Juicy Momos (seafood)

Juicy momos with a prawn filling! Try it with chicken or beef mince too.

INGREDIENTS:

Plain flour/refined flour/maida: 1 cup

Salt: ¼ tsp

Refined oil: 1 tbsp

 

Knead the above, to a soft pliable dough & keep aside for 20 minutes. 

For the filling:

Fresh prawns: 100 g minced

Spring onion: 2 tbsps chopped

Pepper powder: 1/2 tsp

Ginger: ½ tsp chopped fine

Coriander leaves: chopped fine 1 tbsp

Soy sauce: 2 tsps

Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Keep aside.

 

METHOD:

Make gooseberry sized balls from the dough. Roll out into small puris, keeping the centre thicker than the sides.

Put a teaspoonful of the filling in the centre & pleat the sides together to form a ball. (you can make any shape, as long as it doesn’t open out.)

Place in a steamer & steam for 15 minutes.

Serve with chilli sauce.

Crab/Njandu masala (Seafood)

For sea food lovers, crab is an all time favourite. Generally made dry, but there are places where crabs are always made into gravy dishes.

A point to note when preparing crabs for cooking- wash them well, scrub with a small brush, if possible, before opening the shell.

Trim claws, cut off gills (dead man's fingers).

DO NOT wash after opening the shell.  

 

INGREDIENTS:

Crab: 500 g

Onion: 2 sliced

Tomato: 2 chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/4tsp

Cinnamon: 1” stick

Coconut oil: 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

 

METHOD:

Cook crab with salt, turmeric powder, half a cup of water & one tablespoon of coconut oil.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, fry onions well.

Add ginger-garlic paste, cinnamon, pepper powder, chilli powder, & chopped tomatoes.

Sauté well till oil clears out.

Add crab & fry till gravy dries.

Serve with rice. 

 

 

 

Dry Prawns/Unakka Chemeen Ularthiyathu (Traditional Fare)

In summer, small prawns are dried & stored for use during the rainy season. In coastal Kerala, more specific in the Cochin belt, vegetable servings are laced with a sprinkling of roasted dried prawns, whole or powdered to spice it up.

INGREDIENTS:

Dried prawns: 100 g

Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder: 1/4tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Garlic: 1 tsp crushed

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

Curry leaves: a few

Salt to taste

 METHOD:

Dry roast prawns in a hot pan.

Transfer onto a plate to cool & remove head & tail. Wash & drain.

In a heavy bottomed Kadai, heat oil, add crushed garlic.

When fragrant & light brown, put in the washed prawns & curry leaves.

Fry till it becomes crisp.

Now, add the spice powders on a low flame (so that you don’t burn them.)

Mix well. Take off the fire. Cool & bottle.

You can do large quantities of this dry prawns fry & store to use in chutneys etc.

 

 

 

Meen Peerapattichathu (Traditional Fare, Sea food)

This is a very traditional, simple preparation using raw mango, bilimbi or kodampuli, according to the season. And generally, small fish or big fish cubed very small goes into this dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Anchovies, sardines or prawns: 500 g

Coconut: 1 cup

Green chillies: 10

Shallots: 8

Turmeric powder: 1/2tsp

Raw mango: 1, sliced or kodampuli: 3 pieces soaked in water

Ginger juliennes: 1 tbsp

Curry leaves: 2 sprigs

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Coarsely crush coconut, green chillies, shallots, turmeric powder & a few curry leaves.

In an earthen “curry chatty”, put in the ground paste, ginger, raw mango, fish, curry leaves & salt.

Mix well & add half a cup of water.

Cover & cook on slow fire till done & all the water has evaporated.

Pour coconut oil before taking off the fire.

I used raw star fruit for this preparation.

Fish Curry Trichur Style (Traditional Fare)

Fish curry down south in Kerala uses coconut paste for the gravy while up north in Kerala, its coconut milk that is largely used.

Here’s such a preparation.

INGREDIENTS:

Fish: 500g as per your choice

Coconut milk: 1 cup thick

Red chilli powder: 2 tbsps (Kashmiri)

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Fenugreek powder: ¼ tsp

Mustard: ½ tsp

Whole fenugreek: ¼ tsp

Shallots: ½ cup sliced

Ginger: 1 tsp sliced

Garlic: 1 tsp optional

Slit green chilli: 2

Curry leaves: a few

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

Tamarind paste: 1 tsp or 1 small mango sliced

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Heat oil, add mustard & fenugreek, after they crackle, add shallots, ginger, green chilli & garlic.

Sauté till brown & add the powders soaked in a little water. Fry till raw smell leaves.

Pour a cup of water & tamarind, (or mango).

When it boils, add fish & salt to taste.

Cover & cook till fish is done.

Sprinkle curry leaves & pour the coconut milk.

Let it simmer on a low flame for a few minutes.

Done! Fish curry is ready to be served with rice/puttu/tapioca.

