Kappayum Meenum / Boiled Tapioca with Kerala Fish Curry

Kappayum Meenum! Need I say more? Every person who grew up in Kerala must miss this when they are out of their nests. Oh, unless they are vegetarian. Then they would miss... I don't know! What do vegetarians miss when they leave Kerala? Enlighten me.

Anyway, I miss this. Among other things of course but this I miss one of the most because it represents home so much to me. Suma, our maid, brought some kappayum meenum for sis and I and of course I took the banana leaf that happened to lie around in amma's kitchen and clicked it. I later asked amma for the recipe so I am not sure if this is hers or Suma's. Either ways, it works, trust them if not me.

Meen Mulakarachathu, as we call it in Kottayam, is not my favourite Kerala fish dish but with kappa, its unbeatable. Its called by so many names by the way - Meen Vevichathu, Meen Mulakittathu, and even Meen Pattichathu. All one and the same folks!

Kappa Puzhukku / Boiled Tapioca Kerala Style

Ingredients:
1 kilo tapioca / kappa
3/4 cup grated coconut
5 green chillies
5 flakes of garlic
5 shallots
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera / jeerakam
3 sprigs of curry leaves
3 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste

How Its Made:

1. Peel and wash the tapioca well. Cut into small cubes and add to a pan with water 3" inches higher than the level of tapioca. Bring to boil and add salt. Let it simmer on medium-low flame until the tapioca is almost soft.

2. Meanwhile, grind the other ingredients except curry leaves and oil. Once the tapioca is almost soft (just short of mushy stage), add the ground paste, along wtih the coconut oil and curry leaves. Mix well and let it heat through. (Alternately, you can heat oil in another pan, add curry leaves to it and then mix with the tapioca).

3. Remove from fire and serve with tangy and spicy fish curry /  meen vevichathu.

Meen Mulakarachathu / Meen Vevichathu / Meen Mulakittathu / Kerala Style Fish Curry

Ingredients:
1/2 kg any firm fish, cleaned and cubed (ideally with bones)
3 tbsp red chilli powder / mulaku podi (use Kashmiri chilli powder or a mix of that and the regular one if you can't take heat)
1 tbsp coriander powder / malli podi
3 pieces of kudam puli
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds / uluva
3 sprigs of curry leaves
5 shallots
5 garlic cloves
1" piece of finger
3 green chillies, slit
3 tbsp coconut oil

How Its Made:

1. Crush shallots, ginger, and garlic together in a pestle and mortar (or grind together).

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the fenugreek seeds. When they start to brown, add the crushed ginger-garlic-shallot paste. Fry for 10 seconds and then add the coriander powder, followed by the red chilli powder. Fry for another 10 seconds. Add curry leaves and green chillies and mix together well.

3. Now add the turmeric powder and the kudam puli with 2 cups water and salt. Bring to boil and let it boil for 2-3 mins before adding the fish.

4. Simmer on low heat for another 10-12 mins until the fish is cooked through. Check for salt and tanginess and add more of either if necessary.

Goes best with kappa puzhukku.

Nethili Meen Fry / Anchovies Fried Kerala Style

This is probably my most favourite Kerala fish recipe - nethili (natholi / uzhuva) fry. Its supposedly high in calcium because we eat the bones too.

Anchovies make regular appearance in a lot of Asian cuisines, especially in Malay dishes but those are much tinier than the ones I have seen in Kerala. I hear these are also called bait fish because of their size and alternate use.

Since I don't cook meat or fish in my kitchen, raw fish/meat slightly turns me off. I contemplated for a long time before posting this. Its one for the Kerala non vegetarian lovers :)

My mom adds a special ingredient to the marinade to make it yummier. Its probably common in your kitchen but she got the tip a few years back and nethili fry in our kitchen has been awesome since then.

