Fish Curry with Drumsticks(Murungakkai Meen Kuzhambu)

During my recent visit to my parents native kanyakumari, found out there people making fish curry with drumsticks, brinjals sometimes potato too which I found very weird initially, but spellbound after tasting them. It was awesome. So after coming down I tried in my home, where my father in law gave a sarcastic comment “who will use drumsticks for fish curry” but then, he ended up overeating. The drumsticks do gives a unique flavor to the fish curry.



Ingredients:
Drumsticks (chopped)-6 pieces
Shallots-15(chopped)
Fish(any type)-150gms (cleaned)
Coconut(grated)-1 cup
Tomatoes-3 nos(chopped)
Cumin seeds-1tsp
Chilli powder-2tsp
Dhania powder-3tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2tsp
Tamarind extract-2cups
Salt-as per taste
Coconut oil-2tbsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Fenugreek seeds-1/2tsp
Curry leaves-few
Coriander (chopped)-for garnishing
Green chillies (sliced)-3nos

For Masala:
In a kadai add 1 tsp of oil, when hot add half of the chopped onion, fry well, then add the coconut, roast well tills lightly brown,add all the powders like chilli,dhani and turmeric before taking out from the fire. Grind it to a smooth paste when it cool enough.

Method
1.In a heavy bottom vessel add the ground paste, chopped tomatoes, green chillies, tamarind extract, salt, drumsticks. Check for the taste with salt and spices. Mash everything with hand,so that the tomatoes and greenchillies shld get churned with the curry(kozhambu).

2.Keep the vessel having the curry on stove and allow for a boil. Add the fish and drumstick pieces when the curry is boiling. When the fish is done remove from fire.

3.In a tempering kadai, add the remaining oil. When its hot, temper with mustard, fenugreek, curry leaves, and chopped shallots, fry well till the onions turns golden brown.
Pour on top of the curry, and serve with plain steamed rice.

Era Avarakkai Poriyal

Avarakkai(broad beans) is such a boring vegetable in my family, everybody just runs away on seeing it.:).This recipe is one of my experiments, again landed as a huge hit. Since it was cooked with prawns, the taste of the broad beans gets enhanced. Together its goes well as a sidedish for sambar.



Ingredients:
Broad beans-250gms(finely chopped)
Prawns-100gms
Onion-1(finely chopped)
Dry red chillied-4-5nos(broken)
Curry leaves-few
Oil-2tsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Channa dal-1/2tsp
Crushed fennel seeds(sombu)-1tsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Redchilli powder-1/2tsp
Grated coconut-3tbsp
Salt-as per taste

Method:
1. In a kadai add oil, when its hot enough add mustard,channa dal, crushed fennel seeds,curry leaves, broken redchillies,turmeric powder, followed by Redchilli powder, then add the finely chopped onion,fry well till the onion turns pink,then add the broad beans chopped, sauté for a 10 minutes.

2. Then add the cleaned and washed prawns to it, give it a stir, close with lid and allow to cook for a while. No need to add water, since prawns do gives out some amount of water while cooking. After 15-20 minutes open the lid add required salt and allow the remaining water to get dry. When the poriyal becomes dry, add the grated coconut cook for another 5 minutes in slow fire and remove from fire.
Serve as side dish to any meals.

Mutton biriyani

One of my most all time favorite dish. After all who hate biriyani’s? This version of Biriyani is from one of my aunt who has been into a fabulous cooking for years; she can make a simple lemon rice taste like heaven, that’s the magic of her “kai pakkuvam”.I was initially making all kinds of Biriyani in a pressure cooker which was having its own kind of taste, but then one fine day I fortunately happened to taste the Biriyani of my aunt, which made me speechless. It was so subtle yet spicy, I really loved it and immediately grabbed the recipe from her and tried it the very next day itself. It came out awesome. For the matter of fact I did not even fry the rice in vanaspathi, like how I normally was doing all these days. Instead the rice came out so well with separate grains.

Ingredients:
Basmathi Rice-3cups
Big Onion-2Nos(sliced)
Tomatoes-2Nos(chopped)
Ginger and garlic paste-2tbsp
Green chilli-6
Pudhina-a handful(chopped)
Coriander-a handful(chopped)
Whole spices-cardamom(2),cinnamon(1),cloves(4)
Chilli powder-2tsp
Salt-as per taste
Mutton-1/2kg (chopped)
Oil-5tbsp
Ghee-1tbsp

Marination:
Wash the mutton and marinade with a juice of lime and half a teaspoon of salt for 1 hour prior for cooking. This makes the mutton very tender, juicy and tangy.

