Spicy Kerala Style Mutton Ribs Curry / Varial Curry /Curried Ribs

What kind of a person are you?How do you like to be addressed ?Do you like salutations and being addressed like the Queen or King?or you are like just call my name or simply like X Chechi or Y Chetta?I know of people who like to be called and treated like His/Her Royal Highness.Funny.I love people who treat me like a human being with respect due for a child of God.But wouldn't mind being called Mina Chechi/Mina.

This particular recipe is one a kind which is like, you will simply love it no matter what.Adapted from The Suriani Kitchen,this dish is simple and i was eating it spoonfuls in the pretext of tasting.That said i need to make a point clear,It is very difficult to convince me with a particular recipe/dish as my quality standards are very high.Now don't ask  me ,how i managed in the hostel for two years.That's a loooongg story.

Feeling comfortable after gulping down  food is the main criteria to impress or get into my good books.No guilty feeling or "oh my,i ate a lot" kind of feeling is a complete no no for me.As Simple is the new chic, lemme finish my lengthy kathi session and get down to the recipe.I prepared this with the mutton ribs as mentioned in the original recipe.Please go through the notes section as i did some basic/minor adaptations to suit my palate.

Ingredients

Recipe Source :The Suriani Kitchen Pg. No:117

1. Mutton Ribs-500 g
2. Shallots-8-10
3. Mustard seeeds-1 tsp
4. Coconut oil-1/4 cup
5. Tomatoes-2 quartered
6. Coriander powder-2 tbsp
7. Turmeric powder-1 tsp
8. Crushed Black pepper corns-1 tbsp
9. Crushed cardamom pods-3
10. Cloves-4
11. Cinnamon stick-1 inch
12. Curry Leaves-a handful
13. Salt-As req
14. Water -1 cup

For the Coconut Paste

1.  freshly grated coconut-1 cup
2. Green Chillies-4
3. Ginger Chopped Finely-1 tbsp
4. Garlic chopped-2 tbsp
5. Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp

Grind the above mentioned ingredients into a fine past and set a side.

Method

• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan.Add the shallots and fry them until soft.Add the tomatoes and continue cooking for few more minutes. 
• Add the coriander,turmeric and pepper powder and stir so that they donot get burned.
• Add the cardamom,cloves and stir and fry for a minute.
• Add the coconut paste,ribs,salt and water and cook till they are done.
• Heat the oil in a small skillet and add the mustard seeds,when they crackle add the remaining shallots and curry leaves and fry till golden brown.Pour the seasoning over the cooked meat and stir to blend.

My Notes

• I used half the quantity of coconut to make a paste which was fine for me.
• In the part of the world where i live in,Oil means Coconut oil unless otherwise mentioned.

Kadu Manga Achar/Keralan Mango Pickle

Did I tell you about my recently bought cook book???Yes, Itz "The Suriani Kitchen" by Lathika George.Even though mummy has her own way of making pickles,I was quite intrigued by the quantity of mustard that was given in the recipe.I thought it to be too much when compared to the normal amount that we use

.

But given the reputation of the recipes featured i decided to give it a try and i was one happy girl.The pickle turned out to be perfect and am planning to make another batch before the Mangoes become pricey.Make hay while the sun shines???I dunno how many cut mango pieces go into the making coz i love eating mangoes and making funny faces after that.

So lets get into action of pickling without delay.

Recipe Source: The suriani Kitchen Page No: 191

Ingrdients

1. Diced and unpeeled mango-4 cups
2. Salt - 1/2 cup
3. Water-1/2 cup
4. Sesame oil - 1/2 cup
5. garlic - 6 cloves sliced
6. Sliced Ginger - 1tbsp
7. Curry Leaves - A handful
8. Chilly powder - 5 tbsp
9. Ground Turmeric-1/2 tsp
10. Mustard powder - 1/2 cup
11. Vinegar - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Mix the mango pieces with two tsp of salt in a ceramic jar or glass bowl.Set aside  for a day or two.
2. Remove the mango pieces from the salty liquid and discard the liquid.
3. Mix the water with the rest of the salt in a pot and bring this to a boil.Strain and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a medium pot add the garlic,ginger,and curry leaves and saute for two minutes.Add the chilly powder,Turmeric powder and mustard powder and saute over low heat for a minute.Care should be taken that the masala powders are not browned.
5. Now add the vinegar,Salt solution and mango pieces and cook for some time Allow the mixture to cool and store in clean sterilized bottles.

Notes:

• Be careful in selecting the pickle jar as it should be air tight and clean.No creepy creatures growing in your pickle.
• Use this pickle after 15 or 20 days so that the flavors are blended well.
• Do not be intimidated my the mustard powder.It gives a magical explosion of flavors , a very different one from the usual one.

Am sending this to Pari and Runner Girl's "Only From Cook Books Event
Also to Manju and Gayathri's WTML event and to Made with Love Mondays

Meen Vevichathu/Kerala Style Fish Curry Adapted from "The Suriani Kitchen"

I don't think i need to give any introduction about my love for the bounty from sea.I wont be bored for eating fish three or four times a day i mean appam and fish molee for breakfast and fish curry and fish fry for lunch and tuna cutlet for tea.So that said if you are not a strict carnivore or fishetarian (Is there any word of this sort?) please donot dare to open my lunch box or venture into my kitchen.

