Fish Curry - Coconut Gravy

I made fish curry and fish fry over the weekend. Ofcorse, had a long long chat with mom about the method and the ingredients and then finally made it.

Ingredients

1 medium size Mackerel or Black Pomfret (usually would get around 7 to 8 medium size pieces)

2 teaspoons salt + 2 teaspoons turmeric powder - to marinate the fish.

1 cup shredded coconut (fresh)

3 teaspoons coriander seeds

10 to 12 dried red chillies (I used Byadgi mirchi)

6 to 7  cloves garlic

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

2 teaspoons of coconut oil (you can use corn oil, peanut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil too)

2 teaspoons tamarind paste

salt to taste

2 to 3 kokums (optional)

to know more about kokum visit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcinia_indica

Method

Clean the fish and apply salt and turmeric powder to it and let it marinate for about half an hour. 

In a blender - mix the coconut, chillis, garlic, corinader seeds and tamarind paste. Mix it well to make a fine paste - add just enough water to get a thick gravy consistency. The coconut must be very finely processed.

In a karahi - add the coconut oil. When it gets hot add the onions and fry till they are transparent. Then add the ground gravy paste and stir and mix well. Cover the karahi and let the mixture come to a boil. Now add the marinated fish pieces one by one very slowly. Cover and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Check if fish is cooked. Be very careful when you stir/mix now - as the fish is very delicate after its cooked. Add the kokum and salt if needed - remember, the fish was marinated in salt and turmeric. 

Serve with plain white rice.

Malai Kofta

Ingredients

For the koftas

2 mashed potatoes

1 cup grated paneer

chopped cilantro

a few golden raisins 

2 teaspoons cornflour/corn starch

salt to taste

oil for frying

For the dry masala

1 star anise

4 cloves

2 green cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cumin

For gravy

1 medium size onion - roughly chopped

2 medium size tomatoes - roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped

1/2 cup cashews - coarsely ground

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons oil

salt to taste

2 teaspoon chilli powder (you can use more if you wish to make it spicy)

Method

First grind the dry masala - for this dry roast all the dry masala ingredients in a karahi and then grind it to a fin powder. Keep it aside.

To make the koftas - in a deep dish, mash the potatoes, to it add the grated paneer, the chopped cilantro, salt to taste,the golden raisins and the cornflour. Mix all well together. it will form a dough. make small balls out of this mixture - the size of a golf ball. You can deep fry them or shallow fry the koftas till they turn golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel and keep aside.

For the gravy - in a karahi, add 2 tablespoons of oil. When it gets hot, add the onions and the garlic and fry till golden brown. then add the tomatoes and saute till the oil leaves the sides of the pan. To this mixture, add salt, cashews, chilli powder and the dry masala powder and mix well. Let this mixture cool. Then grind it to a fine paste, adding water only if required. This paste has to be thick like gravy.

In the same karahi - add the thick gravy and when it starts to boil, add the heavy cream and stir continuously. When the whole gravy is mixed well and has boiled - add the koftas to it. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Koftas are ready - can be served with rotis, parathas or jeera rice.

Usal Pav

We had a potluck lunch a few days ago - and we had this awesome usal made by a dear friend. Loved it a lot. Thanks Vandu - for the lovely usal and the recipe.

Unlike Misal which is a maharastrian delicacy - Usal is comon in Karnataka.

Ingredients

1 cup safed vatana (dried yellow peas) - soaked overnight

1 medium onion - chopped

1 medium tomato - chopped

2 green chillis - chopped

2 teaspoons shredded coconut

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

6 to 7 Red chillis - I used Byadgi Mirchi

2 teaspoons Tamarind Paste

salt to taste

2 tablespoons of oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 tablespoons lemon juice

For Garnish

Hot Mix

chopped onions

chopped cilantro

Method

In a pressure cooker - cook the soaked vatana along with the onions, tomatoes and green chillis and two cups of water for 3 whistles.

Grid to a fine paste the shredded coconut, coriander seeds, red chillis and the tamarind paste. Add a little water if required.

In a karahi - add the two tablespoons of oil. Then mix the pressure cooked vatanas and the ground mixture. Add salt, lemon juice and garam masala and bring it to a boil.

In a bowl, garnish it with chopped onions, chopped cilantro, hot mix and serve with pav (burger buns, bombay pav, potato buns)

Nankatai

Ingredients

1 cup ghee/melted butter/vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups maida (flour)
2 pinches of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda bi-carb
Halved pistachios for garnish

Method

In a deep dish - add the ghee and sugar and mix well. The sugar should melt completely. Then add the flour, baking powder, soda bi-carb and cardamom and mix well. It should look like a pizza dough (not sticky though). Do not add any water. Once you get soft dough - make small balls and flatten in your palm (just like a peda). Press a pistachio half on the top of the nankatai and then place it on a greased cookie sheet, 1/2 inch apart from each other. Place the cookie sheet in the over which is pre-heated at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes. The nakatais should be golden in color to be ready.

This will yield about 25 to 30 nankatai's

Chicken Biryani

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken pieces (whole chicken or breast pieces)
3 big onions - thinly sliced
2 big tomatoes
9 to 10 cloves of garlic
2 inch ginger piece
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 teaspoons dhania jeera powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon tandoori masala powder
1/2 cup of chopped coriander
1/2 cup of curd
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 cup oil
2 cups of basmati rice
4 tablespoons of ghee
7 to 8 pepper corns
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 pinches of saffron - soaked in 5 tablespoons of lukewarm milk
salt to taste

Method

Marinate the chicken in the curds, turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt. Leave it in the fridge overnight. Soak rice in water for 1 hour prior to cooking.
Blend together the garlic, tomatoes and the ginger in a blender to a fine paste. In a karahi add the oil - when it gets hot add the thinly sliced onions and let it fry till they turn golden brown. Now add the blended tomato paste. Let all the water evaporate, and the oil should leave the sides of the karahi. Now add the garam masala, dhania jeera powder, chilli powder and tandoori masala and mix well. Now add the marianted chicken and mix well. Add salt if you feel the need (remember that the marinated chicken has salt in it already). Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through. Do not add water - we need the gravy to be think and chicken oozes water when being cooked. Once the chicken id cooked - add the coriander leaves and mix well.
Now cook the rice in water and salt. Cook rice only 3/4th (leave it al-dante) - drain all the water and leave aside.
In a karahi - heat the ghee. When it gets hot - add the cardamon, pepper corns, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Be careful not to burn the spices.
Now in a steel vessel (preferable one which can be put inside the oven), layer the biryani. Make a layer of rice, add part of the ghee and spices, add the chicken gravy with chicken pieces, cover with rice again, add part of the milk and saffron mixture, add part of the ghee and spices, cover with chicken gravy and then again a layer of rice. Generally 3 such layers are formed and its topped with rice.
Cover this pot/vessel with aluminium foil, cover it tightly and then leave it in the over at 200 degrees F for 20 mins. Or you could leave it on low gas for 20 minutes.
Serve hot with raita.