Pearl Spot Fish Pan fried in a Banana leaf (Kuttanadan Karimeen Pollichathu) #FishFridayFoodies

This month's Fish Friday Foodies' event is 'Pan or Deep Fried Fish' chosen by April of Angels Home Sweet Homestead. Thanks April for choosing this theme.

I have always wanted to make the Pearl spot in  our traditional Keralite manner. It tastes awesome and is packed with flavour. Not only that it takes very little oil/fat to make it. I tried the traditional Kuttanadan recipe. Read more about the Kuttanad region of Kerala (India) here. 

Crispy Roast Duck with Sticky, Sweet n Spicy Glaze

As promised, I am back with another Roast for your big Christmas meal. With Christmas around the corner, schools too are gearing up towards their Track Events(Sports Meet), Christmas celebrations, Carolling, etc. And this just means Mama has to be on her toes.

My little girl had a successful track event yesterday where she bagged a prize 'medal' in the school track event. So hence the delay in posting this roast recipe. I am going to try and get you as many roast recipes before Christmas week hopefully if all goes well on the home front.

This recipe was created after reviewing several recipes. It took a while but the resultant Roast Duck was flavoursome and fabulous and was out of some sheer experimentation. Yes this time too I tried for a Jamie Oliver recipe. In fact I saw far too many including Jamie's many duck recipes and then settled to take some tips from Jamie and have a twist of my own based on my Chicken roast success to have a crispy, succulent duck roast. It helps to experiment in the kitchen before hand so you come up with some unexpected savoury/sweet sauces.

It pleasantly surprised me to see such a proud and pretty duck roast coming out of my oven.

Without taking up more time, let me give you the recipe..

You need:

For the duck:

• 1.7 kgs duck, cleaned well-free of quills and dressed (skin-on)
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp of five-spice powder (or if you do not have this: mixture of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, pepper and fennel seeds)
• 1 medium sized orange
• 2-3 bay leaves

For the glaze:

• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1/8 cup of honey
• 1/8 cup molasses or palm jaggery
• 2 tbsp of orange juice
• 1 tbsp of your choice of chili sauce (optional)

The Make:
Preparation Time:10 minutes |  Roasting Time: up to 4 hrs, 17 minutes | Serves:5-6 adults

1. Make sure your well-cleaned duck is patted dry. Then with a kitchen blade or the tip of your sharp kitchen knife, make criss-crosses on the skin of the duck (try the diamond pattern), taking care not to delve into the meat of the duck.This will ensure that the fat escapes through the cuts created on the skin and the more the fat escapes, the more crispier the duck skin would turn.
2. Rub the salt, black pepper and five spice on the duck. Cut the orange in quarters and stuff it in the cavity of the duck along with the bay leaves. Truss the legs crossed with a kitchen twine or butcher's twine. Tuck the wings under the duck.
3. Set the oven to 150°C and set the duck on a wire rack with a roasting pan below to hold the glorious duck fat. Roast the duck for an hour. When 1 hour is done, take it out and poke the skin of the duck especially the legs which has more fat content, taking care not to hit the meat.
4. Flip the bird carefully on its breast facing downwards. Cook for another hour at 150°C.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4 once more on 150°C. At the fourth hour, prepare the glaze.
6. After the fourth hour, tip the fat off the roasting tray into a storing jar. You need to do this now to ensure that the glaze does not get into the fat.
7.Next turn breast side up, poke, flip and roast at 200°C for 10 minutes. This is to allow for some extra crisping up.
8. Brush with the glaze and roast at 200°C for another 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burning.
9. Rest for about 10 minutes, carve and serve hot.

Sticky, Sweet and Spicy Glaze:
1. In a wok, take all of the ingredients required for the glaze and mix well on simmer.
2. Once the glaze thickens over the flame, turn off and use the glaze to coat the duck with a oil brush.

Bon Appetit! I served the Duck with my Easy make Dinner bread rolls and Crunchy Rosemary and Honey Soda bread.

Note/Tip:
1. Any excess skin can be cut off and trimmed and used to render and reserve the duck fat. Try not to take off too much of the excess skin which can be used to keep the duck moist.
2. Flipping the bird on to the breast will ensure that the breast remains soft as the juices flow to the center.
3. In case the glaze turns cools down and becomes too thick to coat the duck, then slightly heat up on the stove and it will liquify right away.

