Kozhuva Meen Tilappichathu (Kerala Anchovy Curry)

Of late I haven't kept myself updated with the events in the food blogosphere. It all boils down to laziness. When I read about the RCI Kerala event, my laziness had to take a holiday. The recipe I am blogging about hopefully is an authentic Kerala one. I got it from this site and made a few modifications - not to the ingredients, but to the way they were prepared. It is bit strange that I could not find any information or about how authentic this recipe is. If any of you out there know more about this recipe, please let me know. I would like to know about its origin and this is one of the reasons that I am posting this recipe as part of RCI Kerala. It is strange in another way - the ingredients are crushed (only very old recipes call for crushing instead of grinding) and the sour element is got by Vinegar (I would expect Vinegar to be associated with Goan cuisine). With the rattling done, the recipe procedure goes like this......


Kozhuva (Nethili) - 500 gms
To Grind (coarsely)
Small onions - 25 (or 2 big red onions)
Garlic - 2 pods
Ginger - 1 inch
Others
Green chillies - 3
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 Tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 twig
Lemon juice - Juice of half a lemon/lime
salt as required.

The original recipe calls for crushing the ingredients under grind. Although on holiday, my laziness would not let go of me completely and hence I got my good old blender and intended to ground them coarsely and ended up grinding them smoothly. Anyway after grinding them, heat oil and pour the ground ingredients and chillies. Adding ginger and garlic for a fish curry is a first for me. When the raw smell of the ginger-garlic is considerably less, add the turmeric and chilli powder along with some curry leaves and water. Let the gravy bubble for a few minutes. Add the fish to the gravy and wait until the fish is cooked. Take the fish off the stove and add the lemon juice. The original called for vinegar, but somehow I couldn't get myself to add vinegar to this curry. My apprehension of adding ginger and garlic for the curry was completely misplaced and the result was yummy. All I can say is, I am glad that I tried out this recipe and will definitely try it when I can get hold of some more anchovies.

Nethili Meen Varuval (Spicy fried anchovies)

Happy New Year everyone! I am back from hibernation! Here I am fulfilling one of my New Year resolutions – not to neglect my blog. Abiding by Newton’s third law, I am also breaking one of my resolutions by posting a non-veg recipe. Ah it is the first post in the New Year and it has to be a special recipe and this one sure is. Anchovy is a special fish and I can still remember the taste of my athai’s (aunt) nethili meen kuzhambu. She is one hell of a cook and fish is her speciality. The way anchovies are used in Italian and Greek cooking is wonderful and has opened my eyes to the wonders of using them as an ingredient. This recipe is an Indian one and is sure to tickle your taste buds. Since it is a small fish, they can be eaten whole, although some people insist on cleaning before cooking. For this recipe I used slightly larger ones, which were cleaned. If they are really small, I wouldn’t bother with cleaning. Here goes how to make it,

Set 1
Anchovies – 200gms
Rice flour – 2 Tbsps
Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1 Tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt as required
Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp

Set 2
· Onions – 1 thinly sliced
· Garlic – 3 pods crushed
· Ginger – 1 inch grated
· Sambhar powder – 1 Tbsp
· Fennel seeds – 1 Tbsp
· Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp
· Curry Leaves – a twig


Mix all the ingredients under set 1 and leave to marinate for half an hour. Pan or deep-fry them until cooked and set aside.
Heat some of the left over oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds and curry leaves. Then add the onions and fry them until golden. To this add the ginger, garlic and sambhar powder and fry until they are well mixed. To this add the fried anchovies and lemon juice and stir carefully until well mixed.This is a yummy dish that will lift your spirits and keep you going on those dark rainy winter days.

Meen Varuval (Spicy fried fish)

It is Fish time again. My family especially my son can’t get enough of fish. This is a pan fried recipe. The fish could also be deep fried, but pan frying saves a bit of oil and so I prefer it. The marinade is very simple and the marinating time required is also only about an hour.

• Coriander powder – 2 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Cumin powder – 1 Tbsp
• Fennel powder – 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Salt as required
• Lemon juice – 1 Tbsp
• Fish steaks – 4 medium size or 2 large ones.
• Oil

Mix all the ingredients and make a paste with some water. Rub the paste on the fish and leave it to marinate for at least an hour. Heat a pan and pour about 5 Tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot add the fish steaks and fry them 5 minutes on each side. If the steak is thick the fish may need more time to cook. The fish goes very well as a side dish with many rice dishes. I made it with King Fish steak. But any firm fish will suit the recipe.

Meen Kuzhambu (South Indian Fish Curry)

Bang after an extremely busy and lazy period. How you may ask one can be both at the same. Actually this is what I specialize in and am good at it - 30 years of practice helps. It has been festivities involving fireworks first for bonfire and then for Deepavali. I have been bingeing on too many goodies that is way beyond my waist could cope with. Trying to sober down but without much success. This meen kuzhambu recipe reflects my position, trying hard to sober down but returning to old ways. So here is the recipe for meen kuzhambu for the pure pleasure of food. I got the recipe from this site (a great place for discussing food especially South Indian style) and have pretty much used it without any change.

