Kozhikode Thenga aracha meen curry

Kozhikode meen curry. It used to be the staple during every Saturday evening when I would return famished from the school. This delicacy was prepared by K mom’s helper and my sister’s caretaker. It was the only food mom asked her to prepare since she could never adapt herself to mom’s fiery red fish curry. I used to enjoy her Kozhikode meen curry so much that I never had to eat dinner on Saturdays. Well K and me always had a love hate relationship, not because she hated me but she loved my kid sister too much, whom she was taking care of. Anything new that was my kid sister’s irrespective of whether my mom and dad said otherwise .. “athente kuttide aanu”, meaning “ That is my Kid’s” was her usual remark . Still I used to hang around her because she was a treasure chest of juicy gossips and stories which mom never exposed us to. There are certain things mom’s have no control over ;)  I had been searching for her recipe for a long time and have tried variations. This was the closest recipe I could find. 

Slightly Adapted from Malluspice

Ingredients:

For Gravy:

Fish - 1/2 Kg

Shallots/kunjulli-  4 big sliced

Ginger garlic paste – 2 table spoon

Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder-1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds-1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Grated Coconut– 1 cup
Tamarind extract- 2 tsp or as extracted from a lime (small) sized ball.
Salt-1/2 tsp or to taste

Curry Leaves-1 sprig

Tomato -1  (optional)

For Tempering:

Coconut oil-1 tbs

Mustard- ½ tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Shallots-2 sliced

Instructions:

Grind the coconut to a smooth paste. Pour  it into a pan or claypot. Add all the ingredients listed under gravy to the coconut mixture and mash up everything nicely with your hand.

Bring the mixture to a boil and slide the fish gently to the mixture. Let it boil for another two more minutes.

Reduce the heat and let the curry simmer. Cut the tomatoes in round and place it on the curry. Take the pan by the side and give the curry a swirl so that gravy coats the tomato. Please take care not burn your hands. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Keep it aside

Pour coconut oil in another pan. Once the oil is hot add mustard, shallots. Stir till the shallots achieve a charred brown color. Add curry leaves, switch off and add it to the curry. Keep the lid closed for some time for the flavors to marry.

Easy 10 minutes Banana Fudge / Halwa

No blabbering today. Minu wanted the recipe immediately since she had to rescue some invalid black bananas,yelling to be saved from Dustbin. I saved mine just a few hours ago. Here comes the SOS recipe.

Recipe Courtesy: Trickntreat  blog

Ingredients:

1  cup   corn flour
1/4  cup  rice flour
1/2  cup   brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups mashed banana
3/4  cup  milk
2 tablespoon melted butter

Instructions: 

Preheat the oven to 330 degree Fahrenheit and butter a 8*8 inch square pan

Dump the dry ingredients together.

Blend banana,melted butter and milk together and add to the dry ingredients and blend on low for a minute till the batter is smooth.

Pour in the pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The fudge is ready when the skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave in the hot oven for another 10 minutes. Cool it ,slice it, enjoy it and post me a comment on it.

Vazhuthanaga / Egg plant Theeyal

People always ask me. Which is better US or INDIA?? Irrespective of whether I am in India or here, the question is bound to be asked and I am obliged to answer it. The answer is I haven’t thought about it at all. The nomadic in me never really had any special attachments to any places I have grown up. Anyway I had arrived in US with the preconceived Hollywood notion of US and apprehensive of what lay in front of us. It was just few days after our arrival, handicapped without car, with loads of vegetables in our hands and a wailing toddler in another, staring into the downpour wondering when it will stop. It was then that a hand touched my shoulder asking whether I would like a drive in the car. Yes, we had no other option but she had, didn’t she?? Yet, she had chosen the option to help. I have also experienced collective stares in the church while lil chef threw tantrums out of nowhere, and sympathetic smiles at the same time from different aisles. It was no different when I was Back in India. We have experienced housebreak in US and haggler cheating me under my nose in Commercial Street in Bangalore. Looking back I never come with an image of Bangalore without at least one of our friends cropping up, or of Nashville without them. It is not actually the place I remember when I look back, it is the people. So the answer is I haven’t thought about it and don’t think I am ever obliged to answer that question.

Over to the Recipe

Ingredients:

To roast and Grind:

Coconut, Grated - 1 cup

Coriander powder -  1 tbsp.

Kashmiri chilli powder - 3 or 4 

Shallots, Sliced - A scant 1/4 cup

Fenugreek Seeds - 1/2 tsp.

To cook the vegetable:

Egg Plant/Vazhuthanaga, Sliced - 1 and a 1/2 to 2 cups

Turmeric Powder - A pinch

Salt- to taste

Water - Just enough to cook the vegetable

Tamarind-one lemon ball size or to taste

Green chilli slit-3

To Temper:

Mustard- 1/2 tsp

Coconut oil-1 tsp

Shallots- 2

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Whole red chilli- 1 or 2

Soak the tamarind and squeeze out the extract. Take a pan; add the vegetables, tamarind extract, green chilies, water, salt, turmeric to cook the vegetables on medium heat till it is half cooked.

Roast the coconut, shallots on a medium to low flame taking care not burn it. Add the rest of the ingredients and roast till the coconut is dark brown color and roasted well. Keep aside to cool.

Grind the mixture and add to the veggies and cook till the veggies are fully cooked and you attain the desired gravy thickness.

Heat the pan, add oil. Add the mustard .Once it splutters add the rest of the ingredients and temper till the shallots attain a golden brown color. Add it to the gravy and close the lid for the flavors to combine.