Spicy, Tangy and Crispy Roasted Chicken

The last two weeks were super busy what with Easter, my little one's school annual day and my falling ill right after my little one fell ill. I actually had a very special recipe to share with you for Easter. I had failed to share it for Christmas 2014 (when it was actually made) or New Year 2015. I guess I just may share it before the next festive occasion. I also have a huge number of recipe creations archived and waiting to be shared with you. And yes my #vegetarian friends, I still have the whole heaps of recipes as promised to share with you that I tried over the 50 days of #Lent.  I thought of sharing this one first after the #Lent break. Trust you all have had a wonderful Easter celebration. School's out now so I hope I do get as much time with the blog as I had imagined!

I have no idea how time flies but it sure does! This recipe is inspired from one of my Mum's recipes of Crispy chicken (I will share the original recipe soon *fingers crossed*). I had started preparing the chicken quite late so you see there was a pinching into the chicken from the little one who could not resist to wait till I finished clicking pictures. Your home does get quite aromatic from this roast. 

To make this simple roast, 

You need:

• 1 kg full chicken, skin-on (cleaned well)
• 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt (curds)
• 1 tbsp smoked Paprika powder
• 1 tbsp of Cheddar Cheese powder
• 1 tbsp of Garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of Ginger powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 tomato, chopped and ground to a pulp
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• Breadcrumbs
• 1 cup of wheat flour
• Oil for greasing

The Make:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: Up to 1 hour, 15 minutes| Serves 3-4 adults

Although I made a full roasted chicken, you could choose to cut the chicken in to large or medium pieces thereby reducing the cook time to 45 minutes to 1 hour.

1. Leave the cleaned chicken in a colander to drain off any excess water. Then pat dry with a kitchen towel.

2. Add all the ingredients except the breadcrumbs in a large, wide bowl (large enough to hold the whole chicken) and whisk to a batter.

3. Next carefully, bathe the chicken in the batter. Make sure to cover all the crevices of the chicken and the inner cavity as well. 

4. On a large walled plate, scatter the breadcrumbs. Next pick the battered chicken carefully, holding it over the bowl to allow any excess to drip back to the bowl. 

5. Carefully roll the chicken onto the breadcrumbs covering every crevice. You can also stuff the cavity with some aromatics such as lemon wedges or rosemary.

6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the chicken onto a lightly greased baking tray (or a greased aluminium foil paper, although I prefer the former) and roast for 1 hour. Check intermittently through the oven window to ensure that there is no burning. This works well in case of an oven that lights both on the top and bottom. If not you may need to turn the chicken, breast side down after 30 minutes of roasting.

7. Serve hot with your favourite bread rolls, salad and in my case Hummus.
*Note: For kids, you may want to reduce the smoked paprika to 1/2 tbsp (although smoked paprika is not as spicy)

Singaporean Black Pepper Crab

This is a sweet and spicy variant of crabs. Blue swimmer crabs taste well with this recipe blend. However you could try using some of the other crab varieties.

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I have not made any plans as yet to bake any delicacies as health does not permit the same. But who knows! For those of you celebrating the occasion hope you have a warm and lovely Valentine's Day with your loved one and/family.

Although I have been to Singapore on more than one occasion, this recipe quite reminds me of the time I spent with two favourite people in my life my buddy Nina Silva and her then boss Anneliese Reinhold who were also my internal clients from the legal department where I worked earlier on. We shared a wonderful lunch with these scrumptious crabs being the center of the meal which is the first time I had this dish. I will always remember you both whenever I see or have this flavoursome dish (and even otherwise ;-) ) which tasted so much better when it was with you both. I'm sure your company is what made the difference!

To make these flavoursome crab dish,

You need:

• 1 kg blue swimmer crabs, cleaned and washed well
• 11/2 tbsp oil
• 11/2 tbsp ginger, grated finely
• 8 garlic cloves, grated finely
• 2 red chilies, finely minced
• 3 tbsp black pepper powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 3 tbsp soya sauce (*or 2 tbsp Ketjap manis which is an Indonesian sauce which is a thicker variant of soya sauce flavoured with garlic, anise, etc.. If you are using ketjap manis, then reduce sugar to 3 tbsp)
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce (optional - some do not like the taste of oyster sauce although recommended for this recipe)
• 4 tbsp castor sugar/finely granulated sugar
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• Drinking water
• 1 tbsp salt

The Make:
Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes | Serves 3-4 adults

This dish has to be served right off the wok and preferably consumed in one sitting, so put on your eating apron with a center table waste dish and enjoy this with your family/friends.

