Meen Masala (Fish Masala)

Fish dishes and recipes is a part of every home in Kerala. Fish is prepared in different styles in every part of Kerala. Meen/Fish Masala is a very easy and tasty recipe and can be combined with Rice, Puttu, Chapathis and Appams. Meen Masala is a very flavourful dish and this is my own recipe prepared at home. Trust me, you and family will love this dish and fish dish will always be Meen Masala in your home :)

Ingredients:

Tuna Fish - 250 gms (5-6 medium size pieces)

Onions - 2 large (chopped)

Tomato - 1 large (chopped)

Garlic - 10 pods (sliced)

Ginger - 1 small piece (sliced)

Green chillies - 3 nos (chopped)

Fenugreek seeds - ¼ tsp

Ajwain - ¼ tsp

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - 7 strings

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tbsp

Jeera powder - ½ tsp

Corriender powder - 1 tbsp

Black pepper powder - ¼ tsp

Vinegar - ½ tsp

Water - ½ cup

Oil - 4 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Preparation:

- Cut, clean fish with salt, lime and keep aside.

- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai, splutter fenugreek seeds, ajwain and mustard seeds for a minute.

- Add ginger, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and fry well till slight brown in color. Now add onions and fry well till translucent.

- Once done, add tomatoes and cook till soft and mushy.

- Add turmeric, red chilli powder, corriender powder, jeera powder, salt and fry well till raw smell goes.

- Pour water and let boil for a sec. Add fish pieces,curry leaves and mix to coat the fish well with masala.

- Add vinegar now and let cook on low flame with lid on for 2 minutes.

- Once done, open lid and fry on medium high flame for water to evaporate to a semi thick masala. Sprinkle black pepper powder and add oil if necessary while frying.

- Serve hot with rice, mooru for lunch and chapatis for dinner.

Note:

- This is a semi dry dish. I used Tuna fish, you can use any fish as per your like.

- This is not a spicy dish. Adjust spice according to taste.

- This dish requires a little more oil than the usual cooking.

- I used coconut oil, you can use any oil as per choice.

Chicken Sausage Recipe (Chinese Style)

A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat with a skin around it. Sausage consists of meat, cut into pieces or ground, and filled into a casing, with other ingredients.This is a food prepared at home for easy cooking days and want a change from daily food. This is a very easy preparation with little ingredients. This is my way of preparing this easy dish. Happy cooking to all :)

Ingredients:

Chicken sausage - 4 nos (cut to small pieces)

Onion - 1 large (cut to cube pieces)

Capcicum - 1 large (cut to cube pieces)

Garlic - 5 pods (chopped)

Dark Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Green chilli sauce - 2 tsp

Tomato sauce - 2 tsp

White pepper powder - 1 tsp

White sesame seeds- 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Preparation:

- Boil, cut chicken sausages and keep aside.

- Heat oil in a kadai, add onions, garlic and saute till translucent. Now add the capcicum and saute till translucent.

- Add soy sauce, chilli sauce, tomato sauce, pepper powder and stir for few seconds. (Taste before adding salt as we have used soy sauce).

- Now toss in the cut sausages and mix well. Cover lid and cook for another 2 minutes.

- Garnish with sesame seeds and serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Nadan Pepper Chicken

Nadan Pepper Chicken is yet another delicious and authentic dish from Kerala. This is a curry prepared at home every now and then. This is a very simple recipe with every day ingredients you find in your kitchen. Just the aroma of this dish will take you to our 'Gods Own Country'. Try this recipe today and let me know your comments :)

Ingredients:

Chicken - 500 gms

Onions - 2 medium (chopped)

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Tomato - 1 medium (chopped)

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Dry red chillies - 3 nos (cut into half)

Curry leaves - 2 string

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - 3 tsp

Fenugreek powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Water - ½ cup

Oil - 2 tbsp

Black peppercorns - ½ tsp (crushed, for garnishing)

Curry leaves - 1 string (for garnishing)

Preparation:

- Heat oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves and fry for a sec.

- Add onions, ginger garlic paste and fry till onions are translucent. Now add the tomatoes and cook till mushy.