• Shallots – 1 cup (or 1 large red onion)
• Coconut – ½ a coconut
• Tamarind – lemon size
• Tomato – 1
• Corriander powder – 4 Tbsp
• Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Salt
• Fish – 750 gms
• Fenugreek seeds
• Curry Leaves
• Sesame oil – 3 tbsp

Peel and chop the onions except 6 of the small onions. Is using a big onion chop it to medium size and reserve ¼th of them. Grind the coconut, tomato and the reserved onions to a fine paste. To this add the powders and grind again. Extract the tamarind juice and mix it with the ground paste. Clean the fish and rub it with turmeric powder and salt. Heat 2 Tbsp of sesame oil in a pan. Any oil can be used, in Tamil Nadu sesame oil is used to get a unique flavour. When the oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds (this gives a wonderful aroma) and add the curry leaves and onions and fry until the onions turns colour. Then add the ground paste with some water. This has to bubble of for atleast 20 mins. Use more water if the curry is thick. Then add the fish of your choice. King Fish goes very well for this recipe. Cook the curry till the fish is cooked. Pour over the remaining sesame oil on the curry and close it with a lid and enjoy. I have tried some other fish curry recipes as well, but none is as good as this one. The Kuzhambu taste even better the next day.

Karuvadu Thokku ( Salted dried fish dry curry)

It has been a hectic week so far and I haven’t had the time to post anything or to do anything else that could be labeled as leisure. To quantify it with an example, I missed the Nigella Express program (yeah it is that busy). When life gets this mechanical, the only way I keep my sanity to bearable limits is by cooking and eating, what else. So as a me and me only dish, the karuvadu thokku came into existence. None of my troops are keen on karuvadu , but hey I am the mummy. For the last 4 years (my vegetarian years), dried fish was banned in our household. It is time for a revival, what better way than this one, my mom’s recipe. Thokku might not be the right description for this dish, but then again remember I am the Mummy. So here goes the recipe…….

• Karuvadu (salted dried fish) – about 10 small pieces
• Onions – 2 medium size
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Tomato – 2 medium size
• Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Curry leaves – 1 twig

Heat a spoon of oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds and curry leaves. When the seeds change colour add the chopped onions, garlic and sauté till they turn golden brown. Then add the tomatoes and fry till they are mushy and combined well with the onions. Then add the chilli powder and fry for a few minutes. Now add the karuvadu (washed and cut into very small bite sized pieces) and fry into the masala. Add few spoons of water to prevent it from burning. I like the karuvadu to be cooked for a long time about 15 minutes. Add water from time to time the thokku is dry. Salt should be added last if required. It is a great for Sambhar and Yogurt rice. If made a bit mushy then it would go great with idlis too.

As expected none of my troops wanted to have anything to do with karuvadu. Ah well sanity preserved.

Spicy fried Sardines

Sardines are called mathi in Tamil and is one of the most under rated fishes in the world. But I happen to love it. My love affair with sardines started when I was 13, on a summer vacation. It was only me and my dad at home for almost a week. Needless to say he cooked all the week and one day he got 2 kilos of sardines and deep fried them. I ate it all (almost all) within an hour and that is when it all started. I like to deep fry it, till the bones are crisp as this reduces the fuss by making it edible. It is a simple recipe.

Sardines – 8

Turmeric powder – 1 Tbsp

Chilli powder – 2 Tbsp

Salt – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Clean the fish and clean the gut. Some super markets stock cleaned and gutted sardines in the frozen section. If using frozen fish never defrost in a microwave, thaw naturally. Marinate the fish with salt, chilli and turmeric powder for 30 minutes to an hour. Heat oil in a shallow pan and deep fry them till crisp and drain on kitchen towels. It is one of my favorite fish recipes. My kids love it too. My daughter who prefers pink even in fish (salmon) loves to eat fried sardines with Paruppu (lentil curry) or Rasam rice.

Grilled Pompfret

Grilled Pomfret

My son loves fish and so do I. When I was pregnant with my second child, we went to the fish market in Birmingham every week and tried many kinds of fish. Coming from TamilNadu, I was amazed how different fish can be from one part of the world to another. The market has a wide variety of fish. Even King fish and pomfret are available now. The recipe below is inspired by the fish recipe from Madhu Jaffery’s Far Eastern Cookery. The strong spices do not over power the fish flavour. You can taste the spice and the fish.

Pomfret Fish – 1 (weighing approximately ½ Kg),

For marinating the fish

1. Chilli powder – 1 Tbsp
2. Paprika powder – 1 Tbsp (it gives a lovely red colour)
3. Corriander powder – 1 Tbsp
4. Cumin powder – ½ tspn
5. fennel powder – ½ tspn
6. lemon juice – ½ lemon
7. turmeric powder – ½ tspn

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade into a paste. Clean the fish and make slits on the fish. 2 slits on each side. Rub the paste on both sides and inside the slits. Pat the fish with some oil on the top. It helps the marinade to sweep into the fish. After 2 hrs, grill the fish on medium heat on both sides about 10 mins on each side. Take care not to over cook the fish, the fish will loose its flavour and become rubbery.