Kitchen Tantra

Fried Fish With Tamarind Sauce:(Thai Style)

Fish Fry With Tamarind Sauce. Fried Fish With Hot & Spicy Tamarind Sauce. Meen Porichadhu-Puli Thanni. Meen Porichadhu. Fried Machi Aur Imili Ki Sauce. Fried Machili-Imili Sauce. Capalu Fry-with Imili Saaru.

Ingredients:

Whole Fresh Firm fish – 2
Oil for frying.

Tamarind Sauce:

Tamarind paste 1 spoon
Brown sugar/jaggery
Salt
Onion 1 finely chopped
Garlic 6 finely chopped
Green chilies 2 finely chopped
Red Chilies 2 finely chopped
Oil few spoons.

For Decoration:

Lettuce Leaf - 1
Lemon Wedges - 2

Method:

Frying Fish:

Wash and clean the fish. Remove its gut and scales. Well retain its fins for this recipe. If you find it hard….right go ahead and remove its fins too.

Heat oil in shallow wok. When the oil is hot enough….maintain the stove over low-medium heat. Now fry fish in it. When the fish is almost crispier to one side, turn carefully to other side and fry till crispier. Do not turn them often. As the fish will become flaky soon.

Now set this fish on your display plate.

Meanwhile when fish is getting done….prepare the sauce.

Tamarind Sauce:

Heat oil in a shallow pan. Add tamarind paste and ¼ cup of water to it. Boil it really well.

Add salt, brown sugar and continue boiling. Maybe till it turns to thick syrup like consistency.

Then remove this from stove. Add chopped chilies, onion and garlic to it.

Display:

In a display plate….place a lettuce leaf and place your fried fish on the top. Then run this sauce above it. Just run only few spoons. Serve the remaining sauce in a cup, along with it. Decorate the plate with lemon wedges.

Labels: Fish

Fried Pomfret with Fish Sauce:(Thai Style)

Pomfret Fry. Crisply Fried Pomfret – with Fish Sauce. Fried Pomfret – Thai Style. Vavva Meen Varuval. Wavva Meen Varuval. Chapalu Fry. Fried Machi. Machili Fry.

This is one of my favorite Recipe from Thai Kitchen. Generally I like ‘Thai Recipe’ much than any other Asian Cuisine. Maybe I could find some real hot and spicier food there. Actually its much similar to Indian recipe here. Where in Indian we mix all these ingredients straight with the fish and deep fry it. While in ‘Thai Recipe’ they fry only the fish….yeah ‘plain fish’ and prepare separately a sauce and run over their fried fish. Is it interesting! And so does the taste too! Give a try today….you may love it.

Ingredients:

Whole Fresh Firm Pomfret fish – 2
Oil for frying.

Fish Sauce:

Salt
Onion 1 small – thinly sliced into circles
Fresh Red Chilies – 2 finely chopped into rings
Fresh Green Chilies – 2 finely chopped into rings
Fish Sauce – 1 cup
Lime – cut into wedges.

Variation: Whenever I couldn’t find ‘fish sauce….I managed with ‘thin soy sauce’.

Method:

Frying Fish:

Wash and clean pomfret. Remove its gut and scales. Well retain its fins for this recipe. If you find it hard….right go ahead and remove its fins too.

Heat oil in shallow wok. When the oil is hot enough….maintain the stove over low-medium heat. Now fry fish in it. When the fish is almost crispier to one side, turn carefully to other side and fry till crispier. Do not turn them often. As the fish will become flaky soon.

Now set this fish on your display plate.

Meanwhile when fish is getting done….prepare the sauce.

Fish Sauce:

In fish sauce or soy sauce add all the above mentioned ingredients except lemon wedges.

Display:

In a display plate….place a lettuce leaf and place your fried fish on the top. Then run this sauce above it. Just run only few spoons. Serve the remaining sauce in a cup, along with it. Decorate the plate with lemon wedges.

Labels: Fish

Fish Kabab:(Iranian Style)

Machi Kabab. Machili Kebab. Fish Kebab. Meen Kawab. Chapalu Kebab. Fish in Skewers. Grilled Fish. BBQ Fish.

Ingredients:

Healthy firm Salmon Fish – 1 kilo
Salt
Lime or Lemon juice 1-2 fruits
Olive oil few spoons
Red Chilies 3
Black Pepper ½ spoon
Onion 1 small
Mint leaves few
Coriander leaves few
Saffron few strands

Other Vegetables to Decorate the Skewer:

As per your personal choice. Below is my own list of choice.

