Meen Pappas (Semi fried fish in coconut milk gravy)

Fish/Meen Pappas can be made using Karimeen (Pearlspot), Akoli (Pomfret), Parava (White fish/false trevally) or Neimeen (Seer Fish). 

Fish/Meen Pappas

Ingredients:-

1.  Fish pieces - Half kilo

2. Turmeric powder - Half tsp,  Chilli powder - 1 tbsp,  Pepper powder - Half tsp, 
    Ajwain - a pinch if needed,  Salt to taste

3. Coconut oil- 1/4 cup

4. Big Onion - 1 big, nicely chopped

5. Small Onion - 6 nos chopped

6.  Ginger - 1.5 tsp finely chopped

7. Green chillies sliced - 6 nos (or as per your spice level)

8. Garlic - 6 nos chopped

9. Curry leaves

10. Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

11. Coriander powder - 2.5 tbsp

12. Coconut milk from 2 cups of coconut
       1st extract (thick milk) - 0.5 cup
       2nd & 3rd extracts together (thin milk) - 1.5 cup

13. Tomato - 2 medium size chopped

14. Vinegar - if needed

15. Garam masala - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Fish/Meen Pappas

Method:- 

Marinate the cleaned and sliced fish with ingredients 2 and set aside for half an hour.

Pour oil in a pan and fry the fish slices in a slow flame until it is just cooked, and not fully fried. Remove the fish pieces.

To the same oil, add the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies. When it is done, add turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and saute for some more time. Add chopped tomatoes, heat for 2 more minutes, while stirring. Then add the 2nd and 3rd coconut extracts (thin milk). When it boils, add the semi-fried fish pieces and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or till the gravy thickens. Then add the first coconut milk and the garam masala powder and allow it to just boil. Remove from fire, add fresh curry leaves and 1 tsp of vinegar if you prefer a slightly more tangy taste. 

Uppu-manga palu curry

A simple and tasty curry using salted mango or 'uppu-manga'!

The typical preparation of uppu-manga is pretty tedious. But you can also do it in a simple way - get some fresh raw mangoes during the mango season, cut it into 2cm square pieces and place it in a glass bottle, adding salt in between. You can add salt according to your taste. If you add more salt, the mango will remain hard; on the other hand, if the salt is less mango pieces will be soft and you need to place it in the fridge to use when required.

After one week, the mango will be ready for preparing the curry.

Ingrdients:-
 
Uppu-manga - 3 or 4 tbsp

Small Onion - 4 or 5 nos

Green chillies - 4 or 5 (adjust according to your preference)

Oil - 1 or 2 tsp

Coconut milk - 1 cup of thick milk and 2 cups of thin milk (2nd and 3rd extraction)

Curry leaves

Method:-

Slice small onions and green chillies. Take oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds, green chillies, onion and curry leaves. When it becomes slight brown, add the mango pieces and the thin milk. Allow to boil and then simmer till the gravy thickens. Then add the thick milk and just when it boils, switch off and remove from stove.

A great accompaniment with hot kerala red rice!
 

Minced Meat Pulao

This is a delicious and easy alternative for a meat biriyani. A friend of mine shared this recipe with me and since then has been one of my family's favourite dish! The pulao consists of alternating layers of rice, minced meat gravy and coriander chutney.

For the Rice layer:-

Basmati Rice/Jeera Rice – 2 cups

Water – more than 4 cups

Cinnamon – 2 inch piece (optional)

Clove – 3 or 4 (optional)

Cook the rice with cinnamon and cloves with a little more water than required. Keep checking, when the rice is as soft as you prefer, remove from fire and drain the excess water.

For the Minced Meat layer:-

Minced Chicken or Beef – ½ kilo

Oil – 2 tbsp

Big onion – 3 chopped

Chilli powder – 2 tbsp

Coriander powder – 1 ½ tbsp.

Garlic – ½ a pod

Ginger – 1inch piece sliced

Green chillies – 5 nos

Tomatoes – 4 sliced or chopped into small pieces

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Put oil in a pan, sauté big onions with some salt and till it lightens and becomes brown. Add chopped green chillies, garlic and ginger. Then add chilli powder and coriander powder. When the fresh taste of chilli and coriander vanishes, add tomatoes, minced meat, garam masala and the stock (if available from previous cooking of meat). Cook well to a gravy form.

For the Chutney layer:-

Coconut – ½ grated

Ginger – 1inch piece

Green chillies- 6nos

Coriander leaves – a large bunch

Lime juice – from 1 lime/lemon

Sugar – 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients except lime juice. Then add just enough lime juice to get a tangy flavour.

