Sinful Curry

  Acclaimed author of many cook books, Food and Wine editor of  Town&Country for over two decades, James Villas wrote in an article called Unsung Sardines –   Ounce for ounce, sardines provide more calcium and phosphorus than milk, more protein than steak, more potassium than bananas, and more iron than cooked spinach.  Now, even if I hadn’t read that, I still would assume that these little silver slender beauties had to have high authority in terms of nutrition in order to find their way to my health freak sister Sony’s table every other day ;).  Frankly for me, the nutrition aspect is just an added bonus. I simply love them for their unparalleled flavor. Fresh sardines are found in plenty in Kerala and hence are cooked very often, usually poached or grilled. Fresh sardines however have been hard to find for me over here. But I do manage to get some good ones at Whole Foods or at my local Chinese market. All my recipes use fresh sardines and since I’ve never used t...

  Acclaimed author of many cook books, Food and Wine editor of  Town&Country for over two decades, James Villas wrote in an article called Unsung Sardines –   Ounce for ounce, sardines provide more calcium and phosphorus than milk, more protein than steak, more potassium than bananas, and more iron than cooked spinach.  Now, even if I hadn’t read that, I still would assume that these little silver slender beauties had to have high authority in terms of nutrition in order to find their way to my health freak sister Sony’s table every other day ;).  Frankly for me, the nutrition aspect is just an added bonus. I simply love them for their unparalleled flavor. Fresh sardines are found in plenty in Kerala and hence are cooked very often, usually poached or grilled. Fresh sardines however have been hard to find for me over here. But I do manage to get some good ones at Whole Foods or at my local Chinese market. All my recipes use fresh sardines and since I’ve never used the canned k...

So, what do you think of my new bootylicious sexy acquisition from India? I can’t describe what joy it has been to cook in it. I have 4 of these meen chettis. One specially reserved for the meen curries, another for the thorans and mezuhuveratis and the remaining two will act as stand bys. That’s the only way I can keep my chettis from harms way. Oh, don’t sneer. That’s how things work in this cosmic world of providence! If you have a back up, nothing can/will go wrong. If you DON’T, things can go spiraling out of control. In this case, I can be sure to wake up, and find my chettis victims of a bizarre earthquake, with the epicenter  right under their butts. Leer and snicker all you want people, but I’m telling you, when it comes to fate, no-siree, uh-uh, I’m not taking my ch ances. I shall reserve my findings of Karma and the workings of the mystical world  for another day or may be another site. What do you suggest? Do you think  people coming here would be interested in more t...

As Benny Chetan, my cousin, drives us to the scores of relatives from my side of the family, living in and around Pala, looking at the rubber plantations on either sides of the serpentine roads, I feel a lump in my throat. The more I clear my throat in an effort to  get rid of it, the bigger I sense it grow. It has been seven years since my last visit. Pretty long for a life that has seen only 3 decades. Yet, not long enough. As I feel the wind whistling and hear the cicadas call, memories of 7 years back, 10 years back, 20 and 30, flood my mind. Seems like yesterday when my sisters and I, carried our flimsy thorthu and walked bear foot to the near by thoodu, for a bath and and fun fishing. Yesterday, as Amma balled large grains of boiled rice with nai and onaka-meen and tossed them into my 3 year old mouth, that reluctantly opened as wide as her eyes did at my slightest refusal to eat. Yesterday, when Chachan and Amachi   married me off from the tharavad, with kisses and blessings   ...

The smaller the fish the tastier they come. Don’t ask me the hows and whys. It is just my personal opinion and I think I couldn’t be more right ;). The smaller fishes are a popular sell in Kerala too. Now and even as a child, I could eat just about anything with these! Ingredients 1 lb small fish like parava/false trevally (my favorite) or killi meen/threadfin bream cleaned and whole 1 tbsp of fresh ginger garlic paste ( ginger and garlic in a 1:1 ratio) 1/2 tsp shallot paste 1 tsp chili powder (base it on tolerable spice levels) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp black ground pepper salt to taste 1 tsp of lime juice (optional)  2 sprigs of curry leaves coconut oil/refined vegetable oil for roasting.   Directions Make a couple of slits on either side of each fish and marinate them with a tsp of lime juice and set aside. Mix all the spices with ginger-garlic, shallot and salt  to make a thick smooth paste. The marinade should be slightly on the saltier side. Apply the paste on all the fish...

