The Spice Trail 1- Kerela Garam Masala Powder

When I met my husband ten years ago my interest and knowledge regarding south Indian food extended only to Dosas and Idlis. And ofcourse the idea that 'the south Indians' use coconut oil in everything they cook. Not very impressive I agree. Here I was a small town girl from UP, my city had only one south Indian joint and I remember how much I loved to eat from there. Me, my little brother and my cousin N (who shall be referred to as MSIC-my sister in Canada, hencforth on this blog) would be treated to Dosas from this place every Saturday. We could never get enough of it and if MSIC is reading this, she must be smiling with nostalgia right now. It was a big deal for us. It is not surprising to me that the first proper, complicated (for me at age 13) dish I learnt to cook was 'Sambhar" , the south Indian version of Dal if you will. I learnt it from MSIC and I wonder if she remembers or even knows this fact about me. She in turn learnt it from the recipe written on the back of the store bought Sambhar powder pack I think.

I think that is when my love affair with spices began. I used to be constantly asking our cook about the various combinations and blends of different spices and would experiment often. Some worked, many didnt. Almost two decades later, I am still not there...for example I am still looking for a 'garam masala' blend which will work for me, I am talking about the one we use in north India. However, am glad to report that as far as my south Indian garam masala is concerned, I have got it! Garam masala and its variations are used across India and even though the basic spices remain same more or less, the combinations could vary from each family to family. Here is my spice blend of Kerela Garam Masala which my mother in law taught me. All quantities are aprroximate. Depending upon the availibility in your area and the cost ofcourse. The use of good quality green Cardamom and Cloves is essential, and they do happen to be expensive in some places. Here's what you will need.

2 tbsp heaped Fennel Seeds (saunf)
1 tsp heaped black Pepper Corns
1 Star Anise
6-8 Green Cardamom
6-8 Cloves
4 1' sticks of Cinnamon
2 tbsp Corriander Seeds (optional, since many families dont use this), I usually like to add this too because I love it's fragrance.

Heat a non stick pan and dry roast all the spices untill fragrant. Refer to the picture below. Do not burn! PS- curry leaf in the pic is just to make it look pretty, not a part of the recipe darling ! :)

Once the spices are roasted, cool and dry grind them in your coffee grinder, to a powder. Store in an air tight jar. The quantity as shown in the first picture is from my personal batch I made earlier and is double of the quantity I have given you today. It yielded me about six tbsp of fine powder.

Any Malayalees in the house? Please feel free to comment and offer any corrections this recipe needs.

Fish Fry-The only kind I seem to know!!

I grew up in a small town called Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, North India. It is a town sacred to Hindus/Buddhists and eating a lot of non vegetarian food is not the norm. However, many people ofcourse do. The preferred meat of choice is lamb and chicken. Fish is consumed largely by the Bengali folks here and Pork/Beef meat, hardly at all. Like most of the regular families, mine also mostly eats lamb and chicken although my father loves fish/seafood. My mother is allergic to all kinds of fish as a result of which, cooking fish was a rarity in my house. Me and my brother never developed a taste for it and till date we often struggle to get reasonably excited  to eat fish.

All that changed for me when I fell in love with a South Indian boy! My husband is from Kerela and was  brought up in Chennai. He is from a family which is a hardcore fish/seafood  eating one. They sometimes even eat fish curries for breakfast! This is some kind of 'blasphemy' for a staid north Indian like me-food wise that is. Anyhow, I quickly realised after getting married that I will have to buy, clean and cook fish on a very,very regular basis if I was to be peacefuly and happily married. Oh dear! I had never ever bought fish, never cleaned or cooked it before my marriage. This was going to be a genuine test for me. Over the years though, I am happy to report, I have surprisingly grown fond of at least all kinds of shell fish , if not fresh water. I do feel squeamish cleaning it but have now mastered many kinds of curries and dry fish dishes which my husband says is almost 'Malayalee' (Keralite). Most of the curries/fries I know belong to Kerela and I never use Bengali styles of cooking fish because my husband actively dislikes bengali cuisine. I cook fish at least four times a week if not everyday.

The recipe I am going to share today is my all time go-to recipe for a quick and simple fried fish. Requiring minimum marination time, I recommend using Sardines or Mackeral, which is what I have seen being used in Kerela cuisine. I sometimes go a step further in changing up the marinade slightly which also tastes just as nice. Husband of mine is one happy bunny whenever I make this. The traditional way I have seen my mother in law marinating is the use of simply- tumeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste. She then shallow fries the marinated fish. Thats is. I however add corrainder powder, black pepper powder and fresh lemon juice too. You can prepare your marinade whichever way you wish to. My mother in law's method is just as good and keeps the flavours more natural and fresh.

How to:

4-5 pieces of small to medium sized whole Sardines/Mackeral, not sliced.
1 tsp heaped red chilli powder or according to preferance
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder (optional)
salt to taste
Juice of 1 lemon if large in size or juice of 2 small sized lemons.

To be used when frying the fish:

5-6 tbsp any vegetable or coconut oil (which I personaly dislike)
1 tsp heaped ginger/garlic paste
5-6 curry leaves

Mix the ingredients listed in the first section in a bowl and marinate the fish pieces in it for at least half an hour. As usual, the longer you marinate your meat, the better the taste. But fish being so tender as a meat, does not usually demand a very long marinating time. Anyhow.

Now, this is where I do it slightly differently apart from using corriander powder in the marinade. Some people also apply a small quantity of ginger-garlic paste to the fish. I used to do that too but realised that when I started to fry them, they would quickly burn and taste bitter. So now this is how I fry the marinated fish.

Take about 5-6 tbsp of cooking oil in a frying pan. Once it is heated through, add in 1 tsp of heaped ginger-garlic paste. Brown this paste to a nice golden brown but take care not to burn it. Now place the marinated fish pieces in the pan and shallow fry till crisp, and browned on both sides. Say about 4-5 minutes in each side on a high or medium flame. The use of ginger garlic paste this way gives it a nice crunch and colour. In the last 2 minutes of frying, I also throw in a few curry leaves, about 5-6. Curry leaves used at this stage takes it to a whole new level.

Here are some pictures to guide you along.

The marinated fish above.

Fried with some curry leaves and fresh green chillis.

Serve fresh along with Sambhar and rice or even just as is at the start of the meal with some sliced onions and crisply fried green chillis.