Shallow fried Lady fish

Ingredients :

1. Kane/Lady fish /Nongal - 4 medium sized cleaned ,washed and drained
2. red chilly powder - 1 tbsp
3. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. salt - 1/2 tsp
5. vinegar - 1/2 tsp
6. black pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
7. coconut oil - 4 tbsp

Method:
mix together the chilly , turmeric,salt,vinegar,black pepper and 1 tbsp of coconut oil and make into a paste , add few drops of water if needed .
taste the paste for salt and adjust if required
apply the paste on the cleaned fish and set aside for an hour .
heat remaining coconut oil in a shallow nonstick tawa or pan
once the oil is hot place the fish in a single layer and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes per side
turning the fish once.

Irachi Chor

Ingredients :

1. Beef  - 1/2 kg with bones cut into medium sized cubes
2. Jeera rice / kaima rice - 3 cups
3. water - 6 cups (you might not need all of it depending on the beef gravy)
4. onion - 4 sliced
5. green chilly - 3 slit
6. ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
7. garlic - 6 cloves 
8. ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
9. curry leaves - 1 spring 
10. coconut oil - 3 tbsp
11. curry leaves - 1 spring
12. corriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
13. mint leaves - 1/4 cup
14. vinegar - 1 tbsp
15. yogurt - 1/2 cup
16. chilly powder -1 tsp
17. corriander powder - 1 tsp
18. turmeric powder - 1 tsp
19. fresh ground meat masala - 1 tbsp (2 cardamom, 2 cloves,5 peppercorn,1/2 tsp fennel seeds,1 cinnamon stick,1 bay leaf  

Method :
add the beef , 2 chopped onions ,chopped ginger , garlic cloves ,green chillues ,1/2 tsp turmeric powder , vinegar , curry leaves ,salt and 1/2 tbsp meat masala into a small pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles .Allow the steam to release by itself and then open the cooker .(cooking time will vary on the cut of beef you use - increase or decrease as needed)
wash and soak the rice in water and set aside .
In a pan add the coconut oil and sliced onions and saute until it starts changing color .
add in the ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell is gone .
add in the chilly, corriander,turmeric powder and remaining meat masala and saute for a minute .
add in curd and stirfry until the oil starts separating .
add in the corriander and mint leaves and mix well.
Add the cooked beef pieces into this masala and mix well, let it cook on low flame for 5 minutes .
measure the beef gravy and keep aside.
meanwhile drain the rice from soaking water and add to the meat that is cooking .
pour in the measured gravy(leftover from cooking the beef in the pressure cooker )
measure and add remaining water (gravy + water should come up to 6 cups )
add salt to taste and mix well.
bring to a boil and then reduce the flame to low , cover and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.about 15 minutes .
serve with raita ,pickle , pappad and chutney

Condensed Milk Paal Payasam / Rice pudding with Condensed Milk

Ingredients :

1. Milk - 2 litres (about 8 cups)
2. **Kaima rice - 1/2 cup 
3. Condensed Milk - 1 tin
4. green cardamom - seeds from 4 pods crushed
5. Almonds - 8 soaked and sliced into fine slivers
6. salt - 2 pinches

** You can use any variety of good quality raw rice like Basmati ,jeera , sona masuri etc . You get best results from a fragrant rice like Kaima ( the biriyani rice used in Malabar region)

Method:

In a large clean pressure cooker add the rice and milk and bring to a simmer.
Lower the flame and close the pressure cooker and put on the weight.
When the pressure builds up lower the flame to the lowest setting .
Cook for 45 minutes in the pressure cooker.
Allow the pressure to get released by itself .
Open the cooker , the rice should have cooked well now .
Add the condensed milk  and salt and stir well.
Taste for sweetness.Add more sugar if you like it sweeter.
turn the flame back on and mix well until combined.
Add the almond slivers and cardamom powder.
Serve hot or cold.

Bread rolls

Ingredients :

1. Bread slices - 8 sides trimmed
2. Egg - 1 
3. Bread crumbs - about 1 cup (crumble the cut out sides and 2 additional slices in the blender.)
4. Oil - for deep frying 

For the filling - you can use any filling you choose , left over shredded cooked chicken , potato baji, spring roll filling . Just make sure the filling is dry and not a gravy.
I used a beef with cabbage , carrots ,onion,garlic - sauteed in soy sauce fully cooked and dry .