Capsicum/Bell pepper – red color 1 – de seed & cubed
Capsicum/Bell pepper – green color 1 – de seed & cubed
Capsicum/Bell pepper – yellow color 1 – de seed & cubed
Purple Onions 3 large – each cubed
Potatoes 3 small - cubed
Tomatoes 3 small - cubed

Method:

Remove the bones and skin from the fish. Cube them gently.

In a large bowl, bring all the above said ingredients except fish. Mix this masala really well.

Now marinade the fish in this mixer. Refrigerate it for at least 10-12 hours.

Now thread this fish along with onion, bell peppers, potatoes and tomato in skewers. Repeat the same for all the remaining fish too.

Preheat your griller and place these skewers prepared. Grill them till fish is done and aromatic at the same time.

Serve hot as a snack or appetizer. I would like to take this as a side dish for pilaf or biriyanis too.

Labels: Fish

Fish Stew:(Kerala Style)

Meen Thanni Kuzhambu. Meen Vadichadhu. Chapalu Pulusu. Machili Stew. Machili Ki Soup to go with Rice. Fish Soup to go with Rice. Meen Curry.

This Stew/ curry has particular ingredient called ‘Penam Puli’ or ‘Perum Puli’ or ‘Kodakka Puli’ in Tamil and ‘Kodam Puli’ or ‘Meen Puli’ in Malayalam. ‘Sima Chinta’ in Telugu. Its nothing but a variety of ‘Tamarind’. Widely used in Cooking in Southern Tamil Nadu districts, Kerala and Karnataka. One can use this ‘tamarind’ while preparing the curry and actually get rid of it, after cooking. As the pod dropped in looks much intact, unlike our usual ‘tamarind’. So this helps the curry to have deep red color and not dark brown color. Interesting huh!

Ingredients:

Fish Fillets(bones removed and probably cubed) 500 grams
Kukum Star(Kodam Puli )– 2 pieces(optional)
Green chilies 3 - slitted
Red Onion 1 large – sliced
Country Tomatoes 2 – chopped into chunks
Ginger 4” size – peeled and chopped into sticks
Garlic 7-9 cloves – peeled and chopped into sticks
Salt
Turmeric powder ½ + ½ spoon
Red Chili powder 2 spoons
Red food color 1 pinch (optional)
Thick/thin coconut milk 1 cup
Mustard seeds 1 spoon
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Fenugreek seeds ¼ spoon
Asafoetida ¼
Black Pepper ½ spoon
Coconut Oil few spoons(kerala touch) sesmae oil (Tamizhar touch).
Crisply Fried Curry Leaves 1 cup – for garnishing.

Method:

Wash and clean fish. Remove its inner bone and cube it.(use tilapia or vanjiram – easy to cube fish)

While washing fish…add ½ spoon of turmeric to it and allow it to stand for 20 minutes. Then wash again with clean water. Strain and drain. Set aside. This method is told to avoid that stinky smell...if it is river fish!

Heat oil in a wok….add mustard, cumin, fenugreek, black pepper and asafetida to it. Wait until it pops and splutters well.

Add green chilies and onions to it. Fry till onions turn to golden color.

Add garlic and ginger sticks too. Fry them till its raw odor leaves.

Now add tomatoes and sauté for few minutes. Add salt, turmeric, chili and color powder to this.

Fry for few more seconds. Then add 2-3 cups of water and kokum star(kodam puli)now. Cover and cook over medium heat. Let all the ‘sour’ from kokum star
Get into the stew. (Taste it now and adjust according to wish)

When if you feel, it has enough sourness to the curry….remove the ‘kokum star’ by gently fishing with your slotted spoon.

Add fish cubes now and cook over medium heat without covering it. Maybe it takes just 2 minutes.

Now add coconut milk to this and allow it to boil once. Remove this from stove top and allow the curry to stand without lid for another 1 whole hour.

(Generally if you cover fish curry – it gets disintegrated and so does…. when it is cooked for long time.)

Garnish this stew with crisply fried curry leaves.

Serve warm along with steam cooked rice.

Labels: Fish, Non-Veg Kuzhambu, Qorma

Kezhvaragu Kali:(Country Style)

Raagi Kali. Changatti. Finger-Millet Recipe. Raagi changati.

