Sardine fish curry

Sardine is one of my most favorite fishes. Sardine being one of the lowest in the food chain in sea world, it is lesser polluted than the bigger fishes. By the same time the health benefits outweigh the  bigger fishes. I haven't seen any fresh sardine in the region I am living. Though canned sardine is popular among Italians and dieticians, I wanted to devour Indian sardines in a curry. So bought a pack of frozen sardines from Indian grocery store and made a kulambu (curry) and fry on a weekend. Sardine is one of the lesser expensive fishes in Tamilnadu, but it costs almost $ 7.00 / 2 lb pack here.... closer to pomfret :) Interestingly enough, my hubby will eat bigger fishes like king fish and only a few selective varieties. I made him eat this by helping him picking out all those tiny bones from sardine in his plate,  as if we do for a child and he ate a few fishes too :) Just like my dad, he too feels weird to take some fish curry in his lunch box :)  But my dad's friends, my friends and hubby's friends , all like my fish curry and that's the trophy for this recipe:) Anyways , I eat this whole sardine fish along with those tiny bones and I love that head too, but exported frozen ones are neatly cleaned and packed ....which makes me still search for fresh sardines:)  I am narrating  a basic fish kulambu recipe, which is loved by people of Tamilnadu especially Tirunelveli:).

Other names: Indian sardine fish curry, saalai meen kuzhambu, chaala meen kulambu, mathi meen kulambu

Fish platter: White rice, sardine fry , beans poriyal, chaala meen kulambu, boiled egg.

Chaalai meen kuzhambu

Indian sardine (mathi / chaalai meen)

Ingredients:
Sardine fish - 1 lb
sesame oil - 2 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
Tamarind - 1 small keylime size
Red chilly powder -1.5 tsp
coriander powder- 3 tsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 1
green chillies - 2
curry leaves- 2 sprigs.

To grind:
shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
shallot - 8
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Slit along its stomach, cut off the gills and mouth. Retain or discard the head portion.
I suggest retaining the head, if we are buying fresh sardines.
Run your finger all through the slit portion to remove intestines and any wastes.
Rinse well twice or thrice till water runs clear.
Apply little turmeric powder , salt over the fish and keep aside.

Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.Keep aside.

Heat the sesame oil in vessel. (Fish curry prepared in earthen vessel tastes good).Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the mustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .

Then add finely chopped tomato and saute till oil separates.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling , reduce flame and wait till raw smell vaishes.
Add the fish.
cover the vessel partially to allow steam to go, reduce heat to minimum. Put the chopped green chillies and curry leaves.
Cook for 10 minutes in that low heat.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces. If needed gently shake the vessel, by holding the sides.
Switch off.

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with rice, Idly or dosai .

Note:
*Always use a shallow-wide vessel to make meen kulambu.
*Earthern vessels are traditionally used in my native place for preparing fish curry. If using earthern vessels (mann pathiram) then we keep a separate vessel for non veg, this is a traditional habit there.
*I don't know why, but my mom used to insist on preparing some greens (spinach) or any green vegetables like beans along with this kind of fish curry. So I too follow that :)
*The fish kulambu tastes better the next day and I love to have it with idly or bread for breakfast ....anytime:)

Ragi paal kolukkattai payasam

Paal kozhukattai is a recipe handed down through generations in my family and I am passing it to my food blogger friends. Paal kolukattai(dumpling) payasam is a kheer made of small rice (powder) balls soaked in sweetened milk. Just like that I prepared a payasam using ragi. It tastes delicious , hope you all try this millet kozhukattai payasam in your kitchen and enjoy !

Ragi , kelvagaragu , keppai - finger millet

Millet kheer.

Ingredients: 
Ragi flour - 1/2 cup
hot water - 1/2 cup (as needed)
salt - a pinch
coconut milk from can (thick)- 1/4 cup
cashew - few
ghee - 1 tsp
jaggery / brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Method: 
Dry roast the ragi till it smells nice. Switch off.
Put 2 tbsp sugar to the flour. Bring water to boil along with salt. Add this water little by little and mix until it becomes a soft dough.
Make tiny balls.
Bring 3 cups of water to boil in a separate vessel.
Add a handful of ragi balls, wait for few seconds to see the water boiling again.
Repeat and add all the balls. Cook in boiling water for 2 minutes. We can call the cooked balls as ragi kolukattai.
Drain and take out the cooked ragi kolukkattai. Retain only 1/2 cup (or as per need) of that cooked water and discard the excess. Add jaggery / brown sugar and bring to a boil. Add all the ragi kolukkattai. Add the coconut milk and switch off immediately.
Fry the cashew in ghee and add to the payasam along with 1/4 tsp crushed cardamom powder.
Ragi paal kolukattai is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve warm as dessert or snack.
Makes 2 servings.