Nethili Meen Fry / Fried Anchovies Recipe
Serves: 2-4
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:
250gm nethili meen / anchovies
2-3 tbsp maida / plain flour or half an egg (the extra ingredient amma adds!)
Oil to deep fry

For Marinade:
8 shallots
3-4 cloves of garlic
2" piece of ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
A pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp pepper powder
Salt to taste
Water as needed

How Its Made:

1. Clean the fish and cut / pinch off the head part. I have never cleaned fish so no tips from me here, sorry.

2. Grind all the ingredients for marinade into a smooth paste. Mix in with the fish and set aside for atleast an hour.

3. Heat enough oil to deep fry about 1/4th the fish at a time. Before frying, mix in half the egg or the maida and make sure its well incorporated into the fish-marinade mixture. This gives a nice texture to the fried fish.

4. Fry until nicely browned. At home we prefer fish that's not fried to the bones so that the flesh is still soft. Go with what your heart says.

Always serve fried fish with chopped, raw onions. Always. Trust me on this, the onion-breath afterwards is worth it. 

Kerala Fish Stew / Meen Molee Recipe

As you guys probably know by now, I don't cook meat or fish in my kitchen. Although I reason I give is TH's vegetarianism, the actual truth is, he doesn't care what I cook as long as he gets his vegetarian dishes. So its my laziness in cooking separate things for him and me that's the actual reason. There, I said it!

Due to this self-imposed limitation, I asked my amma to be a guest contributor to Edible Garden. We live in Kerala, and although we don't eat fish every day like most Malayalis do, some fish does get cooked in her kitchen on and off. So expect posts from amma in this blog from now on, with pictures styled by her and taken by my dear uncle.

Here's a previous recipe cooked and clicked by the bro-sis team: chambakka pickle.

Ok on to today's recipe: Fish Molee or Meen Molee, a very popular Kerala fish stew that's cooked in coconut milk and spices. The flavour is light, yet spicy with a good bit of green chillies in the mix. Each household in Kerala will have their own version of course, and this is amma's.

Meet the fish. These big-eyed beauties are called Unnimary after the pretty actress of the 80s known for her large, beautiful eyes. Erm.. yeah she was quiet a sexy addition to movies back in the day.

I apologize to my vegetarian readers and friends for this picture. But I had to demonstrate what a quick learner amma is. I gave her some photography tips over phone about good light, background, plating, no flash, etc and she followed the "rules" beautifully.

You can use any firm fleshy fish for fish molee. Cut into small-ish pieces, don't use small, whole fish. Admittedly, I don't have much experience handling fish so trust my mom on this, ok?

Here are some of the ingredients we need. Lots of onions, fresh curry leaves and green chillies, and of course, coconut milk.

Kerala Fish Molee / Meen Molee Recipe
Serves 4
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:
500gm firm fleshy fish, cut into small pieces
2 large onions, sliced into long, thin pieces
8-10 green chillies, depending on heat level required
Thick coconut milk 1/2 cup (onnaam paal)
Thin coconut milk 1.5 cups (rendaam paal - if using store bought coconut milk, mix water with 1/2 cup coconut milk)
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
2 1" pieces of cinnamon (don't use powder)
4 cloves
1/2 tsp maida/plain flour
2-3 sprigs of curry leaves
Salt to tate
(Coconut) Oil as needed

Method of preparation:

1. Clean the fish and add a pinch of turmeric powder, some salt, and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (this is in addition to what is listed above under ingredients) to the pieces. Rub in well and leave aside for 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Heat about 1 cup oil in a small frying wok or pan and fry the fish until half done. The idea is to semi-cook the fish rather than fry it well. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in another pan and saute the onions until soft and pink. To this, add the flour, chilly powder, pepper powder, turmeric, and curry leaves. Fry for another minute or so.

4. Next, add the thin coconut milk along with the ginger, green chillies, vinegar, cloves and cinnamon along with salt as needed. Cook closed on low heat for about 12-15 mins until all the spices come together in the mixture.

5. At this stage, add the semi-fried fish. When the mixture comes to boil, add the thick coconut milk, mix well and remove from fire (don't bring to boil after adding the thick coconut milk).

Notes:

- As I have mentioned, different parts of Kerala make fish molee in a different way. Another version I have seen is much milder and lighter in colour because all the heat comes from green chillies and no red chilli powder is added. Amma's version sometimes has an orange colour because she generally uses Kahsmiri chilli powder that has a deeper red colour but milder heat. Dishes cooked in my house are not very spicy, if at all.

