should be some to garnish on the top ) Then pour little of the egg mixture evenly all around.Now dip one chapati in egg mixture and place the first layer of chapati in the pan. Pour little egg mixture evenly all around on top of the chapati.Then sprinkle some raisins, cashew and poppy seeds. Pour some ghee all around the chapati. Now do the same process to the next layer of chapati and layer one after the other. Finally top with, pouring egg mixture evenly all around the top chapati, and garnishing the top with raisin, cashew and poppy seeds. Pour some ghee all around.

6 ) Place the non-stick pan on stove on a very low heat. Cover and close with a tight lid and cook for 30 to 45 minutes on very low flame. Do not open in between to check. Once cooked, take it off the stove to cool a bit then cut in to pieces and serve.

Serve when still warm and enjoy this chattipathiri.

You can bake this dish, by preheating oven to 350 degree, place dish in the middle rack and baking 30 to 45 minutes. Depending upon you oven heating, it will take 30 t0 45 minutes.

Mixed dal & Rice Vada - Maharashtrian Cuisine

I am introduced to Marathi cuisine, courtesty of my maid, who helped me to make this mixed dal vada. I am not sure if there is any other name to this vada. If anyone knows the name of this vada please let me know in the comment section. A nutritious snack that is deep fried. It puffs up a bit like a poori and is soft to bite into. This can be had as a snack with tea or you can have this with any veg curry or chicken curry. Instead of deep frying you can even make this like a roti and cook on a tawa/ griddle.

A combination of dal is used here, which is dry roasted, powdered and mixed with rice flour along with spices to make this vada. I am told you can dry roast the dals and spices, powder it and store it, to be used as and when required.

Ingredients

1/2 cup -Chana dal

1/2 cup - Moong dal

1/2 cup - Urad dal

2.5 to 3 cups - Rice flour

2 tsp - Jeera

2 tsp - Whole coriander seeds

2 tsp - Fennel Seeds

1/2 tsp - Methi / Fenugreek seeds

2 tsp - Pepper corns

1.5 tsp - Red chili powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

1/3 cup - Sunflower oil Or vegetable oil

About 3 cups ( or more if needed ) - Lukewarm water

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method

1 ) First you have to dry roast each dal ( chana, moong , urad ) individually on a low flame, till it gives out a good aroma and turns lightly brown in color. Transfer to a plate to cool.

2 ) Secondly individually dry roast, jeera, coriander seeds, fennel, methi and pepper corn. Add to the dal mix to cool. Mix dal and the spices well. Once cool, grind to a smooth powder in batches.

3 ) Collect the powder to a big mixing bowl. Then add chili powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste, stir and mix well. Now measure this powder you obtained, with measuring cup. Then add exact same quantity or a little more of rice flour. I got about 2.5 cup of dal + spice powder and used 3 cups rice flour. You can use exact same amount of rice flour or a little more. Mix all the powders well.

4 ) Now make like a well in the center of the powder. Heat 1/3 cup oil and pour this in the center of the powder. Stir and mix well with a spoon. Now add lukewarm water little at a time, knead to make a dough( like a roti dough). Rest the dough for 1/2 hour, covered with moist cloth.

5 ) Keep a small container with water to help shape the vada. To shape vada, you will need the help of a plastic cover or a banana leaf or a aluminium foil. I used a aluminium foil. Wet you hand then take a small amount of dough and make a ball. Flatten on the foil, dip fingers in water and then gently press and shape the vada. Lift foil and take the shaped dough off the foil.

6 ) Heat enough oil to deep fry in a kadai or wok. When the oil is hot , gently slide in the vada dough to deep fry on both sides to a light brown color. Increase heat before sliding the dough into the oil, then lower the heat to medium and fry. Drain off the oil and transfer to a serving plate.

Serve hot as a snack with tea or serve with chicken curry. Tastes like soft poori had with good chicken curry.

This dough can be used to make roti, which will be more healthier than deep frying.

To make Roti -

Now if you do not want to deep fry then with this same dough you can make roti and cook on a tawa / griddle. You can add finely chopped onion and mix with the dough and roll or flatten the dough to make roti.

Bittergourd Pepper Fry

As bitter as it can be is a bittergourd. But then even that bitterness can be relished, when you have a little of a bitter dish along with other curries. If you are a person like me who likes to relish a bit of bitter bittergourd, then try this simple dish which is spiced up with black pepper powder.

Ingredients

4 medium size - Bittergourd, washed & chopped to small pieces

2 to 3 tsp - Black pepper powder

1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

10 big - Shallots Or 1 medium - Onion, diced

3 to 4 sprigs - Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Heat oil in a big pan, simmer, then add pepper powder, turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds, taking care not to char. Then add curry leaves, shallots and fry till onion is lightly browned.

2 ) Add bittergourd pieces, salt to taste, add more oil if needed. Close with a tight lid and cook on low heat till the bittergourd is fully cooked. In between give a good stir.

