Mussels and Potato curry - കല്ലുമ്മക്കായ ഉരുളക്കിഴങ്ങ് കറി

Here is the next recipe from my mother-in-law’s kitchen. It is said to be mouth-wateringly delicious by Aysha. As I didn't get a chance to have this dish, I don’t have any idea. However, you can have a try and see the results. I know getting mussels is gonna be one of the toughest tasks in places other than Kerala. Whoever gets a chance to buy this yummy seafood with shells, don’t miss it. Lots of other recipes with mussels (കല്ലുമ്മക്കായ) are on its way. So have a look at the recipe and do try without fail, okay?

Ingredients:

Mussels – Whole - 25-30 no. s
Potato – 2 medium sized – peeled and cut into medium sizes
Ginger –finger sized piece – peeled and mashed
Onion – ½ - chopped
Green chillies – 2 no. s – sliced
Tomato – 1 big – chopped
Red chilli powder – 1 Tb sp
Roasted coriander powder – 3 Tb sp
Coconut grated – 1 ½ cups
Shallots – 4 no. s
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Water – as needed
Salt – as needed
Oil – as needed
Fenugreek seeds – 8-10 seeds
Curry leaves – 1 sprig

How to:

1.       Clean the exterior of the whole mussel shells and keep it in a big aluminum vessel and heat it for 5-7 minutes in full flame. Turn upside down once or twice in between. Water will come out of the shells and it’ll slowly open. Switch off the flame and keep it aside for cooling down.

2.       Now take the cooled down and boiled mussels. Take off the shells and separate the flush. Don’t wash the flushy part, but remove messy parts like hair or so. Keep the water came from the shells separate after sieving out any solid parts.

3.       In a small bowl, put chopped onion, green chillies, cut potatoes, mashed ginger and the water which came out of mussels shell. Close the bowl and keep it aside for some time.

4.       Cook the above mixture (step 3) in a pressure cooker until potatoes are cooked properly. Switch off the flame and open the cooker.  Add the mussels flush, chilli powder, chopped tomatoes, coriander powder, salt (use lesser salt than usual as mussels itself will have some salty taste) and boil for 2-3 minutes in medium flame.

5.       Meanwhile grind the grated coconut, turmeric powder and 2 shallots in a mixer with ½ cup of water. Once the above mixture has been boiled, pour this coconut mixture to it and cook for 3 minutes in low flame. Switch off the stove and keep the curry aside.

6.       In a non-stick pan, pour oil. On heating add fenugreek seeds. Once it has completed sputtering, add remaining chopped shallots and sauté for a while it turns brown. Now add the curry leaves and pour this to the curry which has been kept ready.

This curry goes well with Kerala boiled rice with some spicy side dish like Mango side-dish Calicut style - കോഴിക്കോടൻ കടു മാങ്ങ 

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Mango side-dish Calicut style - കോഴിക്കോടൻ കടു മാങ്ങ

 While giving permission to Aysha to go home last week, I’d kept a condition. If only she is sure that she can come back with few recipes with photographs, her permission is granted. Else she’ll have to face me. Poor girl…!! Got frightened I think. She came back with few of her mom’s kitchen delicacies, though I had to wait again for another week to get the recipe in written form. So first we are rolling out the simple and easy recipe of a mango dish so called “Kadu Manga” (കടു മാങ്ങ). Don’t get this name confused with the “kadumanga pickle”. It’s different, of course! This particular dish can be made with green mango, ripening one or even with a ripe mango.

Ingredients:

Green mango -1 (cut into medium sized pieces)

Fenugreek – 6-7 seeds

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Coconut oil – 1-2 Tb sp

Onion – ½ chopped

Green chilly – 2 no.s sliced

Tomato – 1 medium sized chopped

Garlic – 4 cloves mashed

Red chilly powder – 1 ½ Tb sp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Water – 1 cup

Salt – as needed

Sugar – 1 Tb sp (optional)

How to:

1.       In an earthen pot, pour coconut oil and on heating put the fenugreek seeds. Once it has fully sputtered, put mustard seeds and allow it to sputter completely.

