Fish curry with a Mediterranean Twist

This fish recipe is similar to the consistency and taste of a stew.  Not much sour, the Mediterranean spice that has gone into the making is rosemary. The addition of coconut milk keeps the Kerala base of a fish curry. Tastes good with rice as well as bread.

the recipe

Fish fillets or flat soft fish (pearlspot or pomfret) - 8 pieces

Onion - 1

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Green chilly - 1

Pepper powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp + oil for frying

Rosemary - 1 tsp

Tomato - 2

Coconut Milk / Milk  - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

ingredients for the marinade

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric - 2 pinch

the method

Marinate the fish with the ingredients for the marinade for about ten minutes and shallow fry it.

In another pan heat 2 tbsp oil and stir in the onion. When translucent, add ginger and green chilly. Sauté for a minute and add the tomatoes. Stir till the tomatoes are soft. Add the rosemary and pepper powder and stir for ten seconds and then add the coconut milk / milk. Add salt and mix well. Add the fried fish pieces and simmer for ten minutes. Done.

Orange Cake

Whenever I see citrus fruits, I just think about using them up in my cooking: as a fresh ingredients or a cooked one. The reason is nothing but citrus fruits are very refreshing. Hope you will agree that even a simple lemon juice with a dash of salt is a way of rejuvenation when you are exhausted. If you are apprehensive about using salt in lemon juice, i would say it is highly recommended. This comes from my days in the NCC when salted and sugared lemon juice was served during breaks. 

The idea of an orange cake has been in my mind for quite some time. Somehow the addition of the whole orange peel kept me thinking whether i should try this or not. Finally, I stumbled upon an orange extract recently. I knew I cant buy it just for a one time use. So i thought about preparing orange soufflé, orange cupcakes, orange muffins and of course an orange cake to use the whole thing up. And then I dint buy the orange extract. An orange extract is not actually needed for the cake. Fresh orange is used to bring out the flavor. 

the recipe

Orange - 2

Flour - 3/4 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Egg - 2

Caster sugar - 1/2 cup

Oil - 1/2 cup

Milk - 5 tbsp

Vanilla extract - 3/4 tsp

to prepare the pan

Butter - 2 tsp

Flour - 1 tsp

the method

Chop the one orange into tiny pieces along with the peel. Deseed the orange as you cut it. This can be done by cutting the orange into half horizontally and then cutting through the segments. Keep it aside.

Prepare a cake pan by greasing it with butter and then by sprinkling flour. Dust off excess flour. I used a bundt pan 'coz the cake mixture is moist

Sift the flour and baking powder three times. 

Preheat the oven at 180 C for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, beat the eggs one by one at minimum speed. Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and run the electric beater in swirls. When all the sugar is added turn to high speed and beat the egg and sugar mix until it has doubled in volume. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the oil and beat till thoroughly incorporated. (I use a spatula to mix flour). Keep aside 1/4 of the flour. Add the remaining flour in batches alternatively with tablespoons of milk starting and ending with flour.

Mix the chopped orange with 1/4 of the flour (this is to make sure that the orange doesn't get collected at the bottom of the pan). Add to the cake mix, mix well. Pour it into the prepared pan and bake at 180 C for 35 - 40 minutes. Check whether a skewer or knife comes out clean. Take the cake out of the pan after ten minutes or when the cake has partially cooled. Pour juice from one orange on top of the cake. 

afterthoughts:

If you feel the top of the cake is getting overly browned / burnt cover the cake pan with parchment paper after the first 12-15 minutes of baking.

I have used a whole orange in this cake - peel on.....kids may be fussy about eating the peel....the peel can be substituted with rind from one orange.

Green Pea Green Kurma

Green Pea is a favourite at home: be it in curries, biryani or the roasted ones as a snack. I used dried peas for this kurma but wanted to give a green colour by adding some green bell peppers. The addition of coconut however has given a lighter colour to the kurma. Tastes good with chapati or hoppers.

Usually dried green peas turn mushy when pressure cooked. This time I adjusted the soaking time (6 hours)

and reduced the pressure cooking time to just half the usual one (three whistle) and boiled the peas with salt. The peas were cooked but still hard. The rest of the cooking was done along with the masala and then it turned to have a soft texture while not losing its shape.

the recipe

Boiled green peas - 1 1/2 cup

ingredients to be ground to a paste

Onion - 1

Green Bell Pepper - 1 medium sized

Green chilly - 1 or 2

Garlic - 6 cloves

Ginger - 1/4 tsp

Cloves - 3 or 4  small

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

ingredients for the coconut mixture

Coconut, grated - 5 tbsp

Fennel seeds - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp (soak for 5 minutes)

Cumin - two pinch
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp (soak for 10 tminutes)

other ingredients 

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tsp + 1 tbsp

Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp

the method

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and saute the ingredients to be ground to a paste for one minute. Grind it to a paste.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add the cooked peas without water. Saute for two minutes. Add the onion mixture and cook for another two minutes. Pour the water from the cooked peas. Grind the coconut with fennel, cumin and poppy seeds to a smooth paste. Add it to the peas. Add pepper powder. Cook till the kurma gains preferred consistency.

Tomato Dosa

Tomato Dosa is a tasty twist to the usual ones. Kids would like this for its color. I like to have this with sugar though it tastes good with coconut chutney also. The cone shape was made to entertain the kids…

Squid in Roasted Coconut Gravy

Our proximity to the sea and backwaters has an impact on our cuisine. When meat cries fat, calories, cholesterol and an escalating BMI, sea foods come to our rescue. Squid is usually prepared as a stir fry. The need for gravy finally resulted in this preparation. Squid may be associated with a bland taste, but if infused