Wash and soak the basmathi rice in normal water for about 1 hour

Method:
1. In a pressure cooker, add oil and ghee together, season with the whole spiced given in the list. Immediately add the pudhina and coriander. Fry for a while then add the chopped onions along with the whole green chillies. Saute well for 10-15 minutes, or till the onions gets cooked in the oil, now add the ginger and garlic paste, fry till the raw smell disappears, finally add the chopped tomatoes, fry till it gets mushy and oil comes out. Then add the chilli powder, give I it a stir, followed by the marinated mutton along with required salt for the masala. Fry for a while in high flame to seal the flavor of the mutton, say for 10 minutes, and after that close the cooker and give 3 whistle and after 3 whistle give 5 minutes of complete simmer, which will allow the mutton to cook till soft. After 5 minutes switch off the stove and allow the pressure to settle for a while. The Gravy should be thick enough to get mixed with the rice. If its very watery cook it further for some more time.Switch off the stove and keep aside the mutton gravy

2. Now in another flat bottomed vessel, add 6 cups of water (rice, water ratio 1:2). And turn on the stove and allow it to boil. Add the soaked rice along with required amount of salt. Close the lid and cook till the rice is 3/4th done in a medium flame, and that will take approximately 10-15 minutes after adding rice. When the rice is half cooked and seen with some amount water, this is the stage to add the gravy and mix it well, till the masala gets evenly spread with the rice.

3. Now place a iron dosa tawa or a nonstick dosa tawa in the stove and heat it in high flame for a while, till the tawa gets hot. When it’s hot enough simmer the stove and place the flat bottomed vessel which has the gravy and rice mix on the tawa and put it in dum for about 15 minutes exactly.

4. After 15 minutes, switch of the stove and remove the vessel from tawa and give a standing time for about 20-30 minutes. After 30 minutes you can taste the finest Biriyani on earth. Serve with onion raitha.

Podi Paavakai(Bitter gourd) Kuzhambu

My mom use to do this curry with the normal size bitter gourd, I tried with the small ones which tasted absolutely fantastic, and wanted to share the recipe. This curry has the perfect blend of bitterness and sourness which tastes so great with plain white rice.


Ingredients:
Podi Paavakai(tiny bittergourds) -200gms(deseed and cut into half)
Shallots(sambar onions) -100gms(finely chopped)
Garlic -4-5 pods(chopped)
Tomatoes -2Nos(chopped)
Tamarind Extract - with a lemon size of tamarind
Coconut oil -3tsp
Mustard Seeds -1tsp
Curryleaves -few

For the Masala:
Coconut(scraped) -1cup
Fenugreek -2tsp
Cuminseeds -1tsp
Peppercorns -1tsp
Chilli powder -2 tsp
Dhania Powder -3tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Curryleaves -few
Coconut oil -1tsp

Method:
1. Prepare the masala by roasting all the ingredients with a teaspoon of oil until coconut turns real roasty brown colour, and grind it to a smooth paste when it’s cool enough.
2. In a kadai, add oil, when its hot, temper with mustard, curryleaves, followed by shallots and garlic. Saute well till the onion turns slightly golden brown. Now add the chopped bitter gourd, and fry well for 10 minutes in medium flame. Then add the chopped tomatoes, fry well till it gets mushy.
3. Now add the tamarind extract, and allow the bittergourd to cook well for 10-15 mins.
4. Finally add the ground paste and allow it to boil for 5 minutes, add salt to taste.
5. And that’s it. Enjoy with plain rice with fried appalams.

Cucumber Curry

This famous curry is from the kanyakumari district which is my parent’s native, is almost considered as the life saver recipe, because of its simple preparation. The taste of this curry stands out from the rest of the curry dishes. Its best served with steamed rice with an egg omlette.





Ingredients:
Cucumber (cubed) -2 Nos
Tamarind -size of a lemon (diluted in 3 cups of water)
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil -2tbsp
Mustard seeds -1/4tsp
Broken urad dhal -1/4tsp
Curry leaves - few
Shallots (chopped) -1tbsp

Masala to grind:
Coconut -1 cup
Jeera -1tsp
Red Chillies -8-10
Pearl Onion (peeled) -8nos

Grind to a fine and smooth paste.

