Muringakka Chemmeen Curry / Prawns And Drumsticks Curry

When feeling tired, I would often think of buying some multivitamin tablets forgetting the fact that a very inexpensive natural multivitamin is available near to me! Yeah, we most ladies do the same. Keralites consume a lot from the drumstick tree, especially leaves, flowers and fruits, all are edible! You can make a curry or thoran (dry curry) using these parts of the tree. Adding prawns to drumsticks is not a new thing, this is an old type curry that grandmas cooked. I have already published another prawn curry with brinjal or bread fruit, check out that also.



Ingredients used,
Drumsticks or muringakka 3 no.
prawns cleaned 1 cup
green chillies 2
coconut grated 1 1/2 cups
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
red chilly powder 2 tsp
tamarind 1 lemon size
salt

for seasoning,
mustard seeds 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds 1 pinch
small onions 4 chopped
curry leaves few
coconut oil



How to prepare,
Peel and chop drumsticks.
Grind coconut in enough water to make smooth solution.
Mix tamarind with little water and take the pulp.
Cook drumsticks in enough water to cover with salt, turmeric and chilly powders.
When half done, add the prawns.tamarind pulp,
Pour the blended coconut solution and mix well.
Allow to boil, remove from fire.
Check salt, add if needed.
Do the seasoning in coconut oil and pour it to the curry.

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Fish And Dal / Meen Parippu Curry

The misfortunes that have befallen on some friends and relatives really pulls me back from blogging...
Let's pray to God to give them strength to suffer...
I can see some frowned faces when seeing a fish curry prepared with dal. Had seen the same when published a chicken curry with dal long back.. With dal, chicken or fish or any thing, tastes great, no doubt!

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Koonthal Ularthu / Squid Cooked In Coconut Milk

A simple Squid / koonthal Recipe for you this time, which I got from a news paper clipping. Though my favourite with squid is always the koonthal roast, I loved to take this with pathiri or chapathi.



Ingredients
kanava / koonthal 1/2 kg
onion 2
tomato 1
ginger 1/2 " piece
garlic cloves small 4
green chillies 3
pepper corns 1 tsp
fennel seeds 1 pinch
garam masala powder a pinch
coriander leaves chopped 2 Tbsps
coriander powder 11/2 tsp
chilli powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
coconut milk 1/2 cup thick
vinegar 1 Tbsp
water
oil
salt



How to prepare
Cut and clean squid.
Grind garlic, ginger , green chillies,pepper corns and fennel seeds together to form a paste.
Heat oil , saute chopped onions until golden brown.
Add ground paste, saute for a while. Add chopped tomato, squid pieces, ground paste, coriander and chilli powders , salt and vinegar. Saute for 1 minute and cook it with enough water. When the fish is cooked well and the water is reduced, add coriander leaves and coconut milk.
Stir until you get a thick preparation.Then sprinkle little garam masala over it.

See the koonthal / Squid Roast,

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Chemmeen Vazhuthana - Kadachakka Theeyal / Prawns Curry with Brinjal or Breadfruit

This theeyal is always prepared using breadfruit / kadachakka. In Kerala, most of the houses in the rural area would have a breadfruit tree along with papaya trees, plantain trees etc. Bread fruit is usually used to make thoran or varutharacha curry in our home. This is the similar one using prawns. When I craved for some breadfruit, I couldn't find one in the nearby supermarkets , so I just used brinjals instead and the taste was wonderful!
Actually tamarind / puli wouldn't be added in this type theeyal, but I needed a little of sourness to get a real fish curry taste.. :)



Ingredients
Chemmeen / prawns 250g
brinjals 4 medium size
onion 1/2 chopped
tomatoes 2 chopped
green chillies 2 slit
pepper powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
chilli powder1 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1 Tbsp
kudampuli 1 big piece or tamarind pulp as desired optional
coconut oil
mustard seeds
dry chillies
curry leaves
salt

Roast
1 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
4 shallots / chuvannulli



How to prepare
Heat little oil, roast the ingredients together. Allow to cool, blend this with little water to make a fine solution.
Devein, wash and clean prawns.
Clean and cut the brinjals and cook them with onion, tomatoes,kudampuli or tamarind, green chillies and all the powders and salt. When it is half cooked add blended solution and boil. Add prawns and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from fire. Heat oil, let mustard seeds splutter, roast curry leaves , dry chillies and pour over the curry.

