Unakka-Meen Curry - Dried fish cooked with raw plantains in a curry sauce.

Start the first recipe post of the year with something sweet…..weave the words with a poetic touch…… speak from the heart and write to my glory .....hmmmm. Well, sat at my desk few days back, trying to find my missing writer’s cap and kept wondering when that auspicious moment would strike me like the streak of heavenly lightening from the sky. Nothing magical happened and the blank screen stared at me and seemed to be teasing me.

And this morning I called home; after a long talk, just when my father had curled up to his slumber and at that last minute of wrapping up the conversation, my mother asked me .

”….edee….annu nammal onakka-meen curry vechappo thenga arachu chertho? “ (…did we add ground coconut to the dried fish curry we made that day? )

My impulse would have been to say “which one ? did we really make that ? I don’t remember…“. had I not spotted the picture of the same, last week or so, while digging into my ‘yet-to-post’ folder (that has a galore of pictures marked from 2009, most of them taken during my parents’ visit) . As I hurriedly flipped the pages of my little yellow notepad to check the recipe for her, I could hear my mother from the other end recollecting how much I enjoyed that dish, with a plateful of boiled rice, consecutively for two days, while pregnant with my Little King !! Her exact words were, “…nee annu payasam kazhikkunna poleyaa kazhiche…” !!!

Knowing that my mother wanted to make that curry once again , this time to satisfy my sister-in-law’s pregnancy cravings, I quickly ran her through the recipe and brushed her memory. At the end of the call, she asked me “ ….athokke post cheythoode…? “ (“…why don’t you start posting all those recipes…?”). Though I gave her a set of excuses at that time, bits and pieces of that conversation has been playing at the back of my mind , all through the day.

Few minutes back, I found myself walking up to the desk and keying in again………that conversation with my mother gave me the nudge I wanted……. her words refreshed my taste memories and here I am ready to make one more post!!

Though my mother prepared this dish during her stay with us, the framework of the recipe indeed belongs to my mother-in-law. Years back, she had given me a rough idea about this dish, with roots tying to her Kuttanadan background, and I had jotted it down hastily in the drafts folder of my mailbox (yeah, I use my mailbox for non-mailing purposes too). Somehow the combination of dried fish and plantains sounded quite appealing and appetizing to my palate, not to ignore the fact that a fish curry with dried fish itself was completely new to me. I love such rustic food , especially when seafood is combined with a vegetable.

Here’s the details of the recipe, as my mother made it:

Ingredients: (Approx.)

• 150gm dried fish /Unakka-meen

For cooking:

• 1 ¼ cups raw plantain, cut into crescent shape ( Soak as per the directions noted below)
• 3 green chillies, split lengthwise
• 1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• Salt to taste
• 1 -2 pieces of Kudampuli/Gamboge (adjust as per the strength of Kudampuli as some are very tart)
• 1 cup water

For Grinding:

• ½- ¾ cup freshly grated coconut
• 2 – 2 ½ tsp red chilly powder ( adjust as per your tolerance)
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• Around ¼- ½ cup water

For seasoning:

• 1-2 tbsp Coconut oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 dry red chilly
• 2-3 small red pearl onions/kunjulli
• 10-12 curry leaves

Directions:

• Soak the cut pieces of plantain in some water with a couple pinches of turmeric, for about 15 minutes, before rinsing and draining.
• Soak dry fish in water , for about 30 minutes, along with some newspaper sheets. This is to soften the dry fish; also the newspaper sheet absorb all that salt from the fish. Cut the fish into pieces, as per your choice.
• Grind freshly grated coconut with chilly powder and turmeric powder , along with water, to make a fine paste.
• In a curry chatti/earthenware or a sauce pan, cook plantain , with all the ingredients listed under “ For cooking”, and bring to a boil, on medium heat . At this point add the dry fish chunks and cook along with plantains and herbs. When it is half done, pour the ground paste and bring to a boil again. Now reduce the flame and let it simmer and cook till the fish is completely cooked. (Note: Please make sure that plantains and fish pieces are cooked just right and retain shape) Do a taste test and add salt if needed. In another pan, heat some coconut oil , crackle mustard seeds , followed by dry red chilly and small onions and sauté for a minute or till onion slices turn transparent, now switch off the heat and immediately tear some curry leaves and throw them into the pan. Pour the entire thing into the curry chatti , over cooked fish and plantain; please DO NOT stir immediately after pouring the seasoning and let it rest for atleast 30 minutes.
• We served with some warm rice.

