Chicken nibbles

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Preparation Time : 1 hour for marination + 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 3-4 minutes for each batch of chicken  deep fried

Serving : 4-5 members

Description

Having my son home with me after he finished his boarding life as a student had to greet him home with an inviting spread on the table . There are days when you are pressed for time and not in the mood to play around ingredients and cook for too long and get your self stuck in the kitchen . This time the reason being me wanting to be with my boy more to enjoy his presence at home than whiling  away my time in the kitchen . So   just want ahead instantly with what i had stocked at home and went according to the flow of what came to me  confidently knowing that my boy loves chicken bits deep fried to crisp .  Lost in touch a bit with his likes and dis – likes about his food habits as he’s been in boarding for his entire schooling and collage . That’s nearly around 16 years and kids as they grow to become teenagers they do tend to become strangers to parents in a way mainly because of the new need of so called privacy as getting to be adults . They become more silent ( mainly boys ) that every thing is a mystery now to be solved on our own , observing them through out .   oops coming back to the dish . As deep frying the chicken I had my boy around coming into the kitchen asking me what’s cooking ? It smells so good . Gave him the first lot out of the pan and he just gobbled the entire lot .  I was just admiring my boy the true motherly way and enjoying his presence every bit for all the lost time with him before .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Bone less chicken bits 500 grams
garlic2 flakes
Light soya sauce1 teaspoon
chilli sauce2 teaspoon
chilli powder1 teaspoon
saltto taste
pepper 1 teaspoon
green chilli3 crushed
egg1
cornflour2 tablespoon
Flour / maida2 tablespoon
water1/ 4 cup or lesser to get a coating batter

Method

  1. Blend all the mentioned above ingredients together except for chicken and water . Check consistency of ground paste and add water to get a semi loose coating consistency batter .
  2. Marinate boneless chicken bits in this marinade for one hour or more . Heat oil to deep fry to medium heat .
  3. Deep fry the marinated chicken bits with a good coating of batter in batches to golden brown in colour for about 2 minutes .
  4. Drain and Serve hot with tomato ketchup , mayonnaise and French fries .

Notes

Vegetarians can do the same with cauliflower , panner ,soya chunks , potato or mixed vegetable bits .

Semiya filled egg pizza

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Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 -30 minutes

Serving : 8 -10 members

Description

A yum combination,  fresh , innovative , fusion dish that was present on the table for the first anniversary of sauté , fry n bakes recipe swap by Saaliha azeem . Saaliha azeem was so enthusiastic to take part in the recipe swap that she postponed her flight tickets to the Middle East for holidays to her mothers place . It was worth , or else we all should have missed out on this exhilarating flavoured fusion dish .  I remember hubby dear and myself sharing a piece as we wanted all the food lovers present to have a sneak peak to relish  this dish . Every one just thronged to this dish on the table though there was an array of dishes and vanished in seconds .This  dish captured the essence of fusion cooking in a classy wonderful way .  I have been wanting to try it out but the right time has not yet come . It was these type of innovative fusion dishes that helped to high lighten the table spread on the first recipe swap and made it a grand affair with unforgettable culinary experiences . Thank you Saaliha for your contribution that introduced us to this novel multicultural dish .

Ingredients for semiya filling

ingredients
quantity
Semiya 1cup
Boneless chicken 200 grams
Onion1small sliced
Tomato chopped2 tablespoons
Green chilli2 chopped
Chilli powder3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder1teaspoon
Crushed ginger , garlic3teaspoon
Thick coconut milk1/2cup
Lemon juice of one small lemon
Garam masala powder1/2teaspoon
Coriander leaves few
Curry leavesone spring
Saltto taste
Pepper to taste
Oil and ghee 2 tablespoons