1. Add the sauces and sugar with about 3-4 tbsp of water in a small bowl, stir well and set aside.
2. Crack the legs of the crab to allow the flavour of the sauces to enter the meat well. You will regret if you do not do the same.
3. Quarter the crab and in a large wok, heat the oil over high heat.
4. Fry the prepared crab in batches until the shell turn a bright orange colour and the meat almost cooked. Set aside.
5. You can drain any excess oil from the wok and set aside. Do not chuck the oil away as it is full of crabby flavour.
6. Next add the spring onions, ginger, garlic, pepper, chilli, coriander and salt to the wok and fry for another minute.
7. Add in the sauce mixture and stir well. Bring to a rolling boil and then simmer for a few minutes.
8. Toss in the crab pieces to the wok and coat the crab pieces in the sauce mixture. Add some of the oil set aside earlier in case it seems too dry.

Serve immediately. Bon Appetit.

Three spotted (swimmer) crab in spiced coconut gravy

Happy New Year 2015 dear readers! It has been close to a year since my last blog post (sounds a bit like a confession at church - 'Forgive me Father it has been close to a year since my last confession!'). Jokes apart, I must apologise to you my dear readers for not having to hear from me. 2014 was quite a roller coaster ride with the best and worst seen! It was definitely a year full of changes and challenges. Thankfully we survived the bitter ones with the Grace of Our Lord! I also thank you dear readers for the numerous emails, messages, calls, texts and IMs to check in on me and motivating me to return to G'Gina's Kitchenette.

I lost my dear grandma in August of 2014 and as you may have noticed a lot of my previous blog posts and posts/tweets refer to grandma's influence in my cooking. So what started as what may have been a writer's block, saw me through a whole heap of events including a physical move of G'Gina's Kitchenette to a new location. I am not sure if you know that I also run a Tourism business ICare Holidayz which thanks to word of mouth from dear friends and family has been doing fairly well in 2014. I also work in my field of specialization which is Human Resources. Our recent relocation in 2014 has not been easy on my little one or us as a family owing to a lot of circumstantial changes. We hope for the best and a resolve in 2015. So among all this my recipe creations were on a hold from being shared!

I was contemplating on what to begin with as although the writing had ceased for a while, the cooking cannot! So there are a lot of new recipes I have tried and tested time and again which I hope to share with you soon. I thought I would begin with Mum's recipe which was liked a lot by my grandma as well. I am hoping I can be regular with my blog posts as often as possible to compensate for the 11 months silence. I dedicate this recipe to my dear grandma who I am sure is in Heaven's Abode praying and looking over us.

This recipe has always been welcomed by family, friends and relatives. And I am certain you would love the same.

You need:

• 1 kg of fresh three spotted swimmer crab, washed, cleaned and halved
• Cleaned hard shells of the crabs, air dry the shells (Mom does not incorporate this in the original recipe)
• 4-5 green chilies (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 2 large tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2" ginger, diced
• 2-3 cloves, garlic (*optional - mom does not use)
• 1/2 cup of drinking water
• 1/2 of a medium sized coconut, grated
• 1/4 tbsp of red chili powder (I use Kashmiri Chili powder)
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry the hard shells

The Make:

Serves : 4 adults | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking Time: 40 minutes

I normally get my crab cleaned at the vendor's place itself. This time, I got the hard shells cleaned as well. Garlic is not required but you can add a few cloves.

1. Grind the coconut gratings, green chilies, ginger, garlic (optional) ,chopped tomatoes, red chili powder and salt with a little water as required to grind the mixture for a minute on high to medium speed.

The ground mixture should be thick enough to leave a circle in mix when stirred with a ladle.

2. Next heat oil to fry the hard shells in a wok and add the air-dried hard shells, taking care to ensure that the shells do not have traces of water to avoid the splutter. Once the shells turn orange, strain off the oil and on to kitchen towel.

3. Drain off most of the oil leaving just 1 tbsp of oil in the wok. Next add in the ground coconut mixture to the oil on medium-low heat. Cook for 2 minutes or until the coconut mix leaves the sides of the wok.

4. Add the crab halves to the coconut mixture and cover the crabs with the coconut mix. Saute for 3-5 minutes.

5. Add a tad bit of water if the coconut mixture is too dry. This will help the cooking process and avoid drying or even getting burnt.

6. Cook for about 20-30 minutes taking care to saute in between to avoid the coconut getting burnt. 

7. Serve with the hard shells on top on in the shells with piping hot /steamed rice.

Bon Appetit!

Duck Roast Gravy (Tharavu Roast curry) - A Christmas Savoury delicacy

In the spirit of the festive season, I am trying to bring to you as many recipes as possible to help you prepare for your big Christmas lunch or dinner! If you are a member of my Facebook page, you would have seen some of the posted recipes related to Christmas. If you have not yet seen our facebook page, please visit here and 'Like' the page so as to have it bookmarked. Spread the word with your family and friends as well.