Serve as a side dish with rice or roti.

Other bittergourd recipes you could try -

1 ) Kaipakka /Bittergourd Curry

2 ) Pavakka Pachadi

3 ) Pavakka pulli curry

4 ) Pavakka Thoran

5 ) Kaipakka / Pavakka Kondattam

Chicken Cooked With A Touch Of Oriental Taste

I would say this chicken preparation has all the making of a naadan chicken dish, but for the inclusion of soya sauce. This gives it a oriental touch and flavor. This dish comes from my mom's kitchen, which we relished on a recent visit. A dry preparation, which will go very well with roti/ chapati, naan, likes of Indian breads or a tortilla.

Ingredients

1.5 kilo - Chicken, cut to pieces
4 to 5 medium - Onions, sliced
4 - Green chilies, slit in center
2'' piece - Ginger, grated
4 sprigs - Curry leaves
4 tsp - Soya sauce
Coconut oil Or Peanut oil

To marinate chicken

2 tsp - Red chili powder / Kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp - Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Method

1 ) Wash, clean & drain chicken well. Mix red chili powder, turmeric and salt with little water and apply on the chicken pieces. Marinate for one hour.

2 ) Transfer marinated chicken to a pan and cook covered with a tight lid, on a very low heat. Chicken will give out a bit of water, when cooking. If not you can add a little water to cook the chicken.Once the chicken is fully cooked and all the water is used up, add soya sauce and stir in. Let the chicken suck up the soya sauce. Add coconut oil and fry the chicken for 2 - 3 minutes.

3 ) Meanwhile in another pan, heat oil, add curry leaves, ginger, green chili and fry for a minute. Then add onions and fry the onions till they become lightly browned. Add this fried ingredients to the chicken and fry further for a minute or two with the chicken to mix in well.

Serve hot with roti, naan, roomali roti ...types of indian breads.Try this and let me know what you think.

Chana dal Cabbage Upperi

Some simple preparations are so delectable that you feel so satisfied by that simple meal. I found this combination of chana dal and cabbage along with coconut, shallots and seasoning very comforting to have with rice. Apart from being tasty, chana dal has a low glycemic index, which will keep the blood sugar level low.

Ingredients

1 medium size - Cabbage, shredded
1 cup - Chana dal / Kadalaparippu
1 cup - Freshly grated coconut
15 big - Shallots, diced
1 tbsp - Red chili flakes
1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
4 sprigs - Curry leaves
Coconut oil

Method

1 ) Wash chana dal and soak in enough water for one hour. Then in little water cook chana dal till it is fully cooked, but should not get mashed up. Add salt to taste. Check dal while cooking, so that it doesn't get over cooked. Switch off stove and drain off excess water, if any and set aside. ( you can use this stock, when making any curry or use for this upperi itself if it needs any additional water )

2 ) In a big kadai / wok , heat oil, add mustard and let it pop on low heat. Add chili flakes, turmeric powder and stir for few seconds till it's fried. Add shallots and curry leaves. Stir and fry till shallots turn lightly brown in color. Add coconut, stir and fry for few seconds. Add salt to taste, then add cabbage, stir and cook till cabbage is almost fully cooked, but still retaining the crunchiness.

3 ) Add cooked chana dal and stir in well. On low flame cook covered for a few minutes. Add a little coconut oil, stir and fry for a few seconds. Switch off the stove and it's done.


Serve hot with rice or roti.

Wishing everyone a ' Happy Onam ' !

Neimeen Porichathu - Spiced Masala Fish Fry

To boost your immune system in present day circumstances, with swine flu around. It's good to eat healthy and remain healthy. Including fish in your diet is a good way to help build immunity, as fish is a rich source of glutamine.
Now to the recipe to make a delicious fish fry with, Neimeen /Seer fish. A ground spicy masala is used to marinate the fish, then coated with rawa /semolina and deep fried along with a lot of curry leaves fried in the oil. I noticed when i fried curry leaves in the oil before placing the fish, the fish didn't stick to the pan ( when usually fish sticks to the pan ). So curry leaves imparts flavor and also gives a non-stick effect.

Ingredients

5 to 6 - Neimeen /Seer fish slices

To marinate

4 to 5 - Green chili
1'' piece - Ginger
2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tsp - Black pepper corns
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Salt to taste

To Coat

1/2 cup - Idli rawa /Semolina

For frying

Coconut oil
6 to 8 sprigs - Curry leaves, washed & dried

Method

1 ) Make a smooth paste of the ingredients listed for marinating with little water. Apply and coat well on the fish slices. Marinate for 30 minutes.

2 ) On to a plate spread rawa. Take one fish slice at a time and coat rawa on both sides by turning the fish over on both sides. Do likewise to rest of the slices.

3 ) Heat coconut oil in a kadai /wok, add half of the curry leaves to the oil and let it become crisp. Place one or two fish slices on the bed of curry leaves in the oil and fry the fish on low flame. Fry the fish to a golden brown color on both sides. Drain off the oil and transfer to a serving plate. Add more curry leaves and oil to fry the next batch of fish slices.



