Steamed Fish in Banana Leaf | Meen Pollichathu | Fish Fry in Banana Leaf | Vazhai Ilai Meen

Steamed Fish in Banana Leaf | Meen Pollichathu | Fish Fry in Banana Leaf | Vazhai Ilai Meen is a healthy option for fish lovers, that too who prefer fried fish rather than curry fish. This is more like steaming fish in banana leaf. Though Karimmen (Pearl Spot fish) Pollichathu is our family’s favourite, I didn’t  plan for preparing any special dish last week when I bought koduva | barramundi fish. When I was marinating  the fish with spices, I got an idea of preparing this fish fry in banana leaf as I got some left-over  banana leaves which I bought for Panguni Uththiram, the previous day. I followed the simple recipe, yet it turned out to be so yummy. This is mainly due to the flavours of banana leaf which really enhanced the taste & aroma of the dish. The fish potlis looked so cute on the serving plate and tasted real yum. We enjoyed it as a starter with onion rings & tomatoes and got vanished like flash in the pan.

Ingredients:

• Fish – 5 pieces
• Banana leaves – as required
• Oil – 2 tbsp for frying
• Onion, cilantro, tomato – for garnishing

For marination:

• Red chilli  powder – 1 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
• Pepper powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Thick tamarind paste – 1 tsp
• Oil- 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean & wash the fish pieces using water with turmeric and curd.
2. Add the ingredients kept for marinating and mix everything well to form a paste. Add few drops of water, if needed, to make a thick paste.
3. Apply this masala paste on the fish pieces and marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.
4. In the mean time, wash the banana leaves and dry them.  Check the leaves by folding them to ensure that they are flexible enough to wrap the fish, without tearing. If they are thick and tend to tear while folding, switch on the flame and show the banana leaves over the flame for few seconds, just to make it tender. Don’t overdo this to change the colour of the leaves. Normally tender leaves won’t get torn while folding.
5. Cut the leaves into big squares to wrap the fish pieces.
6. Place the single fish piece with some marinade, in the centre of each banana leaf and fold on all the sides to form a potli or packet. Tie it with twain or thread. Repeat for other fish pieces and prepare the potlis | packets.
7. In a non stick pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and heat.
8. When the oil is hot, arrange the fish potlis on the pan and keep it closed.  Cook  the fish in simmer for about 5 minutes. Then carefully flip the fish to other side and cook covered for 5 minutes. Repeat again with both sides twice or thrice & cook covered until done. This will take 20 to 25 minutes in simmer.

Tasty fish potlis are ready to relish. Enjoy the bite with any of your favourite side | dip or with hot, steamed rice & fish curry...

Note:

• Care should be taken while flipping the fish potlis.
• You can add any spice | masala of your choice and proceed with the same cooking process but marination part is very much essential.

Tags: Fish Fry in banana leaf recipe, steamed fish fry recipe, Fish pollichathu, Koduva meen in Banana leaf, How to cook fish in banana leaves?,  Fish fry in banana leaf, Fish cooked in banana leaf, Fish banana potlis, Fish potlis for starter , Vazhai Ilai meen recipe, simple fish fry in banana leaf, koduva meen fry, Healthy fish fry recipes, Diet fish recipes, Seafood recipes, fish recipes, Simple koduva fish fry recipe, How to steam cook fish in banana leaf? Grilled fish in banana leaf, steamed barramundi in banana leaf

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Pallipalayam Chicken Fry | Pallipalayam Chicken Masala

Pallipalayam Chicken Fry | Pallipalayam Chicken Masala is one of the simplest chicken recipes, yet a tasty side dish for rice as well as roti. This pallipalayam chicken is a specialty from Kongu Nadu and my recent addition to chicken recipes after having tasted at the restaurant Junior Kuppanna. This restaurant is very famous in Erode and serves the best dishes from kongu cuisine and they opened their branch in our neighbourhood 2 years ago. Since then I have been getting good feedback from my friends & colleagues that they serve the best non-veg items. Many people are visiting this restaurant from far off places but we never have visited it though there isn’t any specific reason. Very recently, Sundar and I went to this restaurant and my hub wanted to try something with less masala & oil. The waiter over there suggested this Pallipalayam chicken. I asked for the preparation and he explained a bit. I was really surprised to note that there was no trace of oil as we generally find in these types of recipes in other restaurants. We enjoyed the dish with hot chappatis & it tasted yum.