Duck roast is often taken as an option to the western Christmas tradition of Turkey Roast especially in Christian families in the South of India in the state of Kerala. Duck Roast would often be accompanied with Appam,  either 'KallAppams' (Indian Toddy Pancakes) or 'PaalAppams' (Milkhoppers). You could also serve this with Kappa Vevichathu (Tapioca Steamed and Fried) or Rice of your choice or Rice Iddiappam (which looks like miniature rice noodles). Hopefully I will post the Kappa Vevichathu recipe very soon :) Although Duck Roast is normally accompanied with Appams or Fried Rice even during Christmas.

I hope you enjoy this creation of mine. Sorry I don't have better pictures of the process as this was taken way earlier than I had intended to start this blog. I will definitely upload better pictures should I try this again. Hope you are having a great Christmas season!

I meant to post this recipe last week but my system decided to have some technical issues at about the same time. It is resolved now so hope I get time (amidst all the baking and cooking) to post as many recipes to Christmas and even the New Year 2014 to help you design your dinners/lunch/desserts :)

You need:

• 1 kg Duck, cleaned well (soak for at least 20-30 minutes in turmeric, salt and vinegar), fat removed, skinned and cut into medium pieces*

These ingredients are required for the Marinade:

• 2 tbsp Red chili powder
• 2 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• Salt to taste

Remaining ingredients required for the recipe:

• 2 roughly torn  long dried red chilies
• 1 sprig of curry leaves
• 6-8 green chilies, slit lengthwise
• 2 tbsp of cooking oil (although you should use coconut oil if you want it to taste as close as possible to the traditional version)
• 2-3 large purple onions, diced finely
• 10-12 small red onions, diced finely
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 medium-sized tomatoes, finely sliced
• 1" ginger, finely diced
• 6-8 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 3-4 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 tsp  Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Coriander powder
• 3 tbsp of Red Chili powder
• Coconut milk - 2 extracts : 1st extract 1 cup and 2nd extract 2 cups. You can try the Homemade version here as I did for this recipe. Just make sure to adjust the water accordingly as required for this recipe.
• Salt to taste

*Optional: you can leave a few pieces with skin on possibly the wings or even portion of the legs/breast

The Make:

Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour | Serves: 5-6 adults

It is best to leave a few pieces with the skin on and you can opt to take it out later to add some flavour of the duck fat in the dish. I have tried it without as well and I can vouch for the former. You can take off the excess oil off the top of the finished dish. Make sure before marinating to drain out any water content from the duck meat.

Marinate the duck meat for 4-6 hours. You can choose to do it for longer or lesser. The more you marinate the duck meat, the more flavourful the end result. I ended up marinating my Christmas duck roast for 8-10 hrs. I had a huge banquet of dishes for this particular Christmas :) Trust me not a drop of the gravy was left to the next meal let alone the next day.

1. Heat the oil in a clay pot or deep-bottomed wok or even a pressure cooker and splutter some mustard seeds.
2. Toss in the curry leaves, red onions, dried red chilies, ginger and garlic and saute well for 2-3 minutes.
3. Next add the diced purple onions and saute till translucent.
4 .Toss in the green chilies and saute till the onions turn lightly brown.
5. Add the marinated duck meat and salt. Cover and cook for 40 minutes on medium-low heat. If you are using the pressure cooker, make sure to add enough water to just about cover the meat or about a cup lower as the duck fat would also release making the gravy very watery. It should cook for about 5 whistles on medium-high. You would have half-cooked duck meat at this stage using either of the methods.
6. In a bowl, mix the turmeric, red chili, coriander powders and garam masala and add the 2nd extract coconut milk bit by bit mixing well.
7. To the half-cooked duck, add the 2nd extract spiced coconut milk on low heat and mix well. Cover and cook until the gravy has just thickened and the meat cooked.

If the duck meat is of good quality it would be soft and tender.

8. Lastly but more importantly add the thick 1st coconut milk extract and mix gently. Bring to almost a boil and set aside.

Serve with hot Appams or Fried Rice or Kappa any other flatbread/rice of your choice.

Bon Appetit! Tis' the season to be jolly falalalalalalala....Seasons Greetings all!

Beef Roast/Beef Dry Fry - Beef Ularthiyadu/Olaythiyadu - Hubby's Special!!

Anup made one of his mom's recipes for Beef Ularthiyadu which translates to Beef roast or Beef dry fry. He made this when Uncle Soman, Aunty Anne, Anu and Rohit visited our home on a weekend a couple of months ago. It was definitely amazing as we pretty much wiped the dish clean :)

I was only the helper this time just to get the spices ground or for the dicing and the clean up after. This is all him and his mum :) My MIL makes the best beef and cutlets by the way. Of course I love my mom's but they both are aces in their own way.