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Fish Molee

Some times I would think fish molee would be the best Kerala fish curry that is suitable for those who donot love spicy curries , especially non-Indians. I had this thought whenever my husband took some Indian curry dishes to his office, his colleagues (he is the only Indian there) started shedding tears because of the spiciness, though I had prepared them using very less quantity of spices.. :D (It is not the matter, still they want Indian food) My kids too behave like that, they are not ready to eat spicy things, so I make this curry often for them.



Fish Molee Ingredients
Fish fillets 6 medium size
onion 1 medium size
tomato 1
green chillies 2 or 3
ginger julienned 1 inch piece
garlic cloves chopped 2
garlic and ginger paste 2 tsp
pepper powder 3 tsp
chilli powder optional
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
lemon juice 1 tsp optional
curry leaves few
coriander leaves few
coconut milk 2 1/2 cups thick
coconut oil 2 Tbsp
salt



How to prepare
Clean fish. Marinate it with garlic and ginger paste, salt and 1 tsp pepper powder.
Heat coconut oil in a frying pan. Fry fish fillets in this. No need to make a crispy fry, but just frying outer part is needed.
Take fillets out of the pan, saute onion and garlic in the same oil. When it is transparent, saute julienned ginger and slit green chillies. Saute for a while until the aroma of ginger comes out.
Add remaining 2 tsp pepper powder, turmeric powder and tomatoes. Stir for a while and add the coconut milk.Add enough salt.When it is hot, add fish fillets, and boil on a low flame. When the curry turns little thick, add lime juice , remaining 1/2 cup thick coconut milk, curry leaves and mix. Remove from fire. Garnish with coriander leaves.
If you find the curry is not thick (this happens if your coconut milk is not enough thick) add 1 or 2 tsp corn flour and boil.

Fish Molee goes well with Appams..

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Pachathenga Arachuvecha Meen Koottan / Fish Cooked in Coconut Gravy

This is the fish curry which I always suggest to make whenever umma prepares pathiri. The thick gravy seasoned with curry leaves and chopped shallots is really great with other breakfast dishes like kaipathiri,appam, puttu , pola , dosa and idli too..You can use tamarind / puli or kudampuli instead of mangoes but I prefer preparing this with mangoes. Now it is mango season and I am waiting for some moovandan manga (mango trees that started to give fruits in an age of three years) from home courtyard to prepare this curry. Fishes like puthiyappila kora (Sulthan Ibrahim here in UAE-in Malayalam puthiyappila means bridegroom), mathi / chala / sardines, Hammour, Kanambu are good for this type of preparation.

Ingredients
Fish 10 pieces
coconut grated 11/2 cups
mango 1 or 2 according to sourness
small onions 10
green chillies 3
tomato 1
turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
chilly powder 2 1/2 teaspoons or according to your taste
fennel seeds / perumjeerakam 1/4 teaspoon
curry leaves few
salt
coconut oil



How to prepare
Grind coconut , 6 small onions, perumjeerakam and all the powders together using 1 cup or enough water. Pour this into a chatti / clay pot. Add 2 cups or more water according to the thickness. Add salt, chopped tomatoes and boil.
When the tomato pieces are half cooked add fish pieces and mango pieces.
If the fish takes only less time to cook, add mango pieces first, then later it is about 3/4 cooked, add fish pieces. Cook till the fish pieces are done.
Add slit green chillies after the fish is cooked. You can add it in the beginning also.
Chop the remaining small onions. Heat coconut oil, fry small onions and then curry leaves. Pour this over the curry.

This curry goes well with



Thanks to Pravs of Simplyspicy for the lovely Nice matters Award! You and all other blog friends are really very nice..I know many of you have already got this and you all deserve this too. It is little difficult for me to chose some one among you, so I pass this to all of you my lovely blog friends and readers who visit here regularly and leaving encouraging comments.. :)

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Kudampuli Thenga Paal Meen Curry / Central Kerala Special Fish Curry

I am hailing from Central Kerala, and this fish curry is usually prepared by our Christian friends there. When there are some special occasions , they prepare this curry on previous night since it tastes great on next day. So the fish absorbs the spiciness of chilly powders, sourness of kudampulis and also curry turns thick. This is one of my family's favorites.