Dry Prawns with Mango (Traditional Fare)

 Known as "Konjum Maangayum" in Malayalam.
A very traditional preparation of the high ranges of kerala, where fresh fish was not available so freely as it is now.

INGREDIENTS:

Dry prawns: half a cup

Raw mango: 1 sliced

Coconut: 1 cup grated

Green chilli: 6 crushed

Ginger: 1 tsp grated

Shallots: 1 cup sliced

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Red chilli powder: ½ tsp

Curry leaves: a few

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Dry roast the prawns after removing the head. Wash & keep aside.

In an eathern vessel, add the other ingredients, except oil, one by one.

Last, add the prawns. Mix well with your hands.

Now, pour coconut oil.

Keep on stove to cook, on a slow flame. Stir occasionally.

Add more curry leaves & take off fire.

Good with rice, kanji & boiled tapioca.

"Eraal Podimas"/Prawns Thoran (Traditional Fare)

Summer vacation is a time you have to feed unexpected guests at a short notice or no notice at all! This recipe is simple & a little prawns can go a long way because it is pounded.

INGREDIENTS:

Prawns: 250 deveined

Coconut grating: 1 cup

Green chilli: 2 chopped fine

Shallots: 10 chopped fine

Black gram dal/urad dhal: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Dry red chilli: 2

Curry leaves: a few

Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp chopped

Mustard seeds: 1/ 2tsp

Fennel: 1 tsp

Coconut oil: 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Cook prawns with salt & turmeric powder. Cool well & pound with a mortar & pestle to crush it slightly.

Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, add black gram dhal & brown it.

Now, add fennel, dry red chilli, chopped shallots, green chilli & curry leaves.

 Sauté well & add coconut & crushed prawns. Adjust salt.

Stir for some time till all the water evaporates & it browns slightly.

Sprinkle coriander leaves & serve with plain rice/sambarsadam etc.

Fish Curry Trivandrum Style (Traditional Fare)

 Fish curry from Trivandrum, Kerala, is different from the rest of the state - very spicy & "coconutty".And the addition of drumstick, is a point to be noted! 

INGREDIENTS:

Fish: 250 g cut into small pieces

Drumstick: 2

Raw mango: 1 peeled & sliced

Grated coconut: 1 cup

Red chilli powder: 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder: ¼ tsp

Ginger: 1 tsp sliced

Shallots: 10

Curry leaves: few

Green chilli: 2 slit

Coconut oil: 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Cut the drumstick into 2” pieces, wash well & cook with raw mango, sliced ginger, 1 tsp red chilli powder,  a little turmeric powder & salt in 1 cup water.

When half done, add pieces of fish, a few curry leaves & 2 shallots sliced.

In the meantime, grind coconut, remaining chilli powder, shallots & a few curry leaves to a fine paste.

 Pour the ground masala into the simmering fish & add water to make up gravy.

 Check seasoning & add the slit green chilli.

Pour a tablespoon of coconut oil into the curry & take off the fire.

 Serve with rice or tapioca.     

 

Chemeen/Prawns Thenga Masala (Seafood)

This is a very simple & tasty prawn recipe anyone can try. 

INGREDIENTS:

Prawns: 250 g shelled & deveined

Fresh coconut: 2 tbsps

Dry coconut/copra: 2 tbsps

Whole garlic: 15 to 20

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsps

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Coriander leaves: 1 tbsp chopped

Curry leaves: a few

Tamarind paste: 1 tsp

Oil: 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Grind coconut, fresh & dry, together. Keep aside.

Heat oil, fry whole garlic till it browns. Then add ginger-garlic paste.

Fry till fragrant & add red chilli powder, turmeric powder & ground coconut-copra.

Sauté well & put in the prawns, tamarind paste & salt. stir fry for a while & pour half a cup of water( 100 ml).

Cover & cook till gravy dries up.

Sprinkle coriander & curry leaves. Serve with rice or chapattis. 

Soup Curry (Traditional Fare)

This is a very traditional fish curry from Kollam, Kerala. It’s a thin gravy preparation, I guess that's the reason its called SOUP CURRY!

Unlike the fish molee, this does not have any garam masala.

I’ve used fish head for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

 Fish: 500 g

Coriander powder: 1 tbsp

Fresh green chilli: 12 slit

Ginger: 1” piece

Shallots or onion: ½ cup sliced

Turmeric powder: ½ tsp

Coconut milk: 1 cup (thin)

Vinegar: 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Coconut oil: 1 tbsp

Curry leaves

METHOD:

In a “curry chatty” put in the coriander powder, turmeric, green chilli, ginger, shallots & coconut milk.

Add salt to taste & put in washed & cleaned fish.

Now, cook till fish is done.

Last, add the curry leaves & coconut oil.

Take off fire & add vinegar.

Swirl the “chatty”.

This is usually served with rice, good with bread too.