Method :
wet your palms and place a slice of bread on your wet plam .press down with the other palm so that the bread slice is slightly wet and squished.
Place a small amount of filling and roll the bread to form a log shape , you can squeeze and shape the bread roll once you place the filling inside .
Keep all the 8 pieces aside like this .
Beat egg and keep .
Add bread crumbs to a plate and keep beside it .
Dip each bread roll into the egg wash and roll in bread crumbs and place on a dry plate .
Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry on medium high heat until the rolls are brown and crisp .
Drain on paper towels and serve with Ketchup.

Dhai Chicken / Chicken cooked in Yogurt gravy

This is the chicken gravy that is used in Malabar Chicken Biriyani . You can layer this curry with Ghee rice and have it as Biriyani or serve it as a side dish.The Dhai makes the chicken really tender and moist.
















Ingredients :

1. Bone in Chicken - 1/2 kg 
2. Thick yogurt /Curd - 1 cup
3. Onion - 2  medium sliced 
4. Ginger -1 inch piece
5. Garlic - 8 cloves
6. Green chilies - 6 
7. Cashew nuts - 5
8. Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
9. Mint leaves - 10 leaves 
10. Tomato - 1 quartered
11. Ghee - 2 tbsp
12. Salt - to taste
13. Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Wash and dry the chicken pieces .Add the curd and enough salt to taste and keep the chicken aside for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

Grind the cashew to coarse paste and keep aside.

Make a coarse paste of ginger and garlic. Add the green chillies and pulse once to break up the green chillies.

Add Ghee to a frying pan and add in the onions and fry until its starts to turn slightly brown.

Add in the ginger,garlic,green chilly mix and stiryfry until raw smell is gone.

Add the chicken and curd mixture and mix well.

Cover and cook the chicken in its own juices + curd mix until its cooked (about 15-20 minutes)

add the ground Cashew paste, Quartered Tomatoes and chopped corriander and mint leaves and mix well.Sprinkle the garam masala and mix.

Cook for a minute , taste for salt , spice, sourness. Adjust as necessary .

Serve with Ghee rice.

Tomato & Garlic Chutney

Ingredients:

1. Ripe Tomatoes - 4 medium
2. Onion - 1 small chopped
3. Green chillies - 2 chopped
4. Garlic - 10 cloves peeled
5. Dry red chilies - 4
6. Urud Dal - 1 tbsp
7. sugar - 1/2 tsp
8. salt - to taste
9. Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
10. Hing/Asafotedia - a pinch
11. Curry leaves - 1 spring
12. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
13. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
14. Jeera/Cumin seeds - a pinch

Method:

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and add the urud dal and stirfry for 30 seconds until it starts toasting .
Add in the dry red chilly and stir.
Add the Garlic , onion, green chillies  & tomatoes and fry for few minutes until the tomatoes start breaking up.
Add Turmeric powder,asafotedia, salt and sugar and mix well.
Cook for a minute and then let the mixture cool.
Once cooled grind the mix without adding any water and keep aside (2 pulses in the blender is enough) dont make it into a very smooth paste .
Heat the remaining 1 tsp oil and splutter the mustard seeds , jeera and curry leaves and pour onto the chutney.
Serve with Idili/dosa/chappathi/rice etc.

Beef Stew with Potatoes & Carrots

Ingredients:

1. Beef - 1 kg ( I have used bone in beef)
2. Carrots - 2 medium sized scraped and cut into big pieces
3. Potatoes - 2 medium sized peeled and cut into big cubes
4. Thick coconut milk - 2 cups
5. Green chillies - 7 slit + 1 cut at a diagonal
6. Onion - 3 sliced 
7. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
8. curry leaves - 1 spring
9. Garlic - 1 pod peeled and chopped
10. Corriander powder - 1 tbsp (optional - I have used it )
11. Vinegar - 2 tbsp 
12. salt - to tatse
13. whole spices - 4 cardamom, 4 cloves, 2 pieces cinnamon stick , 1/2 tbsp whole peppercorns, 1 star anise , 1 bay leaf
14. crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
15. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat a frying pan and add the oil and onion,ginger,garlic,green chillies that are slit and curry leaves and stirfry until the onions ate translucent.
Add in the Corriander powder if you are using it now .
Stir well , and add in the beef pieces , salt to taste and vinegar .
Mix well and cook - you can pressure cook it for 1 whistle and then open the cooker and add the potatoes and carrots (Adding it at the same time as beef will overcook the veggies)
If not using pressure cooker - cook it covered in a frying pan , check in between if it gets dry add 1/2 cup of water and cook until meat is cooked , then add the carrots and potatoes and cook until they are cooked too .
You can cook up to this point and then refrigerate  the curry for later use .
Before serving - add the coconut milk and the diagonally sliced green chilly and crushed black pepper and bring to a slight simmer ( Do not boil after adding the thick coconut milk)
Taste for salt and sourness - add more salt or vinegar and crushed pepper as needed .
Serve with Appam, puttu,bread,idiappam etc.

