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!

Print / Save this Recipe

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.

A Give Away and an Upcoming Review

And the winner is Sarah Naveen of Vazhayila! Congrats Sarah!

It has been over a year since I have been "actively" blogging. When I say "actively", I mean at least 3-4 posts a month. I had started this blog in mid 2008 and did 2 posts during that year and then went into a long hibernation mode for a year and half. I started back up again in late 2009 hoping to get some momentum going and I should say I was successful so far, at least in my terms. It was mostly due to the support from all my fellow bloggers, my readers out there and of course, my family! In this one year, I gained a lot of good friends, got blogger awards and recognitions from my fellow bloggers and also got selected as a Preferred Blogger by CSN stores. In addition to trying and posting recipes, I also did some reviews and have more coming. Keep looking in this space for an upcoming review to see my new toy from CSN! It could be anything from leather messenger bags to a cooking gadget!

So for this one successful year and for all the support that you guys have given me, I have decided to do a small giveaway! I bought a copy of "Cooking Yourself  Thin Faster" for the giveaway. This book has around 75 recipes that you can make in a flash and still be on your diet, without sacrificing the foods you love! Most recipes in this book would be familiar to most of you, but with much scaled down calories. It has recipes for Breakfast, Starters, Main Course, Sides/Soups/Salads and Desserts with great pictures.  I have started trying some guilt-free desserts from the book already and they have turned out great - not at all compromising on the taste! Please note that this is not a sponsored giveaway. Here are some pictures of the book for you to take a sneak peak:

Getting on to the rules for the giveaway:

1. The contest is only open to US, Canadian and Indian Residents. For all others, if you have a friend/relative in US, Canada or India, you could always get it shipped to them.
2. The contest closes on December 31 at 11:59pm PST. Winner would be announced in this blog on January 1st.
3. The winner will be selected using random.org and will be notified via email. Please post your email id as well, if you are not a registered blogger. In the event that winner does not respond back within 3 days after they receive the email, a new winner would be chosen.
4. You could leave a separate comment for each one of the below activity:

1. Follow Thattukada publicly via Google friend connect and leave a comment under this post saying so. If you are already a follower, just comment so. (Mandatory)
2. Share this post on your facebook and leave a comment about it under this post. (optional for additional entries)
3. Tweet about this giveaway and comment here. (optional for additional entries)
4. Post about this giveaway in your blog and comment here. (optional for additional entries)

So you could leave a maximum of 4 comments and quadruple your chances to be the winner.

So what are you waiting for! Keep the entries flowing in and Good Luck to you all!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Muffins are like cupcakes, except that they are a little bigger and it is a widely accepted breakfast item in this part of the world (US). Also cupcakes normally come with frosting and muffins do not. When I think muffins, I think of blueberries, may be because I love blueberry muffins. I feel that muffins are at its best with blueberries; somehow I have a feeling that my 4 year old son believes so too. This recipe is from Ina Garten's book Barefoot Contessa Family Style. Even though it is called Coffee Cake muffins, coffee is not an ingredient; may be they call it so as it is eaten with/or intended to be eaten with coffee at the breakfast table.

Print / Save this Recipe

Makes 18 muffins

Unsalted Butter	- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) at room temperature
Sugar	- 1 1/2 cups
Extra Large Eggs	- 3
Pure Vanilla Extract	- 1 1/2 tsp
Sour Cream	- 1 cup
Milk	- 1/4 cup
All Purpose Flour	- 2 1/2 cups
Baking Powder	- 2 tsp
Baking Soda	- 1/2 tsp
Salt	- 1/2 tsp
Blueberry	- 2 cups

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes using an electric mixer.
2. With the mixer at low speed, add one egg at a time to the butter-sugar mixture.
3. Add in vanilla, sour cream and milk to the batter and blend well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed.
6. Fold in the blueberries using a spatula and mix it slowly and uniformly into the batter.
7. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
8. Line the muffin tray with paper liners and scoop the batter into the paper liners in the muffin pan, filling each cup just over the top.
9. Bake for 30 minutes until top of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean.

A tip from the book to scoop equal quantity of batter for the muffins was to use an ice cream scoop and to grease the top of the muffin pans to make it easier to take the muffins out. Both the tips worked out well for me.

This is a must-try bakery style muffin which would be a sure hit among the kids. My son liked it so much that he was not happy about me taking a few to office for my friends.

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!

Print / Save this Recipe

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.