Fish (Tilapia) Curry

By now, you must have heard my ranting on the quality of fish here and the endless nostalgia on Calicut's ample fish supply. Well, Tilapia is one fish we get here fresh at all the supermarkets and according to the American Tilapia Association, it is now the fifth most popular seafood consumed in the United States. It is a fresh water fish favored by many, but we always found it lacking in the robust flavor when made in the traditional Kerala style or fried with spices.
It would lie solitary in the coconut curries, unconcerned by the spices around it and break up when we simmer it for too long. It does take well to grilling with any marinade, especially a green marinade that I had blogged about a long time ago. And however much I fried it,it never took on the much yearned crispy crust.
So when I tried a combination of both as suggested by one of my friends, it gave the fish as much flavor as it could hold! So do try this recipe if you love fish and can't get fresh sea fish. It has a tomatoey flavor and goes well with both rice and roti.

You will need:
Tilapia Fillets-2-3(1/2 lb)
Onion- 2 cups finely chopped
Tomatoes-2 plum tomatoes (medium size)
Green Chilies-5-6
Ginger-1 inch
Garlic-4-5 cloves
Red Chili Powder-1 tsp(use less as per taste)
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice- 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves, Cilantro -one handful
Oil-3-4 tbsp

Preparation:
1.Cut the fish fillets into 2-3 inch sizes and rinse the with lemon juice and drain. Sprnkle some salt and turmeric and chili powder and coat. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Meanwhile chop all the ingredients finely.
2. Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a non stick pan(definitely nonstick else you will need more oil) and saute the fish fillets gently on medium high heat till they change color. Flip them over and cook the other side. This is just to firm up the fish and not to deep fry it. Drain onto a plate and keep aside.
3. Scrape off all the fish from the pan and reheat with the remaining oil. Add the curry leaves and chopped onions. Saute just till they start turning brown at the edges. This needs oil to fry well or patience to do it on low heat. Either way, after it is sauted, add the green chilies, ginger and garlic. Saute till the aroma is realeased and then add the red chili powder, turmeric and stir well.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well on medium heat till it starts breaking down. At that point, add the fish fillets and 1 small cup of water.
5. Now comes the tricky part. Do not use the spoon liberally to stir after adding the fish. Hold the pan with mittens and shake to combine the fish and gravy. Add salt, cover and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes on medium heat. Now open and cook for another 4 minutes, just to concentrate the liquid. Add the cilantro leaves and check seasoning. Add 1 tsp of lemon juice if your tomatoes are bland.
Serve with rice or roti or bread.

16 Bean Adai!

I go through a lot of blogs and try out the recipes whenever I am bored with the routine food. Some of these recipes are familiar but not cooked, some are total strangers and these I never know if I got it exactly right. The only clue I have are the other photos and I keep checking to see if the end product looks similar. Most of the time, cooking from other blogs is a leisurely activity compared to the intensity involved in cooking one of the home recipes correctly, chronicling it and photographing it. So I hardly have any photos of other's recipes that I have tried.

Indonsungod's and Saffron Hut's adai is an exception as it had a high curiosity factor for me, being already fond of regular adai. It was a weekend morning and the sun was pouring through my windows when I made these for a late breakfast. So after the family ate, I ran to get some photos.

My mother's recipe calls for 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of assorted skinned lentils such as Massor, Chana, Tuvar,Moong and Urad. So I tried it first with the variety of skinned and unskinned lentils as in Indosungod and it came out delicious without losing any bit of its crunchy texture.

Then emboldened, I made it with 16 beans as did Saffron Hut. So does 16 beans make it a protein powerhouse? Yep! The 16 beans which she ingeniously used in the adai is originally a soup mix but anybody can make these adai with any assortment of beans or lentils. The color of the adai was greenish due to the presence of the beans with skins. The texture and taste is similar but a little rougher. The only issue was how to get rid of the natural bloating due to the beans. I did some of the tricks explained by Nandita here and would further welcome any suggestions that you all have to combat the indigestion.
Do refer to the saffron hut and indosungod's sites for their version of the recipe.