                      

Recently i bought a copy of The Suriani Kitchen from flipkart.It is more like a storybook than a cookbook with a lot of stories and anecdotes.A very different take from the usual cook books that have only recipes featured in them.The Author, Lathika George is a bombay born Syrian Christian who moved to Kerala in her teens.She rightly says that "Meals are a celebration of the spices, herbs, seafood, meats, pulses, grains, nuts, and every edible leaf and seed that grows in this fertile land.”

Even though i have my own version of meen vevichathu,I wanted to try the recipe that was mentioned in the book. Donot be intrigued by the use of rice flour,it does wonders to the final taste.I have used King Fish in this recipe,You could substitute it with any fish of your choice.

Recipe

Source :The suriani Kitchen Pg.No. 86

Ingredients

1. Fish 1 kg cut into squares
2. Oil-1/4 cup
3. Shallots - 8
4. Ginger paste - 1 Tsp
5. Garlic - 10 Cloves thinly sliced
6. Garlic Paste  - 2 tbsp
7. Curry leaves - 3 Sprigs
8. Rice Powder - 1 tbsp
9. Cocum - 4 , 2 inch pieces soaked in water
10. Water - 2 cups
11. Salt - As required

For spice Paste

1. Kashmiri Chilly powder - 3 tbsp
2. Turmeric Powder -1/2 tsp
3. Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp
4. Fenugreek - Roasted and ground - 1/2 tsp

Grind the above ingredients to a fine paste with a little water.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a deep pot,add the sliced shallots and fry for two minutes.When they are lightly browned reduce the flame a bit and add the ginger,garlic paste and curry leaves and saute for two minutes til the raw smell goes.
2. Lower the heat and add the ground spice paste and the rice powder.Continue frying for one or 2 minutes.
3. Add the cocum,water,salt and the fish at this stage and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on.
4. When the fish is cooked drizzle a bit of coconut oil over the curry.

Notes:

1. I have adapted the recipe verbatim and the dish turned out to absolutely delicious.
2. It goes well with rice,moru curry and a thoran(vegetable stir fry).
3. If you donot get kashmiri chilly powder , replace it with usual one but be cautious on the quantity as the normal ones tend to be spicier than their kashmiri counterparts.
4. Kashmiri chilly powder lends a wonderful hue to the curry.
5. Cocum or kudam puli is not to be substituted with sambhar puli.
6. I used /double Horse brand rice powder.

Am sending this to Pari and Runner girl in the Kitchen's Only cooking from cook books event.

Also sending this to made with love mondays

Prawn Roast/Chemmeen varattiyathu Kuttanad Style

Meen Curry is something that you can find in my adukala in almost all the days of the week or year for that matter.Hailing from one of India's famous harbors, my love for sea food needs no introduction.Mummy on the other hand is not a great fish eater.She used to tell me, that she got bored because her mother(My ammooma) always fed her with fish ,either fry or curry.So mummy got bored and doesnot cook fish if am not at home.My daddy leans on the vegetarian side ,so no issues for him even if mummy does not cook fish.

Prawns/Konju is something that i buy whenever i find them.I prefer the relatively smaller ones rather than the hefty creatures.Even though de-veining them is such a pain i donot mind ,coz i dream about the yummy end product.A back breaking business indeed.

This time when i got some from the meenkaaran my brother was insisting that i make pickles out of it.My mom wanted to make a Padavalanga chemmeen curry and i wanted to make olarthu.I was convincing both of them that i need to blog about this and so on.My marketing strategy worked and here it is Yummy prawn olarthu.The main reason why i opted for this version of cooking prawns is that i wanted to try this.I followed the recipe to the T and it was amazing.Oh my ,amazing would be an understatement.Any number of adjectives will not explain how yummy it turned out.My brother who was going around with a sad doggy face for not getting the prawn pickle was overjoyed for that matter.He told me,"Namakku adutha pravashyam chemmeen medikumbol ithu thanney undaakam tto".That says it all.It is a spicy preparation so please go easy if you find the measurements to be too much for your standards.But trust me itz worth it.

Coconut oil does wonders to this yummy delicacy from Kuttanad.

Ingredients

1. Prawns- 1 lbs (peeled ,cleaned and deveined )
2. shallots- 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup chopped
3. Ginger - 1 1/2  tbsp minced finely
4. Garlic - 1/4 cup julienned 
5. Green chillies - 4 slit lengthwise
6. Thenga kothu/Cocunut slices-1/3 cup
7. Kudam puli -1 or 2 pieces.
8. Masala powder
9. Red Chilly powder- 2 tsp
10. Coriander powder-1 1/2 tbsp
11. Turmeric powder-1/4+1/4 tsp
12. Freshly squeezed lemon juice-1 tbsp(I omitted this coz i didnt have any)
13. Coconut oil-As required
14. Salt-To taste
15. Curry leaves- A handful

For Masala Powder

1. Fennel Seeds -1 tsp
2. Black pepper-1/2 tbsp
3. Cinnamon 4 or 5 1/2 inch sticks
4. clove -1
5. Cardamom-1

I added two cloves and two cardamom coz they were small in size.Grind the above to a powder using a coffee grinder or the smallest jar of your mixer grinder.Set aside.