Meen Mutta thoran / Palanjeen Thoran

Ingredients :

1. Fish roe - 250 gms 
2. grated coconut -  1/4 cup
3. Shallots chopped - 8
4. Green chilly chopped - 3
5. Ginger chopped - 1/2 tsp
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
8. Curry leaves - 1 spring
9. Coconut Oil - 2 tbsp
10. Salt - to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a nonstick pan and add the chopped shallots,ginger,curry leaves and saute until the shallots are soft .

Add turmeric powder and fish roe and fry ,mashing with the spoon , add salt to taste and cook for 3 minutes.

Add crushed pepper and grated coconut and ix well ans stir fry for another 2 minutes.

Serve with rice.

Chilly garlic mussels sautéed with crispy onions.

Ingredients :

1. Kallumekaya / Mussels - 2 kg shell on
2. Kashmiri chilly powder - 1.5 tbsp
3. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. corriander powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Crushed black peper - 1/4 tsp
6. Vinegar - 1 tsp
7. Onion - 3 thinly sliced
8. Garlic - 10 coves crushed
9. curry leaves - 2 springs
10. Coconut Oil - 3 tbsp

Method:
Wash the mussels well , remove the beard , rinse a few times in tap water.
Add the mussels into a large pan , pour in 1/2  a cup of water , cover the pan and put it on the flame .
Let it come to full steam and cook for 5 minutes.
Turn the flame off .
The mussels would have opened up now - drain the water and pick the mussel and clean the intestines
Wash well to remove any sand and squeeze the water out .
Marinate the cleaned mussels with the crushed garlic, 1 tbsp chilly powder , pepper powder, 1 spring of curry leaves, Vinegar , turmeric powder and salt to taste (add less salt ,the mussel has some salt in it).
Keep aside for 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a non stick pan and add the sliced onions. Fry until it starts turning a light golden brown.
Add the curry leaves and remaining chilly powder, and corriander powder and stir to mix.
Add the marinated mussels and stirfry on medium high flame .
The mussels are already cooked during the steaming process, we only need to cook it enough to get the browned crispy texture .
Do not make the mixture too dry as the mussels tend to dry out and become rubbery.
A quick stirfry on high heat is best. to retain the moisture as well as get colour and crunch without loosing the soft texture.

3 Grain Puttu (Ragi,Wheat,Rice)

Ingredients :

1. Rice flour - 1/2 cup
2. Ragi flour - 1/2 cup
3. Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
4. Grated coconut - 1 cup + 1/2 cup
5. Salt - to taste
6. Water - as required

Method:
Dry roast the ragi and wheat flour for 5 minutes in a frying pan.
Once it cools down , mix the 3 powders with salt to taste.
Add in water little by little and mix lightly with your fingers until you get a wet breadcrumb like mixture.
Add in 1/2 cup of grated coconut and mix lightly.
 In a puttu steamer or cocnut shell add a tbsp of grated coconut , fill with the wet mixed powder .
Steam for 5 minutes or until you see the steam come from the top of the flour.
Serve with ripe banana, setamed plantain, Meat stew, Channa curry , fish curry , green gram curry, Pappad .

Unakkamen Vevichathu

I am not sure where this curry originated , which part of Kerala it belongs to . I have had it only at Kannur during the hostel days.Do not use small dry fish for this , shark is best for this dish , any fleshy big fish would work as well.