Method for filling

  1. Cook chicken with little pepper crushed garlic and salt.cool and shred the chicken . Reserve the chicken stock and set aside .
    Heat 1tablespoon of oil in a pan and roast semiya / vermicelli to light brown in colour .
  2. In a cooker heat little oil and ghee.sauté onion till light brown . add ginger(11/2tsp) garlic(11/2tsp),green chilli,tomatoes and saute well.Add tur powder,chilli powder and coriander powder. fry for a min .
  3. Add roasted semiya/ vermicelli and 1cup water(including the reserved stock),1/4cup shredded chicken and salt(beware as stock has salt).cover with lid and keep in low flame for just one whistle.then remove from flame.
  4. After 10 minutes open the lid and add garam masala,lemon juice,coriander and curry leaves,shredded chicken and coconut milk. Mix well n keep in low flame for few minutes .

Other ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Bread6 slices ( remove crust and cut into very small pieces)
Eggs 4
Milk3/4 cup
Pepper1/2 cup
Coriander leavesfew chopped
SaltSalt to taste

How to proceed

  1. In a bowl beat the eggs.mix all the other ingredients together with the beaten egg . In a greased non stick pot(small) layer half of of the bread mix.then layer semiya chicken masala.
  2. press and level with spoon . On top spread the remaining bread mix n fill the sides with egg mix . cover and cook for 15 minutes .
  3. Then turn the other side carefully and cook for another 10 minutes .serve hot turning it over a serving platter .
  4. You can even bake as well in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 25 – 30 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean .

Coconutty crispy fried prawns

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Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 4-5 minutes for each batch deep fried

Serving : 2-3 members

Description

Coconutty crispy prawn fry . On one of my daughters visit here at my place , it was prawns for lunch . I decided to make a dry , deep fried dish something like a batter fired prawns as i didn’t want to break a sweat in the kitchen .  But my gal wanted me to make some thing new , though she does not even touch prawns . She googled and decided on two dishes . I went through both and loved the idea of coconut being used to crust the prawn and stuck to this recipe . The  original recipe demanded for Japanese paco bread crumbs , not having the ingredient substituted it with bread crumbs . Felt the recipe to be too bland with just coconut , bread crumbs and seasoning . So I added a few ingredients to the liking of our Indian palate , re – imaging them as new , exciting versions of themselves  . Deep fried one prawn and checked . It needed some thing more as it felt too dry . Came up with a creamy dipping sauce and then it was bang on , creamy enlobed with a crunch   .  i can eat this dish every single day of the year . My gal changed my mood of not wanting to be in the kitchen and it turned to be a kitchen , houseful of cooks + relaxed holiday cooking resulting in a never before experience of cranking up the fun in the kitchen  :-)) .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Prawns 20 cleaned with tail ( I have done it with out the tail as it was removed accidentally )
Coconut 1/2 cup grated
Green chillies 6
Garlic flakes3
Ginger 1 inch piece
Small onion 1/2 hand
Coriander leaves few
Bread crumbs1 cup
Eggs2 beaten with salt and pepper
Oil to deep fry

Method

  1. Coarsely grind , ginger , garlic , green chillies , coriander leaves and small onions . Mix it with the grated coconut and bread crumbs .
  2. Season with salt . Taste and adjust the coarse mixture and set aside . Dip each prawn in to the beaten egg and immediately roll over the coconut mixture , making sure it is coated well all around the prawns .
  3. Do the same with all the prawns and place on a plate lined with parchment paper or foil . Heat oil to deep fry . drop prawn gently and fry in medium heat , until both sides of the prawn turn golden brown in colour .
  4. Drain and serve immediately with spicy Tatar sauce .