Method:
In a pan, cook the tamarind water with cubed cucumber, salt and turmeric for 10-15 minutes. When the cucumber is cooked, add the ground masala mix well, and slow the fire. When the sides of the curry start to rise to froth, just like rasam and curd curry, switch off the stove and remove from stove.

In a tempering pan, add oil, season with mustard, urad dhal, curry leaves and chopped pearl onions. Fry till the onions become golden brown and pour on top of the cucumber curry, mix well and serve with steamed plain rice.

Egg Burji Kurma

This particular recipe I came across from one of my friend’s mom, whom I completely lost touch. But then the taste of the food they served whenever I visited their place still lingers in my mouth. My friend’s mom cooks so well, such that even simple onion chutney taste divine. I have tried many recipes with help of her tips and guidance, and this burji kurma is one such recipe, which goes well with all tiffin like idly, dosa, and chappathi.

Ingredients:
Eggs -3nos
Onion (finely chopped) -2nos
Tomatoes (finely chopped) -2nos
Ginger and garlic paste -1tsp
Garam masala powder -1tsp
Chilli powder -1tbsp
Dhania powder -2tbsp
Turmeric Powder -1/4tsp
Oil -3tbsp
Salt -as per taste

Masala to grind:
Coconut (grated) -1cup
Cashew nut -4nos
Poppy seeds -1tsp
Fennel seeds (perunjeeragam) -1tsp

Grind these ingredients into a fine and smooth paste.

Method:
1. In heavy bottomed pan, add oil, when its hot enough sauté the onions followed by ginger and garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell goes, then add chopped tomatoes. When oil separates from tomatoes add chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, salt.

2. Fry for 3 minutes, make sure the dry masala’s should not get burnt. Then add the coconut masala and sauté for another 5 minutes. Allow it to boil for another 10-15 minutes after adding sufficient amount of water to gravy consistency.

3. Finally before removing from the stove, break 3 eggs into the kurma, jus swirl it once with a spoon and close with lid and allow it to stand for jus 5 minutes in slow fire. After 5 minutes garnish the kurma with chopped coriander and pudhina leaves.

4. Can be served with chappathi, idly, dosa and parotta

Scrumptious Paneer Masala

Everybody Loves paneer (cottage cheese) for its mushy and soft meaty texture. It is a high protein food; it is often substituted for meat in many vegetarian entrees of Indian cuisine. It is commonly used in curried dishes. 100 gms of paneer made from cow milk provides 18.3 gms of protein, 20.8 gms of fat, 2.6 gms of minerals, 1.2 gms of carbohydrates, 265 kcal of energy, 208 mgs of calcium, 138 mg of phosphorous. It contains reasonably good amounts of fat and cholesterol. It would be better to avoid it for those with hypertension and diabetes due to its high fat content. It can however be used in small quantities for such patients one or twice a week. It is suitable for all age groups. Being one of my all time favorite, tried out quite number of experiments, but so far I’m notified best for this simple paneer masala, which goes well with all Indian breads.

Ingredients:
Paneer -250gms





Wash the paneer and cube it. Deep fry the paneer cubes till slightly golden brown, and immediately plunge it in hot water for 5 minutes. Then drain off the water and keep aside.
Onion Paste -1cup
Tomato Puree -3/4cup
Cashew Paste -2tbsp
Gin & Gar Paste -1tbsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder -1tsp
Turmeric Powder -1/4tsp
Kasoori methi powder -1tsp
Garam Masala Powder -1/2tsp
Salt -as per taste
Coriander leaves -for garnishing
Fresh cream (optional) -2tbsp
Butter -1tbsp
Shah Jeera -1/2tsp

Method:
1.To make 1 cup of onion paste, slice 3 onions and sauté in a pan adding little oil till slightly brown and grind to a paste.
2.Likewise to make a tomato puree, blanch 2 big tomatoes in boiling water, for 4 minutes, then peel off the skin and puree it in a food processor.
3.For the cashew paste, soak 10 nos of cashews in luke warm water and grind it to a paste.
4.In a pan, add butter, season with shah jeera before the butter melts down completely. Add the onion paste, followed by ginger and garlic paste. Fry well till the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes off. Then add the dry ingredients like chilli powder, turmeric powder, Kasoori methi powder, garam masala powder and salt.
5.After 2 minutes add the tomato puree, fry well till the oil separates from the curry. Add ½ cup of water and allow the gravy to cook for 5 minutes. Then add the cashew paste and the prepared paneer cubes mix well and cook for jus 3 minutes on heat. Remove from stove and garnish with fresh cream and chopped coriander.
6.Serve with rotis.