This dish has an interesting story behinds its name. Pallipalayam is a small town in Erode and the workers over there, mostly carpenters, had to camp in nearby towns for weeks to attend their jobs. In that case, they used to prepare this dish which needs minimum ingredients to have some food on the go. Since this dish originated from the people of Pallipalayam, it is named as Pallipalayam Chicken. 

Here we go for the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken (without skin)– ½ Kg

Shallots (finely chopped) – 5 Nos.

Garlic (finely chopped) – 3 tbsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

Oil – 3 tbsp

Fennel seeds – ½ tsp

Red chillies (broken into 2) – 10 Nos.

Curry leaves – few

Method:

Clean, wash and cut the chicken into medium size pieces.

In a non stick pan, heat oil and season with the items given “For Seasoning”.

Add the finely chopped garlic and fry till it gets golden brown & releases a nice aroma.

Then add finely chopped onion and fry till it turns golden brown.

Now add chicken pieces, turmeric powder & required salt and combine everything well. Cook with the lid covered in medium flame for about 15-20 minutes stirring in between.

No need to add water as the chicken releases water while cooking. If the dish dries out, add a handful of water.

When the chicken pieces are done, add some curry leaves and switch off & serve.

Tasty Pallipalayam Chicken is ready to serve. It can be served with any rice dish, sambar, rasam, curd etc or with rotis. Today we had this kongu special chicken dish with  dhal, rasam & curd.

Note:

Coconut pieces can be added at the end which I've not added.

Spice for this dish is totally from red chillies. You can increase / decrease the quantity as per your taste. You can also add some chilli powder & reduce the quantity of red chillies.

I’ve prepared this dish using chicken with bone. You can use boneless too. My suggestion is to use with bone as it is tastier.

Tags: Pallipalayam chicken fry recipe, Pallipalayam chicken masala recipe, Kongu special Pallipalayam chicken recipe, Kongu special chicken recipes, Kongu Cuisine, Kongu Nadu Special Recipes, Kongu recipes, Pallipalayam chicken recipe, Restaurant style Pallipalayam chicken recipe, Junior Kuppanna Special Pallipalaym chicken recipe, simple pallipalaym chicken masala recipe, pallipalayam chicken recipe with bone, pallipalayam chicken dry masala recipe, Kongu special pallipalayam chicken masala recipe, pallipalayam chicken (dry) recipe, Pallipalayam chicken story, How to prepare Junior Kuppanna special pallipalayam chicken at home? Simple chicken recipes. 

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Spicy Egg Fry | Muttai Varuval | ஈஸி முட்டை வறுவல்

Spicy Egg Fry | Muttai Varuval | ஈஸி முட்டை வறுவல் is a spicy, tasty egg recipe using hard boiled eggs blended with some spices. The recipe which I’m giving here needs a few ingredients, very simple to follow and can be made in jiffy. I’m sure that  its taste cannot be compromised with any other complex recipes and it would be a treat for the egg-lovers.

Ingredients:

• Eggs – 4 Nos
• Onion (finely chopped) – 1 No.
• Green chili (finely chopped) – 1 No.
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 No.
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Boil eggs, remove the shell and cut into halves. Keep aside.
• In a non-stick pan, heat oil, add finely chopped onion and sauté till it becomes golden brown.
• Then add green chilli, curry leaves and tomato. Cook till the tomato becomes mushy.
• Now add all the spice powders and sauté for a while.
• Add ¼ cup water and allow the masala to cook.
• When the masala thickens, place the egg halves on the pan and evenly grease the egg halves with the masala.
• Close the lid and allow to cook for about 5 minutes in simmer.

Spicy Chettinad style egg fry is ready to serve! This egg fry goes well with sambar, dhal, curd or with rotis as well as pulaos.

Note:

• Don’t toss the egg halves in the masala as there is a possibility of egg yoke coming out.