See you soon with more :)

Luv

Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

A glimpse into the day-to-day life of people at Kainakary, a pristine village in Kuttanadu, Kerala.

“Small Talk said... I m from Kainakary...its a hamlet in Kuttanaad...with immense love and warmth I extend a warm invite to visit our beautiful land...all the stories tht u hv heard...and the images people painted for u will be dwarfed wen u see it for urself....if Kerala is Gods own Land...Kuttanaad is the street the he lives on....Until very recently western vegetables like cauliflower.beans carrot were a luxury.....daily meals were more of fish,poulty,dry fish chamanthi or raw mango chamanthi etc...Women cleaning fish on the sides of canal...men walking around with a bunch a freshly caught karimeen..kids jumping in to water from a coconut palm leaning across canal...trees laden with mangoes stooping onto the backwaters...ammachis visitng church in pristine white chatta...these everyday sights on the backdrop of various hues of green makes u think tht God created a symphony with colours..whose melody lingers even wen u r in a far away land.....Please visit Kuttanaadu...Nedumudi..Kainakary..mk sure u listen to all local folklores from ur ammachi...learn many recipes (share it wth us as well plz)....I m sure u will have a warm and hospitable stay in Kuttanaad...” November 3, 2009 9:02 AM.

An eloquent comment I received on my Duck Roast post. I enjoyed every bit of kochuvarthavanam/small talks, she used to share through my comment section and this particular one gave me goosebumps and it still does, as her words literally soaks the serenity, the village is drenched in. How do I know for sure, one might ask! Well, I got a bit lucky early this year and spent one of the most memorable 3-4 hours of my life on this blessed piece of land!!

I had build up a very high image of the wealth of beauty of Kuttanadu from the expressive descriptions of CJJ and his family. My imagination got colourful picking images from the sneak-peek I had few years back on a boat ride, into one of those narrow canals that crisscross the whole of Kuttanadu. To top it all, I had readers and fellow bloggers like Small Talk!! Hence at the beginning of our trip, I was quite apprehensive, doubting if the reality would disappoint me ……but the moment we took a deviation from the Cochin –Alappuzha main road, I knew I was about to be transported into a whole new world and experience of a lifetime. A well paved two way country road crossed the fields, on both sides, flooded with water, as it was right after harvesting season. Yes, we missed the most enchanting sight of the vast stretches of verdant paddy fields, swaying in the winds …a sight so typical of a place like Kuttanadu. But that’s ok, I have seen paddy fields earlier too, I must be happy that I got to see other hues of green and get a feel of the daily life of the natives…yeah, call it looking at the brighter side of life! :)

The country road leading to the boat jetty seemed less trafficked and untouched by both domestic and foreign tourists. By the wayside, there were some makeshift shops selling naadan tharavu/country ducks , cycle workshop, bus stops ……….and the drive was so peaceful, without any honking or the hustle and bustle of a city road. We opened the car windows and let the fresh air come in and it was so refreshing….!