Serve hot as a starter or as a side dish with rice dishes or rotis.

Fried Ayala / Mackerel Curry

Ayala / Indian Mackerel is a very common fish found in coastal regions of kerala.My mom's neighbour is from kuttanad and this is how she prepares ayala curry. Now this curry has become a favorite in our household for its taste.

Ingredients

To fry fish

6 - Medium size Indian Mackerel, cleaned & cut to pieces
2 tsp - Chili powder
2 tsp - Kashmiri chili powder
1/2 tsp -Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Coconut oil to fry

For curry

3 cups - Coconut milk, freshly extracted
2 '' piece - Ginger, grated
4 - Green chili, slit in center
10 big - Shallots, chopped
3 sprigs - Curry leaves
5 pieces - Kudampuli /Gambooge

Method

1 ) First, mix chili powder, turmeric and salt with little water to make a paste. Apply the paste on fish pieces and marinate for 15 to 30 minutes. Wash Kudampuli well and soak in water for half an hour.

2 ) Heat a big pan or a manchatti with oil. Add fish pieces, 2 or 3 at a time and quick fry the fish pieces on both sides for few seconds. Take off the oil and transfer to a plate. Do not brown the pieces. Fry all the pieces in the same way.

3 ) Add ginger, green chili, shallots, curry leaves, kudampuli and 1 cup water to the pan. Also add the remaining marinade of chilly paste applied on fish. Bring to a boil, then simmer and cook for 5 minutes to let the kudampuli release the tamarind flavors.

4 ) Add fried fish pieces and coconut milk to the pan.Don't leave out the oil that has come out of the fish and on to the plate.Pour that in too. Bring to a boil, then simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Taste the curry for salt. Add more salt as required. Take off the stove and serve hot.

Serve hot with rice and pappadam.

Note - Instead of coconut milk, you can grind half shell of a coconut to a smooth paste and add instead of coconut milk for this curry.

I have given more kashmiri chili powder than regular chili powder for the recipe, so that the curry does not turn out too spicy. Please adjust chili powder as per your requirement. Use regular chili powder if you like your curry spicy and kashmiri if you do not.

A Surreal Effect On A Sunday Morning !

A surreal effect on the skylines of mumbai on a sunday morning. A beautiful rainbow formed with dark clouds forming in the background and rain showers slowly sweeping in from a far distance, hitting the effects and slowly erasing away the rainbow that became so very prominent when the clouds darkened. This lasted for less that 5 minutes. Showers took away the rainbow and the clouds cleared out..making it sunny all the way again.

I am not sure if i was able to capture, the real effects the sky had with my camera....but still just to share with my reader something i captured from my 7 th floor balcony in a hurry before the effects faded away. Was not able to capture the whole rainbow in one frame....but then could see the start and end of it...and maybe i should go looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow :)

Have a great weekend !

Neichoru / Ghee Rice

Neichoru, which means rice flavoured with ghee and spices that gives a special aroma to this simple rice preparation. Mostly prepared for special occasions to accompany with rich gravy curries like fish mollee, chicken or mutton stew or any meat gravy preparations.

Ingredients

2 cups - Basmati rice
4 cups - Water
1 - Onion, thinly sliced
4 - cloves
2 inch long - Cinnamon
4 tbsp - Ghee
Salt to taste

Garnishing

2 - Onions, thinly sliced
Few golden raisins
Few cashew nuts

Method

1 ) Wash rice and drain very well.

2 ) In a deep heavy bottom utensil, heat ghee, add cinnamon and cloves. Fry for a few seconds, then add onion and fry till onion is translucent. Now add the drained rice and on simmer, fry the rice well in ghee, till you can hear ' tick tick ' sound.

3 ) Meanwhile in another utensil, place 4 cups water on stove and bring to a boil and switch off the stove. Now carefully, with stove on simmer, pour water into the rice utensil. Add salt to taste and stir once. Close with a tight lid and cook on simmer for 5 minutes. Once the rice has absorbed all the water and is cooked, switch off the stove. Do not open the lid now. Keep it closed for 10 to 15 minutes. Then open the lid and gently stir the rice.

4 ) To garnish - Heat 3 to 4 tbsp ghee, simmer then add raisins and fry till raisins plump up. Drain off from the ghee and set aside. Now add cashew nuts and fry, till cashews turns lightly brown. Drain and set aside along with raisins. Now add onion, sprinkle little sugar on top, to speed up onion caramelising. Fry till onion turns golden brown. Drain and set aside.

5 ) Mix little of the fried onion, cashew and raisin with the rice and set aside some to garnish finally on top of the rice, when serving. Serve rice on a platter, then on top of the rice, garnish with fried onion, cashew and raisins.

Serve hot with any meat gravy preparation. I served ghee rice with fish mollee, pappadam and raita.