Tags: Egg fry recipe, Egg recipes, Chettinad style muttai varuval recipe, Simple egg fry recipe, Easy egg fry recipe, Easy muttai masala, Easy muttai varuval recipe, South Indian style Egg recipe, Bachelor egg recipes.

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Mutton Liver Masala | Goat Liver Fry | Earal Masala | Mutton Kaleji Fry

Mutton Liver Masala | Goat Liver Fry | Earal Masala | Mutton Kaleji Fry is an authentic South Indian – Chettinad Special recipe. Liver is known as “Earal” in Tamil and  “Kaleji” in Hindi. My grandma used to make lot of recipes with  goat liver. She used to prepare any one  and force us to eat since it is rich in iron and vitamins.Today, I thought of making liver pepper fry since many restaurants have this as their signature dish and I found many people opt for this fry.  But I changed my mind to make this liver masala since I have got all the ingredients on hand. This liver masala is very tasty and easy to prepare. It gets cooked in 20-30 minutes and doesn’t need pressure cooking.

I’m not sure how many of you would want to prepare this dish at home because mostly people don’t buy mutton | goat meat as it is believed to be high in fat content, especially the goat liver. But homeopathy doctors advise us to take goat meat atleast once in a week while allopathy doctors advise us to take lean meat i.e. chicken. I think they serve the society in maintaining the ecological system J J! My personal suggestion is to go in for goat meat atleast twice in a month, especially for kids. This goat liver is rich in protein, iron and other vitamins & minerals and hence very good for growing children and people who are anaemic.

Now we go for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• Goat liver – 250 gms
• Shallots (finely chopped) – 15 Nos.
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
• Tomato (inely chopped) – 1 No.
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – ½ tsp
• Pepper powder – ½ tsp
• Coriander leaves (chopped) – 1tbsp
• Salt to taste

For seasoning:

• Gingelly oil – 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon -1” piece
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilli – 2 nos
• Curry leaves – few

Method:

1. Wash the liver thoroughly in running water and dice it into big cubes.
2. In a heavy bottomed kadai, add oil and season with the items given “For seasoning”
3. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté till the raw smell goes off.
4. Then add onion and fry till it becomes golden brown.
5. Add tomato and sauté till it becomes mushy.
6. Add all masala powders except pepper powder and mix everything well.
7. Now add liver pieces and sauté till all liver pieces get coated with the masala and the oil oozes out from the masala.
8. Now add ½ cup water, combine everything and cook with the lid closed while stirring in between.
9. After 20 minutes, check if the dish has reached thick gravy consistency and  the liver is cooked. If not, add little water and cook covered until the liver gets cooked properly.
10. When the gravy is about to dry,  add pepper powder & chopped cilantro, mix everything and switch off.

Your tasty, spicy Goat Liver Masala is ready to serve! You can have this with hot steamed rice, rotis or with biryani |pulao.

Note:

• Always prepare any  dish with “fresh bought” liver on the same day.
• If you want, you can make this dish with thick gravy by adding one more tomato.

Tags: Chettinad style Liver Masala recipe, ஈரல் வறுவல், Goat liver fry recipe, Mutton kaleji recipe, Aattu Earal recipes, Mutton liver recipes, Goat liver recipes, South Indian Liver Masala recipe, Easy liver recipe, Chettinad liver recipes, Goat liver pepper fry 

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Chicken 65 (Dry)

Chicken 65 is a “quick to make” starter with many interesting stories behind its origin. The 65 at the end of the name has many explanations. Some claim that this chicken dish is named after 1965 – the year it first appeared on Buhari’s menu. This trivia even features in some of the famous quiz programmes!

Today, I thought of making this dish for lunch as it had been a long time since I made this at home. I did not make this dish for a long time as we happened to go out for dinners frequently and whenever  we went out, we used to consume a lot of fried foods. So I have avoided even frying appalam | vadam at home. Otherwise, I feel it is always better to prepare the fried items at home once in a while  because the home-made dishes will be healthier since we use our regular masalas and not adding any harmful ingredients like food colour, ajinomotto, etc. So,  I made this for 2 reasons, one for  blog post and other,  my son. He is a fan of Gobi 65 as well as Chicken 65 and hence he thanked the blog!

Here  we go for the recipe of making Chicken 65  starter at home.

