Sinful Curry

Every time I’m at the fish mongers’, I cannot get myself to pass by the salmon without dropping a pound or two of it in my cart. Salmon is my favorite among all the fish. This does not mean I like other fish any less. No, I actually love them all. With an untainted genealogy of blood thirsty Mallus, I, but obviously, devour all of the sea world with great relish and gusto. I’d maybe wipe up the salmon a tad bit faster though ;). Salmon tastes the least bit fishy to me and hence allows me a lot of room to cook it any which way I want. Though we never did salmon in India, I was surprised that it tasted amazing in all Indian recipes. Fish is a staple for most meat eating Malayalees and we usually have a number of ways of cooking it. But I find the ‘Kerala fish fry’ to be the tastiest and easiest of them all. There are just 5 basic ingredients for this fried fish marinade – ginger, garlic, chili, turmeric and salt. Everything else you add are just enhancers or taste boosters as I would lik...

Some years ago while working for an Indian company I had to move to Bloomington, IL, for an assignment at an American establishment.  Bloomington, which is about a 100 miles from Chicago, was then a small humdrum city (town?) and had absolutely nothing ever happening there. People who know me are well aware that it doesn’t take much to please me. I’m not the outdoorsy, or the carousing kind. Nor do I need that constant stimulation around me to keep me alive. So, if I have to say a place was dull and boring, trust me people, you would want to move there only if you are seeking isolation or running away from the law. So on day one, as I stepped into this town from its tiny winy Airport, the bitter arctic air bit right into my marrows, so hard, that I immediately began hating this place with every fiber of my being. Though it was fairly early in the evening as I drove to the hotel from the airport, the only visible sign of habitation were a handful of cars that drove past me.  All around ...

Some years ago while working for an Indian company I had to move to Bloomington, IL, for an assignment at an American establishment.  Bloomington, which is about a 100 miles from Chicago, was then a small humdrum city (town?) and had absolutely nothing ever happening there. People who know me are well aware that it doesn’t take much to please me. I’m not the outdoorsy, or the carousing kind. Nor do I need that constant stimulation around me to keep me alive. So, if I have to say a place was dull and boring, trust me people, you would want to move there only if you are seeking isolation or running away from the law. So on day one, as I stepped into this town from its tiny winy Airport, the bitter arctic air bit right into my marrows, so hard, that I immediately began hating this place with every fiber of my being. Though it was fairly early in the evening as I drove to the hotel from the airport, the only visible sign of habitation were a handful of cars that drove past me.  All around ...

Every time I’m at the fish mongers’, I cannot get myself to pass by the salmon without dropping a pound or two of it in my cart. Salmon is my favorite among all the fish. This does not mean I like other fish any less. No, I actually love them all. With an untainted genealogy of blood thirsty Mallus, I, but obviously, devour all of the sea world with great relish and gusto. I’d maybe wipe up the salmon a tad bit faster though ;). Salmon tastes the least bit fishy to me and hence allows me a lot of room to cook it any which way I want. Though we never did salmon in India, I was surprised that it tasted amazing in all Indian recipes. Fish is a staple for most meat eating Malayalees and we usually have a number of ways of cooking it. But I find the ‘Kerala fish fry’ to be the tastiest and easiest of them all. There are just 5 basic ingredients for this fried fish marinade – ginger, garlic, chili, turmeric and salt. Everything else you add are just enhancers or taste boosters as I would lik...

The Indian subcontinent has a gazillion different recipes that work with yogurt and buttermilk as the main ingredient. Some take forever to make. Some not so long and some come together in a matter of minutes. Moru curry is one such yogurt dish made traditionally in Kerala and has a thousand and one variations in preparation. This dish, along with some form of fish, was served invariably for every meal at the Ganapathiplackals (yes, that weird sounding thing is my maiden name). There were subtle deviations in the recipes every other day though. Sometimes they had vegetables in them, at times ground coconut, onions, ginger and garlic, sometimes   all of these and most times, plain by itself just seasoned with mustard, fenugreek, curry leaves and chilies. I got so used to eating this at most of our meals that till today if it is Kerala cuisine, and there is no ‘Moru Curry’ in it, I find it quite incomplete no matter how elaborate the spread might be. Ingredients 2 cups yogurt 3 tbsp Grat...

