Meen Kuzhambu | Fish Curry

Cooking fish of different varieties has always been a challenge. Each variety of fish has its own taste and a recipe tied to it. My mother-in-law has been my tutor when it comes to sea food recipes. She cooks sea food recipes without any clinch. 

I have learnt the art of preparing fish curry using my mother-in-law's sambhar powder. I have tried this recipe with different kinds of fish like tilapia, ocean perch, red snapper and white fish fillet. But, cat fish turned out to be the best.  The secret ingredient for this recipe is right proportion of tamarind pulp and sambhar powder. This powder is made with coriander seeds, red chilies, turmeric and curry leaves. It is mostly served with steamed rice.

Tamarind is heavily used in this recipe. This curry tastes best following day, when fish has absorbed all its flavors. In olden times, this curry was prepared in a clay pot and was stored up to 1 week when preserved in right temperature.

Ingredients

1/2 kg Cat fish

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds

1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds

1 sprig of Curry leaves

3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 Tomato, finely chopped

lemon sized Tamarind

3 tsp Sambhar powder

(or)

2 tsp Coriander powder

3/4 tsp Red chili powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Salt

4 tsp oil

2 Cups of Water

Method

• In a large mixing bowl, soak tamarind in hot water for 10 minutes. Extract pulp and discard its fiber and skin. To this add sambhar powder and mix well
• In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat oil, add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and fenugreek seeds. When mustard seeds starts to crackle add garlic, curry leaves and onion. Fry until onions turn transparent
• Add tomatoes. Saute until oil separates out from tomatoes
• Add tamarind pulp and sambar. And then add 2 -3 cups of water. Simmer until oil starts to float on top and gravy thickens. Adjust salt as per taste
• Add cat fish to the gravy. Cook in medium heat for 15 minutes
• Serve hot with steamed rice. 

Tadka Dal | Paruppu Kulambu | Pappu Charu | Lentil curry

Tadka Dal  is a Indian lentil based curry. You can make this recipe on certain days when there are no vegetables or meat. This recipe is very light and a straightforward recipe. 

I made this recipe for light dinner. The flavors from  onions and tomatoes compliments very well; and spiced it up with green chilies. Tadka (seasoning) is made with mustard, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves which gives good aroma to this recipe. 

Ingredients

1 cup Toor Dal

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds

4 Green Chilies

1 sprig of Curry leaves

1 small Onion, thinly sliced

1 Tomato, diced

3-4 sprigs of Cilantro

Salt

2 tsp Oil | Ghee

Method

• Cook dal in pressure cooker with 3 cups of water. After cooker has cooled mash dal 

• In a heavy bottm vessel, heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and  fenugreek seeds

• When it starts to sizzle, add onions and  green chilies. Saute until onions turn transparent

• Add Tomatoes. Cook in medium heat for 2-3 minutes

• Add mashed dal to this seasoning. Add water is required

• Adjust salt as per taste. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes while stirring in between

• Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with steamed rice or roti

Beans Stir Fry | Beans Varuval | Beans Palya

Stir fry is an easy option to use vegetables. They remain crisp and tender unlike they are soggy when cooked with lentils for curries.  Stir fry is one of the best way to increase intake of vegetables other than salads. 

In Indian cuisine, stir fry veggies (palya, sabji, poriyal, kootu) is a part of every meal whether it is for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Indian stir fry vegetables are pan fried and seasoned lightly with different spices and the usage of spices vary across different regional cuisines.

My mom had sent me lot of spice powders from India like sambhar powder, vanghibath powder, and bisibelebath powder. These powders are homemade and made with different kinds of spice; also each powder has it own unique flavor and taste. I used sambhar powder for seasoning to make beans palya. This recipe turned out to be very tasty and I paired it with chapthi.

The recipe is very simple and here it goes !!

Ingredients

1/2 kg Green Beans, cut into 1 inches

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 sprig of Curry leaves

1 small piece of Ginger, finely chopped

1 Onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp sambhar powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

Salt

2 tsp Oil

Method

• In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves

• When it starts to sizzle, add ginger and onions. Fry until onion turn transparent

• Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and sambhar powder

• Then add beans and 1 cup of water. Cover the vessel and cook in medium heat for 15 - 20 minutes with stirring in between

• Serve hot with chapathi 

Watermelon Juice

A thirst quencher recipe. It is simply delicious and yet highly nutritious with many health benefits. It contains more than 90% water, and a good source of vitamin- A, C, B6, and he minerals-potassium and magnesium.

Watermelon is a seasonal fruit and when it is available, I normally make juices, sorbets or salads. 