At the boat jetty I could feel my heart beat beginning to race, not excited at the arresting beauty of the landscape in front but the sight of a motor run country boat CJJ’s uncle had arranged for us…a typical ‘vanchi’ or ‘vallam’/country boat or ‘cheru-thoni’ as CJJ’s family sweetly refers. I went weak on my knees at the thought of travelling in such a small boat with Little King, leave alone the thought of hopping on to it , balancing myself with a hyper-active baby, a diaper bag weighing close to 6 pounds and a bulky camera bag. One could touch and splash some water sitting in such small boats. I let CJJ do the balancing act and gave him a piece of my heart, my Little King, said a prayer and hopped on to the boat, with the help of all the men present in the boat, except the little lad! I settled myself in the middle of the boat facing my two boys ……and as I saw Little King sitting cozily in his father’s safe hands, smiling at the cool breeze that touched his face softly, I began to loosen up and soak up the vibrant life around me…..

The vast expanse of water, dotted with house boats/Kettu Vallam here and there had a charm of its own..

But the moment we entered the narrow pockets of canals, I was thrilled to realise that my imagination, exaggerated or not, had fallen right into the grooves of reality, fitting perfectly! The scene was effervescent with life on the banks of these canals…..men and women washing clothes, vessels, diving in for a swim…..

locals relaxing and fishing on a mid morning in the company of their friends, women taking rest by the banks of the paddy fields with their lunch boxes…….

men enjoying a smoke at the pettikkada ( small shop) ……….


Along the way, we saw temples, churches, cemetery and even a toddy shop quite typical to this place…..

That small country boat/Cheru-thoni I referred earlier, seemed to be a recurring scene wherever we looked…..

….locals use it for transport , fishing and shopping as well….but I must also mention that they have bigger motor boats for public transport, which is not there in my pictures.

They are also used for bringing in potable water in huge cylindrical barrels, 'coz of the scarcity of drinking water. I was told by CJJ that many years ago, there were no barrels and instead country boats itself were filled with potable water, after a thorough clean up and water was distributed to all the households in the area.

…narrow bridges connecting the two sides of the canal were spotted everywhere…..

another striking feature of the canals were these floating African Paayal or “Pola” as the locals say is a type of water moss. They seem quite invasive, making it a struggle for natives for fishing as well as for boatmen. We lost almost 10-15 minutes in the boat, on the way back because of these floating hassles. In one of the pictures below, you can see a part of the canal netted adjacent to a house; I was told that it is to avoid the intrusion of these green giants. CJJ also shared that one of the methods of keeping these green hassles away is by creating a square barricade with banana stems.

Most of the houses seem to be owning a boat, either a motor boat or country boat and some seem to be having a private kadavu where they park their boats. You can also see a traditional cane basket used for fishing in one of the pictures below.

BUT do you really think I took the risk of travelling with Little King, in that small country boat through a vast lake , with zero skill in swimming, just to drench myself in the tranquilizing charm of this village? No! Those who have been following this blog for last few years know that I had something else in my agenda…..to make my dream a reality …my dream of visiting Ammachi, CJJ’s grandma who shared my maternal grandmother's name.....who introduced me to new levels of flavours in my cooking, who shared some of her classic dishes with me over the phone……..and when Little King was born, I wanted him to have her blessings!

And there I was right infront of her house……..

We spent few hours listening to her stories……watching her excitement……….her non-stop chatting……warm hugs …..complaints for giving only a short notice about our visit and yet she had a table full of simple food cooked for us…. spicy egg roast, tongue –tickling Manga/mango pachadi, puzha-meen varuthathu/fish fry, sweet and sour puli inji/ginger, Unakka erachi chathachathu/a relish with dried meat, Pulisseri, a simple well seasoned, spiced yogurt sauce and I cant recollect the rest in the menu because I was trying my best to pay attention to the incessant flow of her stories as well as do justice to each dish relishing the taste and flavours and pausing in between to get the list of secret ingredients and method of cooking.

