Spicy Prawn Coconut Roast

Prawns always come in handy when you want to make something quick and easy, especially when you get it cleaned and packed in a bag! I love the prawns with the tail on, as it adds more taste to the curry/dish you make. I was trying to cook up something different with prawns and was thinking about different ingredients that should go into it. The one thing I knew for sure that needs to be in was coconut. I love how the taste of prawns gets enhanced by the flavor of coconut. So here I am with my new trial which really turned out great, that I have already made it a couple of times now!

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Serves 5 people

Prawns	- 1 lb (I used Tail on Prawns)
Shredded Coconut	- 1 1/2 cups
Small Onions	- 20 no:s
Chilly Powder	- 1 1/2 tbsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Oil	- 2 tbsp
Ginger	- 30 gms (10 oz.)
Garlic	- 30 gms (10 oz.)
Water	- 1 1/4 cup
Salt	- to taste
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs

1. Dry roast the shredded coconut until it is reduced to half (around 3/4 cups) and is slightly brown in color.
2. Add the small onions and a twig of curry leaves and roast for 5-6 minutes in a medium flame.
3. Add the chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder to the coconut and roast again for 4-5 minutes in a low medium flame.
4. Keep aside the roasted coconut to cool down.
5. Coarsely grind the roasted coconut in a mixer. No water is needed. 
6. Smash the ginger and garlic using a mortar and pestle or mixer to a coarse paste.
7. Heat oil in a pan and add the smashed ginger and garlic; saute until the raw smell is gone.
8. Add the prawns to the pan and mix well with the ginger and garlic paste.
9. Add the coarsely ground coconut to the prawns and mix well.
10. Add water and salt to this and mix well again.
11. Allow the prawns to cook and keep stirring in between.
12. When the water is almost reduced, add the remaining curry leaves and keep stirring the prawn continuously, until it is dried up and is in the roasted form.

If you are a fan of prawns and love coconut, I am sure you will love this dish. This will go well with all different rice varieties including plain rice and also with rotis, appam or parotta.

Easy Indian Fish Fry

For me and my family (and for most people from South Kerala, I would think), a normal lunch consists of rice, a curry (could be a vegetarian curry like Sambhar, Moru Curry, etc or a non-veg curry like a Fish Curry), a thoran (stir-fried veggies) and a fish fry. Adding fish to your daily diet ensures that you get your daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids which helps reduce the risk of heart disease and promotes healthy brain function. In addition to all these health benefits, it just makes the lunch, or any meal, all the more exciting. The version of fish fry I have here is a simple 'n easy 'n quick one, to the extent that I do not even know if a posting for the same is needed in this space here. I am just going to go ahead and do it anyways!

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Makes 18 square pieces

Fish	- 1 lbs (I used Mahi Mahi)
Chilly Powder	- 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 3/4 tsp (add according to taste)
Oil	- as needed to fry

1. Cut the fish into square pieces.
2. Add the chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to the fish and mix well with your hands. Do not add any water, as the water content in the fish should be enough.
3. Keep the fish aside for a minimum of 30 minutes to marinate.
4. You could shallow fry this fish with very little oil or deep fry with more oil. You also have the option of baking, by broiling the fish in a conventional oven for 10 minutes.

Enjoy the fried fish with a meal or even as an appetizer. When serving as an appetizer, you could add on some sliced onions and lemon on the side.

Meen Vevichathu / Kudampuli etta Meen Curry / Spicy Fish Curry

Each region in Kerala has its own version of Fish Curry with its own unique flavor. The version here is the Kottayam Style Spicy Fish Curry which uses Kudampuli (Coccum), where as if you go to the Trivandrum side you would find fish curries that uses Vaalan puli (Tamarind). The Fish Curry here is also referred to as the Toddy Shop Fish Curry (Shappile Meen Curry) as it is the kind served in the toddy shops in Kerala. The taste of this curry is enhanced when served the next day. It would be ideal to use a 'manchatti' (Earthen pot) which also adds to the taste of the curry.