Whenever I make my occasional visits to the office, my Boss always treats me with a good lunch. It is his way of appreciating the 60 mile commute I make to reach there. He’s either  plain nice or he’s too busy to realize that he signs my pay checks and that these gestures of politeness are totally unnecessary, and whether I like it or not, I  darn well need to get my fat behind there when he requires me to.  I hope though, it is the former. Because I’d hate the day when he’d recover from his amnesia and I’d be left to eat those cold sandwiches from the next door deli. What can I say? My belly has been spoilt rotten with these elegant treats! At first, when he suggested a nice Indian place, I gladly agreed. Assuming it was the popular preference among my All-American colleagues, I gave no second thought to it. But, during the second and subsequent 3rd and 4th visit when we had exhausted all the fine Indian restaurants of the Marin county, and were redoing the circle, it slowly dawned on...

Quesadillas are like burgers you can make them any which way you want as long you have tortillas and cheese with you. Everything else that goes inside depends on what you are looking for. You can add tomatoes for the tang, onions for the crunch, meat to make it hearty, vegetables to make it healthy, guacamole if you think it is not rich enough already, and spices if you want to make it interesting. I use jack pepper cheese because you know, being Indian and all, I just can’t kill my addiction to heat! You can serve it as the main or as the side. Depends on what else you have on the plate. Ingredients 1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced small 1/2 pickled jalapeno, chopped 1/2 cup red onions, chopped 5 -6 medium sized shrimp, coarsely chopped 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped 4 6-inch flour tortillas 3/4 cup shredded jack pepper cheese 2 tbsp tomato sauce (from the can) 1 tbsp butter or 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil big pinch of ground cumin (optional) Directions Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in ...

  You know your family eats a lot of fish when your preschooler looks into the fish tank at school and screams, “Look Mama, fish!! Yummy!!”. Then, pretends to reach out and gulp down the little fishes, rubs his tiny pot belly and says “Mmm tasty, that was goood!!”. Of course, I gave my usual God-whose-kid-is-that?  look and walked away, pretending like I had nothing to do with him. Don’t worry, I never lose him during these acts of disownment. The little piece of embarrassment always follows me, like a gosling does a mother goose. I don’t blame him either – obviously, the only reason I didn’t abandon him completely and let him hold my hand a little while later (when I was sure, we were off the radar of the folks who heard his verbal sacrilege by the aquarium), was because I understand it must be hard for his 3 year old brain to distinguish pet from food, when most of time, we are serving him dinner with what the neighbors flaunt around as pets :P. Yes, we the Tharakan...

  You know your family eats a lot of fish when your preschooler looks into the fish tank at school and screams, “Look Mama, fish!! Yummy!!”. Then, pretends to reach out and gulp down the little fishes, rubs his tiny pot belly and says “Mmm tasty, that was goood!!”. Of course, I gave my usual God-whose-kid-is-that?  look and walked away, pretending like I had nothing to do with him. Don’t worry, I never lose him during these acts of disownment. The little piece of embarrassment always follows me, like a gosling does a mother goose. I don’t blame him either – obviously, the only reason I didn’t abandon him completely and let him hold my hand a little while later (when I was sure, we were off the radar of the folks who heard his verbal sacrilege by the aquarium), was because I understand it must be hard for his 3 year old brain to distinguish pet from food, when most of time, we are serving him dinner with what the neighbors flaunt around as pets :P. Yes, we the Tharakans, are die-hard ca...