You will need:
16 bean soup mix or any assortment of lentils-1 cup
Urad dal-1/2 cup
White Rice-1 1/2 cup
Green chili-6-8 chopped
Ginger-1 inch
Curry leaves
Shallots-4-5 chopped finely
Cilantro-4 tbsp
Hing or Asafoetida-1/2 tsp
salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Soak the beans, rice and urad dal separately for 6 hrs or overnight.
2. Drain, wash the beans twice and grind them with the ginger, cilantro and green chilies to a semi fine paste with enough water..not too coarse. Add water as needed.
3. When it is ready, add salt, asafoetida , shallots and chopped curry leaves and mix. If you want to reduce the spice, the green chilies can chopped and added instead of grinding it.
4. Pour it and cook it as you would dosa or uttappam. Take care to cook both sides and add drops of oil as needed. Serve this with a spicy tomato chutney or coconut chutney .

Other 16 Bean Recipes:
Linda's 16 bean soup
Asha's 16 bean masala

Coconut Chutney

Coconut Chutney I
You will need:
Coconut Grated-1 1/2 cup
Green Chilies-4-5(less if you prefer it less spicy)
Shallots-1
Ginger-1/2 inch piece
Garlic-1/2 a clove(optional)
Curry Leaves-5-6
Mustard Seeds-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil-1 tbsp
1. Grind the coconut with the chilies, ginger, garlic, shallot and 1 cup water till it is a very fine paste.
2. Heat oil in a pan, lower the heat and add the mustard seeds. Cover the pan till it stops spluttering and then open and add the curry leaves and lower the flame.
Add the coconut paste mixed with salt and let it heat up but do not let it come to a boil. Add more water if it is too thick. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Coconut Chutney II
You will need:
Coconut Grated-1 1/2 cup
Green Chilies-7(less if you prefer it less spicy)
Ginger-1/2 inch piece
Curry Leaves-5-6 for Seasoning and 5-6 for grinding
Yogurt-1-2 tsp( more or less based on sourness)
Mustard Seeds-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil-1 tbsp
1. Grind the coconut with the chilies, ginger, curry leaves and 1 cup water till it is a very fine paste.
2. Heat oil in a pan, lower the heat and add the mustard seeds. Cover the pan till it stops spluttering and then open and add the curry leaves and lower the flame.
Add the coconut paste mixed with salt and let it heat up but do not let it come to a boil. Remove from the flame and add the yogurt. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Blogger Postcards Around The World #2

So my postcard finally was received over the weekend and it was such a sweet surprise to find it handmade with a cute elephant wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day!
Thank you Brillyn of Jumbo Empanadas for taking the effort to make me such a cute card! It also has a challenge for me to cook something from her site and post it. Brillyn, I would be doing that soon.
There was also a card from my friend Meeta, all red in color and hearts, a photo taken by her and converted into cards. Thanks a lot Meeta!It was fun participating in the Blogger Postcard event.

White Bean Hummus w/Pita

A twist on the hummus..but a very simple and very fingerlicking recipe. Toast some pita bread and it is an excellent way to get bean protein into your kids. I ran out of chickpeas and made this one but now I am hooked on the clean taste which according to my better half is closer in taste to the Arab Hummus. Use as a spread or dip or serve with toasted pita bread.

You will need:
1 can of white canellini beans(which look like white kidney beans)
3/4 cup Sesame Seeds
3-4 tbsp Olive Oil
1-2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Rinse the beans thoroughly and drain. Grind the sesame seeds with the lemon juice till it is a fine paste. Add a little water if the grinder blades get stuck. Now add the beans and blend till smooth. Drizzle olive oil from the top while the blender is running to aerate the hummus. Turn off and check the taste. Add salt and more lemon juice if needed. If it feels too thick, blend with a bit more olive oil. I like the olive oil but if you are worried about the fat content, substitute more lemon juice or water.
Garnish with more olive oil, parsley, chopped olives etc.

Heart Shaped Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!



Roses and Hearts all wrapped up in a love boat..
These are my mom's donut cookies reinvented as heart shaped cookies. She made them shaped as donuts cut with two circular metal lids. One was an old 777 sambhar powder's tin lid, and the other the cap of a vanilla essence bottle. I loved doing the cutting, figuring out how many I can get from each batch and now I see the same thrill on my son's face when he does the cookie cutting with cookie cutters.
He also sprinkled the sugar on the cookies after frying them.

We grew up on these and always thought donuts looked and tasted as these cookies. So imagine my surprise when I first saw a Dunkin Donut. It looked like my donuts on steroids! And it was so cakey in texture!
So now while I love the cholesterol laden donuts from Krispy Kreme(and some from Dunking Donuts), I had to try and recreate the old donut-cookies for nostalgia's sake.

So here is the recipe, straight from my mom. Be warned, it is not too sweet and it is fried.:)This is also my entry to Trupti's Little Chefs In The Kitchen Event.