- Add turmeric powder, black pepper powder, mix well and fry for a sec. Toss the cleaned chicken and mix well till the masala is coated well in the chicken.

- Add water, salt, fenugreek powder and let the chicken cook with lid on for 15 minutes stirring in between.

- Once done, open lid and let the curry simmer to a thick gravy or to your desired consistency.

- Serve hot garnished with crushed peppercorns and curry leaves.

Note:

- Spicy dish, please adjust spice accordingly.

- This dish can be a served as a semi gravy or as a dry side dish.

Naadan Fish Cutlet

Naadan style Fish Cutlet is a very delicious dish you can never stop with one. This is the naadan style of preparing fish cutlet at my In-laws place. But to say, it tastes yum with a cup of hot coffee and tea. This cutlet makes an easy and tasty appetizer for all occasions. Have a great evening friends :)

Ingredients:

Mackerel fish - 3 nos (boiled and bones removed)

Onions - 2 large (chopped)

Garlic - 4 pods (chopped)

Green chillies - 3 nos (chopped)

Curry leaves - handful

Potatoes - 5 nos (peeled, boiled and mashed)

Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp

Red chilli powder - ¼ tsp

Black pepper powder - 2 tbsp

Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tbsp

For frying:

Oil - for deep/shallow frying

Egg - 2 nos (beaten)

Bread crumbs - 1 cup

Boiling fish:

In a pan add the cleaned fish, 3 - 4 curry leaves, 2 pods of garlic, one small piece of ginger, 1 green chilli, pinch of turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and enough water for the fish to cook. Once the fish is cooked, remove the bones from the fish and keep aside.

Preparation:

- Boil fish as mentioned and keep aside.

- Peel, boil and mash the potatoes with a pinch of salt and keep aside.

- Pour oil in a kadai and saute onions, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves till onions turn translucent.

- Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander powder and fry till raw smell goes.

- Add the fish to this mixture and saute for a minute. Switch off flame and keep aside the mixture to cool.

- When cooled, add the mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix well with hand. Add salt at this stage. Make cutlet patties in different shapes and sizes and keep aside.

- Roll each cutlet patty in beaten egg, in bread crumbs and deep fry or shallow fry in oil.

- Serve hot with tomato hot and sweet sauce or green chutney.

Note:

- King fish, Tuna fish is also used to make fish cutlets. I used Mackerel fish for this recipe.

- Check spice and salt as per taste.

Beef Roast (Christmas Special Recipe)

Wishing you and your family health, happiness, peace and prosperity this holiday season and in the coming New Year. Let the magic of Christmas fill your heart all year long. May your Christmas sparkle and shine. Celebrate this holiday like a child. Have a great Christmas:)

Beef Roast is a special dry recipe cooked in Malabar served with rice, pathiri or appam. There is different ways to prepare this recipe. This is my style of Beef Roast and I am sure my friends and family will love. This is specially cooked during Christmas but in my home this dish is prepared once in a week default. My hubby loves this dish and can have this three to four times in a day :) :)

Ingredients:

Beef - ½ kg (cut to small cube pieces)

Onions - 1 nos (chopped)

Onions - 5 nos (cut to thin slices)

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tsp each

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Corriender powder - 2 tsp

Meat masala powder - 2 tsp

Vinegar - 2 tbsp

Cumin powder - ½ tsp

Fenugreek powder - ¼ tsp

Curry leaves - 2 strings + 5 strings

Cardamom - 4 nos (powdered)

Cloves - 4 nos (powdered)

Cinnamon stick - 2 pieces (powdered)

Star anise - 2 nos (powdered)

Salt - to taste

Water - 2 tbsp

Coconut slivers(thengakottu) - ½ of one coconut

Coconut Oil - 8 to10 tbsp

Preparation:

- Marinate cut and cleaned beef with chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, corriender powder, meat masala, vinegar, cumin powder, fenugreek powder, curry leaves, cardamom powder, clove powder, cinnamon powder, star anise powder, salt, handful of thenga kottu and salt for at least ½ hour.