What you need:

• 1 kg Beef, diced into cubes (washed and cleaned in 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder and 2 tbsp vinegar)
• 1 coconut, sliced finely into squares
• 2 onions, finely diced or 1 cup of red onions, chopped (red onions are preferred)
• 1 sprig of curry leaves (washed in vinegar and turmeric and air dried)
• Ginger-garlic (10 cloves of garlic and 2 tbsp of ginger - chopped finely)
• 2 tbsps Coriander powder
• 2 tbsp Chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1-2 tsps of Pepper powder
• 11/2 tbsp of cooking oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp+ drinking water

The Make

Cooking Time: 1 hour | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Serves 6-7

1. Drain the cleaned beef in a colander until all the water is completely drained.

2 . Meanwhile, fry the coconut in 1/2 tbsp of the oil till golden brown and add a pinch of turmeric. Set aside.

3. Add 1/2 tbsp of the oil to a wok and splutter the mustard seeds.

4. Add 1 of the diced onions and saute till golden brown. Then add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute or until the garlic is slightly brown.

5. Make a paste with some water of some of the dry spices (11/2 tbsp of coriander powder, 11/2 tbsp of chili powder, 3/4 tbsp of Garam Masala and  1/2  tbsp of salt).

6. Add the masala paste to the wok and saute until the masala is cooked or leaves the sides of the wok.

7. Cook the raw beef with the prepared coconut, cooked masala and curry leaves in the pressure cooker for at least 45 minutes (5-6 whistles).

Tip: Make sure you have added enough water to cover half the beef content. It does not have to cover the entire beef content as this a dry fry.

8. In the wok, heat the remaining oil and saute the remaining diced onions till golden brown.

9. Next add in the remaining coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala and the pepper powder and cook the masala.

10. Lower heat to low and add in the cooked beef and fry till the residual water gets absorbed.

Serve hot with a flatbread of your choice - Paratha, chappatis or rotis, appam or rice.

Tip: You can subsitute with chicken or soya chunks. Soya chunks actually work really well with this recipe!

Bon Appetit!

Diced Mango Pickle (Kadu Manga Pickle) - Mummy's Recipe

With Good Friday soon approaching, I would like to share with you what would be our main meals throughout the day. We normally have gruel (Rice soup), a veg mix of green gram and green banana, mango pickle and Pappad/Pappadum (Fried cracker).

Diced Mango Pickle

There are several ways to make this accompaniment. However I would like to share the delicious make that my Mum creates.

You need:

Kanthari or Bird's Eye Chilis

• 5-6 medium sized raw, green mangoes, diced in small pieces
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1" ginger, diced and crushed
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 2-3 tbsp of red chili powder
• 2-3 small chilis / Bird's eye Chili (kanthari) - * optional
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of Fenugreek(methi/uluva) seeds powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp or more of Sesame oil (Ellaenna) - ** some people also use coconut oil
• 1-2 cups of filtered drinking water/boiled, cooled water

The Make:
Makes 1 large jar or 800-900gms | Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes

1. Heat the oil in a large wok and splutter the mustard seeds. Next add the curry leaves and allow to stand for less than a minute (do not brown).
2. Add the garlic, ginger and other dry ingredients except the mangoes and simmer for 3-4 minutes. You will find that the spices leave the oil and is cooked.

Simmering the spices

3. Turn off the heat and add the mango pieces and stir. After it becomes lukewarm, add the boiled, cooled water. Taste to see if the seasoning is sufficient, else add more salt.

Adding the mango pieces to the spices

4. Cover and set aside for 4-6 hours or till evening if prepared in the morning.

Diced Mango Pickle

5. Bottle the pickle in a pickle jar or bottle jar and set aside for 2-3 days. Check if there is enough oil else top with oil as pickle needs to have some extra oil for preservation.

Jarred up!

6. You can use after 3 days and refrigerate after Day 3.

Serve as an accompaniment with gruel, rice, roti, other flatbreads.

Mummy's Mango Pickle recipe

* Note: Bird's eye Chili or Kanthari is the spiciest Chilis in Kerala, India and is known to reduce cholestrol levels if used with care. I got some from my Aunt Anne's home so decided to toss it into the mix.

Berbere (Ethiopian and Eritrean Chili Powder)

Berbere is a spice mixture which traditionally includes Chili Peppers, Ginger, Garlic, Dried basil, rue, white pepper, black pepper and Fenugreek. I probably would not have found Berbere in the local market here however I wanted to nevertheless make my own Berbere to add to my spice cabinet for easy reach. My mum-in-law mentioned that the Ethiopian cuisine is not complete without this spice mix. Otherwise it would taste more Indian if we used the regular Chili Powder. In any case, the dry red chilis I used here were Indian. The lady who worked for A's family in Ethiopia used to make Berbere afresh for their use in Ethiopian cuisine.