Ingredients Tartar sauce

Ingredients
Quantity
Mayonnaise1/2 cup
Red Chilli sauce 1/2 teaspoon
Onion1 big chopped
Celery 1 1/2 tablespoon chopped
Lime juice 3 drops
Saltto taste

Method

  1. Mix all the above ingredients together .Taste and adjust .
  2. Serve along with hot coconutty crispy shrimp.

Notes

  1. You can use Japanese paco bread crumbs instead of normal bread crumbs .Helps to give a better crispy texture .

Spicy chilli fish

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes + marination time for 1/2 an hour

Cooking Time : 15- 20 minutes

Serving : 3-4 members

Description

Spicy chilli fish . Fish is the most loved source of flesh at moms place but getting fresh fish in Coimbatore is not possible . So fish was always prepared the authentic way as a fish curry ( meen charu ) and a fried fish . Once in a while if we manage to get fresh fish from some where a fish cutlet was made , that’s it . At hubby’s place its just the opposite about fish .point one we get fresh fresh fresh fish here and experimenting part oops its the same here to . The first time I gave this dish a try was when manchurians were the in thing in all the restaurants . At hubby’s place we make cauliflower and chicken manchurian , so I decided to do the same with fish one day . My mother – in – law hates anything made with sauce and hubby dear sticks on to his mothers habits ( back then , now there’s nothing he says no to :-)) ) so the fish dish had to be eaten by my father – in – law , brother – in – law , co – sister and myself . Not wanting a gravy made a semi dry dish with a change of few ingredients .served and waited for the verdict . My father – in – law liked it and he made sure my mother – in – law and hubby had a taste of the dish . Finally my co – sister and myself were left with an empty bowl  which we both licked out clean :-))

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
fish pieces (Boneless cubes ) 1/4 kilograms
maida1/2 cup
corn flour1/ 2 cup
Egg whites 2
pepper1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oilto deep fry + to sauté the sauce

Method

  1. Marinate fish with maida , corn flour , salt , egg white and pepper . Set aside for half an hour .
  2. Heat oil and deep fry to a golden colour . Drain and set aside .

Sauce ingredients

ingredients
Quantity
Capsicum 1 cubed
Onions1 big cubed
ginger1 tablespoon chopped
garlic1 tablespoon chopped
green chilly 1 tablespoon chopped
light soya sauce 4 tablespoons
tomato sauce5 tablespoons
chilli sauce 1 tablespoon
Sugar 1/4 teaspoon
Vinegar 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder 1 teaspoon
corn flour1 tablespoon
Red food coloura pinch ( optional )

Method

  1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil ( the same oil that you deep fried the fish in – gives more flavour to the dish ) in a pan. Sauté Onion , garlic, ginger , capsicum and green chilly for a minute .
  2. Add soy sauce, chilly sauce , vinegar and tomato sauce to it.top with red chilli powder and sugar . Bring to boil . Taste and adjust . The sauce should be high on hot , sweet and tangy taste at the same time .
  3. Finally add corn flour mixed with water to it and stir well. Once it starts to boil, simmer and add the fried fish pieces . Toss well and simmer for a minute letting all the flavours infuse together .
  4. Garnish with spring onions and celery chopped . ( I didn’t do so as I was out of stock ) . Serve hot with anything and every thing .

Meen pollichathu

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Preparation time : 30 minutes + marination time of 2 hours .

Cooking time : 15 -20 minutes

Serves : 2-3 members

Description 

Meen pollichathu . A dish I came to know on my holiday trip to the back waters of gods own country , kumarakom  , Kerala . Just loved the rustic appeal to this dish of using the banana leaf to steam fish . The aroma of the banana leaf blends into the fish and it creates  pure magic Which is incredibly light , and just as delicious as its deep fried counterpart .  Did experiment a lot over this dish , got 60 percent near it but not 100 percent . Again on my visit to meet my beloved friend Sindhu Krishna in Trivandrum , we had lunch at travancore heritage hotel in kovalam and got to taste meen pollichathu once again . This time it was an explosion of flavours on the plate , tasted even better than what I had in kumarakom  . Some how managed to get the recipe from the chef and realised that I didn’t sauté the ground masala for marinating the fish . Following this new recipe , gave it a try and wolla it worked pitch perfect . From then on I religiously follow this recipe for meen pollichathu . From kumarakom  to kovalam … Some how I managed to get the right recipe and its always gratifying and popular with every one … and is treat for health freaks as its steamed and yummy yum .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Cleaned Fish 500 grams , ( you could use whole medium sized fish or big slices of a fish . I usually like using Kari meen / black spotted pearl fish )
Small onion 1 cup
Ginger1 inch piece
Garlic 1 pod
Turmeric powder 5 grams
Dry Red chillies7
Salt to taste
Curry leavesfew
Coconut oil 1/2 cup
Vinegar 1/4 cup
Banana leaves3 to 4