Ingredients:

• Boneless chicken  – 1/2  Kg.
• All purpose flour (Maida) – 4 tbsp
• Corn flour – 3 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Pepper powder – ½ tsp
• Garam masala powder or chicken masala powder – ½ tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Thick curd – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Wash chicken in running water and cube it into desired size. Squeeze out the water completely from the chicken pieces and keep it aside.
2. Take a large bowl,  mix all the above ingredients given above except oil. To this add chicken pieces and mix everything well. Mix until all the chicken pieces get  coated with the marinade. Allow to stand for about 30 minutes.
3. Heat a deep bottomed kadai, pour required oil for deep frying. When oil is heated, take out the marinated chicken pieces  and spread one by one in the oil.
4. Cook in medium flame, after some time when you find the bottom layer got cooked, turn to other side and cook until done on all sides.
5. Continue the process for rest of the batch.

Your hot, spicy, juicy  Chicken 65 is ready to serve.  It can be served as a starter or as a side dish for rice, pulao or rotis.

Note:

• I didn’t add any food colour in this recipe but in restaurants, they do. I got the colour as shown in the pic, so I feel that there is no need to add any colour.
• I feel the chicken breast suits the best for the recipe. You can also use chicken with bone.
• Don’t add water before adding the chicken pieces to the marinade because chicken will also leave out some water. Decide whether to sprinkle some water after mixing everything.

Tags: Chicken 65 recipe, Restaurant style chicken 65 recipe, Chicken fry, chicken breast pieces fry, Spicy chicken fry recipe, Quick starter recipe, chicken 65 dry, deep fried chicken 65. Deep fried chicken fritters, fried chicken fritters, starter recipe with chicken, quick starter recipe with chicken

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Mutton Chukka | Mutton Dry Chukka

Mutton Chukka is yet another spicy fry made with boneless mutton | goat meat.  I have tasted  varieties of mutton chukka and the method of preparation varies from place to place but I always opt for Chettinad Mutton Chukka | Mutton Dry Chukka. This  is a dry fry item which can be  made with minimal ingredients as compared to any non-veg recipes and by following simple steps. I would suggest this recipe for a bachelor if anyone wants to try  a simple recipe with mutton which suits best  even for rasam and to make the meal exotic & something different. It goes well with non-vegetarian gravies like Elumbu Sambar, Elumbu Thanni Kuzhambu, etc., and also can  be had with any vegetable sambar, rasam, curd rice, variety rices | pulaos.

Ingredients:

• Mutton ( Boneless) – ¼ Kg.
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – ½  tsp
• Small Onion (finely chopped) – 15 Nos.
• Garlic (finely chopped) – 8 to 10 Nos.                       
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 No. (small)       
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Pepper-Jeera powder – 1 tsp
• Salt to taste.

For seasoning:

• Bay leaf – 1 no.
• Cinnamon – 1” piece
• Kal paasi  - 1 piece
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilli – 2 Nos.
• Curry leaves – few
• Gingelly Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash mutton thoroughly, cube it and pressure cook along with salt, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder and ½ cup water  for about 3 whistles and 5 minutes in simmer.
2. Take a non-stick pan | heavy bottomed kadai, pour oil (preferably gingelly oil), season with items one by one given under seasoning.
3. Add onion and garlic, fry till it becomes golden brown.
4. Next add tomato, fry till it gets mashed well, then add red chilli powder, sauté till oil gets separated. Then transfer the contents from the pressure cooker, mix well, add required salt ( remember we add salt while cooking mutton), cover with the lid and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Open the lid and allow the water from the gravy to get dry completely by stirring in between.
6. When the fry becomes dry without any gravy, add  pepper- jeera powder,  mix well and switch off.

Your Chettinad Mutton Chukka is ready to  be served with hot steaming rice as I said earlier. I love to have this chukka with tamarind rice. Try this combo for yourself!

Note:

• Carefully add salt while frying because this fry won’t need much salt.
• Mutton chukka needs some  spiciness  but you can either raise |  reduce the red chillies and chilli powder according to your spice level.