Berbere

To make this spice,


You need:

• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 8-10 dried red chilis
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 whole cloves
• 3/4 tsp cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp whole all-spice
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds

The make:

Cooking Time: 3 minutes | Preparation Time: 10 minutes | Makes 1/2 cup

• In a skillet, on medium heat, dry roast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom seeds, peppercorns, all-spice, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds for 2-3 minutes, tossing around consistently. 

Dry roasted spices

• Remove from heat and cool for 5-10 minutes
• Discard the stems from the chilis
• Grind the roasted ingredients and then blend in the remaining ingredients. 

Ground spices

• Store the Berbere in an air tight container in a cool, dry place or if the weather is not conducive you can refrigerate as well.

Berbere in an air tight container

Close up

Yefesoleya Wot (Ethiopian French beans Stew)

I served this stew with Injera bread (Ethiopian Pancakes). Normally pancakes or bread are usually the side to a dish but in this case it is hard to say which is the star, the stew or the pancake as they both go well together pretty much like salt and pepper to a meal.

This meal is rich in so many nutrients that there should be a separate post dedicated to describe the positives of these ingredients. The only challenging part in making this dish is chopping up so many different vegetables however I promise that it will prove worthy!

Yefesoleya Wot

To make this dish,

You need:

• 600 gms of French beans
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 leek, chopped finely
• 1 spring onion, diced finely
• 2-3 carrots, diced finely
• 1 large potato, diced into cubes
• 1 stalk celery, chopped finely
• 1 shallot, diced finely (large white onion)
• 1 large red onion, diced finely
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced finely
• 1 green pepper/ green chilli. cut finely
• 1 tsp of sun-dried tomatoes (you can also oven dry chopped tomatoes and use)
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of vegetable or sunflower oil
• 2-3 cloves of garlic crushed
• 1/4 tsp of basil leaves chopped or dried basil
• 1/2 tbsp of Berbere (Ethiopian chili powder)
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup of boiled, cooled water

The Make:

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes | Preparation Time: 30 minutes | Serves 6 adults

1. Cook the french beans in boiling water till tender for about 10 minutes and take out and strain over an ice cubes or check French Beans the French Way! Chop the French beans.

Strained French beans

2. In a medium sized skillet, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil or sunflower oil and saute the leeks and onions for about a minute.

Stir in the leeks and onions

3. Next add the rest of the vegetables except the bell pepper and tomatoes with another tbsp of the oil and stir fry the vegetables for 10 minutes.

4. Add the bell pepper and saute for a minute.

5. Next add 1/2 cup water, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato puree, basil, garlic, berbere, salt and pepper.
Berbere is quite spicy so add with discretion. Mix well and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

6. Add the strained french beans and mix. Allow it to blend for 10 minutes.

7. Next add the green pepper or green chili, olive oil and mix .Allow to stand for 3 minutes.

Vegetables stewing away

8. Remove from heat and serve either hot or cold with Injera.

Yefesoleya Wot ready

Yefesoleya Wot served with Injera

Andhra Chepala Pulusu (Tangy Tilapia Fish Curry)

I had been away for a little over a month in Kerala and have many posts to come to delight my readers. I have been asked many a time to post my Andhra cuisine adventures. Well here goes...

Tangy Tilapia Fish Curry (Chepala Pulusu)

Tilapia is a fresh water fish that is common to  Bengali cuisine in India. 'Chepala' indicates River fish or Fresh water fish. This type of 'Pulusu' preparation is indicative of the tanginess and is common to places like Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, India. Andhra dishes are quite spicy and are not for the faint hearted. This is especially because the Red Chilli Powder that you find in AP is quite spicy itself. I compare it with the likes of Kerala and it is nowhere close to the spiciness of the Chili powder in Kerala.

In most of my Indian dishes I nowadays use Kashmiri Chili Powder as it is close to the Sweet Paprika and not so spicy as the Chilli Powder I find here in AP. Also as you get older I believe the stomach lining can take only so much:)

As an alternate to Tilapia, you can use Mullet or Blue Warehou if you cannot find Tilapia in your local produce.

Remember not to stir this fish around much as I can guarantee it would break during the cooking process. When I indicate "stir" in this recipe, make sure you are rotate the pot around.

Ready to be served

This preparation goes well with boiled rice or even idlis or Appams (although Appams are not common to this region as much as in Kerala).