Plain coriander powder

Preparing the basic masala powders is the key element for a successful Indian recipe.  Homemade masala is always pure and inexpensive. Sometimes we may be tempted to buy a readymade powder, but the taste would be quite different than our home version. So I try to make all powders other than chilly powder at home here (I don't know to handle that hot flavor). In Chennai preparing the powders is very easy because of the availability of Sunlight and proximity of grinding mills. But here we have to employ some more techniques to get our own masala.
While growing up I had seen mom preparing turmeric powder, idly podi, coriander powder, sambar powder, curry masala powder, chilly powder, paruppu podi,  Soapnut hair wash powder (Shikakai), bathing powder and many other powders on a regular basis, as if it is a ritual:) I used to mock at her for her dedication, but now I understand the necessity:)
At that time we used to have 2 helpers for her....always one trustworthy lady from our village to stay with us and one from our locality for bigger tasks on hourly basis.  Mom would buy bulk quantities of basic ingredients, dry them in Sunlight and our local maid would take it to a dry grinding mill to powder them. The masalas would last long up to 3 or 4 months.
Here is the basic coriander powder we use in Tamilnadu or any Indian recipe.

Homemade Coriander powder.

Ingredients:
Coriander seeds - 1 lb

Method 1 (small batch):
Take the coriander seeds in a winnowing pan (sulavu / muram) and separate the chaff from seeds.
Heat a thick bottom wok.
Put one cup of coriander seed, reduce flame to minimum and fry for 1 minute (till it gets crispy).
Don't let it brown for Tamilnadu recipes, as we need a tender smell of coriander just like Achi's masala. Take it out.
Just like that repeat in small batches for the remaining coriander.
Spread the coriander on a newspaper and  let it cool.
Powder it in a mixie , let cool completely and store in airtight container.
This is the method I employ for smaller batches of coriander without drying in Sun.

Method 2 (traditional):

Coriander seed - 2 kg.

Take the coriander seeds in a winnowing pan (sulavu / muram) and separate the chaff from seeds.
Sundry the coriander seeds for 10 hours (till it turns crispy) .....from morning to evening.
Dry grind it to a fine powder in a nearby mill.
Before grinding it in a mill, make sure that they haven't put anything with lot of flavor for the previous person...that smell will stick to ours:) Mom would suggest us to wait till it is clean or would grind wheat / rice before giving our masala items:)
After bringing it home, immediately spread it on newspapers and let the powder gets cool completely (otherwise the powder turns brown).
Store in airtight containers.
Once in a month keep the containers in hot Sunlight for 10 hours to avoid pests.

Note:
Use this coriander powder in any kulambu, fries, Sambar as per recipe.
The ratio between coriander powder and chilly powder in most of my cooking is 3:1.
This is the purest form of fresh coriander powder and it makes every recipe delicious.

Simple mutton soup

This is a very simple soup / clear soup I prepare using goat ribs.Some weekends I try my best to give Xav some spicy soups before lunch, as it is our tradition in my parents house. I buy lamb meat WITH bones whenever I want to make a mutton kuruma (whereas mutton curry can be made using boneless or boney meat).Mutton kuruma tastes good with less spicy rice like coconut milk rice or ghee rice.  I cook the mutton in pressure cooker and before pouring the cooked ribs to the kuruma, I take out some of the cooked broth for soup. Though hubby is a picky eater, he will eagerly ask for a few more servings of this soup, which makes me very very happy:)
Though there are many versions of mutton soup in Tamilnadu (India), I like this quick soup also very much. I prefer serving this kind of soup at least 15-30 minutes before meal, to make room for lunch:). This clear soup should be served in smaller cups just like this picture for a native touch and it can be conveniently sipped instead of using a spoon:)

Ingredients: 
lamb meat (ribs) - 150 gm
shallot - 6
garlic - 1 whole
cilantro - handful (chopped)
mint leaf - few
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
whole black pepper - 1 tsp
cumin - 1 tsp
black pepper powder - to taste
salt - to taste

Method:
Clean the  meat in water.
Add turmeric powder, cilantro, mint and 3 cups of water. Keep aside.
Peel the onion and garlic. Chop them coarsely.
In a tbsp of butter / oil fry the shallot and onion and add to the mutton.
Grind whole black pepper and cumin to a fine powder and add it to the above.
Pressure cook this till we get one whistle. Reduce flame and cook in medium heat for 15 minutes.
Then switch off. After the pressure is released, open and take out 1.5 cups of clear soup (no need to take out the meat or bones....it is optional). Keep aside the remaining broth and meat for preparing a kuruma.
Add required salt to the soup and mix well.
Serve in small bowls and garnish with black pepper powder.

Mutton soup is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as appetizer.

Onion bajji

Onion (Vengayam) bajji is a popular snack of India similar to onion rings. Though it is mostly served as snack , sometimes I make this bajji as side dish with sambar rice during weekends or nights when we need something more delicious than the usual side dish.  I am narrating my recipe for vengaya bajji.

Vengaya bajji (photo updated : Feb 2014)

Ingredients (for 10 pieces) :

Red Onion - 2
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 3/4 cup
dosa batter - 1/4 cup
(or) rice flour - 2 tbsp
salt - to taste
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
hing (asafoetida)- 1/8 tsp
baking soda - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 2 pieces (finely ground)
ajwain (omam / bishop weed) - 1/4 tsp
red food color - a pinch (optional)
oil - to deep fry (200 ml)

Method:

Peel the onion. Slice it into thin (1/4 inch thick approx) round pieces, using a knife and cutting board. Carefully cut the onion, so that the concentric pieces remain intact.