Method

  1. Clean fish .Grind small onion , ginger , garlic , turmeric powder , dry red chillies , salt to taste along with vinegar to a paste .heat oil , fry the ground masala until oil floats on top and raw smell has gone . Cool completely .
  2. Apply all over the fish and set aside to marinate for at least 2 hours .apply coconut oil over banana leaves and place over high flame on both sides for the banana leaves to become pile able .
  3. place the marinated fish over the pile able banana leaves , sprinkle few curry leaves and pack the fish tightly into a parcel .
  4. Set aside to marinate for another one hour or more .steam in low flame for 15 -20 minutes ( I used my idli steamer ) and serve hot .

Squid fry

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Preparation Time : 25 minutes + marination time of 2 hours

Cooking Time : 3 minutes for each batch deep fried

Serving : 3-4 members

Description

Squid fry . Squid is some thing I got to know very recently .. After my sister – in – law had shifted to ramnad ( a coastal town near rameshwaram , in Deep South Tamil Nadu ) I always heard wired stories about squid , each time I heard some one talk about it . So me wanting to experiment  with it or eat it was out of the box thing . Through out Last month , the fish market at my place was over loaded with squids and on my every visit , seeing people go head over heels over squids .. i was wonder struck .The fisher man kept insisting me to buy and give a try as its available only during a specific season once a year . Still I just didn’t get convinced enough . Then finally one fine day having my friend meera aboo thamby come over for lunch to my place , made up my mind to give a try and got some squid . ( Because she and her entire family are a carnivorous bunch  ) While cleaning the squid I was shocked to see whole tiny fishes come out of the squids !!!! But once cleaned and cut , they were the cleanest looking white rings with no foul smell . Searched the world wide net for a simple recipe that would be apt for a beginner and stuck to this one which is simple yet fun dish .  But I had my doubts as the recipe was asked in particular to cook the squid only for about 3 minutes but the wired stories I got hear were like you have to pressure cook squid and its got a chewy texture to it . Stuck to the demanded recipe and followed it religiously .  Tasted it with fear …. But it tasted so delicate and yum .serve these deep fried squids as finger food on its own as a starter or as an accompaniment .  Made it once again for my father – in – laws birthday . My mother – in – law thought it was paped ( vadagam ) :-)) . Very hesitantly ( as he already had an experience of having tasted a badly prepared squid dish before )  my father – in – law tasted it and surprisingly  he just loved it . So never ever under estimate any ingredient unless and until you have experimented with it . For me it served as a lesson learnt for life to expand my culinary repertoire .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
oil for frying2 cups
buttermilk 1 cup
all-purpose flour / maida1 cup
salt to taste
ground black pepper 1/2 tablespoon
dried oregano 1 teaspoon
squid, cleaned and cut into 1/2 inch rings1/2 kg

Method

  1. Pour buttermilk into a medium bowl and add in the squid rings . set aside to marinate for 2 hours . In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Dip squid rings into the seasoned flour.
  2. Heat oil in a saucepan or deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  3. Place the coated pieces in the hot oil, and fry in small batches for three minutes , turning if necessary, for even cooking. When evenly browned,
  4. Remove to paper towels to drain, and continue with the rest of the squid. Serve hot immediately .