Method

1. Make a marinade with the masala powder,1/4 tsp of turmeric powder,salt ,lemon juice and half of the chilly powder and coriander powder and set aside for an hour.
2. Soak the kudam puli in a cup of water.
3. Heat oil in a manchatti,and saute the small onions till they become translucent.Now add the ginger,garlic and green chillies and cook till the raw smell goes.
4. At this stage add the remaining turmeric powder,chilly powder and coriander powder.have stove in low flame when adding the masala powder coz they should not get burnt.
5. Now add the coconut slices and curry leaves and give a quick mix.
6. Add the marinated prawns along witht the masala thatis sticking with the vessel used for marination.
7. Add the soaked kudampuli and required salt at this stage.
8. Cover and cook in medium flame till the prawns are done.
9. Remove the lid and roast till all the water is dried uo and the prawns are lavishly coated with the masala.It should get a brown color as mentioned by Shn.Do a taste test at this stage and add coconut oil  and curry leaves as this is what gives a great face lift to the dish.
10. Serve with Rice or Roti or simply eat like we did.

Notes:

1. This is a really spicy dish for people who are not used to.
2. Donot replace Shallots for big onions as it will be a compromise on the taste.
3. The dish does not have an overpowering taste of garlic.
4. I donot advice substituting or avoiding any of the mentioned ingredients.

Thanks a lot Mishmash for sharing an absolutely yummy recipe.
Sending this to Made with love.

Fish Curry-My all time favourite

After getting to hold fresh Aavoli(Pomfret) I could not make up my mind whether i need to stick on to making meen vevichathu or the varutharacha meen curry.When I was deeply engrossed in this useless thinking( I know which curry i would make) i heard my phone ringing. It was  FT, the conversation started like this.

FT :Entha molu paripaadi..

Me:Hey onnum illa...just prepping for lunch

FT: Innu ethu meen aano kittiye??(Small fishes means a normal day)

Me: Oh aavoli kitti...ennalum enthu cheyyanam ennu ariyilla...ethu curry undaakiyal kollam ennu thinking deeply..

Even before i finished completing the sentence pat came the reply...enthoot chodhyama idhu..??D nee nalla naadan thrissur styleil naalikerathinte paal pzhinju curry vacho (cook a fish curry in thrissur style --meaning cooking  the fish in coconut milk).My confusions cleared.

So that's how i happened to make this curry.Even though this is a drool worth delish curry i abstain from making this version of fish curry for the simple fact that it requires oodles of coconut milk...not that am a coconut milk hater but the health conscious me pops out suddenly and vanishes in no time of course. Mummy prefers this curry for the reason that this curry goes well with Idiyappam and Putu and she has been making this curry since i was a toddler..Enough of my stories.Hope you get to try this and let me know.

Ingredients

1.Fish- 1 Kg

2.Ginger- One inch Piece chopped

Garlic - 6-8 Pods

Green chilly - 2 slit lengthwise

Chilly powder-3 1/2 tsp(I use kashmiri chilly powder)

Turmeric powder-3/4 tsp

Water- One cup

Salt-As  required

Coconut milk extracted from one coconut (dilute it by adding 2 cups of water)

Kudam Puli- 3 pices 

3.Curry leaves -One handfull

Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp

Coconut oil -1 tbsp

Curry leaves -One handfull

Shallots- 10 

Method

1.Wash the kudam puli in water and soak it in 1/2 cup of water for ten minutes and keep it aside.I Prefer soaking in warm water as it speeds up the process

2.In a kadai(Chatti) add the items given under 2.add the water that was used for soaking the kudam puli too.

3.Now add the fish pieces.

4.Have the kadai in low flame and keep stirring occasionally to avoid the coconut milk from curdling.stirring should be done carefully so that the fish pieces don't break.

5.cover and cook till the gravy becomes semi thick.it should be neither watery nor thick.

6.Check for salt and puli.if you feel like the taste of kudam puli is tad too much remove one piece from the gravy.

7.In another pan add coconut oil and splutter mustard seeds curry leaves and shallots and saute this til the shallots becomes translucent.

8.Pour the seasoning in the curry and rotate the chatti so that the curry acquires the flavors from the seasoning too.

9.Serve with rice.

Notes

I use manchatti or earthenware  to make fish curry.I believe this enhances the flavour of the dish even though i don't know how and why.

If you find that the kashmiri chilly powder is not available u can substitute it with the normal chilly powder too but make sure that it does not make the curry too spicy.

I prefer using coconut oil as it really adds an extra bit to the dish.

Nice combo for idiyappams too.