Grind the garlic and omam to a fine paste with 1 tsp water. Mix all the above (except oil) along with 1/4 cup water to a thick batter. Add more water if needed, but keep the batter like thick idly batter ,otherwise the bajjis will absorb more oil.

Heat oil in a wok. As it gets smoky hot, reduce flame and keep in medium flame.

Dip the onion slices in the batter and put it on the hot oil.  Do not clutter. Flip and fry both sides. Drain oil and take out.

Onion bajji / fritter is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve hot as snack along with hot coffee or tea during rainy / winter season.
Coconut chutney or tomato ketchup are good side dishes for these fries.

Sweet potato boli

Boli is a kind of sweet paratha prepared in Tamilnadu, India. We can see many varieties of stuffing for boli. In Chennai, one can see some shops selling this boli alone, as they are very popular there.
Preparing pooran boli / oppittu (with channa dal stuffing) at home is a time consuming job, as preparing the stuffing demands many steps like pressure cooking the dal, preparing jaggery solution, making a soft ball stage pooran in a wok etc.,.  But this sweet potato boli is comparatively easy, as the stuffing can be made quick, if we have some boiled sweet potatoes and chapati dough.
I made this as lunch box snack for hubby and I love the way it came out easier and tasty. Try this and enjoy!

Sweet potato boli.

Sweet potato stuffing.

For stuffing (pooranam):
Sweet potato - 1 (large)
brown sugar - 2 tbsp
shredded coconut - 1 tbsp
cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Outer layer:
Wheat flour - 1 cup + 1/2 cup
salt - a pinch
water - to knead
sesame oil - few tbsp
Ghee - 2 tsp

Method:
*Boil or pressure cook the sweet potato. Peel and mash with hand. Add the ingredients in stuffing and mix well without lumps. Divide it into small balls of key-lime size. Keep aside. This is the stuffing for boli.
*Put the wheat flour in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, mix well. Slowly add water and knead to a thick soft dough (just like chapati dough). Add 2 tbsp sesame oil and knead again very well, so that the dough becomes very soft and pliable.
*Divide the dough into equal size balls (say 6 balls).
* Take one ball, sprinkle some dry wheat flour on the rolling board. Press using a rolling pin to a small circle (3 inch dia).
* Place one sweet potato stuffing inside, fold like a pouch. Sprinkle more flour and roll carefully (without much pressure) to a 6 inch circle.
* Heat a tawa , apply few drops of oil , fry the boli both sides in low heat for 1 minute each side.
* Take out, brush few drops of  ghee, let cool for 1 minute and keep inside an airtight container.
Repeat the procedure for all the dough balls.

Sweet potato boli is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve hot as snack.

Note:
Instead of wheat flour it is traditional to use maida / All purpose flour.
Keep the kneaded  AP flour dough for 6 hours in room temperature for a more workable dough.

Egg kuruma

Whenever we say egg curry, the only thing that comes into the mind of many people is a spicy red hot egg curry. But there are many versions all over India. Sometimes we may need an egg curry with more gravy to go along with rice or idiappam (rice noodles). Then I would choose this curry or kuruma with lots of coconut masala. This kind of  egg curry with more gravy is a common in Southern Tamilnadu and kerala. On that day I made this with veggie briyani for one of my friends who likes egg curry very much and insisted on making my hometown version. Though I like her version also very much, I made it for her and we all had an amazing dinner.

 Egg kuruma.

Ingredients:

Egg - 6

Ingredients:

tomato - 2
Red onion - 1
coriander leaves - a handful.
mint leaves - few
curry leaves - few
coconut milk - 1/2 cup
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
curry masala powder- 1 tsp
coriander powder - 2 tsp
salt - to taste
oil / ghee - 2 tbsp
cinnamon - 2 inch
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
bay leaf - 1
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

to grind:

cardamom - 3
shredded coconut - 1/4 cup
cashew - 4
poppy seed - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
green chillies - 4

Method:

*Grind ginger and garlic together.
*Dry roast the poppy seeds, cashew and grind the items mentioned to a fine paste.
* Hard boil the eggs , peel. Make 3-4 slits lengthwise on all the eggs.
Keep aside.
* Heat oil / ghee in a pan. Add fennel seeds, cinnamon and bay leaf.
*Add the chopped onion, green chillies ,curry leaves, cilantro and mint leaves. After the onion turns golden brown , add ginger garlic paste and saute well.Then add the chopped tomato and fry till it is completely cooked.
* Put  chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder , curry masala powder and stir well till raw smell goes. Add 2 cups of water. Close the lid and cook for 5 minutes.
* Add the coconut masala and let it boil to give a nice flavor.
* Put the prepared eggs. Bring to a boil.
*Before switching off add the coconut milk. Switch off immediately.
Egg kuruma is ready!

Serving suggestions:

This is one best side dish for vegetable briyani,  parathas, parotta, any briyani, dosai,  idly, appam and idiyappam.