- Fresh coconut milk works best for this dish. Store-bought coconut milk will lend a different flavour and may not exactly satisfy your cravings if you are hoping for this authentic fish molee for your meal

- Serve hot with rice and any stir-fried vegetable or mezhukkupuratti of choice.

Huge thanks to Amma and Radha mama for the superb step by step pictures :) 

Dry Indian Chilli Chicken ~ Indo Chinese Recipe Series

Probably one of the dishes I crave the most on odd days. There are some restaurants that serve good Indo Chinese food in Singapore but they usually leave me feeling dehydrated because of the amount of oil and MSG they use.

This is a super simple version that I cooked at a friend's place. The two non-vegetarians at the table really enjoyed it!

Indo Chinese Dry Chilli Chicken Recipe
Serves 4
Adapted from: KhanaKhazana

Ingredients:
500gm boneless chicken pieces, cut into small cubes
1 onion, cut into cubes
1/2 of a green capsicum / bell pepper, cut into cubes
1 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp green chilli sauce
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 green chillies, slit (we used the large red chillies that have lesser heat)
1 tsp dry red chilli flakes (optional)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp all purpose flour or maida
1 egg (optional)
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar (optional)
Oil
Spring onions for garnish

How I Made It:

1. Marinate the chicken in 1/2 tbsp soya sauce, egg, salt, pepper, flour, cornflour, half the garlic and half the green chilli sauce for atleast 30 mins. Leave it for an hour or two if you have the time.

2. Heat a shallow pan with about 1/4 cup oil and lightly fry the chicken pieces until golden brown. Set aside.

3. In the remaining oil, add chopped garlic and the chillies and flakes and fry for 2 minutes. Next, add the onions and capsicum and fry until soft (2-3 mins). Add vinegar and mix well. Top off with the fried chicken and the remaining quantities of ingredients used to marinate (1/2 tbsp soya sauce, 1/2 tbsp green chilli sauce, salt, sugar, and pepper).

4. Stir all the ingredients until well combined and fry for another 3-4 mins. Garnish with some chopped spring onions and serve hot. 

Am sending this over to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by Magpie's Recipes this month. 

Shamshad's Chicken Biriyani / Biryani Recipe

What better way to get back fully after a lazy break from blogging? Make someone else do the work. So here's a mild yet yummy and super easy Chicken Biriyani recipe shared by my friend Shamshad. She was very apologetic about the pictures but I have to say she did a mighty good job.

Thanks Sham!



Chicken Biriyani Recipe
Adapted from Awesome Cuisine
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
Basmati rice -  4 cups (soaked in water for 1 hour)
Chicken pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 3 large
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Green chilies - 5 (or as per your requirement)
Pepper powder - to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon - a 1" piece
Cloves - 4
Salt to taste

To Marinate
Pepper powder -to taste
Coriander powder - 3 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For Seasoning
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 15 or so
Raisins - 10 or so
1 large onion

Method:

1. Chicken
Wash Chicken pieces. Marinate for atleast an hour with coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.
Semi fry chicken pieces in a pan with little oil.

Heat oil and add onions and the ginger garlic paste. When it turns brown, add green chilies (cut into small pieces). Add coriander powder, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt.

When it is done, add chicken pieces. Keep it for 5-10 mts till it is half cooked. In between you can turn the pieces so that it is heated equally.

Cook in pressure cooker with about 1/2 cup water. Normally 4 whistles.

Biriyani Rice
Put 2tsp ghee in the pan used to fry the chicken. Add cardamom+cloves+cinnamon.
After 2 mins, add the soaked rice. Stir well for 5 mins, else it will stick to the pan. Add the rest of the main ingredients and cook in a pressure cooker with 6 cups water (the ratio of rice:water should be 1:1.5) - normally 3 whistles for basmati rice.

Once done, mix the cooked rice and chicken.

Seasoning
Put ghee in a pan. Add onion (cut lengthwise very thin), cashew nuts and raisins. When it turns light
brown, remove and garnish the biriyani

Serve hot with papad and raita.

Non Vegetarian Biryani / Biriyani Recipes

If you've been reading me for over a year, you may probably remember this nifty little website that TH and I put together. Although I don't talk about The Recipe Diary much, its very much active with new, awesome recipes getting added on every day.