Ingredients:

Broken raw rice 1 fistful
Finger-millet powder 1 cup
Salt as per taste.

Method:

In a heavy bottomed vessel. Heat 2 cups of water. Add fistful of broken rice to this. Allow it to cook 3/4 a way.

Now slowly drizzle in the ragi-flour. Using a back of thick wooden spatula. Constantly stir them. Maybe until it is done. When you dip wooden in water and then in the ragi (done). It should not tbe sticky anymore.

Now in a wet muslin cloth....add 2 scoops of theis ragi and roll them like a ball and leave on a serving dish. Repeat the same for more ragi balls.

Serve them steaming hot along with fish curry/meen kuzhambu or mutton serva/kuzhambu or keerai kuzhambu/greens gravy. Simply unbeatable combos!

Labels: Fish

Nethili Karuvadu Varuval:


Fried Dry Fish. Fried Dry-Anchovies. Nethili Karuvadu Varthadhu. Nethi karuvadu porichadhu. Dry Anchovies deep fry.

Ingredients:

Dry Fish (Anchovies/Nethili) 100 grams
Turmeric powder 1/2 + 1/2 spoon
Chili powder 1-2 spoons
Oil for deep frying.

Method:

Wash the dry fish, several times in running water. Maybe until water runs clear.

Marinade it with 1/2 spoon of turmeric powder. Leave it aside for 1 hour.

Wash them again in running water. Maybe until water runs clear.

Drain and strain the dry fish. Do not break them in this process.

To this add 1/2 spoon of turmeric and chili powder. Set aside for 10-15 minutes

Heat oil in a deep pan. When it is smoky hot. Fry the marinated dry fish. Maybe few in each batch. Fry them till crisp, reddish brown and aromatic.

Reserve them over kitchen tissues.

Serve hot as a side dish for Plain Rasam Rice.

Labels: Fish

Nethili Varuval:(Tamizhar Style)

Commersons Anchovy Fry. Fried Anchovy. Fried Fish(small sized fish 2-3"inch fish) Podi Meen Varuval. Meen Porichadhu. Anchovy is called 'Nethili' in Tamil.

Ingredients:

Anchovy/Nethili - 500 grams
Salt
Turmeric powder 1/2 spoon
Chili powder 1-2 spoons
Coriander seeds powder 1-2 spons
Lemon juice from 1 fruit
Rice flour 1 spoon
Ginger-garlic paste 1 spoon
Oil for frying.

For Garnishing:

Garlic 1 whole - peeled and finely chopped
Green chilies 8 - thinly sliced
Curry leaves 1 cup.

Method:

Clean and wash the fish thoroughly. Maybe one can add some rck salt to it.

Remove its fins, head and digestive track. Wash again in running water....until water runs clear.

In a large bowl, add all the above said ingredents except oil. Mix them well...to get a thick paste.

Now add the fish to this paste mixure Mix them, let all the fish coat with the masala. eave it aside or in frdge for 1-2 hours.

Heat oil, in a shallow wok. Maintain the heat over medium flame. Fry few fish at a time. Never load your oil. Fryt hem till crisp and reddish brown in color.

Repeat it for each batch. Leave them over kitchen tissues for 2 minutes befoe serving.

In a seperate oil, fry curry leaves, garlic and green chilies. Each separately till crspy and aromatic.

Serve them warm, garnish with above fried items. Can be serves as a side dish for meals/rice dishes or as an appetiser.

Labels: Fish

Tandoor Fish:(North-Indian Style)

Fish Tandoori. Grilled Fish. Spicy Grilled Fish. Meen Vaatiyadhu. BBQ Fish.

Ingredients:

Healthy Fish - whole fish (6 numbers)
Fenugreek seeds powder 1/4 spoon
Asafoetida 1/4 spoon
Ghee 1 cup.

Wet Grind These To Thick Paste:

Small onion 1/2
Garlic 4-6 cloves
Ginger 3" peeled and chopped
Green chilies 2 chopped
Dry red chilies 3
Omam 1/2 spoon
Red food color(optional)
Mango powder/Aamchoor powder 1/2 spoon
Whole black pepper 1/2 spoon
Curd/yogurd 1 cup
Lemon juice from 2 fruit
Salt
Ghee/oil 1/2 cup.