Ingredients:

1. Salted dry Shark - 250 gms
2. Coconut slices/thenga kothu - 1 cup
3. Shallots - 5 crushed
4. garlic - 8 crushed
5. Ginger - 1 tbsp crushed
6. Curry leaves - 2 springs
7. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
9. Chilly powder - 2 tbsp (use a mix of kashmiri and regular chilly powder)
10. coriander powder - 1tsp
11. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
12. coconut oil - 2 tbsp
13. cocum - 3 pieces soaked in 1 cup warm water
14. salt - only if required as salted fish has enough salt .

Method:
Cut the shark into small pieces and remove skin.
Soak it in plenty of cold water and leave it for 5-6 hours.
Wash well drain and squeeze the water out and keep the fish pieces aside.
Heat a claypot and add 1 tbsp oil.
Add in  mustard and methi/fenugreek  seeds and let it splutter.
Add in crushed shallots,ginger, garlic and curry leaves and saute for a minute.
Lower the flame and add in the chilly, coriander and turmeric powders.
Stir for a minute.
Add in the cocum along with the soaking water and stir well.
Add in 1 more cup of water and bring to a boil.
Add in coconut slices and the drained dry fish pieces.
Cover and cook until the gravy is thick (about 15 minutes)
turn the flame off and check for salt , if there is less salt add a bit of salt .
Add  a spring of fresh curry leaves and pout a tbsp of coconut oil on top .
stir , cover and leave for flavors to blend.
This curry tastes best the next day .
Serve with rice and seasoned buttermilk/Kachiamoru

Green chilly and shallot chutney

Ingredients:

1. Birds eye chilly /Kanthari Mulaku - 15 (if you cant find it use fresh green chilly)
2. Shallots - 8
3. Vinegar - 1.5 tbsp
4. Salt - to taste
5. coconut Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Add the chilly and shallot along with salt into a stone mortar and pound until crushed.
transfer it into a dish
add vinegar and coconut oil and mix well.
Serve with boiled tapioca, tarro root, rice , fried fish , grilled meat etc.

Kadachakka vevichathu & Malabar Aiyala curry

Ingredients : for the kadachakka

1. Breadfruit/Kadachakka - 1 large , peeled and cut into large cubes
2. Grated coconut - 3/4th cup
3. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. shallots - 2 sliced fine and 1 whole
5. green chilly - 1
6. curry leaves - 1 spring
7. cumin seeds/jeera - 1/4 tsp crushed
8. garlic - 1 clove
9. Oil - 1 tbsp
10. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. salt - to taste.

Method:
Grind to a coarse paste - coconut, green chilly , 1 whole shallot , garlic,turmeric powder, cumin and keep aside.
Boil the breadfruit with salt, a pinch of turmeric and 1/2 cup of water until the breadfruit is soft and the water is absorbed.
Reduce the flame to low and add in the ground coconut mixture into the cooked breadfruit and mash well with the spoon.
Let the mixture warm for few minutes.
Turn flame off and keep covered.
Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, add in curry leaves and slices shallots.
Fry until golden , turn the flame off.
Pour the tadka over the breadfruit mixture and mix well.
Serve with fish curry or meat curry or as a side dish with rice.

Malabar Aiyala Curry 


Ingredients:

1. Aiyala/Mackeral - 4 cleaned and cut into medium size pieces
2. Grated coconut - 3/4 cup ground into a smooth paste with 1 cup water
3. ginger - 1 tbsp crushed
4. garlic - 1 tbsp crushed
5. shallots - 2 tbsp crushed and 2 slices thin
6. curry leaves - 2 springs
7. coconut oil - 2 tbsp
8. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
9. methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
10. chilly powder - 1 tbsp
11. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
12. green chillies - 5 slit
13. Kudam puli - 3 pieces soaked in 1 cup water
14. salt - totaste

Method:
Heat a claypot and add in 1 tbsp oil.
add the crushed ginger,garlic and 1 spring curry leaves and saute well.
Add in chilly and turmeric powder and fry for a minute.
Add in the soaked Cocum with water annd mix well.
Add salt to taste and bring the gravy to a boil.
Add in the fish pieces and cook for 10 minutes .
reduce the flame and add in the ground coconut paste.
Mix well and bring to a low simmer and turn the flame off.
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and splutter the mustard and methi seeds.