Baked sweet Romano peppers filled with cheesy prawns

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Preparation Time : 20-25 minutes

Cooking Time : 30-35 minutes

Serving : 3-4 members

Description

Baked sweet Romano peppers filled with cheesy prawns . These sweet Romano peppers were gifted to me by my friend meera aboo thamby , all the way from U.K . I have seen these peppers only in magazines and on the telly .  These peppers were there in my fridge for quite some time and I nearly forgot about it . 2 days back with my cleaning spear found these and made up my mind to use them .Not knowing how it would taste or what to cook with it ???
Did ask baby ( meera ) what she does with it ? Her answer was she uses this instead of capsicums in every thing possible . I just didn’t have the heart to use these lovely peppers for sides , wanted them to line our stomaches  as a main course or a meal in itself . Came up with an idea of stuffing and baking the peppers . To be on the safer side made up my mind to stick to the white cheesy sauce as it always raises eye brows where ever served . Had prawns in hand so made a filling with prawn and cheesy white sauce .  A million doubts in mind while prepping for the dish like should I marinate the peppers with salt and some Harissa ? Will the peppers be hot or bland ? What flavour will it have ? Will this cheesy sauce go well with it ? Or should I opt for a pesto sauce ? I just pushed away all these doubts , cleared my mind and stuck to my guts of the first  choice and went ahead . Half way through , I am being invited to my in – laws place for lunch as its my father – in – laws birthday . Went for lunch with this dish and my father – in – law just loved it . Do you need a better reason to celebrate these all in one meal  that helped to leave a mark in your memory and sure to spark conversations there after . The peppers were soft and sweet ( dum me !! its called sweet pepper and i had so many doubts about the flavour and taste ) with the cheesy prawn sauce topped looked rustic and had the wow factor written all over it . Every bite just oozed out with a burst of flavours and did keep my self reminded that my heart doesn’t  burst because of this fatty culprit :-))

 

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Butter 50 grams
Flour ( maida ) 1 tablespoon
Green chillies 2 chopped
Tomato1 chopped
Milk 1 cup
Dried oregano1 /4 teaspoon
Mushrooms1 packet sliced ( optional , tastes good with and without the mushrooms . )
Prawns1/2 kg cleaned
Onion 1 big chopped
Garlic 1 teaspoon chopped
Crushed pepper1 teaspoon
Cheese slice 4
Crushed chilli flakes to taste
Saltto taste
Mozzarella cheese to garnish
Mixed dried herbs basil thyme oregano dill a pinch each ( optional )
Sweet Romana pepper2 ( cut into equal 2 portions horizontally
deseeded and washed or red bell peppers / capsicums2 cut at the top with the stem to get a lid , de - seeded and washed

Method

  1. Cook cleaned prawns with salt and pepper to taste . ( I pressure cook it for one whistle with very little water ) . Heat butter , sauté onions to brown .
  2. Add the sliced mushrooms ,green chillies , garlic and tomato . Top with cooked prawns ( if any water is there in the cooked prawns pour it along ) ,
  3. chilli flakes and toss well . Add flour and cook till raw smell goes for a few minutes .
  4. Add milk , keep stirring to get a saucy consistency . Add cheese slices and oregano . Remove from heat . Cool down to room temperature.
  5. Deseed and wash the sweet peppers or red capsicum . Fill in with prawn filling and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10-12 minutes .
  6. Remove top with grated mozzarella cheese and dried mixed herbs (optional ) and bake again until the cheese melts . Serve hot with garlic bread or as it is .