Variation: Fresh peas can also be added.

Egg Masala

Ingredients:

Eggs -3Nos (boiled)
Onion -1(finely chopped)
Tomato -1(finely chopped)
Oil -2tbsp
Mustard seeds -1/4tsp
Curry leaves -few
Gin &Gar paste -1tsp
Red chilli powder -1tsp
Dhania powder -1/2tsp
Cumin powder -1/2/tsp
Turmeric powder -1/2tsp
Salt -as per taste
Coriander leaves -a handful (for garnishing)

Method:

In a pan, add oil, temper it with mustard and curry leaves. Add chopped onion fry well till golden brown, followed by ginger and garlic paste. Then add the red chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, a pinch of garam masala and salt. Saute for 2 minutes then add the tomatoes, cook until it gets mushy and when oil separates from the gravy, add ½ a cup of water, add the boiled eggs, and allow it to cook till the gravy gets thicken.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or rotis.

My Lazy Lunch!

My perfect meal on a lazy Saturday comprised of a curd curry which I adopted the kerala style, then a beetroot poriyal and finally my most favourite egg masala which goes yummy with the curd curry. Since I captured the exotic color combination in my dig cam, I’m now forced to post the recipe.


Curd Curry:
Ingredients:
Yam (karunaikizhangu) -250gms
(Chop in cubes and cook by adding salt and a pinch of turmeric in sufficient amount of water)


For the coconut paste:
Coconut -1/2 cup (shredded)
Green chillies -4nos
Fenugreek -1tsp
Cumin seeds -1/2tsp
Coconut Oil -1tsp


Curd -3 cups (Beat the curd in a blender to make the texture smooth)
Salt -as per requirement
Coconut Oil -for tempering.
Mustard seeds -1 teaspoon
Fenugreek -1/2teaspoon
Redchillies -3-4Nos
Curry leaves -a handful


Method:
In a pan, add a teaspoon of oil, when its hot enough add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, and broken green chillies, sauté till the raw smell of the green chilies goes off. Then from stove and blend it to a smooth past by adding the coconut.

Combine the cooked yam, coconut paste, and beaten curd in a pan without adding salt.

Mix well and keep it in a stove and make sure the flame is very low. After 5 minutes the sides of the curd curry will start to rise as a froth. Immediately switch off the stove and keep the curry aside. Now add the required salt to the curry.


Finally temper the curry with coconut oil, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, broken red chilies and curry leaves and pour on top of the curry.

Serve with plain white rice.

Crispy Nethili 65

Commersons Anchovy(Nethili Fish) is a type of very small fish but has a great taste of its own kind. My family members love this fish in any cooked form, especially my father,he loves it when its deep fried till golden colour.So we never fail to do this recipe whenever we get ample number of anchovies This recipe was discovered by me with a fusion method,again got clicked by one of my experiments, and there after its been named as “Crispy Nethili 65”


Ingredients:

Marination:
Nethili Fish(cleaned) -500gms
Ginger garlic paste -1tsp
Red chilli powder -1tsp
Coriander powder -2tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Red colour powder -optional
Pepper powder -1tsp
Lime juice -a few drops
Salt -as per taste

Final coating:
Egg(beaten) -1no
Bread Crumbs -as per requirement
Oil -to deep fry

Method:
1.Marinade the fish with the given ingredients for 2 hours.
2.Dip each fish in the beaten egg and roll out with the bread crumbs.
3.Deep fry in oil till golden brown.
4.Its a great snack by itself. Goes well as a starter too.

Kariveppilai kozhi varuval(Curryleaves Flavoured Chicken Fry)

This is my grand mom's signature recipe which she has kept all the ingredients so secret for quite some time. Finally I somehow I managed to observe her in the kitchen and also her secret ingredients for this yummiest chicken fry, where no one can resist by eating jus one.



Ingredients:

Chicken-500gm

For the marination:
Dried and powdered curry leaves-2 tbsp
Ginger Garlic paste-1tbsp
Redchilli powder-1tbsp
Egg-1
Cornflour-3tbsp
Rice flour-1tbsp
Diced onion-1nos
Garam masala powder-1tsp
Fenugreek powder-1/2tsp
Curd-3tsp
Sprigs of curry leaves- a handful
Salt-as per taste

Method:
Mix the chicken with the ingredients given in the marination and soak it for 5 hours. It would b best if u marinade it overnight. Deep fry the chicken along with diced onions and curry leaves with enough oil. The Golden fried chicken will taste divine with the golden fried onions and curry leaves. A must try recipe.