- Pressure cook the marinated beef masala for at least 7-8 whistles. Once done let the beef cool in the pressure cooker.

- Meanwhile fry the balance thenga kottu in one tsp of oil till brown and keep aside.

- Pour oil in a kadai and fry the sliced onions till golden brown in color. Add the 5 strings of curry leaves to the browned onions and fry for 2 minutes.

- Now add the cooked beef and fry well till beef is brown and roasted well on low to medium flame.

- Garnish with fried thenga kottu and lime slices.

- Serve hot with rice and kachiya moru, pathiri or appam.

Note:

- Spice and salt can be adjusted as per taste.

- I have used about 10 tbsp of oil in this recipe to get the roasted taste.

Pork Curry (Christmas/Easter Dishes)

Pork is prepared mainly in Coorg and Goa. It is a delicacy in both states. There are different ways to prepare Pork curry. This is my recipe and a curry which is very easy to prepare for Christmas or Easter. This is a dish prepared specially for couple of my friends who loves pork recipes. Enjoy holidays !!!!

Ingredients:

Pork - 800 gms (cut to cube size with fat)

Small onions - 1 cup (sliced)

Green chillies - 3 nos (slit into half)

Garlic - 1 tbsp (chopped)

Ginger - 1 tbsp (chopped)

Kashmiri red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - ½ tsp

Curry leaves - 1 string

Mustard seeds - ½ tsp

Oil - 1 tsp

Water - 1-2 cup

Salt - to taste

Spices to grind together:

Dry red chillies - 4 nos

Coriander seeds - 2 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Vinegar - 3 tsp

Black pepper corns - 1 tsp

Preparation :

- Heat oil in a cooker, splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves.

- Add onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and saute for a minute.  

- Add the grind paste and saute for a minute. Now add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and saute well.

- Toss the cut and cleaned pork to the masala and mix well.

- Pour water, add salt and let the pork get cooked for 8 - 10 whistle.

- Once done, cook for another 3 minutes on low flame for the gravy to slightly thicken.  

- Delicious pork curry is ready to serve.

- Serve with rice, chapathi or even with bread.

Date Cake (Christmas Special Cake)

Date Cake is a delicious and mouth watering cake which is simple and easy to prepare. This cake becomes very moist the next day when it is covered. This recipe was made by our grand parents and i prepared this during Christmas time. I beleive this recipe is between us not less than 40 years and every one would have tried this cake atleast once. This is one of my favourite cake during any time of the year. So yummy and cannot resist with one serving :)

Ingredients:

Dates - 20 nos (seedless)

Egg - 2 nos

Milk - ½ cup + ¾ cup

Sugar (powdered) - 1 cup

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Baking soda / Baking powder - 1 tsp

Cooking oil / Cooking Butter - ½ cup

Almonds - 20 nos (chopped)

Salt - ¼ tsp

Butter - 2 tbsp (to grease the baking pan)

Preparation:

- Soak dates in warm water for 10 - 15 minutes, remove the seeds and keep aside.

- Once done, soak the seedless dates in ½ cup warm water for atleast 4 - 5 hours.

- Meanwhile, powder the sugar, melt the butter, beat the egg well and keep aside.

- Grind the soaked dates, ¾ cup warm milk, powdered sugar, beaten eggs and salt to a smooth paste. Remove the mixture to a mixing bowl.

- Now add butter, baking soda and beat well. Keep adding all purpose flour little by little while beating the mixture till smooth and fluffy.

- Once done add chopped almonds and mix well.

- Grease the baking pan and pour the cake mix for the delicious date cake to be cooked.

- Place the cake tray in a microwave convection mode at 180 degrees for 50 - 60 minutes or till done.

- Once done, let cool, decorate and enjoy your yummy Date cake with ice cream or plain for Christmas.

Note:

- I used cooking oil instead of cooking butter. Its upon taste and how moist you want your cake.

- This cake can be cooked with or without egg.

- This is a recipe I tried from a blog with slight variations.

- Any dry fruits can be added to the cake, I just used chopped almonds.