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.

Keeping it simple-Puttu

Whenever i give amma  a call asking what she had made for breakfast the usual reply will be "as usual puttu and some xyz stew or curry..".Regarding food me and my mom  have some things in common and this liking or what to call craze for tasty food is one thing ppl cant bear with(grrr).After a variety of "Eating experiences " from various food courts and restaurants all round the place we infered one thing "east or west home made food is the best"may be the same paalappam,puttu,vattayappam or meen peera or may be the simple beef/chicken ularthu these dishes cant be compared to the 699 rupees only pizza that u get to eat in pizza hut or the chicken bucket from KFC or any x y z dish that is available in the stylishlyly decorated well placed restaurants..... i think we hear an echo ... ???

Anyway puttu or steamed rice cake(njangal maamodhisa koduthu ) is the usual food at home.healthy tasty delicious .....a real package....i used to wonder when i was in school ,the same puttu mould ,the same puttu some times made with chamba pachari  like this one and the same thenga chiragiyathu(grated cocunut) but why do i don't get bored with this humble item...may be at times ppl thought i am the brand ambassadors of puttu but i have not found any rival to my favourite dish(i know of crazy fans of chiratta puttu).wanna know more about puttu...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puttu..there r a lotta versions to this puttu..erachi puttu, motta puttu vegetable puttu...there may be many versions but the product lifecycle is loooonnnnnnnnnnng.....will update the versions one by one.....

So i though (we) thought that we'd better give the honour to our all time favourite dish (..Kurachu cheruvagal ..pettenu thatti kooti undaakavunnadhaanu ennu parayum ....)by making it the first post in my blog...

Now here goes the version of my recipe for the puttu...

Ingredients:

1.  2 cups of raw rice 
2. 1 cup of grated coconut
3. salt
4. water to mix

We use a puttu kutti or Puttu Mould to make the puttu...commonly available in all stores ....There is also the option of Chiratta puttu moulds available.

Method

1. Soak the rice for some time say two hours...and strain the excess water...
2. Dry the strained rice in a clean cloth and wen itz nice crispy dry, powder i in a mixer.if u r too lazy (like me) to do the soaking & drying  better go to  a store to get a pack of puttu podi(I prefer "Eastern or Double Horse")...
3. Add salt and puttu podi and mix well.
4. Add water little by little and mix well till the powder becomes wet.
5. Add about 1/4  of the grated coconut to this mixture and mix well.u can avoid this step of adding coconut in this stage itself...but if u r taste buds provoke u ...go for it!if there r too many lumps in the mixture mash the lumps with a fork or hand so that its broken.
6. keep it aside for 5 minutes..

For filling the puttu kutti

Put one spoon of the coconut in the puttu kutti and one fistful of the rice flour mixture till half of the vessel and then  one spoon coconut and again the rice flour .reapt till u reach the top of the mould close the lid and steam it for 4 to 5 min.If you donot have the option of the mould for making the puttu follow the same layering procedure in a plate and steam in a cooker without the weight.

Enjoy with Potato curry, Egg roast or beef /chicken stew/kadala curry.