More Culinary Delights - South Indian Recipes

Having enjoyed our last cooking course so much, we decided to do another. This time our chef was a local woman (receommened by the tourist booth in Fort Cochin). Again, we had a feast and thoroughly enjoyed the lessons we learnt. Here are the recipes:

Keralan Fish Curry
White fish, such as mullet
2" ginger shredded
handful of garlic (about 15 small cloves) shredded
10 shallots shredded
15-20 curry leaves
3-4 tbsp coconut oil or veg oil (not olive oil)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (roast seeds and crush into powder)
3 tsp chili powder (not hot chili powder)
3 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oil and add mustard seeds to pop. Add garlic, shallots, 10 of the curry leaves and ginger. Cook until shallots soft. Place turmeric, chili, and fenugreek in a pot and mix with a little water to make a paste. Add paste to the pan and mix well. Once the oil starts to come out of the mixture, then the masala is ready. Add some water to make sauce - the sauce can be as watery or thick as you like. Bring the sauce to the boil, when it's simmering, add the fish. Add a bit more water to the level of the fish. Give the pan a swirl/shake - don't stir it. Add the rest of the curry leaves and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until fish is cooked.

Fish Fry
2" ginger
5 cloves garlic crushed
Pepper powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp fenugreek powder
Salt

Make the above into a thick paste with a little vinegar. Score fish and rub paste onto fish. Marinade for a couple of hours, then fry or grill.

Okra with Masala (can also use beans, peas, aubergine or cauliflower instead of okra)
250g okra chopped (do not wash once the okra is chopped)
2 small onions, chopped
10 cloves garlic
1-2 green chilies, roughly sliced
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 cup of coconut milk

Fry onion, garlic, chili in coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Add okra and cook for 1 minute. Add garam masala, turmeric and a dash more oil. Add coriander powder. Add water to the level of the okra and salt to taste. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add coconut milk (and a bit of corn flour if it ends up being watery).

Vegetable Stew (can also add cashews - just soak the nuts overnight)
1/2 cauliflower chopped
2 medium potatoes chopped
3 carrots chopped
Handful of peas
10 small cloves of garlic sliced
2 green chilies sliced long ways
2 small onions sliced
1-2 cinnamon sticks
5 cardamons
10 peppercorns
10 cloves
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
Enough corn flour to thicken (follow instructions on packet)

Heat oil. Add garlic, chili and onion and cook for 5 - 10 minutes. Add veg and mix well. Add cardamons and other spices, stir well. Cover with water and add salt to taste. Cook until the carrot is soft. Take the pan off the heat and add coconut milk and corn flour. Bring to the boil and then take off the heat.

Cabbage Thora (can be used with any vegetable)
1 small cabbage shredded
1 onion chopped
1" ginger chopped (only use ginger for cabbage recipe)
2 chilies chopped
1.5 handfuls of coconut (use desiccated soaked in water if no fresh coconut available)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand. Add a bit of water and mix well. Add to frying pan and cover to steam vegetables until cooked (about 10 minutes). Then garnish.

Garnish (for 1 dish)
5 shallots sliced
10 curry leaves
2-3 tbsps coconut oil or veg oil
1 tsp mustard seeds

Heat oil and add mustard seeds until they pop. Add shallots and curry leaves. Fry until light brown and then add to the top of the dish.

Later that evening we took a night train to Goa, where we would make a connection to get to Hospet and on to the ruins of Hampi.

Cooking in Kerala

Stu and I have just been on a 2 hour cooking course where we made our dinner. The food was scrummy and all were local dishes from Kerala. We had Vegetable Masala, Navaratna Kuruma (vegetables in a coconut sauce), Vegetable Biriyani, Fish Moilee (coconut sauce) and Chapatis. The food was so good, I thought I'd share it with you, so here are the recipes - they're all very easy as long as you have the ingredients. All dishes serve two people. So get cooking!

Vegetable Masala (serve with rice or bread)
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
3/4 onion, finely chopped
1" cube of ginger, finely chopped
1 small carrot
1 fresh tomato chopped
some veggies, but only about 1 tablespoon of each, we used beans, cauliflower & cabbage
2 tbsp veg oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp white flour
1 tbsp coriander
water to cover ingredients
2-3 tbsp of milk
salt to taste

Fry ginger, garlic and onion for a few minutes until lightly browned. Add tomato, stir and cook for a minute. Add veg and stir well. Add spices and mix well, cook for a couple of minutes. Cover with water, mix well and leave to cook for 5-6 minutes. At the end add milk and salt to taste. Easy.

Navaratna Kuruma (serve with rice or bread)
2" cube of ginger chopped
1/2 onion chopped finely
4 beans chopped small
1/2 medium potato chopped
small piece of cabbage chopped (2 tbs)
1/2 carrot chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 sweet banana chopped
1 tbsp pineapple chopped
1/2 small eating apple
1 tbsp fresh coriander

Sauce:
1 cup of coconut milk
1 handful of chopped cashews
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Fry onion in oil with ginger and mustard seeds for 1 minute. Throw in all veg (not fruit) and fry for a couple of minutes. Cover with water and cook for 5 minutes. Put all the sauce ingredients into blender and cover with water. Whizz up contents of blender (should be quite thick). Add to the veg and cook for 2 minutes. Throw in fruit and fresh coriander. Mix well. Take off heat.

Vegetable Biriyani (serve with rice or bread)
1 cup of rice
1/2 carrot fine slices
1/4 onion fine slices
handful of whole cashews
1 tbsp raisins
small piece of cinnamon
5 cloves
1/4 tsp aniseed
3-4 cardamons
1 tbsp mint and coriander combined
2 tbsp ghee (or butter melted with residue removed)
1 pinch of turmeric, salt and sugar
Few drops of essence of pineapple (optional)

Put rice onto cook as packet instructions. Remember to wash rice well before cooking. When rice is cooked, drain and leave to one side. Fry onion and carrot until brown. Add cashews, cinnamon and raisins and cook for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and add sugar, salt and turmeric. Mix well. Add pineapple, mint and coriander, and cashew nuts. Mix. Add rice and fry for 1 minute. Add essence of pineapple at the end - this is just to add to the smell.

Fish Moilee (serve with rice or bread)
1 clove garlic shredded
1" garlic shredded
1 hot green chili - split down the middle - don't chop
1/2 onion sliced thinly
10 curry leaves (fresh or dried)
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp chili
1/2 tbsp flour
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 tsp creamed tamarind
1 tomato sliced
salt to taste
1 x small fillet of white fish

Fry mustard seeds in coconut oil. Add garlic, ginger, whole chili, onion and curry leaves. Brown off these items a little (2-3 minutes). Turn off heat. Add in turmeric, coriander, chili, tamarind, flour and fry for 1/2 minute. Add coconut milk and heat again. Add fish and tomato slices and cook for 5-10 minutes until fish is cooked. Add salt to taste.

Chapatis (flat bread) - makes 4 chapatis

4 tbsp water
8 tbsp plain flour
salt to taste
Little bit of oil

Mix the water, flour and salt together to make a smooth dough. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Roll into a sausage and then divide into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece so that it is quite thin. It should be about 10" in diametre. Cook in a hot fry pan like a pancake. Use very little oil, sprinkle the oil over the bread just so it doesn't stick - the less oil the better. Flip it when you start to see bubbles form underneath. They just need to be lightly cooked, around 3-5 minutes each side or until golden brown.

Enjoy your feast - this will easily serve 2-3 people. And a feast it was!