MEEN POLLICHATHU WITH VINDALOO MASALA

Ilove fish and my family loves it too! I try to cook with fish as often as I can. It's almost always as a Meen Vevichathu or Meen Varuthathu. I've been making Fish Moilee quite a few times over the last few weeks along with homemade bread. There's something so comforting in that combination. This Meen Pollichathu is a made with a twist from the traditional one.

When I posted a photo of this dish on Instagram, I received a lot of questions regarding where to buy banana leaves here. I buy it from Oriental stores and I've seen it at Malayali store around Onam. We rarely shop at our Malayali store. These leaves come frozen in small trays. I find them very handy. Just pull out how much you need and the rest can stay in the freezer. The leaf is limp because it's frozen so we can use it without taming it over fire.

Meen Pollichathu is best made with Karimeen.Even though we get them here in frozen form, I rarely buy it. The last time I bought it was when Appa & Amma came here for Christmas last year. Amma made a Karimeen Mappas with it and it was delicious!! This recipe uses a slightly different masala and uses sambar tamarind instead of Kudampuli. It's a very quick dish to make, just like most fish recipes and has a charm to it because it's wrapped and served in banana leaf.

MEEN POLLICHATHU WITH VINDALOO MASALA

Ingredients:
400 grams cleaned fish
2 sprigs curry leaves
3/4 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar*
1 cup sliced pearl onions
4 tablespoon oil

Grind together:
1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-5 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon tamarind pulp (homemade)
8 pearl onions

Method: Heat 3 tbsp oil and crackle mustard seeds and curry leaves. Saute the ground ingredients, till the oil separates. Add the shallots, stir well and pour the vinegar and salt. Add the fish and move it gently to coat the pieces with masala.

In an oil paper or banana leaf *, arrange the fish with its masala. Pour the remaining 1 tbsp oil over it and fold into a neat parcel /parcels. Put the parcels into a dish and bake at 400 F till the outside is golden for about 30 minutes. Once it's baked, take it out, open the parcel and serve hot !

* Use your own judgement here because we are already using tamarind pulp.
*If you are using fresh banana leaves, you will have to tame it over fire. 'Vaati edukukka'.
*You can cook this on the stovetop as well. Cook on medium flame for 8-10 mins flipping once in between till the leaves are a bit brown.

Mrs. B.F.Varghese's cookbooks are a very common sight in most Malayali households in Kerala.I have them too and I found this recipe from one of them. It's name intrigued me at first and then when I remembered the frozen banana leaves that I had been hoarding for a while, I decided to make use of it. Ian gave me the biggest thumbs up ever and said that the fish is very good! Jobin said the same too! I used Tilapia filets for making these and hence the tiny packages. The recipe was meant for one piece of fish. This is a very good twist to traditional Meen Pollichathu. Do give it a try sometime during this festive season!

CREAMY TOMATO & COCONUT FISH CURRY

Ijust realised that I don't experiment a lot with fish. It usually is served in the form of a Fish Fry, a Meen Vevichathu or a Kannur Style Meen Curry. I never went beyond that because I never felt the need to.I was very happy with the same old curry or maybe an occassional Malabar Fish Masala & a Fish Moilee. A few days ago, I was browsing through Monica's cookbook and realised that she had many recipes for seafood and her signature Fish Curry caught my attention.

It's simplicity is beyond words.The texture is super creamy and the curry tastes very mild even though there's a kick from the serrano and the bite from the cayenne.I was tempeted to add more cayenne than what she had suggested but later realised that it would have been a bit too much. Or,it could be the brand of chilli powder that I am using.The heat varies from brand to brand.So add accordingly.And the beautiful red mini cocotte that the curry is served was gifted to us by Honey Sarah Naveen,when we met her back in June.

After Ian was born, I know my day (s)can be unpredictable.I cannot predict what I will have to run after, as soon as I put my hand in to the tray of raw fish/meat/poultry.It could be him climbing on our sofa, on our ottoman or even our LazyBoy!Luckily, he is very sensible for his age.He is careful about what he does. Even though I am running behind him clearing up whatever he pulls out or drops, I am constantly thinking of what to cook/bake next!

Many of you ask me how I manage my day/daily chores with a baby on my hips! The thing is, to be honest, I really don't care! I just do what I have to without thinking much. I've noticed that I've been cooking a lot more than what I used to,before he came into our lives. I think it's because I need something else to concetrate other than just the baby.Cooking is such a pleasure for me. Whenever I cook, I give it my full concentration. I've even noticed that I enjoy peeling garlic and ginger so much more than before,just so that I can get busy in my head,in my own world. I have always been 'from the scratch' kinda cook but now, I am obsessed.I even bake our daily bread! Baby magic? Well, I like to think so :-) That keeps me going!

CREAMY TOMATO & COCONUT FISH CURRY

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3 big cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch ginger,grated
2 serrano chilies, chopped
10 curry leaves
1 large tomato,chopped
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon salt, to start with
1 pound fish, cut into bite sized pieces
Scant 1 cup thick coconut milk

Method: Heat oil in a large pan. Add the mustard seeds and when it pops, add crushed garlic,grated ginger, chopped serrano chilies & curry leaves and saute for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomato and cook it for 10-12 minutes or until you get to see the oil released. If it is sticking, add a little bit of water to aid the process.Add the powders and saute for minute. Now, add in the fish,stir and let it cook for 5 minutes. Then, add the coconut milk and bring to a boil.Reduce the heat and let the curry simmer until the fish is cooked.Serve hot with steamed rice.

Getting back to the curry. It was absolutely marvelous and we loved it. I mopped it up with some homemade Milk Bread (the one you just saw in a photograph above).There's something magical about simplicity in recipes and if you want to be a believer,I insist you to give this recipe a try.
Ian loves his toy fish. So when I was feeding him, I told him that he was having rice with fish(chorum-mee mee-um).As he gobbled it up, I could see his little eyes wandering around to locate his favourite toy! I couldn't help but smile and the same time felt sad thinking what must have gone through that little innocent mind of his :-)