Final Layering:-

Take a baking dish or glass bowl. Grease it with butter.  Spread half the minced meat and above that half the cooked rice. Now spread all of the chutney over the rice. Over the chutney layer, add the remaining rice, and on the top, the remaining minced meat. Garnish with slices of boiled egg, coriander leaves and lemon slices. Bake for few minutes or heat in microwave just before serving. Sprinkle few drops of lime juice on top.

Serve hot with raita and pappad.  

Fish and Raw Mango Curry

This is a common curry in Northern Kerala and if you get the right kind of fish and the right type of mangoes it is a very good curry for rice. Fishes like prawns, mackeral, sardines and big fleshy fishes can also be used.
 

 

Ingredients:-

Fish cut into small pieces – Half kilo.

Coconut milk from half coconut.

Mangoes - 1 or 2 cut into small pieces (depending on the ripeness/sourness of the mangoes)

Small onions cut  - 4

Ginger   - 1 inch piece cut.

Green chillies   - 4 cut.

Kashmiri Chilly powder -2 tbs.

Coriander powder -1 tbs.

Method 1:-

Put oil in a pan or manchatti, add mustard seeds and then onions, green chillies and ginger and sauté. Then add chilly and coriander powder and sauté for some more time. Add mango pieces, the second and third extracts of coconut milk (the thinner extracts) and salt and heat. When the mango pieces are cooked, add the fish and cook in low fire till the gravy thickens to the desired consistency. Add the first coconut milk (thick milk) and allow to boil slightly and switch off the fire. Garnish with fresh curry leaves.  Serve with hot rice!

Method 2:-

If you are interested in low-oil cooking, this curry can be prepared in a different manner as given below:

Extract the coconut milk.  Grind the listed quanitities of ginger, garlic, small onions, chilly powder, coriander powder along with 1/4 cup of grated coconut.  Grind it to a smooth paste. (The ground coconut makes the curry more thick).

Add the second and third extracts of coconut milk (thin milk) in a pan, add coconut paste, stir uniformly, add mango pieces and green chillies and salt.  Boil the mixture until the mango pieces are cooked. Now add the fish pieces. When the fish is cooked, add the first coconut milk extract (thick milk) and allow to boil slightly on low fire. Switch off the fire and garnish with curry leaves.  You may also top it with a 'tadka' of mustard seeds, sliced small onions and curry leaves.
 

Easy Chicken Roast

When you wish to make a chicken dish in a hurry and with minimum attention!

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces - 1/2 kilo

Big onions  - 2 large chopped

Ginger  - 1 inch piece chopped.

Garlic - 1 pod crushed

Green chillies -5 nos.

Tomatoes  -2 chopped

Oil   - 2 Tbsp

Garam masala  - 1 teaspoon.

Curry leaves

Salt to taste

Method:-

Put all the ingredients in a non stick pan, mix well and heat, closing with the lid. When the curry begins to boil lower the heat and let the chicken cook.

When the chicken is cooked enough, open the lid and cook in low fire, stirring it occasionally and add some more oil if needed. When the gravy gets dried up, fry for some more time so that the chicken pieces get roasted.
 

Pineapple Souffle

 

Ingredients:-

Half a pineapple cut into small pieces

China grass   -10 gms

Milkmaid   -1 tin

Milk -1 litre

Sugar   -4 tbsp.

Nuts  - 25 gms

Method:-

Cook pineapple pieces with 2 tbsp of sugar until all the water evaporates.
Do not overcook the pineapple. Keep aside. In another pan, boil milk with 2tbsp sugar, add the condensed milk , stir to a thick consistency.

Add the melted china grass and stir in a low flame for few minutes. Take it away and let it cool, add vanilla essence and the pineapple pieces, stir and pour in a pie dish.
Decorate with caramalised nuts.
 

'Pressure Cooker' Biriyani

This is an easy biriyani and there is not much ghee or oil. It was a favourite for all my kids, nephews and nieces when they were young, and now a big hit among all my grandkids!

 

Ingredients:-

Chicken pieces  - 0.500gm

Basmati/Biriyani Rice  - 3 cups.

Ginger  - 1” piece

Garlic   - 1 pod.

Green Chillies  - 6 nos (adjust according to your spice level)

Cloves   - 8

Cinnamon   - 4 or 5 pieces

Cardamom  - 6

Big onions  - 1

Cumin Seeds  - 1/2 teaspoon

Aniseed (Perinjeerakam or Somph)  - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves  - a large bunch

Mint leaves  - a large bunch.

Oil   - 2 Tbsp

Tomatoes  - 5 large chopped

Coconut milk  - 5 cups (mix of first, second and third extracts if you are making it fresh from grated coconut)

Method:-

Cook the chicken with salt, some turmeric powder and half of the spices crushed  and some water so that we get around 1 cup of stock.