Ok, I’m being upfront in saying this -These are not Indo Chinese recipes (if that was what you were hoping for). Is it authentic Chinese? I’m afraid, not. The recipes are as Chinese as you think ‘Panda Express’ is ;). While dining out, for my family, the husband, the son and myself  included, good taste and some amount of hygiene is all that it takes, to float our boat.  We don’t care much for authenticity, snooty ambiances or high profile chefs. On the other hand, throw in some confusion, a harried waiter messing up with orders, a whining child there, a falling cutlery here,  and we’ll blend right in. Owe it to my thrifty Mallu blood, I hate to see good money go down the drain, and that, is exactly what I think happens at most of these supercilious restaurants. Their bite size portions, invariably leaves me eating a follow up dinner at home or, when fate is out bent on grudging me, I wind up to-going the insipid spread, and after having paid a couple of hundred dollar f...

Ok, I’m being upfront in saying this -These are not Indo Chinese recipes (if that was what you were hoping for). Is it authentic Chinese? I’m afraid, not. The recipes are as Chinese as you think ‘Panda Express’ is ;). While dining out, for my family, the husband, the son and myself  included, good taste and some amount of hygiene is all that it takes, to float our boat.  We don’t care much for authenticity, snooty ambiances or high profile chefs. On the other hand, throw in some confusion, a harried waiter messing up with orders, a whining child there, a falling cutlery here,  and we’ll blend right in. Owe it to my thrifty Mallu blood, I hate to see good money go down the drain, and that, is exactly what I think happens at most of these supercilious restaurants. Their bite size portions, invariably leaves me eating a follow up dinner at home or, when fate is out bent on grudging me, I wind up to-going the insipid spread, and after having paid a couple of hundred dollar for a an ounce o...

The vibrant colors of fresh vegetables never fail to excite me.  I always try to pick a couple of  bright colored vegetables while I grocery shop, just to keep me motivated about cooking, through the week.  My this week’s saviors were the asparagus, with which I made the stir-fry , the bright green snow peas that I decided to team with the shrimp  and the green-witch celery, that went into the fried rice. So it was full blown panda express at home, this Friday night :D. Ingredients 1 tbsp sesame seeds 2 tbsp sesame oil 1 tbsp refined vegetable oil 1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined 6 – 8 oz snow peas, trimmed and stringed 11/2 tsp crushed black pepper 1 tsp hot sauce 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 cup onions chopped into chunks 1 tbsp ginger paste 2 tbsp oyster sauce 1 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp  soy sauce 1/2 tsp corn starch       Directions Toast the sesame seeds on a medium flame, in a heavy bottom pan until golden brown. Take care not to scorch them. Set aside. Heat the oils in a wok. Add the ...

Ok, I’m being upfront in saying this -These are not Indo Chinese recipes (if that was what you were hoping for). Is it authentic Chinese? I’m afraid, not. The recipes are as Chinese as you think ‘Panda Express’ is ;). While dining out, for my family, the husband, the son and myself  included, good taste and some amount of hygiene is all that it takes, to float our boat.  We don’t care much for authenticity, snooty ambiances or high profile chefs. On the other hand, throw in some confusion, a harried waiter messing up with orders, a whining child there, a falling cutlery here,  and we’ll blend right in. Owe it to my thrifty Mallu blood, I hate to see good money go down the drain, and that, is exactly what I think happens at most of these supercilious restaurants. Their bite size portions, invariably leaves me eating a follow up dinner at home or, when fate is out bent on grudging me, I wind up to-going the insipid spread, and after having paid a couple of hundred dollar f...

Ok, I’m being upfront in saying this -These are not Indo Chinese recipes (if that was what you were hoping for). Is it authentic Chinese? I’m afraid, not. The recipes are as Chinese as you think ‘Panda Express’ is ;). While dining out, for my family, the husband, the son and myself  included, good taste and some amount of hygiene is all that it takes, to float our boat.  We don’t care much for authenticity, snooty ambiances or high profile chefs. On the other hand, throw in some confusion, a harried waiter messing up with orders, a whining child there, a falling cutlery here,  and we’ll blend right in. Owe it to my thrifty Mallu blood, I hate to see good money go down the drain, and that, is exactly what I think happens at most of these supercilious restaurants. Their bite size portions, invariably leaves me eating a follow up dinner at home or, when fate is out bent on grudging me, I wind up to-going the insipid spread, and after having paid a couple of hundred dollar for a an ounce o...