Fish Pickle

Pickles are available in a number of varieties and flavours in market which could be prepared in a simple way at home itself with few ingredients.Here Iam Sharing one such very special and different pickle prepared with King Fish. It tastes equally good and tempting like that of mango, garlic pickles. This recipe is sure to enter your favourite list if you are a lover of fish and pickles..! 

Ingredients:

For Marination:

• King Fish - 1kg
• Chilli Powder - 2 tablespoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
• Ginger Garlic - 1 Tablespoon
• Salt - To Taste

For Pickle Gravy:

• Sesame - 1 and half cup
• Curry Leaves - 5-6 Sprigs
• Ginger - 1 inch square piece
• Garlic - 25-30 nos
• Green Chilly - 6-7
• Fenugreek powder - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida(kaayam) - 3 pinches
• Red Chilly Powder - 5 tablespoon
• Salt - To Taste
• Oil - As needed
• Vinegar - 1 cup

Method:

• Cut the washed fish into kind of square pieces and add the ingredients given under marination to it.

• After marinating it for 2-3 hours, fry the fish well in enough oil and keep it aside.

• In another pan, pour some oil and throw in sesame and Curry leaves.

• Crush together ginger, garlic and green chilly in a blender and saute it.

• When it turns golden brown,add fenugreek powder, Asafoetida , Red chilly powder, salt and the fried fish.

• Mix them well and allow to cook for around 6 minutes before turning off the stove.
• After sometime pour a cup of vinegar over the pickle to give its signature taste.

Note:

• You can have this as side dish instead of curry along with rice,dosa or any other indian flat breads.
• If you bottle them in air tight containers, you can keep it for months and have it. 

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Ilai Appam

Ilai Appam is a very traditional sweet dish prepared with the help of certain type of leaf called Chelanthi ila. Nowadays its also done with moulds but inorder to enjoy the authentic taste you must try the ones in leaf. Its the flavour of the leaf that gets absorbed into the mixture providing it with a unique taste.It would absolutely be a very special dish on a very special day to enjoy with family..!

Ingredients:

• Whole Green Gram (Cheru Payar) - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cup to cook Whole Green Gram (Cheru payar)
• Jaggery (Sharkara) - 2 and 1/2 cup
• Grated Coconut - 1-3/4 
• Rice flour - 1 and 1/2 cup
• Water - 2 and 1/2 cup to cook rice flour
• Banana leaf or Chelanthi ila or Mould  

Method:

• Take around 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook Whole Green Gram till you hear the first whistle. Switch it Off.

• In another pan melt 2 and half cups of Jaggery by adding little water. Stain it after it melts completely.
• To the cooked Whole Green Gram (Cheru Payar), add the grated coconut and melted jaggery and mix it well. Saute it in a pan for around 7 minutes till it becomes dry.

• In a sauce pan, boil 2 and 1/2 cups of water with little salt. Now gradually add the measured amount of rice flour to the water and mix it well to form a smooth soft dough without any lumps like that of idiyappam.
• Now take a small ball of dough and spread it over the leaf. Place the prepared sweet mixture at the centre and fold the leaf to seal the edges. 

• If you dont have leaf do it with the help of a mould in the same way.

• Place all the prepared ilayapam inside a cooker and steam it till it gets cooked. 
• When the dough gets cooked you will find that the leaf opens up a bit and also there will be change of colour. 

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Wheat Parota or Atta Parota

Tasty food and Healthy body are two inseparable words due to their dependency on each other. Thats why these days we analyse health factor more than the taste element of food that we have it. So here I have come up with Wheat Parota thats traditional, tasty but also an healthy alternative to the very much criticized parotas for their health aspect. You will love it once you try it..!

Ingredients:

• Wheat Flour - 1 cup
• Yeast - 1/2 teaspoon or Soured Curd - 2 Tablespoon
• Salt - To Taste
• Water - Required for kneading

Method:

• In a large bowl mix wheat flour, salt and yeast or curd by pouring water.Knead it to a dough like that of normal chapathi or Flat bread.

• Leave the dough to rest for an hour so that fermentation process could take place.
• Now take out large sized balls in such a way that one ball would equalize the size of two normal chapathi.

• Roll out the large ball of dough somewhat thicker resembling a naan(not very thin like that of a chapathi) using the rolling pin.

• Next gently brush some oil over the rolled out dough.
• Now using a knife, partition the rolled out dough maintaining a width of almost one inch for each cut portion.

• Place one partition (one row of rolled out & cut dough) over the other and roll them gently to form the base of a medium sized parota.

• If you prefer a smaller version like coin parota, just roll one partition instead of two.
• Now squeeze it down slowly with your hand and slightly expand it a little bit to get the required size of parota.

• Finally throw them onto a preheated tawa or skillet and cook till they turn golden brown on both sides.

Note:

• Use oil generously for an enhanced taste while rolling out the dough and while cooking it.
• Wheat parotas go well with any kind of gravy both veg and non veg like chicken curry, egg roast or chana masala, veg kurmas etc.,

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Chippi Appam or Kalmakka Nirachathu or Stuffed Mussels

Here Iam sharing a very traditional mussel recipe called Chippi appam in Southern Tamil Nadu or Kallumakka Nirachathu in Northern regions of kerala. It basically involves very few ingredients that are stuffed and steamed to a soft and mushy kind of sea food meal. The beauty is you can have this as a main dish or even as an evening snack. The part which i love the most is scooping out the stuffings with its outer shell while eating it. Hope you would also enjoy it..!!!