Take oil in a pressure cooker or in a large non stick pan. Saute the big onions, crushed ginger, garlic  and green chillies. When it turns slightly brown, add  the remaining garam masala and the chicken pieces and sauté a little. Then add chopped tomatoes. Cook for a while, then add coconut milk and the stock (totalling to 6 cups). For biriyani, fried rice etc we normally add 2 cups of water for one cup of rice, but if you like the rice to be cooked very soft, add a little extra water in addition to coconut milk and chicken-stock.  

When the milk+stock boils, add a pinch of cumin seed and aniseed, chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves. When it boils, add the washed rice and cook for 10 minutes in a slow fire or until cooked to desired level. If you are using a pressure cooker, it is better to not use the weights so that you can check the rice and stir occasionally.When the rice is cooked enough switch off the fire and let it stay closed for a while.

Serve with raita/salad of your choice and pappadams.
 

Meen Pattichathu or Meen Peera with Ilumbi-puli

This easy fish curry can be prepared using small fishes like Anchovies or Sardines (called 'Nethili' or 'Mathi' respectively in Kerala).

Ingredients:-

Natholi washed and cleaned      -  500gm

Ilumbi-puli ('Bimbool')                 - 250gm

Green chillies                                  - 6nos

Green pepper seeds (if available)

Ginger                                                - 5” size

Garlic                                                  - half a pod.

Small onions                                     - 8 nos.

Coconut                                             - half coconut grated

Salt to taste.

Method:-

Mix all the ingredients together add half a cup of water and cook in a small flame, after boiling.  When all the water is dried up put off the fire and the curry is ready. Tastes best when cooked on "manchatti" (pan made of clay).

Mackeral in Tomato Gravy (Ayala thakkali cherthu vattichathu)

Mackeral (Ayala for keralites) is a common sea-fish and this is a very tasty and easy preparation that goes well with rice.

Ingredients:-

                   Mackeral (Ayala) - 4

                   Small onion - 75 to 100 gms

                   Big onion  - 1

                   Garlic -1/2 pod

                   Ginger -1 inch piece

                   Green chillies - 4

                   Kashmir Chilli powder - 2 tablespoons

                   Pepper Powder - a pinch

                   Coriander  Powder -1 ½ tablespoons                  

                   Ripe tomatoes - 2nos, cut and mashed well

Method:-

Clean the fishes and cut into three or four pieces according to the size of the fish . 

Marinate the fish pieces with a paste of salt, some chilli powder and a pinch of pepper powder. Leave it for sometime and fry in oil. Do not fry it completely, take them out when they are almost done.

To the same oil, add the small onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic etc and saute well.  Then add chilli and coriander powder. Saute until done.

Add the mashed ripe tomatoes and saute. When done, add water and sufficient salt. When the water boils, put the fried mackeral pieces and keep in low fire for 2 or 3 minute or till the gravy thickens. 

Garnish as per your choice, serve with hot rice and listen to your family go sluurrpp!

Pork Vinthaloo

Let me start my blog with Pork Vinthaloo - an all time popular recipe at our home. It is a must-have on Easter and Christmas! Though the name sounds exotic, its easy to cook and would surely impress non-veg lovers!!

Ingredients:-

             Pork with some fat - 1 kilo

             Small onion - 20 nos 

             Big onion - 2 nos

             Garlic - 1 pod

             Ginger - 2" long

             Home-made Garam masala - 2 teaspoons or to taste

             Coriander powder - 2 tablespoons

             Kashmiri chili powder  - 3 tablespoons

             Pepper  powder  - a pinch

             Salt  - to taste

Method:-

Crush small onions and big onions or cut them into small pieces . Make a paste of ginger and garlic or crush them nicely.

Mix all the ingredients with Pork, salt and vinegar. The taste of vinegar must be slightly more prominent than others. Then place it in a pressure cooker. Usually, if the Pork is taken from the fridge and your cooker is in good condition, no water is required, else add small quantity of water. 

After the first whistle, reduce the fire and keep it for another10 minutes. Once the cooker is cool, open the lid and if there is extra gravy, cook in a slow fire till all the gravy thickens. 

If the Pork is very tender the time should be adjusted accordingly. After opening the cooker, if you find that the meat is not cooked enough, then keep it on fire for some more time. 

Ammamma's tips:-

For a tasty vinthaloo, the pork must have some fat. Else, you have to saute onions, garlic, ginger- garlic paste and all the powders in oil and then put the pork, salt, vinegar etc and cook as described earlier.

Our favourite combination is Bhattura and Vinthaloo. It can also be served with chapathi, fried rice or as a curry along with rice.