Prawn fry

Ingredients:
Prawns – 250 gms

MARINADE:
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Shallot paste – 1 tbsp
Garlic paste – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Curry leaves

FRY:
Onions – 1 large, cubed
Tomatoes – 1, cubed
Green chillies – 4/5, slit
Curry leaves
Soy sauce – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 pinch
Monosodium glutamate – 1 pinch
Oil – 1½ tbsp
Salt – ½ tsp

METHOD:
Mix the ingredients for the marinade, apply it to the prawns and marinate for 2 hours.
Boil the prawns in the marinade until the water content is reduced.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry the boiled prawns for about 5 minutes and remove them from the pan.
In the same oil, add onions and green chillies. When onions turn transparent, add tomatoes and curry leaves.

Add soy sauce, sugar, monosodium glutamate and salt, and mix well. Now add the prawns and sauté well. Take off the stove.

Chemmeen molagooshyam

Ingredients:
Chemmeen (Prawns) – ¼ kg
Tomatoes – 3 large, blanched and pureed
Shallots – 10, pureed
Green chillies – 4
Onions – 1 medium, sliced
Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Water – 2 cups (or as you need)
Curry leaves
Monosodium glutamate (optional)
Sugar (optional)
Tamarind pulp – ½ tsp (optional)
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Boil all ingredients except oil in a vessel. When the prawns are done and the water reduces sufficiently, take off the stove. Pour the oil and garnish with curry leaves.

Meen Varuthathu (Fish fry)

This dish has almost the same ingredients (and method) as one of our earlier posts Mathi Varuthathu, except for the fish used. Here we have used Neymeen/Seer fish.

Meen koottan (Fish curry)

INGREDIENTS:

Fish – ¼ kg, cleaned and cut
Onions – 1 large, sliced
Tomatoes – 3 large, sliced
Green chillies – 4, split
Ginger – 1 inch piece, finely chopped
Tamarind pulp – 2 tsp
Water – as needed for the gravy
Oil – 1 tbsp

Masala:
Coconut – 1 small cup, grated
Shallots – 4
Curry leaves
Fenugreek – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 3 tsp
Salt – as needed
Sugar – 1 tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - a little

Marinade:
Salt – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – a pinch
Chilli powder – ½ tsp
Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves

METHOD:

Mix the ingredients for the marinade, apply it on the cleaned and cut fish pieces. Marinate for half an hour.

Masala: Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry fenugreek seeds. When they turn red, add coconut, shallots, curry leaves and sauté well. When the coconut turns a light brown, add the powders, sauté for two minutes and take off the stove. Cool well and grind to a paste, adding a little water.

Curry: 

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a vessel. Fry both sides of the marinated fish lightly in it. Keep aside.

To the remaining oil, add curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and sauté well. Add onions, followed by tomatoes; ensure that you sauté both for some time.

Add the ground masala and mix well. Add tamarind, water and mix well. Add salt and sugar and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the fried fish pieces. Mix well and cook for another 5-10 minutes ensuring that the pieces do not break.
Take off the stove and add curry leaves.

Seasoning (optional):

If you want, you can fry some finely chopped shallots in oil and season the curry with it.

Postscript: We have used pomfret pieces for this curry. Any fish would do!

Maththi Varuthathu (Fried sardines)

Ingredients:
Sardines - 20, cleaned
Shallots - 10
Garlic - 3 cloves
Tamarind pulp - half teaspoon
Turmeric powder - half teaspoon
Chilli powder - 2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Sugar - a pinch (optional)
Curry leaves
Oil - enough for shallow frying

Method:
Grind the shallots, garlic, tamarind, curry leaves along with salt and sugar. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder to the ground paste and mix well.

Marinate the sardines with this paste for an hour.

Heat oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the fish until both sides are done.