2.       To this, add chopped onion, green chilly, tomato, red chili powder, turmeric powder, mashed garlic, water and salt. Allow it to boil in full flame for about 3-5 minutes.

3.       Once the gravy gets thicker, switch of the flame and keep it closed with a lid for 5 minutes. Now check the taste and if the mango taste is too sour, add sugar (it’s optional. Add sugar only if you like sweetness with sour taste).

Do try this easy side dish which will go well with Kerala meals and ghee rice. You’ll let us know the feedback for sure, right?

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KARIMEEN CURRY ( Pearl Spot Curry )

The situation is awful and the expectation of our fans is towering . I'm too lazy and too busy to cook anything in my kitchen and Aysha doesn't have a stage to perform.  She's been provided food by her house owner.  We are left with no clue how to respond to the queries! Coincidentally Susan Abraham made her appearance with a recipe of the most wanted and the most delicious Karimeen Curry (Pearl Spot) We've ever had in our lifetime. I've to use this occasion to comment on her skill not only on cooking varieties of innovative dishes but also on her typical way of serving. She decorates her small four-seated dining table in such a simple yet beautiful way; that guests will be too much tempted  to click the snap rather than touching the dishes...!!

Ingredients:

Karimeen/pearl spot – Whole -2 no. s

Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig or more

Ginger-chopped- 1" piece

Garlic-chopped- 2 large cloves

Green chilies-sliced-2 no. s

Shallots sliced- 10 no. s

Onion -sliced- 2 medium sized

Kashmiri chili powder-2 to 3 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 Tbsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp

Water-1/8 cup + more as required

Kokum/fish tamarind/kudampuli-2 small pieces

Thin coconut milk-1 cups

Thick coconut milk-1/2 cup

Salt- to taste

For marination:

 Kashmiri chili powder- 1 tsp

Black pepper powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp

Water -as required

Salt-to taste

How to:

1. Marinate fish with the ingredients listed under 'for marination'.Keep aside for about 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the fish until 3/4 th done, turning once in between. Transfer it onto a kitchen towel.

3. In the same pan ( add more oil if required) add fenugreek seeds, sauté for a few seconds. Add curry leaves, ginger and garlic, sauté till raw smell leaves.

4. Now add green chilies, shallots and onion. Sauté till onion turns golden brown. Next add kashmiri chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, black pepper powder and 1/8 cup water. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring well in between. Cook until it the masala turns mushy.( you can transfer this masala to clay pot/manchatti or continue cooking in the same pan).

5. Next add thin coconut milk, about 1/4 cup water ,salt and kokum pieces. Bring it to a boil and add the fish. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add thick coconut milk, gently swirl the pan and bring it to just under a boil.

6. Add more curry leaves ,if desired. 

Serve the Karimeen Curry with rice, preferable Kerala matta rice. I guarantee you that the taste is gonna stick on to your taste buds for life time. Have a try and let us know.

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Easy Fish Curry (Paal Meen Curry/പാല്‍ മീന്‍ കറി) Adapted from Srilankan style

During my forced bachelor-life in Doha, I used to buy my dinner from one of the Srilankan restaurants, mostly ‘idiyappam and palmeen curry’ (ഇടിയപ്പവും പാല്‍ മീന്‍ കറിയും). Hearing the dish name daily from me, my wife thought that ‘palmeen’ is a kind of fish available here (to be frank, I too thought in the same lines, till I found a different variety of fish in the curry) and she asked me once “can’t you try some other fish?” which made me laugh out loudly! On that day I decided to take her to the restaurant and make her eat this favorite dish of mine, once she reaches Doha. Recently we’d been to the place and she tasted this wonderful Srilankan curry. And out of the idea sprout from her taste buds on having the palmeen curry, she tried to make it at home in her own style. As I’m a person who loves to eat less spicy and light colored curries with breakfast items, this became a grand success, adding one more feather to our cooking experiments. I trust this will help you too and you will love its flavor!!