The Indian subcontinent has a gazillion different recipes that work with yogurt and buttermilk as the main ingredient. Some take forever to make. Some not so long and some come together in a matter of minutes. Moru curry is one such yogurt dish made traditionally in Kerala and has a thousand and one variations in preparation. This dish, along with some form of fish, was served invariably for every meal at the Ganapathiplackals (yes, that weird sounding thing is my maiden name). There were subtle deviations in the recipes every other day though. Sometimes they had vegetables in them, at times ground coconut, onions, ginger and garlic, sometimes   all of these and most times, plain by itself just seasoned with mustard, fenugreek, curry leaves and chilies. I got so used to eating this at most of our meals that till today if it is Kerala cuisine, and there is no ‘Moru Curry’ in it, I find it quite incomplete no matter how elaborate the spread might be. Ingredients 2 cups yogurt 3 tbsp Grat...

The 80s in one of India’s finest cities, Bangalore, wasn’t easy for me as a child of two  Malayalee immigrants.  I hated that we stood out starkly among the rest, the natives and the other immigrants from elsewhere included. I was a vain kid to say the least, and keeping up with appearances was among the top most in my priorities then. I had lots of misgivings about my background. And try as I did, it was hard for me to conceal the huge gulf between ‘us’ and the rest. What with a nosey grandma sporting the traditional Syrian Christian attire, her all white dress of Chatta and Mundu with a pleated tail,  three huge coconut trees in our small garden that loudly shouted ‘Malayalee’ to the arid Bangalore skies, endless number of  Mundu clad UnGles, and AnDies with hair slicked in strong smelling coconut oil, visiting us from Kerala every so often, our odd furniture at home that never matched the drapes, our lunch boxes packed every other day with Puttu-Kadal  and the like, and n...

Kappa (tapioca) and Meen (fish) curry or like a Malayalee  would say ‘ kappa puzhukku aend meen gurry ’, is so characteristic to Kerala that I can vouch a million bucks, you wouldn’t find it anywhere else in the world unless there was a Malaylee or an influence of one within a hundred feet. The best part about kappa is that it has no boundaries in every sense of the term. It is a delicacy for both the rich and the poor. It can be served at anytime of the day, as breakfast, lunch or dinner, or even as an in between snack. It can be eaten all by itself or in combination with anything you can possibly imagine.  This is my all time favorite meal. It reminds me of the wonderful summers I spent with my amazing family in God’s Own Country . Ingredients: 2 lb peeled and diced tapioca 1/2 tsp [amazon-product type=”text” text=”turmeric powder”]B000JMAXOC[/amazon-product] 1/3 -1/2 cup fresh grated coconut 1/2 tsp [amazon-product type=”text” text=”cum...

The distinguishing character of this spicy hot red  fish curry, is the smoky sourness rendered to the fish and the gravy from the kudampulli -dried and smoked fruit rinds of the camboge tree. In Kerala, fish is traditionally cooked in an earthen pot that provides a distinct flavor to the curry. This dish is best served with Kappa or white rice. In my family we even ate it with rotis (Indian bread) and I must say, though it sounds odd, it is a wonderful combination. Ingredients 1 lb fish cut into small pieces 2 tsp red chili powder   (base it on tolerable  spice levels) 1 tsp paprika (mainly for the red color)  1/4 tsp fenugreek seed powder 3 –4 shallots finely sliced (if you don’t have these you can use one med sized onion)  1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 2 kudampulli (camboge fruit rinds) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 sprigs of curry leaves 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds 2 –3 tbsp coconut oil /any vegetable refined oil salt to taste Directions Soak kudampulli in a cup of hot salt w...

