Fish curry

Fish curry or fish kulambu or Meen kulambu in Tamil is a yummy dish . This is my mom's version of fish curry. 

 I prepare it like a thick gravy. But the original version is a more liquidized one just like this recipe.

.Depending upon your taste you can add water to the tamarind paste before making curry.Today i tried the original version with king fish and you can see the picture too.

Items required:
Fish - 1 lb 
(choose any fish like Butter fish ,king fish,anchovy,salmon,catfish etc.Dont choose shell fishes for this preparation.)
thick bottom shallow vessel with a lid - 1
broad spoon -1
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size
chilli powder -1 tbsp
coriander powder-2 tbsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 1
green chillies -2
curry leaves- 2 brigs.
To grind:
shredded coconut -2 tbsp
red onion(chopped)-1 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into big chunks.
Apply turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.
Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
Heat the sesame oil in vessel .Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the nustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .
Then add chopped tomato and saute it for 1 minute.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling add the fish pieces.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.
Keep the curry gets cooked in simmer heat for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire.Garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves and serve hot with rice or chapathi or Idly or dosai .

Serving suggestions:
Serves 5 people.
Serve fried fish and ripe mango as side dish.
If there are only 2 people, just 1 lb of fish is enough.1/2 lb fish can be fried and the other half can be mada as curry.

Tamil meaning for fishes:
shark -pillai sura.
sardine - chalai.
anchovy-nethili
Butter fish- kuthippu,
king fish- seela / vanjiram

(Add a tsp of jaggery / brown sugar before switching off, for  a more subtle taste)

Jack fruit kheer

Jack fruit kheer is also called Jack fruit payasam or pala pazha payasam .It is one of the "must to be served" desserts in a keralite wedding.In USA we cannot get fresh jack fruit, so instead i have used a can of jack fruit. I discard the preservative liquid.

Ingredients:
Jack fruit - 10 pieces (1 can)
green gram - 1 cup
jaggery (crushed)- 1 cup
cardamom - 3
ghee - 1 tbsp
raisin - 10
cashew nut - 10

Directions:
Make puree out of 6 pieces of jack fruit.
Chop the other 4 pieces and keep aside.
Pressure cook the green gram for 3 whistles and mash it.
Heat a vessel with 2 cups of water and add jaggery.
After the jaggery gets dissolved, distill the clear jaggery solution and discard the sandy left over .
Add the chopped jack fruit pieces to the jaggery solution and cook it , till it becomes soft.
Now add the jack fruit puree and the mashed green gram.
Let it boil for 3 minutes.
Crush the cardamom and add it to the kheer.
Heat a frying pan with 1 tbsp ghee.
Roast the cashews,raisins to golden brown and pour it into the kheer.
Heat for 2 minutes and switch off the stove.

Serving suggestion:
Serve hot or cold as dessert.