Meen paal curry

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 – 20 minutes

Serving : 3-4 members

Description

Meen paal curry is an authentic dish of the tirunelveli region . This same dish is addressed in different names by the neighbouring districts as meen Aviyal in nagarkovil and as meen sothi in tirunelveli by the Hindu communities . Meen paal curry is a common name among the Muslim community of the Tirunelveli region . Every community and region has a  slight variation of their own to this dish but the main ingredients being fish , coconut milk and lime . I first got to taste this dish at my father – in – laws elder brothers place . Mumthama ( my father – in – laws elder brothers wife )    is an excellent cook and there are so many dishes that I learnt from her , including this dish . This dish is lightly spiced with the coconut milk flavour being the most dominant along with tartness of the lime . From the time I learnt to make this dish , I make it a point to make this dish when I have guests at home ( mainly mom’s side guests ) . My cousin brother moheen and his wife zuvariya  were here for a day when they were newly wedded , moheen was head over heels with this dish and he did ask zuveriya to take note of the recipe . These every day home style preparations interests  me a lot . Traditional  recipes , in particular that offer insights into communities that devise them and yield secrets about people’s past . The magic of Indian home cooking that can not be eaten at restaurants are treasured gifts from our ancestors .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Cleaned fish1/4 kg , ( I have used anchovy / nethili here , you can use any other fish )
First extract of coconut milk ( thick )1 cup
Third extract of coconut milk ( very thin ) or water1 cup
Coconut oil 4 tablespoons
Cumin seeds1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds1/4 teaspoon
Ginger grated1/4 teaspoon
Small Onions1 hand full chopped
Green chillies8 to 10 slit
Curry leavesfew
Salt to taste
Lime juice 2 tablespoon or to taste
Coriander leaves chopped few to garnish

Method

  1. Heat coconut oil in a board kadai . Add fenugreek seeds , cumin seeds and curry leaves . Once the fenugreek seeds crackle top with green chillies .
  2. Sauté For a few seconds until the flavour of the green chilli arises and colour changes .Top with ginger and onions . Once the onions are translucent pour the third extract of coconut milk ( very thin ) or water and mix well .
  3. Bring to boil and add the fish with salt to taste and cook until fish is cooked 3/4 cooked .Add the thick coconut milk . Mix well adding lime juice . Taste and adjust seasoning .
  4. Top with chopped coriander leaves . Simmer until oil separates and floats on top . Serve hot as a side dish along with white boiled rice or with appams .

Notes

  1. make sure the thin extract of the coconut milk is very thin or else the curry tends to split .
  2. To be on the safer side use water .Add more green chillies in case you want a more spicy curry .

Meen pathiri

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Preparation Time : 30-40 minutes

Cooking Time : 25- 30 minutes

Serving : 4 -5 members

Description

Meen pathiri . An authentic Malabar recipe that I first tasted at moms place , when we had a new cook appointed from Kerala . Her version was a bit different as she had made a filling with onions and tomatoes separately and placed a whole piece of fried fish in between two rice flour pathiris and then steamed them . Tasted yum but was a bit difficult to eat the fried fish with the bones on it . After that again once at my friend sulus place where she had made it with prawns filling . It was to die for . Breaking my head about a healthy snack to be made for Iftar … Meen pathiri just sparked bright in my mind which is a great healthy eating option  . Browsed through the net for a good recipe and took note of a few but re- checked with my saviour buddy sulu ( from class two till date in my kitchen its like that except I was her saviour in maths and physics :-)) )  again and got more tips and tricks as an added bonus for my first try with meen pathiris . I have made bite size individual pathiris but you can follow the same recipe and make medium pizza sized single ones cut and serve or make crescent -half moon shaped ones as well . Made up my mind to make crescent shaped pathiris but swapped my mind to medium sized  nibble  ones as was not very confident about the rice flour dough not breaking while folding into a moon shaped pathiri . Religiously followed sulus instructions and wolla it was absolutely pitch perfect with a wow factor written all over it . My friend meera aboo thamby , her son athik And her   nephew Seyad went bonkers eating the meen pathiris because of the marvellous pairing of contrasting flavours . Was a bit  nervous about serving the meen pathiris to hubby as we never ever add fish on the menu through out the holy month of ramadan . But brunches have a way of surprising when you least expect it as  hubby also enjoyed it a lot .