All of us were full yet she did not let us disperse without a cup of tea and some fruit cake……And as our boat began to move away, with a touch of anxiety in her words, she called out ,” mole….avide etheettu udane vilkkanam ketto…” (call me when u reach home)

And I bid my farewell to her and to this beautiful place, with memories for a lifetime……..and I must say, as much as I was influenced by the tranquility of the place…..the effervescent life on the banks of the canals……….the simplicity in the lives of the people……the underlying hardships written on the leathery faces of farmers and fishermen……the freshness in the air and the beauty of cool breeze, I had a disturbing thought brewing in my head….

For an average farmer or fisherman, if a medical emergency arises, I think it takes about minimum 15-20 minutes or more , to reach a decent primary care especially if they don’t own a motor boat and all they have is that small country boat as the main mode of transport …..and that perhaps would be the most decisive 15-20 minutes of one’s life!!!!! Does beauty and tranquility come with a price??

Luv

Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Duck/Tharavu Roast…….inspired by Ammachi’s Kuttanadan Style!

“……..Yes, I do want to stay with her…..listen to her stories…..taste her food and of course enjoy the natural beauty of Kuttanadu, "the rice bowl of Kerala", a place near Alappuzha and as I have already mentioned in one of my posts, I have never been to Kuttanadu, and from what I have gathered from CJJ’s vivid descriptions, this place is laced with palm fringed canals and small rivers… lush green paddy fields……locals traversing in small country boats……. men herding a flock of ducks and the tail wagging and quacking of ducks !! It’s not just my husband who makes me go crazy with all these details… it is as though, my brothers-in law have also taken their vows to tickle my imagination….when one claims that it is heaven, then the other goes one step ahead and sends me the picture of mouth-watering duck roast their grandma makes!! I had no other option but to call her up and learn to make the chicken roast…..and I was quite surprised to learn that her famous chicken and duck roast is made with very few ingredients. I had to double check with her if there was no need to add coriander powder, chili powder and tomatoes which is generally used in chicken roast preparations, which are either curried and then pan seared or deep fried and then roasted but this preparation is based on grandma’s recipe!.....”

I wrote those lines more than 2 years ago and today I thought I will share the that picture ……..

……..the picture that tempted me to take a culinary peep into CJJ’s grandma’s kitchen……..and any true blue non vegetarian Malayali having one quick glance at that one can understand our plight, how self-torturing it was for us to look at that picture and drool over it each time, especially when you are away from the delicacies of your homeland……… and yesterday when we were digging for this picture from my brother-in-law’s album, I repeated the same question I had asked CJJ whenever we viewed the picture in the past, “ How could she cook so much ……that too when she is in her 80’s just ‘coz R was visiting……..?? When do you think I would be able to have a taste of her ‘kaipunyam’? “ and I was told , “ Ohhhh…you should see her cooking…..she is ….she is F..A..S..T and she comes up with the tastiest dishes!!” and as always, I was left with sufficient amount of uncertainty for the last part of my question!

In the past I have tried to translate the gist of her recipes she shared with me over the phone and though I have never had the chance to taste her real version, I have tried to interpret her recipes with my limited skills. CJJ has been my judge all these years and the way he nodded his head after tasting each of my experiments, always gave me the push I needed to explore a bunch of her dishes, I have already shared with you.

This Duck /Tharavu Roast recipe is pretty much in line with the Chicken Roast recipe that has already been featured here. Some minor changes have been made in the proportion of ingredients to suit this particular variety of poultry and I must add that though I am not a duck lover, this is the only duck preparation that makes me go for second and third serving! Here’s the recipe we followed:

Ingredients:

To marinate:

• Around 1 kg Duck/Tharavu, cut, cubed and cleaned
• 8 tsp Masala Powder ( Recipe follows)
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper ( fresh green peppercorn paste is ideal)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 2-3 green chillies, cut lengthwise
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• Salt to taste
• ¼ to ½ cup water to pressure cook

To Roast:

• 2 ¼ cups thinly sliced small red pearl onions/shallots/Kunjulli
• ¼ cup finely chopped ginger
• ¼ cup finely chopped garlic
• 2tbsp finely chopped green chillies
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• ½ tsp Masala Powder* (Recipe Follows)\
• 2-4 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt to taste
• 1-2 tbsp water

