Showing posts with label Curry Leaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curry Leaf. Show all posts
It seems like ages since I've updated this blog. Oh wait! It's actually been ages. Over two months and not an entry. Seems a little strange. It's not like I've not been cooking; I've been cooking like a maniac some days. It's not like I didn't have time; I've been a sloth quite a few of those days. It's just, you know, just not been going right. Just when I think, I have life figured out, I have something new to look forward to, it all seems to come crashing down. So much so, I don't think I should think so much anymore


If you follow me on Facebook, you'd know by now I contribute to a food app called TinyOwl in Bombay. Introduced by a couple of ex colleagues of mine, this app has been something that's been keeping me busy for the last couple of months. It started off slow, but has been building up pace. It is a place for me to try and figure out whether people actually enjoy the food I make. I can't say very convincingly it's all very smooth sailing, but some dishes fare better than others and this Lemon Rice Noodles is something which has received the most favourable comments so far. I usually serve this with a Ginger & Chilli yogurt based dip which goes really really well. It's not really necessary though. I love it just as it is.


I've been making this so often, but forget to take a picture every time. Yesterday for some reason, I got confused with the order quantities and had a ton leftover which I boxed up and gave to my sister in law. I also got her to model for me when she came over. Not an easy task with two rowdy boys, one who wanted the phone and the other who just want to go home or get banana chips!

This is actually the easiest thing to make. If you're from south of the Vindhyas you probably make Lemon Rice, this is just savvying it up using rice noodles instead of rice. I'm going to go ahead and call this Lemon Rice Noodles though in fact I'm actually using limes. Just the way it's been called so far and I'm no path-breaking trendsetter here.

Ingredients

 Rice Noodles - 200g pack
Water to cook the noodles

1 tbsp - sunflower oil
1 tsp - mustard seeds
3 -  green chillis split long
1 -  sprig curry leaf
1/2 tsp - turmeric powder
Juice of 3 limes
Salt to taste

Method

 1. Cook rice noodles till al dente. Follow instructions on the pack. Do not let it turn to mush.
2. Drain & run cooked noodles under cold water to stop cooking. Further drain in colander
3. In a wok, heat the oil and temper mustard seeds
4. Add green chillis & curry leaves to the temper. Stir around till the raw taste goes off. Take care to ensure the curry leaves don't burn.
5. Briefly take the wok off heat and add turmeric, back on heat and stir with the chillis and curry leaves. Again, take care the turmeric doesnt burn.
6. Take the wok off heat and add the drained and cooled noodles.
7. Sprinkle lime juice and salt over the noodles and toss to distribute evenly. (I used my hands to toss the noodles)
8. Place it back on heat and gently warm it through allowing the flavours to combine.
8. Et Voila! Lemon Rice Noodles ready.




Lemon Rice Noodles


Oru naadan meen curry straight from my Mum's kitchen to me and then to you. Hopefully, there are no Chinese whispers going on here and I get it right enough, for you to get it right.

Every summer, back home, we'd have a deluge of mangoes coming in from our backyard, our ancestral home, our generous neighbours, friends and family. Everybody is gifting each other mangoes; ripe, unripe, the soft squishy local ones, the ones somebody's managed to wangle from a cousin who has an estate far away and decided to gift you just cos you're their favourite cousin. You'd think it happens across the country in summer, but I doubt anyone incorporates as much of mango into their daily dishes as Malayalees do. I might be wrong, but there are so many mango dishes it could just start coming out of our collective noses and ears.

Raw mango is a favourite. It makes its way into a lot of savoury gravy dishes - Meenum (Fish) Mangayum, Chemmeenum (Prawn) Mangayum, Chakkakkuru (Jackfruit seed) Manga are some of those common ones. Then there is Pazhamanga Pulissery, Manga Pacchadi, the list goes on. By now you would have figured out, if you're not from Kerala, that manga stands for mango in Malayalam.

Fish marinated for frying

I rarely buy fish at home. One, it's difficult to get just enough for one person. Two, I've almost never ever had the time to go to the fish market. When we were kids, being served king fish, or seer fish or any one of those big fish without tiny bones were a luxury we looked forward to. Now as adults, when you eat out, all you get are those big fillets and it does get boring after a while. So when I went to the market, I was pretty sure I wanted a smaller variety of fish, something I'd love eating with my hands, picking away the tiny bones. I looked out for a variety called Kilimeen in Malayalam and Rani here in Bombay. Distinctive because of its pinkish red colour, it is extremely tasty when fried and a nightmare when made into a curry with all its tiny bones.

I definitely wanted a fish fry out of this one, but I also wanted some kind of curry. So I called my mom and asked for the recipe of a dish I loved - Meen pollichathu. A very traditional dish of fish steamed in a banana leaf. Mum suggested why not go in for this curry with mangoes using just the fish heads. That way, I'd get the crispy tender fried fish I wanted, and also the gravy. You needn't particularly use this fish for this gravy, anything in your comfort zone would do, Here the raw mango is used as the souring agent, instead of kodampuli (tamarind) which is traditionally used  in fish curries, or tomatoes or vinegar.

Mum gives me recipes in ratios. So all she told me for this one, after listing the ingredients is, for 2 spoons of chilli powder, use 1/2 spoon of coriander powder. So the ratio of coriander to chilli powder is 1:4. Moving away from that would alter your life irrevocably and bring the wrath of all the mangoes in the world upon you. :P



Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil
6 shallots sliced
3 green chillis cut into half lengthwise
1" ginger pound into a paste
3 cloves garlic smashed
1 sprig curry leaves (divided to two)
1 small raw mango diced
2 tsp chilli pwder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
6 fish heads/slices of medium sized fish, cleaned
1 cup water or coconut milk(second press)
1/2 cup coconut milk (first press)
1 tsp coconut oil to drizzle on top.

Method.

1. Heat the coconut oil in an earthern ware pot/kadai.
2. Gently saute shallots, chillis, garlic & ginger till the shallots turn translucent.
3. Add half the curry leaves, mango and all the powders and stir quickly to avoid the powders burning.
4. Immediately add the fish and water to the pot and stir gently so that everything mixes in with the fish.
5. Cover and cook for 10 mins or till the fish is cooked.
6. Once the fish is cooked, add the first press coconut milk and gently simmer the gravy never letting it boil.
7. Finish it off with a drizzle of coconut oil on top and the remaining curry leaves.


Obviously I was too impatient to wait for a proper picture before attacking the fish fry.

Meenum Mangayum Chaar (Fish & Raw Mango Curry)


If there is one thing that really fazes me in the kitchen, it's soups. I just can't get my head around them. My mum finds it weird, my friends find it weird. Well it's true, I just cant make soups. But when I do make one I like, I kind of stick to it, so I know it's a dependable one. Something I can keep making without getting all flustered over it.

This here is my dependable pumpkin soup. I like it cold, but then I'm a fan of cold soups especially when it's so hot outside like it is here in October. If you're having fall weather where you are, this soup is good warmed up too.


Roasted Pumpkin Soup

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