Kerala Fish Molee

Recipe & Photo Credit - Gulfnews

Fish moli / molee is a very popular South Indian curry, especially in Kerala. This curry is made with fish in coconut milk. Black pomfret or king fish could be used for the curry. 


INGREDIENTS

250 g fish fillets (Pomfret / King fish), wash, cleaned and drain out water

For Marination:

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

Marinate fish pieces with above ingredients and keep aside for 30 minutes.

For Molee / Moli:

2 tablespoon coconut oil

1 big onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 teaspoon pepper

4 green chillies , slit lengthwise

12 curry leaves

2 teaspoon ginger - garlic paste

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

3 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks


Salt to taste
Cooking oil for frying fish

For Coconut Milk:


1 ½ coconut, grated


1 cup thin coconut milk & 
1 cup thick coconut milk

For thin coconut milk -
Grind ½ grated coconut with 1 cup of water and squeeze it for milk.
For thick coconut milk -
Grind 1/2 grated coconut with 1 1/2 cup of water and squeeze it for milk.

or

25 g instant coconut milk powder + 200 ml water for thin coconut milk ( mix well)
25 g instant coconut powder + 100 ml water for thick coconut milk ( mix well )


Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry marinated fish pieces on a medium heat till golden brown.

Heat 2 tablespoon coconut oil. Add fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves, ginger - garlic paste, sliced onion, tomato, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, pepper powder, red chilli powder and saute for 5 -7 minutes on a low heat or till fragrant.

Add thin coconut milk and salt to taste. Mix well and boil on a low heat for 5- 8 minutes.

Add fried fish pieces , cover with a lid and let it cook for 8 -10 minutes or till done.

Add thick coconut milk. Mix well gently. Do not boil again. Switch off the heat. Serve with Palappam / Idiyappam / rice....

Mutta Thoran ( Egg Thoran, Motte Sukke in Konkani Cuisine )

Mutta Thoran ( Egg Thoran, Motte Sukke in Konkani Cuisine )

Serves: 3

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 teaspoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 onions, finely sliced
1 spring curry leaves
2 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper powder ( or to taste )
3/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

Method

Beat eggs well and set aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add mustard seeds. When they pop add sliced onions and fry till pink color.

Add curry leaves and green chillies. Saute for 2- 3 minutes.

Add grated coconut, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper powder. Fry for 2 -3 minutes on a low heat.

Add beaten eggs, salt to taste and mix well. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 8 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve with rice / chapati as a side dish.

Aval Appam ( Aval Palappam / Aval Dosa )

Aval Appam ( Aval Palappam / Dosa )

Ingredients

For Aval Palappam:

1 cup raw rice
1 cup aval ( white poha / vella aval )
2 cups water for soaking rice and aval
1/4 cup water for grinding
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Yeast:

2 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh active dry yeast

Method

For Yeast Solution:

Mix warm warm water and sugar. Add 1 teaspoon yeast. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 20 - 25 minutes.

For Aval Appam Batter:

Soak rice and aval in water for 5 hours. Quantity of rice and aval will be double after 3 - 4 hours.

Grind the raw rice and aval to a very fine paste with water in a mixer. Add only required amount of water while grinding. Batter should not be too watery.

Transfer this batter to another big bowl for fermentation with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add yeast solution. Mix well. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 8 - 10 hours or overnight. Quantity will be double after fermentation.



For Aval Appam:

Heat a non - stick appachatty. Grease the appachatty with 1/4 teaspoon oil and reduce heat to medium.

Pour 1 1/2 ladleful of appam batter to the appachatty and slowly shake the appachatty round so that a thin layer forms on the sides and the middle remains thick. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat till done. When the appam is ready, the edges resembles crisp lace with light brown color and centre soft. Remove gently with a wooden spatula and serve with chicken curry / korma / stew....

For Dosa:

Heat a non - stick tawa / dosa pan. Grease with 1/4 teaspoon oil. Pour 1 ladleful of appam batter on it. The batter should be able to spread by itself. it should not be spread with a ladle. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat till done / centre soft and the underside of dosa is light brown . Remove carefully with a wooden spatula.

Prawns Dum Biryani / Chemmeen Biryani

Prawns Dum Biryani

Serves: 3 - 4

Ingredients

For the prawns:

500 g prawns, cleaned and deveined
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Marinate prawns with the above ingredients and keep aside for 30 minutes.

For the Rice:

2 cups basmati rice
3 cloves
3 cardamom
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ghee
Water for cooking

Take plenty of water in a pot ; add rice, whole spices, salt and ghee. Cook till three - fourth done. Drain out water.

For the Prawns Gravy:

45 ml ( 3 tablespoons ) cooking oil

Whole spices:

2 bay leaves
3 cloves
3 cardamom
3 cinnamon sticks

500 g prawns
5 onions, sliced fine
1/2 bunch coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 bunch mint leaves, chopped
1 pod garlic ( 20 cloves ), chopped and crushed
2 - inch piece ginger, chopped and crushed
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 green chilli, slit lengthwise
3/4 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )

Method

For the Prawns Gravy:

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai. Fry whole spices for 2- 3 minutes. Add sliced onions and fry till light pink in color.

Add crushed garlic and ginger. Fry for 3 - 4 minutes on a low heat.

Add chopped tomatoes, green chilli, chopped mint and coriander leaves. Fry for 4- 5 minutes.

Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt to taste. Mix well and saute for 4 - 5 minutes or till the raw smell goes.

Add marinated prawns. Mix well. Do not add water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes ( till the gravy thickens and a nice aroma ).

For Dum ( or the final preparation of Biryani )

In a heavy bottomed vessel spread a layer of prawns gravy and a portion of cooked rice. Make 2 or 3 layers with rice and prawns gravy. Cover with a lid. Seal with atta dough on the edges of the lid. It is preferable to place an iron kadai / iron tawa under the vessel to prevent the gravy / mixture from burning. Cook ( dum ) on a low heat for 30 minutes.You can see a color change in the seal. Open the seal and serve with pickle / raita/ pappadam.