Ingredients:

Mussels - 25 to 30
Rice flour - 1/2 kg
Chilli Powder - 2 Teaspoon
Turmeric powder -a pinch
Ginger Garlic Paste -2 Tablespoon
Fennel - 2- 3 teaspoon
Cinnamon - a small piece
Cardamom - around 4
Cloves - 2
Grated Coconut - 1
salt - To taste

Method:

• Open, Wash and Clean the Mussels thoroughly and keep it aside.

• Powder the following in a mixer - Fennel,Cinnamon,Cardamom and Cloves.

• In a large bowl add chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, ground powder, salt, shredded coconut and mix it together.

• Now put in rice flour and knead it into a soft dough.

• Take out small balls of dough and stuff it inside the opened mussels.

• Now Place them inside  a Steamer and allow it to cook for around 20 minutes or until they cook well inside.

• Once they are cooked and ready, serve them on a plate as it is.

• Later on you can even demould the shells and fry the stuffed mussels by applying a little of masala like chicken on oil for a different crispy taste.

• It could be served as a main dish or for an evening bite with the family.

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Parota

Parota or Porata or Porota is a well known layered flat bread in southern India owing to its taste and aroma when its served hot. Even though its a tedious process, people love making it for their loved ones on special occasions. It does not involve much ingredients and with practice you can easily master this Tempting Parotas.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour (Maida) - 1 kg
Egg - 1
Baking soda - 1/4 tspn
Curd or Milk -1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 litre
Sugar - 1 tspn
Salt - As Per Taste
Oil - As needed

Method:

• Mix the flour, egg, baking soda, sugar and salt together.

• Then add in water and milk/curd to knead a dough thats neither too soft nor too hard.

• Leave the dough undisturbed for 10-15 minutes.

• Now pull out round shaped balls from the prepared dough and coat each of the balls with oil to keep it moist.

• Now Cover these balls with a wet muslin cloth and leave it undisturbed for another 30-40 minutes.

• When you remove the cloth later, you will find the balls to be expanded in size somewhat.
• Now take out a ball,pour a tspn of oil and with the help of your palm spread it out evenly like that of a chapati.

• With the help of both your hands gently hold it and beat it softly on a even flat surface to make it more thinner and elastic.

• Once you feel it elastic enough, hold one end together and circle the other end layer by layer. You will get a structure similar to that of a rose as shown below.

• Leave it aside for 5 minutes. Once you finish this process with all the balls, the first one would by ready to be prepared.
• Now take,pour a tspn oil and spread it out evenly(not bigger than your palm size).
• Finally put them on a hot pan or tawa and cook it in low-medium flame so that the inner part gets cooked enough.

• Pour in oil both sides while cooking to enhance its flavor and taste.
• When both sides of Parota turn golden in color take them out. 
• If needed you can pile three or four hot parotas together and beat with both your hands from the sides to get the layers out of them.Its not very necessary but it does give a fluffy feathery look.

• And there you have the tempting soft layered flat bread to be tasted with any vegetarian or non vegetarian gravy.

Note:

• Adding curd/milk helps soften the Parotas.
• Adding sugar gives it a golden brown tinch after cooking.
• Kneading is a very important step and make sure its done with care. If the dough is either too soft or hard, it would be very difficult to make it elastic and would tear off into pieces.
• Do not panic if you find small hole like tears here and there while making it elastic.

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Sauteed Coconut Chicken Curry

As the name suggests the highlighted ingredient of this dish is Coconut itself. Coconut not only adds flavor and rich taste to your dish , but is also well known for its amazing health benefits. If you are looking out to give a twist to your traditional chicken curry, then this dish would surely make in to your to do list.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 10 pieces
Onion -  2 medium sized(sliced)
Tomato - 1 big sized
Ginger - 1 and 1/2 tspn(crushed)
Garlic -  1 and 1/2 tspn(crushed)
Green Chilly - 1
Red Chilly Powder - 1 tbspn
Coriander Powder - 2 tbspn
Fennel Powder - 1 tbspn
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tbspn
Curry Leaves - 1 fig
Oil - 2 tbspn
Salt to Taste

Ingredients for Sauteing:
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1 small sized
Cinnamon - 1/2
Cardamom - 3
Cloves - 3
Curry Leaves -  2 sprigs

Method:

• In a fry pan, put the ingredients for sauteing given above and saute under low flame. Continue till it emits a flavorful smell and turn it off. Keep it aside for cooling.

• Now blend this coconut mixture into a fine paste.

• Take a sauce pan and heat oil. Add Onion, Ginger garlic, tomato and green chilly one by one respectively.

• Once the raw smell fades off, add the Chicken pieces with salt and allow it to cook keeping it closed.

• Once the chicken is 3/4th ready, add the masala powder( red chilly, coriander, fennel and turmeric).

• Finally pour the coconut paste and required amount of water for cooking.

• Allow it to cook for nearly 7 minutes and garnish it with curry leaves when ready to serve.

• It can be served hot with chapathi , naan , rotis, idiyappam or any others as per your choice.

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