To make this dish,

You need:

1. 1 kg Tilapia fish - cut into medium size pieces
2. 2 onions - 1sliced finely lengthwise, 1 grated to a paste (with Cinnamon-optional)
3. 4 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
4. 2-3 green chillis slit lengthwise
5. 3 medium size tomatoes diced
6. 1-2 lemon-sized Tamarind pieces
7. 1 bunch of cilantro or coriander leaves diced finely
8. 1" cinnamon (optional)
9. 2-3 tbsp of Red Chili Powder (I used Kashmiri Chili Powder)
10. 1/2 tsp of Turmeric Powder
11. 1 tsp of Garam Masala powder
12. Oil - as needed or about 5-6 tbsp
13. Salt to taste

The make

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes| Preparation Time : 30 minutes| Serves 6 adults

• Marinate the clean pieces of fish with 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, salt and 1 tbsp of Red Chili Powder. The longer you leave it to stand the better. You can do this for 30 minutes at minimum.
• Heat the oil in a rounded pan or a clay pot. Fry the marinated fish pieces about a minute on each side or until lightly brown. Once this is done, set aside the fried fish and add the sliced onion and toss till translucent on medium heat in the same pot adding additional oil as required.

• In the meantime, take the tamarind pieces and tomatoes in a small vessel and add boiling water to it and leave it to stand for about 5-10 minutes. Strain and remove all the pulp and set aside the strained juices.
• Next add the slit green chilis to the same pot and toss for about a minute and add the remaining ginger-garlic paste and toss till light brown.
• Add the onion paste and fry till a thick paste it formed. Next add remaining Chili Powder, Garam Masala and salt as required and blend well.



Bring to a boil

• Add the tomato-tamarind juices and stir well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes on a medium-low heat. Uncover and add water as required for the gravy and bring it to a boil. 

• Lower the heat and add fried fish pieces and allow it to cook and blend in for about 5-10 minutes. Turn off the flame and top with diced cilantro.

Your Fish curry is now ready to be served with rice or idlis or Appams as per your choice. Bon Appetit!

Served up with rice

'Beef Fry in Roasted Coconut Gratings' - A Twist of Beef Ularthiyadu/Olathiyadu (Beef Dry Fry/Beef Roast with Fried Sliced Coconut) and Beef Varathuarichadu (Beef in Fried coconut gratings)

Ok this dish was inspired by the fact that I had only grated coconut but wanted to have Beef Dry Fry and not in a thick gravy. I also wanted to extend both the traditional Beef Fry and Beef in Fried Coconut Gratings to a new level. I call it 'Beef Fry in Roasted Coconut gratings'. The result: It was good! Amen to that!

Beef Fry in Roasted Coconut gratings

You need:

• Beef: 1/2 kg
• Coconut gratings: 1/2 cup
• Ginger-garlic: crush and dice 1" ginger and 5-6 cloves of garlic
• Onion: 1 medium sized or 4-6 shallots (small onions) diced
• Pepper powder: 1/2 tbsp
• Chili Powder (Kashmiri): 1 tbsp
• Curry leaves: 1 sprig
• Coriander Powder: 1/2 tbsp
• Tumeric Powder:1/2 tsp
• Meat Masala or Garam Masala: 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
• Coconut oil or Cooking oil: 1 tbsp
• Cilantro/Coriander leaves - 1 sprig finely diced (optional)
• Vinegar: 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

The make:

Cooking Time: 40 minutes| Preparation Time: 15 minutes| Serves 4 adults

Beef Fry in Roasted Coconut gratings

• Cook the cleaned beef with half the ginger-garlic, pepper powder, turmeric powder, meat masala/garam masala (you can also had 1/2 tbsp of meat masala and 1/2 tbsp of garam masala)  and salt in a pressure cooker. Add water to cover, slightly above the beef. This should take about 30 minutes. Once it is done, strain the soupy water (reserve it for stock  and store in a glass jar and refrigerate).
• While that is going on, almost 10 minutes to completion, heat a large skillet or clay pot and add the coconut gratings and half the curry leaves. Allow to slightly brown (not burn). Set aside.
• Add oil to the same skillet, splutter the mustard seeds and toss the remaining curry leaves. Add the diced onions/shallots, follow with the remaining ginger-garlic and allow to become slightly brown.
• Add the Chili Powder, Coriander Powder and vinegar, mix well on a medium flame. Cover and allow the spices to cook for about 2-3 minutes.
• Uncover and add the cooked beef with about 1/3 cup of the reserved stock and mix well. Cover and allow blending for about 5 minutes. 
• Next add the roasted coconut and curry leaves. Mix well and allow blending for another 5 minutes or until dry (no gravy)
• Turn off the flame and garnish with diced coriander leaves on top. Serve with rice or flatbread of your choice. If you allow some gravy (using the reserved stock), then this dish would also go well with Appam.