Add in the remaining 1 spring of curyr leaves and sliced shallots.
Fry until golden.
Turn the flame off.
Pour this over the fish curry and swirl the pot to combine the tadka with the curry .
Cover and leave aside for 30 minutes.
Serve with rice, puttu, appam, kappa vevichathu, Kadachakka vevichathu etc

Kanava Thoran /Squid with grated coconut

Ingredients:

1. Squid - 5 medium sized cleaned and cut into rings
2. Green chillies - 8 slit 
3. Shallots - 5 crushed
4. garlic - 10 cloves peeled and crushed
5. Ginger - 3/4 th inch piece crushed
6. grated coconut - 1.5 cups
7. curry leaves - 2 springs
8. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. cocum - 4 pieces soaked in 1 cup water
10. salt - to taste

Method:
All all of the ingredients into a claypot / manchatty and mix well with you hands. cook on medium flame until the squid is just cooked and the gravy has thickened.
This does not need to be refrigerated for a a day .
Tastes best the next day .
Serve with rice.

Mathi Achar / Pickled Sardine

Ingredients:

1. Sardines - 15 cleaned, washed and cut into 2
2. Garlic - 2 pods peeled
3. Ginger - 2 inch piece chopped
4. Curry leaves - 2 stalks
5. Green chillies - 5 cut into thick rings
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. chilly powder - 2 tbsp
8. salt - to taste
9. vinegar - 1 cup plus more to taste
10. oil - 1/2 cup
11. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
12. fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Marinate the fish in a mixture of salt and turmeric powder and fry until it is crisp. Keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp fresh oil and splutter the mustard and methi seeds.
Add the curry leaves , garlic, ginger ,green chillies and salt to taste and saute until garlic is slightly soft.
Add in chilly and turmeric powder and saute for a minute.
Pour in 1/2 cup of water, salt to taste and the vinegar and bring to simmer.
Add the fried fish and mix well.
Taste after an hour and adjust salt and vinegar as necesary.

Beef Ribs and Potatoes

Ingredients :

1. Beef Ribs - 1 kg
2. Onion - 3
3. Green chillies - 2 slit
4. Ginger - 2 inch piece chopped
5. Garlic - 1.5 pods peeled
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
7. coarsely Crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
8. Chilly powder - 2 tsp heaped
9. Coriander powder - 3 tsp heaped
10. Crushed Meat masala - 1 tsp (cardamom , fennel, cinnamon, cloves and pepper )
11. curry leaves - 3 springs
12. vinegar - 2 tbsp
13. Oil - 2 tbsp
14. Potatoes - 2 peeled and cubed

Method:
The Beef in India takes pretty long to cook , so I have precooked it before making the masala.
Precooking the beef with minimal spices makes it versatile enough to to cooked in larger quantities and stored in the fridge or freezer. This can then be made into stews, gravies, frys , masalas etc.
Wash and drain the beef and add to pressure cooker.
Add in 1 onion roughly chopped and 1/2 of the garlic cloves and 1/2 of the ginger plus the green chillies and crushed peppercorn.
Add the vinegar, turmeric powder and salt to taste and mix with a spoon.
Do not add any water. Cover and pressure cook for 1 whistle.Once the pressure is filled lower the flame and cook for 2 minutes.
Turn the flame off and let the meat sit in the cooker undisturbed until the pressure is released by itself.Meanwhile make the masala.
Heat oil in a frying pan and add the remaining onions thinly slices, ginger and garlic chopped, curry leaves and salt to taste and saute until the onions start to brown.
Add in the chilly and coriander powder and the meat masala and stirfry untl the raw smell is gone.
Open the pressure cooker and add the beef and gravy to this masala , add in the cubed potatoes and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beef and potatoes are cooked.
Serve with roti or Ghee Rice.

Pork Idichularthiyathu

Ingredients:

1. Pork - 1 pound (use just the meat with no fat of rind)
2. Shallots - 5 crushed
3. Garlic - 8 cloves crushed
4. Dry red chillies - 6 crushed
5. Curry leaves - 2 spring
6. Black pepper - 1/2 tsp crushed
7. Vinegar - 2 tbsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Salt - to taste
10. Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:
Freeze the meat for about 30 minutes and slice into thin pieces.
Keep a nonstick or cast iron pan on the stove and heat it.
Place the meat slices on the hot pan  and sprinkle with salt and 1/2 of the vinegar.
Let it cook on medium flame until slightly browned. Turn it around every few minutes.
Take these meat pieces and pound them with a hammer or you could pulse them in the food processor for a minute until the meat is shredded.( Do not grind the meat but just shred it , if you think using the food processor will grind it just shred with your hands or 2 forks).
Heat Oil in the same frying pan that you grilled the meat in and add in the crushed shallots,garlic, red chillies and curry leaves and saute for a minute.Add in the shredded meat and mix well.
Add in remaining vinegar and salt to taste and stir fry on medium flame until it starts browning.
Add in the crushed pepper and continue frying until the mixture is dry and slightly crispy.
This is a perfect side dish with drinks and goes well with rice/kanji.

