'Meenu peera'

This is yet another favorite of the Mallu household - and needless to say, a fav here as well. Want to wow your guests with some traditional Mallu food? this is the way to go. Pair it up with hot rice or chappathis and you have a winner - wholesome, refreshing and truly delish.

This dish is mostly prepared with small fish like sardines or anchovies. The grated coconut imparts a great flavor and texture, one worthy to put it on a pedestal as high as the brilliant meenu curry. The kokum and the chilis are the other stars, and truly deserve the nomenclature. Prepare it in the traditional mannu chatti and you have a winner. It can be prepared in a jiffy and that delish whiff you get as you devour it is reminiscent of home, mom made food and has comfort written all over it. just as it was for me.

You will need:

-Anchovies or Sardines - 350 g

-Kokum- 4 large

-Kaandhari molagu or Green chilis (large) - 4

-Freshly scraped coconut -  1/2 coconut

-Shallots - 10

-Ginger - 1/2 inch

-Garlic - 4 pods

-Turmeric - 1/4 teaspoon

-Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

-2 sprigs of curry leaves

-Coconut oil to sputter it all in

-Salt to taste

How you go about it:

-Boil 1 cup water and add the kokum to it, set aside

- Sputter mustard seeds in the hot oil. Add the sliced shallots, ginger and garlic and sauté over a low flame till it turns slightly brown in color.

- Add the crushed green chilis to the mix and turmeric and continue to sauté.

- Mix in the kokum water and the kokum to the above sautéd mix. Add salt to taste.

- Add the fish and let it cook for 5 minutes.

-Mix in the scraped coconut and let it cook till water evaporates (maybe another 5 minutes).
-Once cooled, dig in!

Naadan Meenu Curry - Kerala Fish Curry

To say we are fans of the humble but awesomely delish naadan meenu curry is an understatement. and to say i swear by my mother's version is but stating the obvious. Pair it with steaming hot rice and moru kaachiyathu and you have a meal with the works. or just that delish curry with slices of regular sandwich bread as we used to for a snack when we got back from school when growing up is pretty amazing. it's also yum with chappathis. Oooh, i almost forgot - it's mindblowing brilliant with kappa vevichuthu! You get my drift right. With so many endless possibilities, the meenu curry is versatile,  one-of-a-kind and one of the fav curries in any malayalee' home. For me, the meenu curry is a taste of home and of childhood and meals eaten with the entire family.
For the uninitiated, this dish is tangy and spicy and not for the fainthearted. It works best with the freshest fish you can lay your hands on. And most of all, it is quite forgiving. You can come up with your own versions (i know people who add tomatoes!) and still love it and make memories of your own!

P.S: Do not be put off by the list of ingredeints. In all likelihood, you must have most of the ingredients in your pantry right. The kodum puli cannot be substituted if you want the ditto taste as of lingering memories of meenu curries eaten with your mother or grandmothers.

You will need:

i) Neie meenu (aka Sear fish/King fish) - 1 kg (medium sized chunks)

ii) For the paste:

    Kasmiri chili powder - 6 tablespoons

    Turmeric - 3/4 teaspoon

    Shallots - 4

    Garlic - 2

    Ginger - 1/2 inch long

iii) For the curry:

    Shallots peeled and cut - 10

    Garlic chopped - 8

    Kodam Puli - 5 large pieces

    Roasted Fenugreek powder - 1/2 teaspoon

    Mustard - 1 teaspoon

    Curry leaves - 4 sprigs
    1 cup water

iv) Coconut oil to sauté in

v) Salt to taste

vi) Mannu Chatti to cook the curry in

Procedure:

-Wash fish thoroughly. I suggest washing it in maida and salt. Make sure the odor goes away, without breaking up the fish into pieces. My grandmom used to say, after you are done washing, you ought to be able to see the reflection of your face in the water that has the fish - meaning, that clear and that clean!!

-At this point, soak the kodam puli in 1 cup water and let it boil for 3-4 minutes. (This is so that all the goodness of the kodam puli, and i mean that lovely flavor and tanginess seeps into the water-Yum!!)

-Soak turmeric and chili powder for 4 minutes in water. Then grind the ingredients mentioned in point i) into a fine paste. Keep aside.

-Sputter the mustard seeds in a frying pan. Add 2 sprigs of curry leaves.