Ingredients To Marinate The Fish and fry

Ingredients
Quantity
Cleaned fish 1/4 kg ( sheer fish )
Red chilli powder2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder1 teaspoon
Lime juicea squeeze
Saltto taste
Oilto fry

Method for fish fry

  1. Marinate in the cleaned fish in red chilli  powder, turmeric powder  , lime juice and salt for an hour at least and then shallow fry it in vegetable oil.
  2. Don’t let it get too brown and crispy….. the idea is to just cook the fish, not deep fry it. Drain, and remove the bones and skin and shred the fish.

Ingredients For the filling

Ingredients
Quantity
Onion 1 medium size chopped
Small onions2 hands chopped
Tomato1 small blitzed in a food processor
Green chilies5 chopped
Ginger Garlic Paste1 teaspoon each
Red chilli powder1 teaspoon
Coriander powder1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder1/4 teaspoon
Turmeric1/4 teaspoon
Curry leaves3 sprigs chopped
Saltto taste
Coconut Oil3 tablespoon

To  dry roast and powder

Ingredients
Quantity
Coconut grated1/2 cup
Shallots4 small ones chopped
Fennel seeds/Saunf1 teaspoon

Method for Fish Filling

  1. In a non – stick kadai or a heavy bottom pan, dry roast the ingredients specified above, all together on very low heat till the coconut gives out its aroma and starts turning brown at the edges.
  2. Take off the flame and pulse in a dry grinder to powder it coarsely. No water is to be added and set aside .
  3. Heat oil and saute onion and green chillies. When the onion becomes transparent, add ginger-garlic paste . fry to crisp and then add the coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala and turmeric powder.add the blitzed  tomato at this point , cover and cook for 5 minutes or till the tomato  looks pulpy .
  4. Add salt. Stir and sauté till the whole mixture gives out oil and moves as one mass in the pan. Add the fried shredded fish to the onion mix and stir together on medium heat.
  5. When there is just enough moisture in the fish masala as needed for the filling, add the coarsely ground coconut, finely shredded curry leaves, salt and mix well. Taste and adjust as needed. Remove from flame and keep aside.

Ingredients For  The rice paste

Ingredients
Quantity
Rice flour( iddiappam flour )2 cups
Water1 1/2 cup
Salt3/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut grated1/2 cup
Small onions5 to 6
Garam masala powder a huge pinch

Method

  1. Pulse grated coconut , cumin seeds and small onion in a food processor just to get a corse mixture and set aside . Mix rice flour , salt and garam masala powder together .heat water and bring to boil .
  2. Add the rice flour and Stir with a fork to get a crumbly mixture where the rice flour has taken all the water into it . Remove from heat  and cover for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the coarsely ground coconut mixture and  Knead it into a soft sticky dough with the help of wet hands .

How to assemble and steam

  1. Grease a plastic cover that is cut into a one large piece or use  parchment paper . Place a big orange size rice flour ball , cover with another greased plastic  cover or place another parchment paper over it and roll it with a rolling pin to get a wide pathiri ,  the thickness should not be too much.Remove the top paper carefully.
  2. Use any round shaped cutter size of your choice and press as many circles as you can . ( i could make 3-4 circles to a time ) Place 2 tablespoons of filling on one  pathiri leaving a half inch trim along the edges. Place another  pathiri on it and then press down on the edges with your fingers to seal the edges .
  3. I made a pattern , all around the edges by pinching both the pathiris together . Cover the whole meen pathiri with foil / parchment  paper tightly or with banana leaf  and then steam in your steamer for about 10-15 minutes.
  4. ( I steamed them in my iddli steamer , you could use your rice cooker . ) Remove the meen pathiris  from the steamer and serve hot .