You will need: To make about 24 cookies
All Purpose Flour ( Pilsbury or Gold Medal)-8 tbsp
Yogurt-1 tbsp
Melted Butter or Ghee-1tbsp
Powdered Sugar- 4 tbsp
Baking Powder-1 tsp
Vanilla-1tsp
Egg-1/2 beaten egg
Oil for frying
Cinnamon sugar- Mix ½ tsp cinnamon powder with 2-3 tsp powdered sugar and keep aside.

Preparation Method:
1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Pour the melted butter, yogurt and vanilla into the mix and blend evenly by hand. Now slowly add the mixed egg, a little at a time, just enough to form a soft dough. Do not pour the egg all together. I judged it to be half an egg but depending on the size of the egg, you may need more or less. So add a drop as you knead along to moisten the dough till it reaches the correct consistency. The dough should feel dry and not sticky.
2. Keep for 10 minutes and then take a small ball and roll it out with the rolling pin. Sprinkle some flour as you roll if it sticks to the rolling pin. The thickness should be around 3-4 mm. Use a cookie cutter and cut out the shapes.
3. Heat enough oil in a pan or kadai, for deep frying and when it is hot enough, lower the heat to medium high and slide in the cookies, 5-6 at a time depending on the size of your pan. Fry them as you would fry puris. Turn them almost immediately after sliding them in and let it fry on each side for a minute or so till they turn golden in color. The heat should not be too low or too high.
4. Drain onto paper towels and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them while they are hot.
These stay fresh for about 4-5 days.

Nominated For Best Food Indiblog!

So I heard from my friend Nandita that my blog has been nominated for Best Food Indiblog by Indibloggers. If not for her, this event too would have slipped through my busy schedule. I love to blog but somehow other priorities have kept blogging on the backburner recently.

Needless to say, I am thrilled to be noted in the same breath as the wonderful blogs of Mahanandi, Spice who loved me, Food for Thought, Anthony's Bachelor Cooking and Hooked on Heat. I feel like doing a little jig for just being nominated. Who thought all my nostalgia and food fetishes would result in so many loyal readers?

And since I know there are lot of you who actually read and enjoy my ramblings, I am shamelessly asking for you support and vote for me. Please take a moment and click for me at the Indibloggers Poll.
Psst..And if you don't like you can still take time out to vote for the others.:)

Something To Snack On..

We have been having a great (!@#$) week with first our cooking range getting replaced(it had conked off)and now with the heating system playing havoc on us. Just in time to get the brunt of the cold as the Northeast has finally entered into deep winter. So while the temperature outside is 15-25 F, when I came home from work yesterday, the temperature inside was 47 F. The furnace was getting repaired today but not till noon. So we dressed in more layers, turned up the room heater but it was still so cold, I turned on the oven!

It's only at such times that I realise how much of our creature comforts are taken for granted. I remember growing up in the Delhi winters with no central heat, with all of us huddled around the heater or under the blanket, constantly munching and guzzling something hot. I tried explaining such a scenario to my son and he didn't get it. He was asking why we didn't get the heat repaired.:)Kids!

So I kept warm by frying snacks on my new range. Something I don't normally do but maybe the circumstances made me yearn for comfort food..the snack mixture that my mom always had on hand. She would make huge batches of it for us. We used to sit down with a good book and a bowl of mixture in the afternoons after coming from school. Very easy to make and very unhealthy. And of course you can't stop eating it.
It is a mix of fried sev or noodles, peanuts, curry leaves, poha and ribbon pakoda. Keeps well for a week or more. And definitely better than whatever you buy from the Indian store as it is freshly made.
I know there are healthier version of this made with cornflakes and raisins etc but today, I am going all out.
Update:Now the heating system is back on so we are warm again(Thank God!) and I do have a new cooking range so all I need to do is find a good movie to enjoy this snack mix with.

You will need:
3 cups Gram Flour(Besan or Kadala Podi)
1 cup Rice Flour
1-2 tsp Red Chili Powder
A pinch of Turmeric
Asafoetida(Kayam/Hing)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
Peanuts- a handful
Beaten Rice(Aval/Poha)
Curry leaves- 4-5 sprigs
Oil- Enough for deep frying.
Special Equipment:Idiappam press.