To Make the Masala Powder: (Grind to a fine powder and use as per the instructions given in the recipe)

• ¼ cup fennel seeds/perinjeerakam
• 12-15 cinnamon/karugapatta
• 8-10 cloves/grambu
• 2 cardamom/Elakkaya

Directions:

• Marinate cubed pieces of duck meat with ingredients listed under “To marinate”, except water and leave on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a large pan and sauté small onions until they turn transparent and then add green chilies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves and cook until they are soft. At this stage add cubed pieces of marinated duck ; sprinkle 1-2 tbsp water to the vessel and take off all the leftover marinade and pour to the pan; cook for around 20 minutes in low heat or until the raw smell goes. Transfer this to a pressure cooker and pour ¼ to ½ cup water and cook until done and soft.
• When pressure cooker cools down, transfer the cooked meat and gravy, back to the large pan and bring to a boil in medium heat. At this stage, sprinkle ½ tsp masala powder and adjust salt if required; tear off curry leaves and throw them into the pan and let it simmer for another 15-30 minutes, until gravy and the cooked poultry come together as one single mass. Turn off the heat depending on the roasted texture you aim for; you can keep it lightly wet as in my picture or can make it a bit more dry.
• Let the cooked dish sit in the room temperature for minimum 45-60 minutes, allowing the flavours to get together and serve warm with Rice or Palappam or any leavened or unleavened bread of your choice.

Related Posts:

Luv

Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Pacha-kurumulaku Arachu Meen Varuthathu – Grandma’s original recipe for Kuttanadan Pepper Fish Fry

...a smell I had never sensed yet transported me to a place I have never been………a taste and flavor completely unknown yet easily conquered my taste buds……. a dish I had never tasted/seen yet recreated in our kitchen translating the words of an old woman - like “ mole….oru nullu manja podi……. lesham injeem veluthulleem…kurachu pacha kurumulaku kallil vechu chathachathu…...” - at the other end of the phone, sitting miles away from us, at the small village of Kainakary in Kuttandadu, Kerala….that was pretty much the story behind the Pepper Fish Fry I had blogged long back….and also the story behind the other five recipes labeled under Kuttandan Recipes which I learned from CJJ’s grandma who had played a big role in developing the food enthusiast in CJJ during his adolescence and youth.

In my earlier post, Pepper Fish Fry- Kuttanadan Special, I had mentioned that “his loving grandma was ready to share her secret to taste; fresh pungent peppercorns ground with a stone mortar and pestle and then mixed with the fresh ginger and garlic paste and yes, it is quite luscious. I got to taste the one with fresh peppercorns last time when we went home. But since the fresh peppercorns were something that’s unavailable here, I substitute with dried ones and still it was appealing to us.”

True, fresh peppercorns are a luxury at my corner of the world but at times I get lucky …….and my lucky stars winked at me last week and I got to lay my hands on some fresh peppercorns and the rest is history a delicious fish fry and a blog post!!

Ingredients:

• 17 medium size sardines/chaala/maththi or any other fish of your choice & size
• 4 medium strings of fresh green peppercorns/pacha-kurumulaku
• 3 cloves of garlic, medium size ( adjust as per your taste and strength of garlic)
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 4-5 Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Coconut oil for frying

Directions:

• Stripe off the peppercorns from its spikes; grind peppercorns along with ginger, garlic , turmeric and salt to a thick paste; tear off the curry leaves and mix well with the marinade and adjust salt. Make slits on the fish and marinate the fish evenly on both sides and keep it for 30 minutes to 2 hours to let the fish slices absorb the marinade. Heat oil in a flat non-stick pan and when it is steaming hot, place the fish gently and shallow fry at low-medium heat by flipping each side when it is done; do not crowd the pan and give some room for each slice; The cooking time varies depending the thickness of the slices and also depend on how crispy and firm one wants it to be. Overcooking the fish will make it very crisp; those who want it firm but soft and moist, may remove the cooked pieces when the oil stops spluttering.