Ingredients:
Fish* – 6 pieces
Coconut milk – 1 ½ cups OR coconut powder – 5 Tb spoon
Green chilli – 1
Tomato – ½
Curry leaves – 12 no. s
Ginger – a small piece
Shallot – 6 cloves
Turmeric powder – ¼ tspoon
Fenugreek – 6 seeds
Oil – 1 Tbspoon
Salt – as needed

 How to:

1. In a mixer jar, take coconut milk (or the coconut powder with 1 ½ cup of water). Put Green chilly, chopped tomato, few curry leaves, ginger, turmeric powder, salt, and 3 cloves shallot. Grind well. (if you like more sour taste in your curry, add tamarind juice or more tomatoes)

2. Pour the above mixture to an earthen pot or a nonstick pan and leave to boil. Once boiled well, put the washed fish pieces and keep the stove in low flame. Cook for 2-3 minutes and switch off.3. In another pan, heat oil and add the fenugreek seeds to spatter. Add the remaining shallots after chopping and sauté till it changes colour. Add the remaining curry leaves and sauté for few seconds. Pour this on top of the above curry.

*Note: We used Cobia fish (മോത). I guess any kind of fishes can be used for this.
 Have a try with the fish in your freezer and let us know! 

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Fish Stew - മീന്‍ ഇസ്റ്റു

While in LuLu for this month’s grocery purchase, we noticed that lots of fresh Indian Mackerel (അയല ) are there in fresh fish section. As we were dying to eat Mackerel fry (അയല പൊരിച്ചത്), remembering an old Malayalam hit song "Ayala porichathundu karimeen varuthathundu….", we couldn’t hold back from buying it. And of course, the very next day, my wife fried the fish for lunch. But to be frank, we were desperate that the fish fry wasn't up to the expectation. The fish seemed to be not as tasty as we get in our hometown. It was then she suggested about making Fish stew for next day’s breakfast as it’s one of those breakfast combinations (നേരിയ പത്തിരിയും മീന്‍ ഇസ്റ്റും)  which she cherishes out of her mom’s kitchen. I too thought; okay! let me have a try..!!
No doubt, the dish and the combination was one if it’s kind – super delicious and how can I hide its recipe from my cookery fans? Here it’s for you….

Ingredients:
Ayala – Small sized – 6 No.s – washed and cut into pieces
Fenugreek – 8 seeds
Onion (medium sized) – ½
Green Chilli (sliced) – 20-25 no.s
Ginger, garlic paste – 2 tsp
Corriander, mint & curry leaves – chopped – 1 handful
Tamarind juice – ½ cup
Grated coconut – 1 ½
Salt – to taste
Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
Shallots – 3 no.s

For garnishing - വറവിടല്‍, താളിക്കല്‍)).)) :
Coconut oil – 1 Tbspoon
Curry leaves – 1 stem
Shallots chopped – 4 no.s

How to:

1.       Put one grated coconut into a mixer jar, pour water just enough to dip the coconut and mix well. Squeeze this mixture to take thick coconut milk.

2.       Take the remaining half coconut along with fennel seeds and shallots and grind well with ¼ cup of water.

3.       Mix fenugreek, Onion, green chillies, ginger-garlic paste, coriander, mint and curry leaves, tamarind juice and salt well with hand and add ¼ cup of water in a pressure cooker. Pressure-cook this mixture for 2 whistles.

4.       Open the pressure cooker and put the cut fish into it and boil for 3 minutes in low flame. Add the grinded coconut mixture as in step 2 and heat for two minutes (in low flame).

