foodie thoughts

I find cooking so relaxing...it is creative, it is easy and good to fill your stomach with something nice....so we started the day with spicey eggs [I already gave you the recipe on 7 September, 2010]....try them once and you will crave them forever!

 and tonight we had Keralan Fish Fry....I got the recipe from Mrs Mumel near Allepouza....we were asked for dinner, and they expected us to sit quietly in the sitting room whilst the ladies of the house cooked.
No way I begged my way into the kitchen and helped create magic.....although whilst cooking it I was worried about the amount of chillis; thinking I would embarass myself and not be able to eat things.....something happens, I think the coconut milk acts as a modifying force....anyway this food is spicy but not burn your mouth our!
Use any firm fish steaks...don't know the name of what we get here in India....it is firm and white, I have used salmon steaks when in UKand they were great as well.

Kearlan Fish Fry
marinade

• 2T red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 T tumeric
• 1 T fennel seeds
• 1 T salt ????
• 1 t garlic

-pound together and mix in water to make thich paste
-rub a very generous amount into your fish steaks- crust it on really
in pan, saute

• 4 onion, fine dice
• 6 green chilli slit lengthwise
• 1/2 T tumeric
• 1T red chilli powder

- cook until softened,
throw in

• 20 curry leaves
• 1 cup cocnut milk

-simmer until thickened
-thicken with 2 T cornflour pasted in water if necessary
- fry off fish in a small amount of oil until lovely red crust on either side,
-pour over sauce simmer until cooked through

 I served ours as part of a fusion meal....
Kearlan Fish Fry
Green Salad
Pauch Phoren Potatoes

Panch Phoren Potaotes are Bengali inspired....in Bengal their basic spice mix is
Paunch Phoren
equal amounts of 5 seeds

• cumin
• fenugreek
• nigella
• fennel
• black mustard

Pauch Phoren Potatoes
I never usually use olive oil for Indian cooking, its flavour is swamped, but here in this fusion dish I think it comes through

• potatoes
• sweet potates

-peel and chop into bite size pieces,
-boil and drain
-in baking pan add

• olive oil
• few T of pauch phoren
• 1 t roughly ground balck pepper
• sprinkling of salt???

-sizzle on stove top until seeds jumping and popping
-through in potatoes

• onion pieces

-stir all through to coat
roast in oven until all crunchy around the edges

enjoy!
but don't eat too much or you will be awake in the middle of the night like me with a full tummy!
actually we don't have curtains up yet and the light of the full moon is shining so bright it woke me up....looks lovely and mysteriuos outside