The distinguishing character of this spicy hot red  fish curry, is the smoky sourness rendered to the fish and the gravy from the kudampulli -dried and smoked fruit rinds of the camboge tree. In Kerala, fish is traditionally cooked in an earthen pot that provides a distinct flavor to the curry. This dish is best served with Kappa or white rice. In my family we even ate it with rotis (Indian bread) and I must say, though it sounds odd, it is a wonderful combination. Ingredients 1 lb fish cut into small pieces 2 tsp red chili powder   (base it on tolerable  spice levels) 1 tsp paprika (mainly for the red color)  1/4 tsp fenugreek seed powder 3 –4 shallots finely sliced (if you don’t have these you can use one med sized onion)  1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 2 kudampulli (camboge fruit rinds) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 sprigs of curry leaves 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds 2 –3 tbsp coconut oil /any vegetable refined oil salt to taste Directions Soak kudampulli in a cup of hot salt water and se...

The 80s in one of India’s finest cities, Bangalore, wasn’t easy for me as a child of two  Malayalee immigrants.  I hated that we stood out starkly among the rest, the natives and the other immigrants from elsewhere included. I was a vain kid to say the least, and keeping up with appearances was among the top most in my priorities then. I had lots of misgivings about my background. And try as I did, it was hard for me to conceal the huge gulf between ‘us’ and the rest. What with a nosey grandma sporting the traditional Syrian Christian attire, her all white dress of Chatta and Mundu with a pleated tail,  three huge coconut trees in our small garden that loudly shouted 'Malayalee' to the arid Bangalore skies, endless number of  Mundu clad UnGles, and AnDies with hair slicked in strong smelling coconut oil, visiting us from Kerala every so often, our odd furniture at home that never matched the drapes, our lunch boxes packed every other day with Puttu-Kadal  and the like, and not ...

Kappa (tapioca) and Meen (fish) curry or like a Malayalee  would say ‘ kappa puzhukku aend meen gurry ’, is so characteristic to Kerala that I can vouch a million bucks, you wouldn't find it anywhere else in the world unless there was a Malaylee or an influence of one within a hundred feet. The best part about kappa is that it has no boundaries in every sense of the term. It is a delicacy for both the rich and the poor. It can be served at anytime of the day, as breakfast, lunch or dinner, or even as an in between snack. It can be eaten all by itself or in combination with anything you can possibly imagine.  This is my all time favorite meal. It reminds me of the wonderful summers I spent with my amazing family in God’s Own Country . Ingredients: 2 lb peeled and diced tapioca 1/2 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="turmeric powder"]B000JMAXOC[/amazon-product] 1/3 -1/2 cup fresh grated coconut 1/2 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="cumin seeds...

The distinguishing character of this spicy hot red  fish curry, is the smoky sourness rendered to the fish and the gravy from the kudampulli -dried and smoked fruit rinds of the camboge tree. In Kerala, fish is traditionally cooked in an earthen pot that provides a distinct flavor to the curry. This dish is best served with Kappa or white rice. In my family we even ate it with rotis (Indian bread) and I must say, though it sounds odd, it is a wonderful combination. Ingredients 1 lb fish cut into small pieces 2 tsp red chili powder   (base it on tolerable  spice levels) 1 tsp paprika (mainly for the red color)  1/4 tsp fenugreek seed powder 3 –4 shallots finely sliced (if you don’t have these you can use one med sized onion)  1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 2 kudampulli (camboge fruit rinds) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 sprigs of curry leaves 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds 2 –3 tbsp coconut oil /any vegetable refined oil salt to taste Directions Soak kudampulli in a cup of hot salt...

The distinguishing character of this spicy hot red  fish curry, is the smoky sourness rendered to the fish and the gravy from the kudampulli -dried and smoked fruit rinds of the camboge tree. In Kerala, fish is traditionally cooked in an earthen pot that provides a distinct flavor to the curry. This dish is best served with Kappa or white rice. In my family we even ate it with rotis (Indian bread) and I must say, though it sounds odd, it is a wonderful combination. Ingredients 1 lb fish cut into small pieces 2 tsp red chili powder   (base it on tolerable  spice levels) 1 tsp paprika (mainly for the red color)  1/4 tsp fenugreek seed powder 3 –4 shallots finely sliced (if you don’t have these you can use one med sized onion)  1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste 2 kudampulli (camboge fruit rinds) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 sprigs of curry leaves 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds 2 –3 tbsp coconut oil /any vegetable refined oil salt to taste Directions Soak kudampulli in a cup of hot salt water and ...