5.       Add the coconut milk as in step one and heat for another 3 minutes in low flame.

6.       Heat 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan and sauté chopped shallots till it turns brown and add curry leaves to it. Pour this on top of the gravy to garnish it.

Note:  depending on the piquancy of the green chillies, the count can be increased or decreased.

The fish stew can be prepared with other Indian fishes like Pomfret (ആവോലി ), King fish (അയകോര , നെയ്മീന്‍ ) or sardine (ചാള , മത്തി ).

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Mushroom in hot pepper gravy

It’s Thursday night and  I was called up by Anu to prepare something different in his home. Only after reaching there I came to know that Anil Hameed is on strict vegetarian diet as instructed from his Gym trainer. Though we compelled him a lot to have the special chicken curry with Kubboos, he was so particular about his diet...!! Finally I’d to experiment on the mushrooms, which I found in their refrigerator. The Mushroom in spicy gravy came out very well and all of them appreciated me for it. I’m posting it here for you...

Ingredients:
Mushroom – 200 g
Corn flour – 2 Tb spoon
Soya sauce – 1 teaspoon
Pepper powder – 2 tea spoon
Vegetable taste cube – ½
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Capsicum – ½
Milk – ½ cup
Salt – to taste
Oil – as needed

How to:
1.       Mix Corn flour, soya sauce, 1 tea spoon pepper powder and salt well with washed and cut mushroom and keep it aside for 15 minutes
2.       Deep fry the mushroom in oil and keep the fried mushrooms separate.
3.       In a pan, add 1 Tb spoon of oil and add onion to it and sauté till softened. Add tomato and capsicum to this and stir softly.
4.       Add 1 tea spoon pepper powder, salt and the vegetable taste cube into this and sauté well.  To this pour milk and leave to boil for around 5 minutes in medium flame.

5.       Add the fried mushroom into the above gravy and mix well. Leave the dish to boil for another 5-10 minutes in low flame.

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Fish Curry in Coconut Milk

It was a surprise to see Megha’s message in Facebook after a long time. The summary of the message read like this: ‘I’ve gone through many of your cookery blogs and I feel those to be appealing. Today I’ve bought a kilo of Snapper fish. Do you have any special recipe to suggest for the same? I’m fed up of the usual way of Fish curry making. Awaiting your response...’ I was happy to suggest her new recipe idea on a condition that she should send me photos of the dish after preparing. Here is my reply to her.

Ingredients:
Fish – 1 kg
Coconut milk – 2 cups (non-sweetened)
Tomato -3
Ginger - small piece
Garlic – 1 clove
Curry leaves - 2 twigs
Gambooge (Kudampuli) - ½ pieces
Fennel seeds - 1 pinch
Shallot – 4 cloves
Turmeric powder - ½ tea spoon
Chilli powder - 3 Tb spoon
Green chilli - 3 no. s
Mustard seeds – 2 tea spoon
Oil – as needed
Salt – to taste



How to:
1.       Marinate washed and cut fish with 1 Tb spoon of chilli powder, ¼ tea spoon of turmeric powder and salt.

2.       In 2 cups of coconut milk, add fennel seeds, 2 shallots, one tomato cut into small pieces, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and mix these well in a blender.

3.       In a cooking vessel, pour the above mixture and add 2 tomatoes which is cut into medium sizes, sliced green chillies, 1 stem of curry leaves and gambooge and boil the same.

4.       Put the marinated fish into the boiling gravy and lower the flame into medium and boil for 5 minutes. Close the dish with a lid and switch off the stove.

5.       In a pan, add 3-4 teaspoon of coconut oil and put mustard seeds to it. While the mustard seeds sputter, add remaining shallots which is cut into small pieces and while it’s fried to light brown color, add a stem of curry leaves into this. Pour the same to the above fish gravy and keep the vessel closed for 10 minutes without stirring.

Within an hour I got next message from Megha and was happy to see that her fish curry came out well. She forwarded me the snaps and with her permission I’m posting this recipe here.

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