Fish Curry / மீன் குழம்பு

Fishes are rich in omega3 which is an essential nutrient for Children's brain development. Apart from the health constraint, Its taste is irresistible. It is one of the non-veg variety which makes us mouth watering while thinking about it itself. Fish curry tastes best in the next days. Always serve fish curry at least after 2 hours of preparation, it gives the better taste than serving it immediately. I really cannot wait after its preparation, So always I make this curry first, then prepare the steamed rice and fish fry or any other dish i prepare, so it gets its own resting time.

The best ever fish curry I have tasted is at my senior's home. When we visited her during our college days, her mom prepared such a wonderful meen kuzhambu. We tasted the fish in "Muthal Mariyathai" movie style at her house only for the first time.
In restaurant, I always like, (in chennai) Hotel Samco's fish curry with steamed rice. I have tasted it around five, six years back. Hope still they have the same quality and taste.

Ok, Lets see my version of fish curry now.

Ingredients:

Fish - 5-6 pieces (I used king fish)
Onion - 1/2 a medium sized
garlic 2-3 cloves
Tamarind - big gooseberry sized
salt- as per taste
Oil - as needed to saute onions

To marinate:
Chili powder - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1 tsp
salt - a pinch
lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

To Grind:
Small onions - 5-6
Big onion - 1/2 a medium sized
tomato - 1 big (cut it to cubes)
coconut - about 1/4 cup
chili powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1.First Wash and marinate the fish pieces with turmeric , chili powder , salt and lemon juice for 1-2 hrs.
2.In a kadai, heat a tbsp of oil and saute  onions (small, big) and tomato.
3. In a blender/mixi, grind sauted  onions, tomato, and the items listed in "to grind".
4. In the same kadai, heat another tbsp of oil, and saute garlic, and finely chopped half an onion.
5. When the onions turn transparent, add the ground paste and saute until the raw smell leaves.
6. Then Add the extracted Tamarind water, if required add a cup of water
7. Let the mix boil well for 5-10 mins.
8. Once the raw smell leaves and the gravy is cooked add the fish pieces to the gravy and let it cook for another 6-8 mins.
9. Once the fish is cooked, add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame.














Notes:
1. Depends on the fish steak size the cooking time differes.
2. I added  about 2 tbsp of "Fish fried oil" at the end, which gives extra flavor for the kuzhambu.

Shrimp Fry

Happy New year 2014

Hmmmm New year celebrations are over.. :)  With the memories of these holidays and celebrations, we will be waiting for the next holidays... And from today the routine starts again.

For me Celebration and festivals will not be completed with out  non-veg foods. According to me Non-veg recipes make the feast richer. But As my husband is vegetarian, I started making the veg feast on weekends and festival days(Just cannot cook two different and get tired :P). So only in the weekdays I prepare non-veg.
My Daughter loves the deep fried non-veg foods, also she doesn't eat much spicy foods.So i always have to make my own masalas than using the store bought.. But i never have that patience to dry roast the ingredients and grind the masala, or to marinate for hours.

So i follow some simple way of making dishes, at the same time with the taste what my daughter expects.   Hope you will also find it simple and easy.

Here is the simple way to prepare the tastiest shrimp fry.

I have taken the measurements of spices for 1 serving. You can adjust according to your quantity of preparation.


Prawns / Shrimp (small) - 12-15 (count)

To Marinate:
chilli powder - 1/2 tea spoon
garam masala - 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tea spoon
ginger garlic paste - 1 tea spoon
salt- as per taste
lemon juice -2-3 drops(optional)

To Deep Fry:
Vegetable / sun flower oil - 75ml-100 ml
egg white - 1/2 egg (optional)
bread crumbs - 4 table spoons (optional)


1. First clean the shrimps and keep it ready.

2. Add all the ingredients mentioned above with shrimp and mix well.  Keep it aside.(I left it aside for 30 mins)

3. Beat Egg white in a bowl, and keep the bread crumbs ready. Heat oil in pan

4. Dip the shrimp in beaten egg and then roll it in the bread crumbs (If you want a thicker layer, repeat step 4). I didn't remove the tail , so it was easy for me to hold while dipping and rolling.

5.Once the oil is pre-heated, put the shrimps in it, when they are cooked in one side, turn over.  Repeat until the "Shh" sound and the bubbles reduces.

6. When cooked, remove from oil and drain in Tissue paper.

7.Serve hot as it is or with your main course.

Notes:  

1. If you do not have bread crumbs, don't worry. you can fry them as it is(skip steps 3 and 4).

2. Always cook in Medium flame.

Sending this Recipe to Cook with Comfort organized by Sapana Behl, and holiday recipes @cuisinedelights

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