Cherupayaru Curry

Ingredients:

1. Green Gram - 1 cup
2. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
3. coconut milk - 1 cup (optional)
4. Green chillies - 3
5. Shallots - 3 sliced thin
6. Curry leaves - 2 springs
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. salt - to taste
9. oil - 1 tbsp
10. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
11. Dry red chilies - 2

Method:
Soak the green gram over night or for 3-4 hours and pressure cook it until soft and keep aside.
Grind together the coconut , turmeric powder, green chillies and 1 shallot (grind to a semi smooth paste adding 1/2 cup water).
Add the ground coconut paste into the cooked green gram , add salt to taste and bring to a simmer.
Pour in the coconut milk/water so that it forms a thick gravy - Warm it well and turn the flame off.
In a frying pan heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add in the sliced shallots and dry red chillies and curry leaves and fry until golden brown.
Pour this into the green gram curry and mix well.
Serve with Puttu, chappathi or rice.

Potato Stew

Ingredients:

1. Potatoes - 3 medium sized
2. Onion - 1 medium chopped
3. Green chillies - 5 cut into rings
4. Black pepper - 1/2 tsp roughly crushed
5. curry leaves - 2 springs
6. Coconut milk - 1 cup
7. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Oil - 1 tbsp
9. Ginger - 1/2 tsp chopped
10. salt - to taste
11. Vinegar - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Boil or microwave the potatoes until it is cooked and remove the skin and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.When it splutters add the curry leaves and onion,green chilly,ginger and salt to taste and saute until the onion is tender.
Add in the boiled Potatoes and smash with the back of the spoon breaking them down into small pieces.
Add enough salt to taste,Vinegar, crushed black pepper and mix well.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
This stew goes well with Appam, idiappam and rice.

Malabar Chemeen Curry

In the Kannur region Fish or some sort of seafood is consumed on a daily basis. Meen curry is such an integral part of Kannur cuisine that outsiders often joke that - the lady of the house would wake up in the morning and along with breakfast preparation she would grind half of a coconut into a fine paste and keep it aside.Then depending on what kind of seafood is available that day the curry is made. Fish,crab,shrimp etc are used. When fresh fish is not available the same gravy is used to make a curry out of dry fish or Shrimp. This curry is not as fiery and concentrated in flavor as the Kottayam fish curry and hence you get best results when using extremely fresh fish.In other words the taste of the curry depends on the flavor of seafood you use.

Even during festivals like Onam and vishu when the rest of Keralites stick to a vegetarian meal, fish is inevitable in the Malabar region specially Kannur.Yes we Kannur folks love our seafood :).

Ingredients:

1. Shrimp - 1 lb( about 1/2 kg)
2. Chilly powder - 2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
4. Shallots - 5 (slice 3 roughly and slice 2 finely for tadka)
5. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
6. Garlic - 8 cloves chopped
7. Curry leaves - 2 springs
8. Dry red chillies - 2 broken
9. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
10. Oil - 1 tbsp
11. Cocum/Kudam puli or Tamarind paste - to taste
12. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
13. salt - to taste

Method:
Grind the coconut with 1/4 cup water to a fine paste and keep aside.
Peel, de-vein, wash and drain the shrimp and add to a clay pot.
Add the roughly chopped shallots, garlic,ginger, chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt to taste, cocum/tamarind paste and 1 cup water to the clay pot and stir well.
Cook this mixture until the shrimp is cooked and absorbs the flavors( about 10 minutes).
Add in the ground coconut paste and enough water to make a semi thick gravy.
Bring to a simmer and adjust salt and tamarind to taste and turn the flame off.
Heat oil in a small pan and splutter the mustard seeds.
Add in the shallots and fry until it turns light brown.
Add in the dry red chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Pour this into the curry in the clay pot and keep covered for 10 minutes.
Mix the curry well and serve with rice.