Chemmeen / Prawn / Kolambi Masala Fry

On those days, when you want your prawns / chemmeen and don't have much  time on hand, try this dish. It is easy and quick to make but very flavorful dish. It is a shorter version of the chemmeen olarthiyathu.

Ingredients
Chemmeen / Prawn / Kolambi - 500gms
Savaalla Ulli / Onion - 2 medium
Thakaalli / Tomato - 1 medium
Ginger - 2 inch pc
Green chilli - 3
Curry Leaves - 8 to 10
Red Chilli pwd - 2tsp
Turmeric pwd - 1tsp
Coconut milk - 3 tbsp (optional)
Coconut oil - 2tsp
Salt as per taste

Clean and devein the prawns. Finely chop the onions, ginger and tomatoes. Chop the green chillies.

Heat 1tbsp oil, add finely chopped onions, turmeric pwd, and chopped green chillies and sauté till brown. Add chilli powder stir and add the prawns and the ginger and sauté for a minutes. Add 1 cup water, salt to taste and tomato, close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes till the tomatoes are blended. Add the coconut milk and curry leaves and cook for the water to dry up. When the water is almost gone add coconut oil and on high fry for a couple of minutes. Take it off the heat and transfer to a serving bowl.  

 

Lunch: Rice, Prawn Masala Fry, Achinga - Chenna mezhukkupuratti and sambhar

Thai Green Curry with Ching's curry paste

I so like Thai green curry and my husband just cannot stand it. He somehow cannot take the aroma of the thai curry, I guess its to do with the galangal, lemon grass and basil in the curry. So this means, no  Thai restaurants or takeaways when eating out and cooking different things for him and me is out also. So when I saw the Ching's Thai green curry paste on the shelves in Big Bazar I just picked it. Of course there were 2 other brands but the price was the clinching factor for me! Next I needed some canned coconut milk and got Real Thai coconut milk and that because I have used it before and liked it. Though I would suggest using the Lite coconut milk for this curry.

 

I have always liked the vegetable Thai curry rather than the one with chicken. So I grabbed a zucchini and a small tray of baby corns from the store before exiting. I had some eggplant, carrots and bell peppers in the frig and I put all together and chopped them up. Then all I did was follow the instructions given on the bottle and it was done in no time!

It was definitely not the best curry like some I have had at restaurants but will make do to satisfy my cravings sometimes. Next, will try the red curry paste!

Malvani Kombdi Hirwa Masala (chicken in green masala)

The other day, I tried Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe for the malvani chicken in green masala and it turned out really well. I did tweak it a little like adding only 1 black elaichi, not marinating the chicken (that was because I did not have the time) and using canned coconut milk.

Kombdi Hirwa Masala (chicken in green masala)
The recipe I followed:

Chicken breasts - 2

Oil - 3 tbsp
Bay leaf - 1
Green elaichi - 3
Black elaichi - 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - half inch piece
Cloves - 3
Onions - 2 chopped
Malvani garam masala - 1tsp
Coconut milk canned - 5 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Grind to a paste:
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch
Fresh coconut scraped - half cup
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Garlic - 6 pods
Green Chillies - 6

Method:

Cut chicken breasts to medium sized pieces and wash and clean and keep aside.

Grind the coriander leaves, coconut, ginger, garlic and green chillies with little water to a fine paste.

Take oil in a pressure cooker and heat till hot. Keep the flame on medium heat, add the bay leaf, green elaichi, brown elaichi, cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon stick till fragrant. Then add the onions and saute till soft and translucent. Lower the flame and add the ground green masala and fry till the oil starts to separate. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry for about 5 to 10 minutes, add salt at this stage. Add about a cup of water and mix well and close lid and let it cook on low flame till the chicken is cooked. Open lid and add little water if you want a little gravy. I liked this dish with little gravy which was really thick. I added half tsp of chilli powder at this stage because I wanted it a little more spicy but you could avoid it.

Add coconut milk and the malvani garam masala and heat through, don't let it bubble over. Garnish with coriander leaves and this dish is ready to be served. I loved having mine with chapatis and later with rice.

If you have the time, marinate the chicken like the original recipe calls for - grind ginger and garlic, add salt and marinate the chicken for half hour. In which case only grind the coriander, coconut and green chilli for the green paste.