For Garnishing:

Large onion 1 - sliced into rounds
Large tomato 1 - sliced into rounds
Cucumber 1/2 - sliced into rounds
Lemon 1 - sliced into rounds.

Method:

Wash and clean fish. Remove its scales carefully. Discard its head and tail. Remove its gut/digestive system and eggs too. Now make 2-4 cuts over each fish.

Run the wet-ground paste on this fish. Cover and refridgerate it for 2-4 hours.

Now turn your griller on.....Grill these fish both the sides, till fragrant and in deep-red color.

If the fish is too dry, spray little more oil/ghee over it. Once the fish is allmost done. Sprinkle asafoetida and fenugreek powder on it.

Serve hot with mint chutney. Garnish with Onion, Tomatoes, Cucumber and lemon wedges.

Labels: Fish

Fish Cutlet:

Ingredients:

Fish 1/4 kilo(skin and bones removed- healthy and thick)
Potato 1 small - boiled, peeled and mashed
Green chilies 3-5 finely chopped(deseed, if you hate hot food)
Onion 1-2 large finely chopped
Coriander leaves 1 fistful - finely chopped
Salt
Cumin seeds powder 1-2 spoons
Garam masala powder 1/2 spoon
Corn flour 2 spoons
Egg whites from 2 eggs
Bread crumbs 1 cup
Oil for pan frying.

Method:

Boil fish with little water for 2-4 minutes. Once it is done....throw away the water. Squeeze the excess water from it....by pressing it. Set aside.

In a bowl, add salt, green chili, onion, mashed potato, coriander leaves, Cumin seeds powder, Garam masala powder and cooked fish.

Mix them thoroughly. Bring it to dough like consistency. Make equal parts out of it. Pat them into cutlet shape.

Now dip this cutlet in egg whites.(Egg whites should be well spread in a tray)

After dipping in egg white. Roll the cutlets over bread crumbs. (Bread crumbs must be well spread in a tray)

In a pan spray oil. Fry 2-3 cutlets each time. Till they are golden to reddish brown color. Fry both the sides.

Serve hot with tomato sauce and chili sauce.

Labels: Fish

Fried Fish Eggs:(Country Style)

Meen Muttai Varuval. Meen Sinai Porichadhu.

Ingredients:

Rohu fish eggs 1/4 kilo(the eggs should be intact and fine quality)
Bengal gram flour 2 spoons
Rice flour 1 spoon
Salt
Chili powder 1-2 spoons
Turmeric powder 1/2 + 1 spoon
Tamarind paste 1/4 spoon
Oil for frying.

Method:

In a bowl add 1 spoon of turmeric powder. To this add fish eggs. Mix them gently without breaking the eggs.

Then wash them with water without breaking the eggs.

Now in a bowl. Add salt, turmeric, chili power and tamarind paste. Mix them into thin paste.

To this add fish eggs and marinade them for 20 minutes.

Heat oil. Fry them till crisp and reddish brown color.

Serve hot as a snack or side dish.

Labels: Eggs, Fish

Dry Fish Curry:(Country Style)


Karuvaadu Thokku.

Ingredients:

Dry fish 1 bowl full(I used Anchovies today)
Large red onion 2-4 finely chopped
Large country tomatoes 2-4 finely chopped
Garlic 2 whole - peeled and semi-chushed
Turmeric powder 1 + 1 spoon
Chili powder 2 spoons
Green chilies 5 slitted
Mustard seeds 1/2 spoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 spoon
Chana dal 1 fistful
Urad dal 1 fistful
Curry leaves 1 cup
Sesame oil 1 cup.

Method:

In a running water wash the dry fish several times. Maybe until water runs clear. Now sprinkle 1 spoon of turmeric powder to this and mix them thoroughly. Set aside for 14-20 minutes.

In a large wok/kadai, heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Let them pop and splutter well.

Now add green chilies and curry leaves....let them fry well.

Further add chana and urad dal...fry them till it turns to reddish color.

Now add garlic and fry them till fragrant and followed by onions. Fry onions till it turns to golden color. Again followed by tomatoes....fry them till it looses its water content.

To this add turmeric and chili powder. Let them blend well.

Now again wash the dry fish...until the water runs clear.(as we marinated it with turmeric powder)

Add this fish to the above set-up. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes over low - medium heat. Once the dry-fish is done. Remove from stove.

Serve hot along with steam cooked rice.

Labels: Fish, Pickle/Thokku