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Serves 8-10 people

Coconut Oil	- 3 tbsp
Mustard seeds	- 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves	- 2 twigs
Fish	- 1 lbs (I used Tilapia; Any kind of fish is fine)
Shallots	- 1/2 lbs
Ginger Garlic Paste	- 2 tbsp
Coccum	- 4 pieces
Water	- 2 1/4 cup + 7 tbsp
Kashmiri Chilly Powder	- 3 tbsp
Turmeric Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder	- 1 tbsp
Fenugreek Powder	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- to taste

1. Add the coccum pieces to a cup of water and keep aside.
2. In a mixer, grind the shallots with no or little water. You do not have to make it a fine paste.
3. Mix Kashmiri Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder and Fenugreek Powder with 7 tbsp of water and keep the powder paste aside. This is a spicy curry; adjust the chilly powder as it suits your taste.
4. In a pan or earthen pot, heat the coconut oil.
5. When the oil is hot, splutter the mustard seeds and 1 twig of curry leaves.
6. Add the ground shallots to the oil and saute until all water is evaporated and it starts to become a light brown color.
7. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute again until the raw smell is gone.
8. Add the powder paste to pan and saute again until all the water is gone and oil starts to ooze out. This could take 7-10 minutes in a medium flame.
9. Now add the Coccum with the water and add the remaining water as well.
10. Add salt to taste and let it boil.
11. Add the fish pieces and swirl the pan itself so that the fish is immersed in the curry. Do not use a spoon to mix from this point, as it will break the fish pieces.
12. When the curry starts to boil, turn off the stove and close the pan with a lid and keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
13. Garnish with remaining Curry leaves and serve.

As mentioned earlier, if made ahead the taste is enhanced. This goes well with Mashed Tapioca (Kappa) and  Rice. 

Crab Shiitake Puff with Grape Fruit Sauce

How does the name of the recipe sound? It has quite a story behind it. My team decided to do this get-together at one of our colleague's place as a team activity and the idea was to do 'Chopped'. For those who do not know what 'Chopped' is, it is a Food Network Reality show where the chefs are given 3-5 unrelated ingredients and are asked to come up with an Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. So now to what we did, I was asked to prepare an appetizer with Crab Meat, Shiitake Mushroom, Grape Fruit and Bran Cereal. Again unlike the show, we were given the ingredients a week early. The list of ingredients here were stuff I had never even bought before. Deciding what to make was a tough decision and had to try it once before I made it for the competition. I will cut the story short and get into the ingredients and method of making this appetizer.

For the Puff:

Crab Meat	- 300 gms (0.7 lbs - used 3 crab legs)
Shiitake Mushroom	- 150 gms (0.35 lbs)
Butter	- 3 - 4 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1 tsp (I used very little to make the appetizer mild)
Garam Masala	- 3/4 tsp
Egg Whites	- 1
Puff Pastry Sheet	- 1 Packet
Salt	- to taste

1. In a mixer, mince the cooked crab meat.
2. Chop the mushrooms into small slices.
3. In a pan, heat the butter and add Ginger and Garlic paste.
4. After sauting the ginger and garlic for 2-3 minutes, add the Chilly Powder and saute for a minute.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute until the mushroom is cooked.
6. Add the minced crab meat, garam masala and salt and mix everything well for 3-5 minutes.
7. Turn off the stove and let the filling cool.
8. Use the puff pastry sheet to make puffs with the filling into any shape you want.
9. Line a Baking pan with parchment paper and place the puffs in it.
10. Beat the egg whites and brush the egg whites on to the top of the puffs. This is to give a glaze to the puffs.
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degree for 15 minutes and your puffs are ready.

For the Sauce:

Grape Fruit	- 6 oz can
Salted Butter	- 1 tbsp
Ginger Paste	- 1/2 tsp
Sweet Chilly Sauce	- 1 1/2 tsp
Chilly Powder	- 1/4 tsp
Brown Sugar	- 2 tsp
Salt	- 1/4 tsp
Water	- 1/2 cup
Corn Starch	- 1 tsp
Bran Cereal	- 2 tbsp (powdered)

1. In a pan heat the butter and add ginger paste and saute for 2-3 minutes.
2. Grind the grape fruit with the juice (I used the canned version, as I could not get the fresh ones).
3. Add the ground grape fruit to the pan and let it boil.
4. Add the sweet Chilly Sauce, Chilly Powder and Brown Sugar and mix well.
5. Mix Bran Cereal powder in little water and add to the pan.
6. Mix the corn starch in a little water and add to the pan as well. This is to give a glaze to the sauce.
7. Let the sauce thicken and add the salt.

We were rated equally for Taste, Creativity and Presentation and guess what, this dish won the second prize at this competition.