Notes

  1. You can follow the same recipe and substitute fish filling with prawn filling , mutton filling or chicken filling . Vegetarians can do the same with paneer , mushroom or soya chunks filling .
  2. Traditionally banana leaves are used to steam the meen pathiris .. I used foil paper which is more handy as you can just steam it again when ever wanted to be served hot .
  3. You can store these steamed meen pathiris along with the foil paper on in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator and steam again when ever required  to be served hot .
  4.  you can also  use any large vessel half filled with water. Placing a colander or a steamer basket over the water when the water boils  reduce heat to medium. Place the foil paper covered meen pathiris  in the basket, cover it and cook for 7-10 minutes . Once cooked serve hot .

Fish curry nellai style

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 -25 minutes

Serving : 5-6 members

Description

Fish curry or meen kolazlambu as we call this curry at home . This is an authentic fish curry recipe fresh and fragrant,  that I learnt from my mother -in – law . Very simple to make with easily available ingredients at home . My mother – in – law is very particular about one thing when it comes to making a perfect meen kolazmbhu . The masala and coconut should be ground in a traditional ammi / sil patta ( pistol and mortal ) . The curry is so velvety when the masala paste is ground in the ammi . My mother – in – law always adds whole dry red chillies instead of the powder . I suppose that always helps to add more colour and flavour to the curry . She asks us to follow another trick while grinding in the ammi . While grinding always pull the pistol towards you and then roll back from where you started . Never pull and push bake in the same motion as the stones being moved in the same direction will generate heat and that spoils the masala paste and the kolazmbhu taste gets affected . You can taste the skill that goes into making an authentic home style masala paste and thats how it should be made too . Every morning the sound of grinding in the ammi was a regular sound at home back then . I used to love to grind in the ammi as it helped me burn some calories . Now a days even when there is a power cut no one is ready to use the ammi .  I still have a ammi which was gifted to my  mother – in – law by her mother at home . It’s sad that the busy hassle  and fast pace of life today leaves way to fade away our tradition , authentic dishes and utensils .
Meen kolazmbhu Nellai style

Ingredients to be ground to a smooth paste

Ingredients
Quantity
Coriander powder3 tablespoons full
Red chilli powder2 1/2 tablespoons full
Turmeric powder1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder 1 teaspoon
Coconut1/4 cup

Method for Smooth paste

  1. Grind all the above mentioned ingredients together to get a smooth masala paste
  2. Grind coconut separately to a smooth paste

Other ingredients

ingredients
Quantity
Cleaned fish 1/2 kg
Small onions 1 1/4 hands + 6-7 to season chopped into two
Tomatoes2 medium sized chopped ( my mother- in - law just squeezes the whole tomatoes into the tamarin water )
Green chillies2-4 slit
Tamarind lemon size ball , soaked in 1 cups of water and pulp squeezed and strained
Salt to taste
Sesame oil ( gingely oil /nalla ennai ) 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds1 teaspoon
Curry leaves1 strand

Method

  1. Mix tamarin pulp water , ground masala paste , salt to taste , chopped small onions 6-7 , tomatoes and green chillies together . Add 2 cups of water and mix well .
  2. Taste and adjust . Heat sesame oil in a heavy bottomed board vessel . Add fenugreek seeds , cumin seeds , chopped onions and curry leaves . Once the fenugreek seeds crackle And small onions are brown and crisp ,
  3. Pour the tamarind masala water base . Cover and Bring to boil . Once the raw smell has gone and the green chillies are boiled and changes its colour . Add the cleaned fish pieces .
  4. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes by just rotating the vessel once in a while making sure the gravy coats and covers all the fish in the curry . ( do not use a spatula to toss or mix the fish into the curry as the fish pieces might break ) .
  5. Dilute the coconut paste with little water . Pour into the curry and mix well . Lower the flame and cook further for another 4-5 minutes until oil separates and floats on top . Remove from heat and serve hot with white boiled rice , iddli , dosa , appam , chappathi …