Ingredients and Method
fish fillets 1/2 kg
onion 1 medium size chopped
tomato 1 medium size chopped
green chillies 3
garlic cloves 2 big chopped lengthwise
ginger piece 1 inch size julienned
turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
pepper powder 1 teaspoon
chilly powder 2 teaspoons
coriander powder 2 tablespoons
coconut milk very thick 2 cups
water 1 cup
Kudampuli (Garcinia cambogea) 4 pieces or more
curry leaves few
salt
mustard seeds 1 teaspoon
fenugreek / uluva 1/2 teapsoon
coconut oil 2 table spoons



Heat coconut oil. Add mustard seeds and fenugreek and let them splutter. Saute onion, garlic in this till transparent. Then saute ginger. When the smell comes, add all the powders and salt , stir for few seconds. Add tomato, kudampuli and one cup water and one cup coconut milk. Boil till the tomato is cooked. Then add cleaned fish fillets and the remaining 1 cup coconut milk. Cook till it is done on a low flame. When the oil floats on top, place slit green chillies and curry leaves over it. Keep the lid closed and remove from fire.

I prepare this using ready made coconut milk powder. So for 2 cups of thick coconut milk , I used 1 cup coconut milk powder. You can add enough water to change the thickness of the curry according to your taste.

Big type fishes are good to make this curry. Ayakkoora/Neimeen/Arkkya/Kingfish , Ayala/Makceral, Aavoli/Pomfrets are good to prepare this curry.

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Red Fish Curry

Ingredients
Fish 6 fillets
Tomato 1
Small onions 6
Garlic 2 cloves
ginger 1/2 inch piece
Kashmiri chilli powder 3 tsps
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Kudampuli/cocum 3 big pieces
Or
Tamarind 1 lemon size
Fenugreek seeds/uluva ¼ tsp
Curry leaves few
Water 1 ½ cups
Green chilly 2
Coconut oil
Salt

How to prepare
Blend tomatoes with small onions, garlic and ½ cup water.Heat oil, let the fenugreek seeds splutter. Saute ginger and then saute powders for few seconds. Add blended mixture and the remaining water. Add salt, tamarind pulp or kudampuli and boil. Cook uncovered for about 5 to 8 minutes. Then put fish pieces in this. Cook till fish pieces are cooked and oil comes up. Put slit green chilies and curry leaves. Cover the pan and remove from fire.

You can prepare this in another way too.For that, frist cook onion / small onions chopped, tomatoes chopped , slit green chillies, crushed ginger, crushed garlic and tamarind pulp in water with all the powders and salt. When it is cooked add fish pieces , curry leaves and salt. Let it cook until oil floats on top.
Then do seasoning with uluva / fenugreek and mustards in coconut oil.

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Prawn Coconut Milk Curry

Ingredients
Prawns 1 cup
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Garlic and ginger paste 2 tsps
Green chillies 2 chopped or crushed
Coconut milk thick 1 cup
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 2 tsp
Pepper powder 2 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Salt
Oil

How to prepare
Heat oil.
Saute chopped onion, then garlic ginger paste.
Add prawns and powders with salt.
Fry for few seconds till the prawns are covered with powders.
Then add tomatoes, green chillies, and coconut milk.
Boil till the prawns are cooked.
Remove from fire, garnish with coriander leaves.
Prawns need less cooking time.
Cooking prawns for a long time will make it hard.
If the prawns /shrimps are medium sized, cook them up to 4 or 5 minutes and for larger size, you can add 3 or 4 minutes too.
Don't forget to remove the intestinal vein of prawns before you cook them.
Keep the curry for half an hour before you serve.
So the juices in the shrimps will enter into the curry slowly and it will make the curry little thick and tasty.

Goes well with chappathi, rice & vellappam.

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Meen Mulakittathu / Spicy Red Fish Curry

This curry is good with Kappa/Tapioca, Rice, Rava Upma, Dosa etc.People from different places in Kerala cook this curry using various methods. Some uses chopped onions and adds ginger also. Mathi mulaku curry is the common dish in most of the houses in our place. They make it every day!