Prawn Biriyani

People say change is the only constant in life and for me change comes in the form of experiments. I have always fancied that my experiments would one day make me as famous as Madam Curie. Ok, if not Madam Curie, at least a Madam Curry. So keeping my quest alive I am here donning the bloggers life. I must admit that all through my life I have been attempted to venture into different horizons but unfortunately every time my horizon seem to hit the dead ends. And these dead ends force me to explore new venture.Isn’t that a human mind is all about; it keeps wandering about something and ends up nowhere. But here I’m going to make sure that I keep my mind focused only on 3 things, which I’m so passionate about to talk, which is the food, music and a little bit of biased philosophy. Out of which “food” have always been so close to my heart, not alone with the eating part but also with the amount of effort involved with the making of it. For people who hate cooking, they jus refer this as a tedious,and boring job, but people who loves it, they consider this as the most passionate and a loving job. I’m one of those passionate people who love to put together all my senses towards the “food”, which off lately amuses me a lot.


To begin with, does anybody know why food is playing a major role in each and everyone’s life? Not only it satisfies our taste buds but it also serves a different principle, which is the survival of mankind. Hmm..that everybody knows, I know, but I have a different standpoint towards it, we human run behind so many thing through out the day, but at the end of the day what makes us complete is our daily meal, even if it is a glass of milk, it does count. Sit back, I’m definitely not going to post a recipe for a glass of milkJ. Let me start off with my most popular recipe, infact I can claim it as my signature dish, “Prawn Biriyani”. I remember trying this recipe for the first time when I was 14, was experimenting with some variations and to my surprise it came out so well for the first time and got pat on my shoulders for the effort I made. So me being an amateur blogger will have to perk up more on showcasing my recipes.

Prawn Biriyani, I would assertively classify it as the most comfort food, which is so light with the palette and at the same time sturdily satisfies the souls on a cozy afternoon.


Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Prawns (deveined and cleaned) -250gms
Onion (sliced) -2 Nos
Ginger -50gms
Garlic -50gms
Green chillies -4Nos
Red Chilli Powder -2tablespoons
Dhania Powder -1 ½ tablespoon
Turmeric powder -1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder -1teaspoon
Salt -as per requirement
Refined Oil -6tablespoon
Ghee -2tablespoon
Basmathi Rice - 4 cups
Water -8 cups
Coriander leaves(chopped) -1/2 bunch
Juice of lemon -1 No
Cloves -4Nos
Cardamom -2Nos
Cinnamon -1No
Bay leaf -1No

Method:

This recipe is a 4 step process. Before that grind ginger, garlic and greenchillies together as a paste



Step1:
Marinade the prawns with ¾ tbsp of chilli powder,1/4 of turmeric powder, and salt for one hour. In a pan pour 3 tablespoon of oil, and when its hot add the marinated prawns and fry till it becomes soft, make sure not to over cook as it tend to become hard.

Step2:
After draining he prawns once its done add chopped ¾ of all the onion in the same prawn friend oil along with the rest of the refined oil. Fry the onions till it becomes translucent. Then add the ginger, garlic, greenchilli paste. Sauté for another 10 minutes till the raw smell disappears. Now add the remaining chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder and required amount of salt for the gravy alone. Add ½ cup of water and let the masala to cook till the oil separates from it. Finally add the fried prawns to it and cook for another 5 minutes, and add juice of lime, garam masala, and finely chopped coriander after switching off the stove.

Step3:
I used electric cooker to cook the rice, it can also be done in open or closed pan method.
Before cooking the rice, it has to be soaked for 10 minutes and drain it. In a pan, add the ghee, season with whole garam masala’s like cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaf, add a handful of sliced onion, sauté till it becomes pink, then add the drained rice fry well for a while. Add the required amount of water along with salt. Cook for 20 minutes in low flame.

Step4- Wrap it all:
In a heavy bottomed flat vessel add few drops of ghee, and then layer half of the cooked rice. Add the prawn gravy on top of the bed of rice followed by the remaining cooked rice. Pour few drops of ghee on the sides of the rice, and close the lid tightly and cook on a very slow flame for 20-30 minutes. After which slightly fluff up the rice along with the gravy, carefully, and serve hot with cucumber salad.