I get quite a few pings and emails asking me for non vegetarian / chicken / mutton / fish biryani recipes. I don't cook non vegetarian food anymore but that shouldn't come in the way because The Recipe Diary definitely has a good collection of non veg biryani recipes that are tried and tasted and uploaded by expert cooks.

Here are the top 5 non vegetarian biryani recipes from the site.

1. Thalapakattu Biryani by Jay
2. Chicken Biryani by Prasu
3. Ambur Mutton Biriyani by Ashwini
4. Bombay Biriyani by Dolon
5. Shrimp Biriyani by Ramya

If you feel you have a great non vegetarian biryani recipe to contribute, even if its on the list above because we all have our own versions, please enter your recipe on this page and let me know you did.

Also, if you try any of the above recipes, do leave a word here, I am sure the contributors would love to hear your feedback :)

Kodi Iguru/Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Onions

This is going to be the last non-veg recipe till probably I go home on vacation. TH is a vegetarian so I will only be cooking veggie stuff in our kitchen here. This is actually a dish I made around two weeks before the wedding, meaning to dedicate the post to my ex-roomie Prathibha. She loves this chicken dish and I tried to duplicate it. It got lost in my drafts until recently when I came across this event featuring chicken as the star of the dish.

So here it goes, Kodi Iguru, for my friend Prathibha :)

What I Used:

serves 4

• Chicken - 1 kg, cleaned and cut into small pieces
• Onions - 4, sliced
• Tomatoes - 2, cubed
• Ginger - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
• Garlic - 5-6 cloves, minced

For the masala (powder coarsely together)

• Cinnamon – a 2” stick
• Cardamom – 3
• Cloves – 2
• Star anise – 3
• Dried red chillies – 6
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Powdered coriander seeds – 2 tsp

For tempering and garnishing

• Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
• Chopped coriander leaves (optional)
• Oil – 4 tbsp

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and temper the mustard seeds. Then add the onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions turn a dark golden brown. I stop short of burning them, since I like the flavor better then.

2. Next add the ginger and garlic and fry for 10 seconds before adding the ground masala. This mixture needs to be fried for about 2 minutes. Add some oil at this stage if the masala looks too dry.

3. Add the tomatoes and chicken pieces next and stir well. Do NOT add any water. Keep the fire on sim and cook covered for about 15 minutes till the chicken is tender.

4. When you remove the cover, there will be some more water left in the pan. So cook with the cover open till its dry, the masala sticks to the chicken pieces and the oil separates. Keep stirring at this stage, without breaking the chicken pieces.

5. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice.

This is my entry to the ‘Chicken – My Favourite’ Event hosted by Vandana of Cooking Up Something Nice.

Easy Tomato Spaghetti with Shredded Chicken

Any kind of pasta is always a welcome dinner for me, simple because it is hassle-free and doesn't demand a side dish or gravy. Isn't that a perfect meal for one? (Oh!! How I hate cooking just for myself!) I prefer the tomato based paste to the cheese base, though I crave for the latter occasionally. This is an as-simple-as-it-gets kind of recipe to make some yummy spaghetti. Vegetarians, just avoid the chicken and add mushrooms instead, if you like them, or just go plain!

What I Used:

Spaghetti - one packet
Shredded cooked chicken - 1/2 cup
Pureed tomatoes - 4
Capsicum/bell pepper - half
Spinach (optional) - 3 to 4 stalks
Crushed garlic - 6 pods
Oregano - 2 tsp
Pepper - 3 tsp
Salt - to taste
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

How I Made It:

1. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water till done. Add some salt and a little oil the water to enhance flavour and prevent it from sticking together once done.

2. Heat the oil and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the diced spinach and capsicum, pureed tomatoes and the chicken and fry for another minute.

3. Add the spaghetti and mix well. Season with the oregano and pepper while still on the stove and mix well. Adjust salt and remove from fire.

Serve hot.

This One-Dish Dinner goes to Meeta's Monthly Mingle.