Ingredients
Sardines(Mathi) - 6 nos(cut and cleaned)
Onion(medium) - 1 no or
Shallots(Kunjulli) - A handful
Tomato(big) - 1 no
Curry leaves - A few
Salt - As reqd
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Green chilies - 2 nos or as reqd
Garlic pearls - 6 nos
Tamarind(Puli) - A lemon sized ball or Raw mango(big) - 1 no

How to prepare
1)Soak tamarind in hot water and take the paste of about one tea cup.
2) Add another 1 1/2 cups of water.
3) Put all the powders, finely chopped or ground onion, tomato, salt, crushed garlic into it.
4) Cook till little thick.
5) Add sardines and cook till done.
6) Add curry leaves and green chillies.
7) Pour coconut oil and remove from fire.

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Fish Curry Using Coconut milk

Ingredients
King fish – ¼ kg
Onion – ½ chopped
Tomato -1chopped
Small onions -4
Green chilly -2
Cocum – 2 pieces or tamarind – one lemon size or raw mango – 1 or 2 according to sourness
Turmeric – ½ tea sp
Chilly powder – 1 teasp
Corriander powder – 3 tsp
Coconut milk thick – 2 cup
Salt
Curry leaves
Coconut oil

Method 1

Mix onion, tomato, all the powders, and salt with tamarind paste. Add coconut milk.

Boil.

When onion is cooked add fish.

Cook till done.
Heat oil, fry chopped small onions, when it begins to turn color into brown, add curry leaves, green chilly and pour this into the curry.

Method 2

Heat oil.
Saute onion
Add all the powders when onion turns transparent.
Fry for a while.
Add tomato, and tamarind pastes.
Stir , add salt and coconut milk.
When it boils, add fish pieces.
Cook till done.
Then place curry leaves and green chilly slit on top.

Cover the lid.

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Spicy fish curry / Meen mulaku curry - old method

This is an old method of making fish curry, which is prepared grinding all the ingredients (spices) on a grinding stone / ammikkallu. This curry comes out as thick, so you can add more water to make it according to your taste.



Ingredients and method
Fish - sardines( mathi) - 6,
Tomatoes - 2,
small onions - 7,
tamarind - one lemon size,
red chillies - 5,
turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon,
curry leaves - few,
Garlic cloves- 3,
coconut oil - 1 table spoon,
salt.

Roast red chillies and grind with garlic,small onions and add mashed tomatoes to it.
Mix together.
Soak tamarind in little water for some time and take the extract.

Mix this with turmeric and add to the ground paste to make a thick solution.

Soak fish in this and cook.

Remove from fire when it is done, add curry leaves and coconut oil.

( if you like kudam puli use it instead of tamarind).

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Chemmeen Theeyal / prawns in fried coconut gravy

This is the chemmeen theeyal, a tasty curry for the rice, dosa, pathiri and puttu... You may get much more dark color for this. I think my ready made coriander powder reduced the color.. :)



Ingredients and method

Prawns(Chemmeen) - 1/4 kg(250g)

Onion(medium) - 1 no(chopped)

Tomato(medium) - 1 no(chopped)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 nos

Curry leaves few

Garlic pods - 2 nos(crushed)

Salt - As reqd

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup

Tamarind paste - A lemon size soaked in wateror Kukum star(Kudampuli) - 4 small pieces or as desired Or use raw mango 1 or 2 according to it's sourness.

1)Clean Prawns.

2)Fry coconut with one pinch fennel seeds, 3 small onions and curry leaves till brown in 1 tsp of coconut oil.

3)Blend it with water.:- Coconut should be grated well.
4)Dry roast all the three powders.

5)Mix this with onion, tomato, crushed garlic, coconut blended, tamarind paste and salt.

6)Add 1 1/2 cups of water.

7)Cook, till the onion and tomato is well done and the curry becomes little thick.

8)Add prawns and cook till done. :- Do not cook too much. It will become hard.

9)Add green chillies.

10)Heat coconut oil in a pan.

11)Fry 3 chopped small onions and curry leaves. Pour into the curry.

You can roast the powders with coconut (in the end of roasting coconut) and then blend. Make this type of curry with ayala / mackeral, ayakkoora / king fish and other big fishes..


Ayala varutharachathu curry

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