Prawn Biryani

I was talking to my sister over the phone last weekend and she was trying to make my mom furious by saying that I have more mention about my MIL in my blog than her. She was specifically referring to my mom's biryani recipe and was asking why I didn't post that yet. All this in front of my mom. My sis was having a good laugh and enjoying the whole scene. I don't think she was able to agitate Mamma (at least I hope so :-) ). Anyways this conversation forced me to make the Biryani following my mom's recipe.  Her recipe is that of a "Pakaa" Biryani. "Pakaa" meaning cooked. So Rice and Chicken are prepared separate and then layered. The other version of Biryani is "Kacha" biryani. "Kacha" meaning uncooked where all the ingredients are cooked together. 

For Rice:

Rice                       - 2 1/2 cups
Oil                          - 2 tbsp
Onion                     - 1/2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Salt                        - to taste
Water                    - 5 cups
Ghee                     - 2 tbsp

1. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Basmati rice is commonly used. I used Jeera rice this time for a change.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the sliced onions until they turn transparent.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
4. Add water and enough salt and let it boil.
5. Add soaked and drained rice to the boiling water.
6. Also add the ghee and let the rice cook.

For Prawn Masala:

Oil                          - 21/2 tbsp
Prawn                     - 1 1/2 lb 
Yogurt                   - 3/4 cup
Onion                     - 1 1/2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 1/2 tbsp
Green Chilly            - 3
Small Onions           - 10
Turmeric powder      - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder           - 1 1/2 tbsp
Garam Masala          - 1 tbsp
Salt                         - to taste
Water                      - 3/4 cup

1. Mix the prawns and yogurt with enough salt and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the sliced onions until they turn transparent.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell is gone.
4. Add the slit green chilly and smashed small onions to this and saute for a minute.
5. Add turmeric, chilly powder and garam masala to this and saute for another minute.
6. To this add the prawns, salt and water and let is cook.
7. Once the gravy starts becoming thick, turn off the stove.

To Garnish:

Ghee                        - 1/2 tbsp
Raisins                     - a handful
Cashews                   - a handful

Layering:

1. Make alternate layers of the rice and prawn masala in an oven proof pan.
2. Close it with an aluminium foil and bake in a 300 Degree pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
3. In a pan, heat ghee and saute the raisins and cashews until raisins becomes plump.
4. Garnish the biryani with the raisins and cashews.

This is a simple and quick recipe for delicious biryani. You could replace the prawns with chicken and make chicken biryani as well.

Spicy Prawn Masala

I love spicy food. I have seen that Indians would go to any restaurant and try to get them to make the menu items they offer spicier. I am one of them who always would love to go for 5 Stars (*****). One of the things I was told by my Indian friends when I had a baby was that, never give the baby non-spicy stuff or reduce the spice just for the kid. I know a lot of them have to keep aside food for their little ones before they add the chillies. I didn't want to do that extra step, so I followed their instruction and fed my son with the same spice level as ours. It has worked great so far for us!

This recipe is a real spicy 5 star one! If you cannot take that much spice, reduce the amount of chilli powder to suit your taste buds.

Oil                                - 2-3 tbsp
Curry Leaves                 - 1 twig
Onion                            - 1 big (Chopped)
Ginger-Garlic Paste        - 2 tbsp
Chilly Powder (normal)    - 2 tsp
Kashmiri Chilly Powder     - 1 tbsp
Turmeric Powder            - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala                - 1/2 tbsp
Prawns                           - 1/2 lbs (Used Cooked Tail Off Big Kirkland Signature Prawns)
Lemon Juice                   - 1 tbsp
Water                            - 1 cup
Coconut Oil                    - 1/2 tbsp
Salt                               - to taste

1. Marinate the prawns with Salt, chilly powder (normal) and lemon juice. Keep aside for 15-30 minutes.
2. Heat cooking oil in a pan and splutter half of the curry leaves.
3. Add onions and saute it till they start turning brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell is gone.
5. Add Turmeric, Kashmiri Chilly Powder and Garam Masala and saute well for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the marinated prawns to this and make sure the prawns are completely covered with the masalas.
7. Add a cup of water to the prawns and let it boil. At this stage you could stop, if you need a gravy dish than a dry one.
8. In a medium heat keep sauting the prawns, until the water starts to reduce.
9. Add the coconut oil and keep sauting until it reaches the consistency you need and darker color.
10. Add the remaining Curry leaves and serve.

This dish will be a treat for anyone who loves spicy food. Enjoy your Spicy Prawn Masala / Chemmeen Masala.