Karimeen Pollichathu/Pearl Spot Kerala Style

I was recently back home in Kottayam for three weeks and my bro was also there on a vacation from Dubai. So was my sis from Trichy. So all of us were craving for some karimeen pollichathu, a toddy shop speaciality. The monsoons have been acting up this year and the toddy shops were making use of the opportunity and selling one fish at 150rs. Considering we are around 6-7 members in the house, we decided to cut the costs by preparing this at home. Mom immediately turned to me since she was not very comfy with making it on her own. I have experimented with Sardines/Mathi when I was in college, but with karimeen, one couldn't afford to experiment and mess up. Anyway, I decided to give it a shot and at the end of it all, we were all pretty happy :)

The marinated fish ready to be wrapped and fried

What I Used:

Pearl Spot/Karimeen - 4, cleaned and slit on the side.

For the paste:
Shallots - 10
Onions - 1 big
Ginger - a 2" piece
Garlic - 10 cloves
Chilly powder - 1 tbsp
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Salt - to taste

Coconut oil - for frying
Tender banana leaves - to wrap the fish in while cooking

How I Made It:

1. Make a paste with all the ingredients mentioned.

2. Marinate the fish well in the paste. It may not completely stick to the fish, but make sure that it is mostly covered.

3. Place the fish in the banana leaf and wrap gently.

4. Pour some oil in a wok. Gently place the wrapped fish in, close with a lid and cook on a low fire till both sides are done. This took me around 30 mins, per fish.

Garnish with onion rings, tomatoes, cucumber and a piece of lime.

Final pic taken by my sis :)

The same recipe may be followed by big-sized sardines too, but I am not sure if it will come out well for canned sardines. I have only used fesh sardines and they come out nice and soft. The masala makes sure that the unpleasant smell of sardines is completely masked.

For a behind-the-scene story, visit my sister's blog.

The Birthday Cooking Bash - Vegetable Pulao, Special Chicken Roast

Sigh.. I turned another year old last Saturday and this year I decided to 'treat' my friends differently. I cooked for them. Also gives me some stuff to post in here, since I have resolved not to let my cooking blog die a slow death with neglect.

So, here are the things I made. Sadly, I didn't get much time to take good pics, since the guests were hungry and I was busy with the cleaning, setting up the table, getting ready myself before the 'cake-cutting', etc :). Anyway, here goes.

Vegetable Pulao




What I Used:

Ingredients Set One

Basmati rice - 3 cups
Onion - 1 big
Tomato - 1 big
Carrots - 2 medium
Beans - 15

Ingredients Set Two

Bay leaves - 1
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 2
Green chillies - 4
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tsbp
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Heat oil in the pressure cooker pan, add ingredients set two and fry for two minutes.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute before adding the finely chopped vegetables in ingredients set one. Stir this mixture for 3 more minutes. Add required amount of salt.

3. After that, add the rice and fry for another minute.

4. Add 5 cups water and pressure cook till the first whistle.

5. Open as soon as steam has espaced and transfer to a wide bowl.

Serve warm.

This is my entry to this month's JFI - Rice, hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam.


Mummy's Special Chicken Roast

This is a dish that my mom used to make when I was in college and I used to love it! Tried to replicate the taste and almost succeeded.

What I Used:

Chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces - 1 kg
Onions - 5 medium, cut into small square pieces
Tomatoes - 2
Capsicum - 1 small
Green chillies - 5
Jeera powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tbsp
Chilly powder - 2tsp
Curry leaves - 3 strands
Oil - to fry
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Crackle mustard seeds in the heated oil and add the onions. Saute till golden brown.

2. Then add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric-jeera-coriander-chilly powders, curry leaves, chillies and fry for 2-3 mins, till the raw smells have gone.

3. Next, add the tomatoes and capsicum pieces. Stir for another minute and add the chicken pieces.

4. Close the pan and wait till the chicken has cooked. Note that no water should be added at any stage. Once closed, the chicken will release water and will cook in that itself.

5. Once the pieces have cooked, open the lid and keep on fire till all the water has gone and the oil starts clearing.

Enjoy hot!

Tip: This dish is on the spicier side and sometimes when it seems a little too much so, amma adds a pinch of sugar. I follow the same method. In fact, I add a pinch of sugar to almost all the curries I make, that involve a masala paste.

We also made payasam and of course a cake! Recipes and pics to follow in the next post :)