Nadan Ayla Curry (Traditional Keralite Mackerel Gravy)

I wanted to make a complimentary French dish to go with my Frenched French Beans out of Mackerel but I guess that will have to wait for the weekend as I need a few ingredients from the Mart.

This recipe is from my dearest Mum. I only tried my hand in making fish curry or any of our traditional Keralite dishes after coming to India and staying with HD Anup:) as he enjoys our traditional cuisine.

I am dedicating this post to my bro (not by birth but all the same my bro) Benu Kurian who has been asking me for this recipe since a while now.

Fish Curry Ready!

You need:

Small Onions or Shallots

• 4-6 shallots or small onions *in case you do not have these shallots, use regular red onions medium sized 2 or 1 large red onion (diced finely)
• Half a pod of garlic or 6-8 cloves skinned and chopped
• 1" ginger finely sliced
• 1 lemon sized tamarind 
• 3-4 green chilies slit lengthwise
• 1-2 tbsp of (Kashmiri) Chili Powder. * in case you are using a spicier Chili Powder version, adjust to your taste. I normally add up to 3 tbsp of Kashmiri Chili powder.
• 2 tsps of turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder *optional - in case you are keeping this dish over a day I recommend not to add it unless you plan on refrigerating your fish curry. In either case, pls. leave the fish out for half the day (i.e. if you are cooking it in the afternoon, let it stay out of the fridge till late evening at least to absorb the spices well)
• 1 kilo ayla (Mackerel) - clean and trimmed - cut into small or medium pieces
• 6-8 curry leaves or one sprig
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 medium red onion finely sliced or diced shallots (2-3) (optional)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper - 1/2 tbsp
• Cooking oil or Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Tamarind used for Keralite Fish curry

Method:

Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes| Preparation Time: 15 minutes | Serves 4-6

My grandma used to use the traditional mortar and pestle as displayed. She would also use coconut and shallots and crushed them with the spices to a paste. It used to have such a wonderful flavor. I can never replicate the same on repeated tries. She used to say it was a special skill to grind it in a particular way. She is right!

This dish is not for the light-hearted as it can be found to be spicy!

My grandma's mortar and pestle

1. Ensure that the fish is soaked in vinegar and salt with a dash of turmeric powder (1tsp) and cleaned and trimmed.

2. Also soak the curry leaves in warm water and cleaned well. (I say this only as these days people spray  a lot of chemicals on leaves)

3. Crush the ginger, garlic, shallots with the chili powder, pepper and half the salt requirement. I used a grinder but ran it enough only for the spices to blend and crush the ginger and garlic. After taking out the mix into a bowl, add some boiled, cooled water to the grinder/mortar and pestle and set aside. Do not throw away.

Ground Spices

4. Soak the tamarind in hot water with a dash of salt.

5. Hear a clay pot (traditionally called a manichatti). Add the oil (traditionally coconut oil is used) and once warm, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter.

6. Next add the Fenugreek (Uluva) seeds and follow with the drained curry leaves. Take care not to burn the curry leaves. Add the green chilis. You also have the option to add additional sliced onions or shallots as required.

7. Add the ground spices mix and allow it to fry, taking care not to brown or burn it. Cover and cook over a small flame for about 5 minutes.

Fenugreek seeds added

8. Squeeze the tamarind in its soaked water and add it to the fish along with the squeezed out tamarind pulp. Next add the ground spices-water you had set aside and any added water you may need for your gravy in case you require more gravy (Tip: do not add too much water otherwise the spices flavour will not turn out as good)

9. Stir well and cover for about 2 minutes on a medium flame. The gravy would be running a boil now. Lower the flame, stir well and then add the fish pieces slowly into the pot. Do not stir now. Cover and cook for the next 20-30 minutes on a medium flame.

Cooked Mackerel running its last boil

10. Uncover and turn off the flame. Serve hot with rice, tapioca, appam or puttu(steamed rice/wheat cake). (Tip:The fish curry gains more flavor and absorbs the spices after a day. You can continue to keep the fish in the clay pot for another 2 days depending on whether you have used coriander powder. If you have used coriander powder, pls. refrigerate). 

Note: You will find that the fish curry would still be bubbling which is why you need to uncover it to stop the cooking process. You can cover it again once it has cooled down.

Bon Appetit!

Nadan Ayla Curry Ready to be Served

Mackerel Gravy Served