Experiments - Meen Kuzhambu( 2 styles) and fish fry

I love love love meen kuzhambu and fish fry.

Meen Kuzhambu- Tamil Nadu style
1) cut the fish into manageable pieces and marinate it with turmeric/chili powder for 30 min.

2) Fry shallots( 6-7) , garlic( to taste) , tomato( 2-3), curry leaves, jeera / sombu in coconut oil. Coconut oil- use it sparsely as it is highly concentrated with saturated fat.

3) Add tamarind water to this. Add chili powder/ turmeric/ coriander powder/salt/ asofotida.

4) Let the above concoction boil for 30 min. Once it becomes thick , add the fish pieces and let it boil for another 10-15 min.

The fish pieces are added at the very end- otherwise they will disintegrate into the gravy.

Meen Kuzhambu (Kerala style)

Any thing from Kerala obviously includes lots of coconut :)

1) Saute coconut/ green chilies/ shallots(3-4) /garlic/ sombu/ jeera/coriander/kasa kasa seeds and grind them into a paste.

2) Follow steps 1/2/3 from the above recipe.Just use regular oil, as we are already using coconut for grinding.add the paste to the gravy.

3) Let this gravy boil for 30 min. Add fish and let it boil for another 10 -15 min.


Fish fry

I lovvvvvve fish - at home, whenever we had fish for lunch, I would start hanging around the kitchen right after breakfast and become impatient waiting for the fish fry :).When we went to my grandmothers place, special Viral dish fry would be waiting for me even before we reach :).

1) Cut fish into managable pieces.

2) Prepare a paste of- chili powder/turmeric powder/ coriander powder/ jeera powder/ ginger garlic paste/ salt /asofotida/ lemon juice . Fish fry powder can be added if you have it.

3)coat the fish pieces with the above mentioned marinade and keep it in the freezer for 1-2 hrs.

4) heat a flat pan with copious amount of oil (sinful!!). shallow fry the fish pieces, till it turns crispy and black. turn it over and let it fry. This process takes a long time( approx 20 min).

Yummy fish fry ready!