1. Make a dough of the rice flour, gram flour, chili powder, turmeric, a pinch of asafoetida and salt. The dough should be wet (Idiappam consistency)and plaible enough to go through the noodle press but not too wet. Add water slowly as needed. Uses about 1 1/2 cup water.
2. Heat oil in a deep frying pan or wok(kadai)and when it is hot enough, test by dropping one tiny piece of dough. It should come to the surface promptly. Set the dough in the press with the noodles mould. Reduce heat and press the noodles directly into the oil, doing about three rounds. Turn the heat back up and let it fry for about 30 seconds on each side. It gets cooked real fast on high heat, so stand close. Drain onto paper towels or newspapers. Repeat for about 5-6 times. Sprinkle a bit of chili powder and salt (if needed).
3. Change the press design to the ribbon and press soem ribbons into the pan now. Ribbons take some more time and they need to be cooked on low heat for about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat as needed.
4. Now fry a handful of peanuts till golden brown and drian. Fry the curry leaves similarly and drain. Fry the poha or aval too. I used the red aval as that was what I had at hand. The white ones are crispier. That cooks instantly so you just need to put it in a deep strainer and hold it under the oil and when it puffs up,immediatley remove it.
5. You can fry bhoondis or droplets too. It is a little tricky as you have to slightly thin the dough with water to make it pourable consistency. Hold a large slotted spoon over the oil and pour a spoon of batter over it. Shake the slotted spoon slightly to allow the drops to fall seperately. As it puffs up, remove and drain.
6. Now mix everythiing in a large bowl, slightly crushing the big pieces and add a dash of asafoetida and salt or chilipowder if needed.
Store in an air tight container.

Egg Curry w/ Coconut Milk

Here is the egg curry which was keeping the Puttu company in the previous post. One of our easy breezy weeknight curries, it goes well with everything except rice.I like this really spicy to offset the coconut milk's sweetness but adjust the spice level as required. Use coconut milk powder instead of the can milk and the rice flour mixed with water helps in thickening the curry.

Cooking time:15 mins
You will need:
Eggs-5.
Onions- 1 1/2 cups chopped (2 medium sized one)
Tomatoes-1 Plum Tomato
Green chilies - 6
Garlic – 1
Ginger- a small piece
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder- 1 tsp (more or less as per taste)
Coriander powder-1 tbsp
Coconut Milk-1 cup ( 3 tbsp coconut milk powder mixed with 1 ½ cup warm water)
Rice Flour- 1tsp mixed with 1/4 cup water.
Salt - to taste
Oil-2 tbsp
Curry leaves – one sprig washed

Preparation Method
1. Keep the eggs for boiling with enough water. This should take a bout 15 minutes. Peel them, cut into long halves and keep aside. Grind the ginger-garlic and green chilies together coarsely.
2. Heat the oil in a large non stick pan, and add the onions and curry leaves. Sauté on medium low heat for 3-4 minutes, till it turns translucent and add the green chilies paste. Take care not to let it stick to the pan.
3. Now add the tomatoes, all the spices and 1tbsp water. Saute on low heat till the spices give out their fragrance. It is important to let the coriander and chili powder cook as it will taste funny otherwise. So take your time at this step. Add 1 cup water and when it boils, add salt.
4. Lower the heat and slide in the egg halves gently, with the yolk exposed to the top. Add the coconut milk and rice flour mixed in water. Use the spoon sparingly after you add the eggs and try shaking the pan instead. Check seasoning and add more if needed. Let it simmer for about 5-8 minutes till the curry thickens. Remove from flame and let it sit for some time to absorb all the flavors. Serve with puttu or roti.

Blogger Postcards Around the World #2

It's that time of the year again..flowers and candy and cakes and cards.. all heart shaped and gooey!It's almost Valentines Day! So what is everybody planning for this one day? Is it a surprise or can you share with me?

Meeta is once again hosting the Blogger Postcards Around the World event and this time the theme is Happy Valentine’s.
I entered the event with a lot of enthusiasm as I had missed the last event and I was always a lover of the snail mail. Now email has just taken over our lives but still there is nothing better than the anticipation of a handwritten card or letter from a friend or family member.

I initially thought it HAD to be a postcard and imagine my surprise when I couldn't get hold of a postcard! I searched the postoffice, 3-4 bookstores and a couple of supermarkets. It started sounding silly when I asked people where can I get a postcard and explained why. I got some really strange looks(cuckoo, cuckoo)! Finally I gave up and opted for a card instead. I guess postcards are available only at tourist spots!

I chose a snoopy card as the cute smile and the crinkly paper just warmed my heart over. While not one to openly express emotions easily, this simple cheerful card is more my style. Hope the card reaches before the special day! My card is going all the way around the world to a mate in a cool continent. Can you guess where?