Ingredients

2 cups diced Watermelon
1/2 Lemon

Method

• In a blender, blend watermelon until it is completely pulverized
•  Add juice of half a lemon
• If you are using seedless watermelon then you don't need to strain the juice. Otherwise strain the juice using a filter ad discard its contents
• Serve immediately

Tip-

• Pick a good watermelon for juicing. It should be bright in color and the stripes should be symmetrical. Most importantly, there should be a yellow patch, which means that the water melon was left to grow in ground and it was ripened under the sun. 
• If you have picked good watermelon, then no need to add sugar. Else you can add 1/2 tsp for ever cup of juice
  

Jeera Rice

Bored of eating plain steamed rice?  Then you must try this flavored rice- Jeera Rice !!

Jeera rice is a simple and humble recipe. Basically, rice is flavored with cumin seeds. There are other spices used in this recipe to boost taste like bay leaf and garlic. Jeera rice compliments with any kind of curries or sauteed veggies/ meat. This recipe can be cooked effortlessly, especially  when you don't have enough time to cook.

You can also include this recipe in party planner when you planning to gather large crowd.

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati Rice

3 Cups Water

1 tsp Cumin seeds

2 Bay Leaf

2 cloves of Garlic

1/2 Red onions, thinly sliced

Salt

1 tsp Ghee

Method

• In a large heavy bottom vessel, heat ghee. Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, garlic and onions. Fry until onions turn golden brown

• Add water and adjust salt as per taste. Bring it to boil

• Add washed basmathi rice. Cover the vessel and cook rice in low heat for 15 to 20 minutes

• Serve hot with  your favorite curry. I served it with Tomato Egg Curry

Tomato Egg Curry

Tomato Egg Curry is a spicy curry with boiled eggs cooks in tomato puree and a mixture of different spices. 

Boiled eggs is an easy ingredient to work with. They can be used in variety of dishes; it can be sauteed, or used in salads or deep fried or even dunked in curries. The other ingredient is tomato which is used in most of the dishes. And the combination of eggs and tomatoes works pretty well. 

 I created this dish using boiled eggs and tomato as primary ingredients. I made this recipe on a rainy day.  You can save this recipe for monsoons because tangy taste works well on a chilly day. 

Tip-

You can prepare the sauce in advance and soak boiled eggs 15 minutes before serving. The gravy tastes best when it is served following day

Ingredients

12 Boiled eggs, peeled and slit in middle

1 small piece ginger, finely chopped

1 Onion, finely chopped

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds

Marble sized Tamarind

2 tsp Sambhar powder 

(or )

1 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Red Chili powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp Cumin powder

Salt

2 tsp Oil

For the puree

5- 6 Tomatoes

1 tsp oil

1 bay leaf

1 Star anise

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds

2 Cloves

1 stick of Cinnamon

Method

• Puree tomatoes using a blender. 
• In a large pot, heat oil, add star anise, bay leaf, fennel seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Then add tomato puree. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep it aside

• In a small bowl, heat tamarind and water. Extract pulp and filter it. Discard its contents.
• Add sambhar powder to tamarind and mix well

• In a large pot, heat oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. when it starts to crackle add ginger and onions. Saute in medium flame until onions turn brown

• Add tamarind and tomato puree. Adjust salt as per taste. Simmer for 15 minutes 

• Add boiled eggs and simmer for 5 minutes

• garnish with coriander and serve hot with steamed rice 

Palak Chapthi | Spinach Chapathi

Palak Chapathi is an experimental recipe that I tried recently. Chapthi's is a staple diet at home and I often make it atlest 4-5 times a week. I always tried to add new ingredient while making the dough. 

Previously in Shruchi Kitchen, I have added recipes like Beetroot Chapthi, Methi Chapathi, also Palak Chapthi. But this recipe is slightly modified from previous one to add more taste. 

I have been formulating this recipe by trying with different spices like red chili powder, coriander powder, ajwain and garam masala. 

This recipe is definitely worth to try!!

Ingredients

5 cups Wheat flour
1 large bunch of Spinach
Water for blanching
2 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Red Chili powder
1 tsp Ajwain
3/4 tsp Garam Masala
Salt
1 tsp Oil

Method

• In a large pot, boil water and soak spinach for 2-3 minutes. Take the spinach out and puree it. Use this water for kneading the dough
• In a large mixing bowl, add spinach puree, coriander powder, red chili powder, ajwain, garam masala and salt. Mix well
• Add Wheat flour and water which was previously used for blanching. Knead well until it is soft
• Keep it aside for 30 minutes
• Now, divide the dough into equal portions about 2 inches thick. Roll each portion into ball and roll it flat using a rolling pin
• In a preheated griddle, gently leave the chapathi. Fry it evenly on both the side. Smear little oil if required
• Serve hot with curries or pickles. I served it with luscious Black eyed peas masala