You may also check a handful of recipes I have learned from CJJ’s grandma:

For more , Check Recipe Index

Luv

Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

Kuttanadan Karimeen Pappas/ Fried Pearlspot in a coconut milk sauce - A delicacy from the backwaters of Kerala

Neighbour's plate envy is a syndrome most of us go through occasionally on our restaurant visits....but do you really get hungry or smack your lips when you see someone relishing a piece of food?? I do! Only two people can make me smack my lips.....one is a wage worker named Chothi whom my father appointed every year at the end of monsoons to remove weeds and clean up the yard. As a child, I had some strange pleasure and enjoyment in watching Chothi eat his lunch from the banana leaf.....my mother served mounts of rice and then poured ladles of Sambar on top of rice and the way in which he mixed rice and lentils and vegetables to a huge round mass and the popping action into his mouth made me immediately run to my mother and ask for a plate of rice and sambar, something which was not all that exciting otheriwse!! He stimulated my craving department each time without even realizing what he 'd been doing to a small child.

The second person who can make me hungry and smack my lips is my father........someone who relishes each and every morsel he puts in his mouth and he got lucky the day he married my mother who always made sure that she served his favourite dishes all the time. It could be a plate of humble Puttu drizzled with golden ghee and sprinkled with some sugar or a bowl of grainy avalose-podi mashed with ripe banana and sugar or a plate of his favourite fish, Karimeen/Pearlspot stewed in spicy coconut milk sauce...........the way he relished his food was always tempting to me......the way he took a small fistful of rice and dipped the same carefully into the fish curry served on a side plate made me drool ....I would be eating the same food sitting right across him but I just didn't seem to get the taste or the sensation he was experiencing........Seeing him holding that small side plate in both his hands and the way he slurped the spicy coconut milk sauce from it made me feel miserable and I started copying whatever he did to experience the same taste sensation he was enjoying ......that was the turning point for the foodie in me.......... that's when I started distinguishing the taste and flavour of fish cooked in coconut milk sauce.......thats when I experienced the taste of fleshy Karimeen fried in flavourful coconut oil ........and soon, like my father, I fell in love with Karimeen/Pearlspot, a variety of fish my mother bought irrespective of its price.

Seeing our family love for Karimeen, CJJ once made a casual remark about a preparation his mother used to mention....Karimeen Pappas, a preparation from Kuttanadu, from the backwaters of Kerala. Till then, I had not even heard of such a name and it was naturally intriguing. Considering the fact that Karimeen was a delicacy that was not spotted in the Indian stores in our vicinity, I did not bother to learn much about this dish. But quite surprisingly, on one of our road trips to Chicago, we got a packet of frozen Karimeen exported from Kerala , from an Indian store and I grabbed the packet the moment I saw it. I re-created all my favourite Karimeen preparations from my mother's kitchen and finally I was left with just one fish and that's when I remembered this particular preparation CJJ mentioned long back. So on one of our recent telecons with CJJ's grandma, my Kuttandan culinary Queen, I enquired her about Karimeen Pappas after discussing everything from family stuff to Condoleezza Rice's recent India visit and the current job loss problems!!

Grandma painted a rough picture of this preparation and with a couple more inputs from her daughter, that is my mother -in-law, I ventured to cook up a dish I had not even seen or tasted till that day and I ended up with one of the tastiest Karimeen preparations I have enjoyed. I don't know if this is how it is supposed to look like as at this point, I do not have the option of sharing this picture with my in-laws to get approval but this is my interpretation of their words, of their explanation of this country-style dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size whole Karimeen/Pearlspot (scales, guts and gills removed and cleaned thoroughly)
• 1tsp red chilly powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Oil for pan-frying (around 4tbsp)

For Gravy:

• A handful of thinly sliced red big onion
• 1 tbsp ginger , thinly sliced
• 6-9 Indian green chillies, cut lengthwise ( adjust as per your taste)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ to ½ tsp coriander powder
• ¼ to ½ tsp powdered fennel seeds/Perinjeerakam
• 3 thinly sliced rounds of tomato (half of a small tomato)
• 1 cup coconut milk, with medium consistency (neither thin nor thick)*
• 2-3 drops of vinegar ** ( like eye drops)
  
• 2 ½ tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

• Make 3-4 slits on both the sides of cleaned Karimeen/Pearlspot to let the fish absorb the spices of marinade.
• Make a marinade with chilly powder, pepper powder, turmeric, salt and lemon juice and smear it well on both the sides of fish and leave it on the kitchen counter for 45 minutes.
• Heat oil in a shallow pan and when oil is hot, place Karimeen/Pearlspot gently and shallow fry at low-medium heat, by flipping each side, when it is done. It takes me about 4 minutes for each side for this particular fish.
• In a 'curry-chatti'/earthenware or any cooking pan, heat coconut oil and swirl the cooking vessel to coat the entire cooking area of pan. Tear off curry leaves and add to the hot oil and with a spatula, smear the cooking vessel again with the coconut oil infused with curry leaves. DO NOT skip this technique as it does add a lot of flavour while cooking, especially if you re using a curry-chatti. Now add thinly sliced onion and let it cook till soft; then add thinly sliced ginger and green chillies and cook till everything is soft and transparent. Sprinkle turmeric powder followed by coriander powder and powdered fennel seeds and stir for 30-40 seconds. Now place the thinly sliced tomato rounds on this onion base as a bed for fish and keep the lid and cook for a minute. Now take off the lid and place the fried fish gently and pour coconut milk and, keep the lid back and bring to a boil in medium heat. When it starts to boil, add salt, swirl the pan gently and let it simmer for another 5 minutes, in low heat. Do a taste-test, adjust salt if required and turn off the stove if gravy has blended well with fish and spices and finish off the cooking with a dash of 2-3 small drops of vinegar. Let it rest for minimum 40-60 minutes before serving. It helps fish to marry the sauce and balance the flavours.
• Serve with Paalappam, white bread, chappathi, Idiappam or rice

Notes:
*For the coconut milk part, you may extract Thanipaal/thick coconut milk first, then extract Randaampaal/thin coconut milk and instead of adding medium consistency milk, you may add Randaampaal/thin coconut milk first and bring to a boil and then add Thanipaal/thick coconut milk. But here in this dish, since we re not cooking the fish longer, as it is already pan-fried, it is ok to pour medium consistency coconut milk once and stop with that.

**Grandma suggested using either tomato or vinegar for sourness . I added both in small quantities as we prefer the combined taste of tomato and vinegar but pls make sure it is just SMALL drops of vinegar (like eye -drops). You may also use raw green mango slice in place of tomato and vinegar.

Grandma also suggested adding a pinch or two of red chilly powder along with ground fennel and coriander but I stayed away from using it as I already used enough chilly powder to fry the fish and balanced the heat with more green chillies; but addition of a small amount of chilly powder sure gives a subtle yet attractive shade to this curry.

Verdict: With hands gently moving around his bloated tummy, I heard CJJ murmuring in the background, "ennatha nalla bhakshanam-aayirunnu…" meaning " that was good food ..." :) I think the word 'delicacy' is ideal for this dish. The lingering taste was that of the creaminess of coconut milk perfumed with the sweetened scents of fennel and an undertone of black pepper from the fried fish pairing beautifully with the mild heat from green chillies………all these flavours are spruced up with the a very subtle hint of acidity and sourness from tomato and vinegar………we re sad we don't have a single piece of Karimeen/Pearlspot left in the freezer to make this dish again….Hope we get lucky soon!!

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Luv
Shn

No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.