Tomato Fish Curry

We are regular customers at this small cozy mallu restaurant in U-district named "Chillies" and each time we make sure we don't miss out ordering their yummy red color Trout curry. Apart from the delicious food, its the warm hospitality of the owner, whom we fondly call Chechi (which means sister in Malayalam) that draws us there almost every other weekend. One such weekend while we were drowned enjoying the fish curry with the hot dosas, we asked her for the recipe and she readily shared it.The tweak in this recipe is that it doesn't use any puli/tamarind but uses lots of red tangy tomatoes. So just go out and try this deadly fish curry which is one of our favorites.

Ingredients

Medium sized Tomatoes (chopped): 2-3
Shallots/Pearl onions (chopped): 4-5
Garlic (finely chopped): 1 teaspoon
Ginger (finely chopped): 1 teaspoon
Green chillies (slit): 2-3
Curry leaves: handful
Mustard seeds:1 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds: 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder: 2-3 teaspoons
Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon
Coconut mlik: 1/4 cup
Water: 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Rainbow trout (cubed and marinated): 6-7 pieces

* We usually marinate the fish as soon we bring it home in salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder.

* With the experience of buying fish for the last few years here in Seattle, we recommend Rainbow trout is best for making our Indian style fish curies because it doesn't break up easily and holds in the masalas well.

* You can either use coconut oil or regular cooking oil. But the former yields a better taste.

Heat some oil in an earthen pot (chatti) or deep pan. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add the fenugreek seeds, chopped ginger, garlic, pearl onions, green chilies and curry leaves. Sprinkle some salt. When the onion start to get cooked add turmeric powder, chili powder and coriander powder and saute well. Let the rawness of the spices go. Add the chopped tomatoes with some water; cover and cook.  When the tomatoes starts to get cooked, add the marinated fish and let everything come to a good boil. Add the coconut milk. Let it simmer while you adjust the salt and spice levels. Once the fish is cooked, turn off the heat. Add a few more curry leaves and keep it covered. Serve it with hot steaming rice.

And just to get you guys drooling here is the picture of our lunch today...

Eggplant/Baingan fry

Another super easy recipe with Eggplant which hardly takes less than 5 mins to prepare. For all those on the run and have hardly any time in the kitchen, this will surely impress you...

Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

Eggplant (cut in circles) : 1

Marinade

Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon

Chilli flakes/Chilli powder: 2-3 teaspoons

Jeera/Cumin powder: 1 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon

Chaat Masala/Aamchur: 1 Teaspoon

Garam Masala: 1/2 teaspoon

Besan/Gram Flour: 1 tablespoon

Water: 1 table spoon or more

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

Mix all the ingredients in the marinade with a spoon  to a smooth paste. Adjust the salt and spice. Rub it on both sides of cut slices of Eggplant. Drizzle  some oil in a pan. You don't even need to shallow fry. Just keep turning these marinated eggplants until they get crispy. Great side for rice or roti.

Veggie Quesadilla

This is nothing like a  Mexican Quesadilla, except we  borrowed  the name. Its the easiest version we make here at home and you could alternate the filling to your choice and availability  of things. Try out this perfectly scrumptious snack that will please anybody in the family.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

Tortillas: 1-2

Garlic (chopped): 2 teaspoons

Red Onions (finely cubed): 1/4 cup

Colored bell peppers (finely cubed): 1/4 cup

Eggplant (finely cubed): 1/4 cup

Red Chilli Flakes: 1 tablespoon or more

Any tomato sauce: 2 tablespoons

Mozzarella cheese: 2 slices

Oil to fry

Salt to taste

*You could also chicken cubes or even cubed paneer to make it more interesting. We used eggplant instead since we didn't have the former.

 

Heat some oil in a pan, saute the chopped garlic, red onions. Add the cubed egg plant and saute. Add the chilli flakes and now add the cubed bell peppers. Sprinkle some salt and toss nicely. Add pepper if you want.

Take it off from the heat and keep aside. In a flat pan , pour a drop of oil and place the tortilla. Spread the tomato sauce evenly around. Place the sauteed veggies on one half. Tear up the mozzarella cheese slices and turn over the other half of the tortilla to get a semicircle. Let the cheese melt and the tortilla get a little toasty on both sides. Serve hot. We personally like it with a little hot sauce. 

Mango Lassi

 

Sweet ripe yellow mangoes have officially welcomed summer and with our lucky find of some yummy mangoes at Costco, we made this easy drink which is a specialty from Punjab. Back home in India yogurt is said to be the best remedy to beat the scorching heat, so lassi gets very popular around this time be it plain, mango or any other flavor.

Prep Time:  5 mins

Ingredients

Mango: 1

Sugar: 1 tablespoon or more to your preference

Curd/Yogurt: 1/2 cup

Milk: 1/4 cup

Cardamom powder (optional): a pinch

* We suggest Alphonso for the best result as it is pulpy and sweet, but you can substitute it with any other kind.

Peel the mango skin and cut up the fruit. beat it in the mixer with sugar and cardamom until smooth. Pour in cold yogurt and milk and beat once more. Adjust it to a pourable consistency by adding more milk if needed. Serve chill.

 

We are sending this to 'Show me your Smoothie' event at Dil Se by Divya (http://divya-dilse.blogspot.com/2010/05/show-me-your-smoothie.html)