Fish Moilee - Fish Molly aka Karimeen Molly

The colloquial name for a Fish Moilee is Fish Molly. When I was young i assumed this recipe would have been first prepared by a Molly aunty and so the name. However, the story took a U turn when I read the menu at a restaurant. It read Fish Moilee. Since the Moilee is similar to a stew this would have been prepared by a Keralite butler to a foreign master, either the Portuguese, Dutch or the British.

There are many variations to the Fish Moilee. I have prepared a recipe without spices and with lemon juice. The addition of lemon juice makes this Fish Stew very refreshing. A moilee is usually served with velleppam, idiyappam or bread, as a starter. I have used Pearlspot. You can prepare with Pomfret or fish fillets.

the recipe

Pearlspot – 4 medium sized

Ingredients to marinate

Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/3 tsp
Salt to taste

Ingredients for the gravy

Oil – 3 tbsp
Onion, sliced – 2 medium
Ginger, julienned – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 5 cloves
Green Chillies – 5
Lemon juice – 1 ½ tbsp
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Thin Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup (extracted from 1 medium coconut)
Thick Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup (extracted from 1 medium coconut)
Salt to taste

the method

Clean the fish and make scores on it. Mix the ingredients to marinate using few drops of water. Rub the marinade over the fish and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Add about 5 tbsp oil into a non- stick or heavy bottom pan and sear the fish (lightly fry the fish – need not be crispy).

Use the left over oil or use fresh oil and sauté the onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute for about a minute and a half in medium flame. Add the lemon juice and let it cook for about 1 minute ( If the lemon juice remains fresh, it will curdle the coconut milk.).

Add the thin coconut milk and the seared fish. Simmer for 5 minutes. Check salt and add pepper powder. Add the thick coconut milk and cook till it turns hot. Turn off heat. Serve as preferred.

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Lemon Cake with Lemon Curd and Cream

The combination of lemon cake with lemon curd and cream is something to die for!

The idea of preparing a lemon cake is adapted from Food buzz while the lemon curd has been on my to do list for a long time and the cream is of course to give a balance to the extremely citrussy flavor in the cake and the L.Curd.

I got slightly lazy and impatient on the course of preparing this and it has reflected in the way the cream and the icing looks. And of course I have learnt a lot of lessons that should be taken care of while preparing lemon curd and storing it.

For the lemon curd I followed the recipe from Joy of Baking. I did not follow the recipe thoroughly and so I got to learn that the lemon curd has to be strained as soon as it is taken off heat . This is to get rid of any lumps, as well as to strain the zest of lemon which otherwise will increase the sourness of the lemon curd and gives a slight bitter taste as it sits, and it is also easy to pipe the lemon curd when there is no zest in it which is likely to get stuck in the nozzle…….Here is my slightly bad looking yet very tasty lemony cake.

Ingredients for the lemon cake

Flour – 2 cup (200 gms)

Eggs – 2

Baking powder – ½ tsp

Caster sugar – 2 cup

Vegetable oil – 1 cup

Vanilla Extract – ¾ tsp

Juice of 1 ½  lemon

Zest of one lemon

Method to prepare the cake

Preheat the oven at 180 C. Prepare a pan: butter the pan and dust it with flour. Tap out excess flour.

Sift together the flour and baking powder thrice. In a mixing bowl, place beat the eggs one at a time. Add the caster sugar in 3 to 4 steps at speed 1 and then beat the mix at high speed for about 4 minutes till it doubles in volume. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the oil little by little while still mixing.

Stir in the flour 2 tablespoons at a time and mix it with a wooden spatula. When half of the flour is used up add the flour, followed by a teaspoon of lemon juice. Repeat the process till the flour and lemon juice is over. Stir in the zest of lemon. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180C for 25 – 30 minutes or till a toothpick/ skewer comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely.

Ingredients for Lemon Curd

Egg – 1

Juice of one lemon

Zest of one lemon

Caster sugar – 50 gms

Butter – 1 tbsp

Place the egg in a pan and lightly beat it with a fork. Pour the lemon juice and add sugar. Mix well.

Prepare a double boiler (A pan with ½ to ¾ boiling water – once the water has started boiling turn to low heat).

Place the pan with the egg mix in the double boiler and mix well. When the egg mix begins to form the consistency of custard, add the zest of a lemon. Continue stirring till the mix gains a thick consistency (about 6-9 minutes). Strain it immediately and add the butter and mix well till the butter is melted. Let it cool completely. Place a cling film or plastic wrap on top of the lemon curd to prevent the formation of a thick layer. Place it in the refrigerator till use.

Other Ingredients

Whipped Cream – 1 cup

Few Cherries

Assembling the cake

Cut the cake into two. Spread the lemon curd, followed by cream. Place the other piece of cake and smother it with lemon curd as seen in the second picture. Spread the whipping cream in the cake evenly. Place few about 3-4 tablespoons of lemon curd in the icing tube (use a nozzle of your choice) and pipe out a preferred design. Place few cherries on top for a color contrast. Serve immediate or chill it and serve. I like the chilled one. Enjoy!!

the recipe goes to Sinful Delights by Vardhini

Mint Chutney - lemon flavored

Mint Chutney needs no introduction though i prepared this chutney using lemon as the sour ingredient instead of the usual tamarind that goes into the chutney making process in South India. The addition of lemon makes it more fresh in taste.

the recipe

Mint leaves - 1/2 cup

Coconut, grated - 4 tbsp

Small onion - 6

Green chilly - 1

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Salt - to taste

Lemon juice - juice from 1 lemon

the method

Place the peeled and chopped ginger, small onion and green chilly in a blender. Blend it to a coarse paste. Add the coconut, mint leaves, salt and lemon juice to the onion mix. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Blend it to the desired consistency. Serve with rice, biryani or pulao or as you please.

grinding the coconut and mint for a long time can take away its taste. thats the reason the cutney is ground in two batches.

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.