-Add the shallots and garlic and sauté over a small flame till it becomes light brown. Add the ground paste. Keep stirring till it cooks well. An indication is, 'the oil clears' as my mother says (at least 4 minutes on the flame after you add the paste).
-Take the mannu chatti, lay a sprig of curry leaves at the bottom and add the sautéd goodies to it along with the kodam puli, the water it was soaking in and the other cup of water. Add salt. Let it come to a boil.

-Add the fish. Increase the heat and let it cook. The curry will reduce and the fish is soaking up all the flavors in the process.

-Reduce the heat after a bit and watch over the mannu chatti while the fish cooks. Switch off the flame and sprinkle the fenugreek powder  and garnish with remaining curry leaves. Let it rest for a bit before serving.

Fish pie!

Warning: Long post alert! Ok, let me rephrase that, long but delicious post alert.

Do not be put off by the length of the post. It's one of those hearty dishes that you have one a lazy weekend. Filling, homely and so comforting. The tart shell is crumbly and divine. The filling makes you go back for more. Considering the length and the 'easy-to-break-into-steps' recipes involved, the entire procedure can be broken into two days with amazing results- better taste, a breeze to prepare and a happy you! So let's get cracking.

Start with the savory tart crust or the Pâte brisée. You can make this up to a day ahead, you will just have to store the dough in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

You will need:
- 250 g all purpose flour
- pinch of salt
-110 g butter chilled and cubed
-1 egg
-1 tablespoon fresh cream
-1 egg beaten for the egg wash
- a bowl that has been kept in the refrigerator (for the mixing)

Procedure
-Sift together the salt and flour in a dry bowl and keep aside.
-Add the cubed pieces of butter to the flour mix and incorporate it into the flour using your fingertips. If you are in a place as humid as Chennai, you may want to keep the bowl in the freezer in reular intervals for a couple of minutes in between steps (in order to keep the ingredients and everything that comes in contact with it cold)
-Loosely incorporate the butter till the mix looks like coarse sand grain.
-Make a well of sorts in the mix by pushing the flour to the sides of the bowl.
-Pour the egg into the well and beat it with a spoon or fork. Mix it into the flour little by little.
-Add the fresh cream and start one tablespoon at a time and continue to incorporate it till the dough comes together. Be careful not to over-knead.
-Divide the dough into two balls, flatten gently into discs, cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for half an hour. At this point, you can store the dough in an air tight container in the refrigerator for a day.

-Take the discs out of the refrigerator and let it rest for 5 minutes or so.
-Once it has reached the stage where it can be rolled out, sprinkle flour on the work surface and roll out with the help of a rolling pin. Make sure there is enough to come up the sides of the tart pans as the pâte will shrink when blind baking by a few centimeters. So the pastry that you roll ought to be at least half an inch bigger in circumference than the tart pan.
-Make sure the tart is of uniform thickness of 4 cm all across. Also, make sure to roll from the center outwards.
-Gently lift the pastry and place in the tart pan. Make sure to brush off excess flour before lining the pan.
-Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Cover the pan with cling film.
-Refrigerate the tart pan again for another half hour.
-Twenty minutes into the above mentioned time, preheat the oven to 180 C.
-Take the tart shells out of the refrigerator, prick holes in the bottom of the patry with the tines of a fork, cover with aluminum foil, fill it uniformly with pie weights and blind bake at 170 C for twenty five min or till golden in color. (Another indication will be the smell of freshly baked pastry filling up the kitchen)
-Fifteen minutes into the blind baking, remove the pans, brush with the egg wash and pop back into the oven. Rotate the sheet if necessary to ensure uniform baking. The egg wash will give the tarts a nice golden hue.

All the waiting gives us ample time to make the filling.

For the filling, you will need:
1/2 kilo sear fish
2 thinly sliced onions
1 medium sized capsicum sliced
1 tomato diced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
11/2 teaspoon ground pepper
 A tiny pinch of turmeric
1 green chili cut into small small pieces
1 egg, beaten
Fresh Cream - 1/4 cup
Grated Parmesan Cheese - 3 tablespoons
Oregano - 1 teaspoon

Procedure
Marinate the fish in turmeric, ginger, garlic and pepper for 15 minutes. Cook/steam the fish for 10 mins and keep aside. Sauté the onions till translucent, add the tomatoes and capsicum with the green chili and sauté over a low flame till cooked and keep aside to cool.
Mix the cream, egg and cheese and add the sautéd veggies. Shred the fish finely and double check to ensure there are no bones. Add the fish into the cream-egg mix.

Add the mixture into the cooled pate brisée and bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 170 degrees or till the filling has set but is still moist and wobbly when shaken.

Enjoy!