Tags: Recipe for mutton chukka, Authentic Chettinad Mutton Chukka recipe, How to prepare Chettinad Mutton Chukka? Restaurant style mutton chukka recipe, Bachelor’s recipe with mutton, Bachelors’ mutton chukka recipe, Mutton fry recipe, Chettinad mutton fry recipe, Mutton dry fry recipe, Mutton fry recipe without gravy, Chettinad mutton dry chukka recipe, Dry mutton chukka recipe

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Pomfret Fry | Chettinad Style Pomfret Fish Fry | Avoli Pollichathu

Pomfret Fish Fry | Vaaval Meen Fry | Avoli Pollichathu is an all time favourite for everyone at home. As Pomfret fish is versatile, we can add any masala we like and the fish fry will turn out accordingly. Normally in restaurants, I didn’t taste  any variations in fish fry masala except at GRT Grand where they prepared excellent  Pomfret fry.

In Tamil pomfret is known as “Vaaval Meen” and in Malayalam, “Avoli”. There are many varieties available in the market. I usually buy  silver pomfret or  white pomfret. Black pomfrets are also available.

Here I have used Chettinad Masala for frying the fish and I have no words to say, the fry turned out juicy with the full aroma of masala. So I wanted to share this recipe to everyone.

Ingredients:

• Pomfret fish – 500 gms
• Red chilli powder – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Tamarind juice (thick) – 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Salt to tatse
• Oil – to shallow fry

To grind:

• Garlic – 10 pods
• Pepper  – 1 tsp
• Fennel – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Select pomfret  fish,  each of which weighs about 200 to 250 gms. Cut the tail and fins. Make a small slit at the side and carefully remove the intestine and other wastes without affecting the shape of the fish. Clean the fish using water with turmeric and curd. Make 2 to 3 slits on the both sides of the fish.
2. Grind the ingredients given under “To grind” to a smooth paste by adding few drops of water.
3. In a plate, transfer the ground paste and mix with red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind juice and lemon juice and make a thick paste.
4. Apply this masala paste on the fish concentrating on the slits . This will help the masala to get absorbed into the fish. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour.
5. In a non stick pan, add required oil for shallow frying the fish and heat.
6. When the oil is hot, fry the fish in simmer for about 5 minutes. Then carefully flip the fish to other side and cook for 5 minutes. Repeat again with both sides.

Your hot, spicy Pomfret Fry is ready to serve. This can be served as a side dish for hot steaming rice along with "Manchatti Meen Kuzhambu"!

Note:

• Care should be taken while cutting the fish so that the shape of the fish gets retained.
• Also, while cooking, the fish has to be flipped carefully without getting broken.

Tags: Pomfret Fish Fry  recipe, Chettinad style fish fry recipe, Restaurant style pomfret fry recipe, whole pomfret fish fry, stuffed pomfret fish fry, vaaval meen fry, Avoli Porichadhu, Masala Pomfert Fry, Fried pomfret recipe, How to fry whole pomfret fish?, easy pomfret fry recipe, chettinad fish fry recipe, Pomfret fish fry in Chettinad style, Chettinad style pomfret fry recipe

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Simple Vanjaram Fish Fry (Seer Fish Fry)

Preparation time :10 minutes     

Cooking time : 10 minutes

Serves 2 

Difficulty :  Easy

           Vanjaram fish is always good for making fry than kuzhambu. There are many methods i.e masala for frying fish and each masala adds unique flavor and taste to fish fry. This is a very simple masala and made in a jiffy but it will not compromise on taste.

Ingredients:

• Vanjaram or Seer Fish             - 4 pieces (sliced)
• Red chilli powder        - 2 tbsp
• Turmeric powder         - 1 tsp
• Lemon juice                 - 1 tsp
• Salt as required
• Oil for shallow frying

Method:

            Wash fish thoroughly , then marinate the fish pieces with red chilli powder, Turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt for minimum 30 minutes. Then pour oil in a flat bottomed pan, after oil gets heated, place the marinated pieces  and shallow fry on both sides. Tasty fish fry is ready!

            This can be served with hot steaming rice with Manchatti Meen Kuzhambu (Fish Gravy), sambar, rasam, paruppu sadam(dhal rice),  keerai sadam etc.

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Chettinad Kari Varuval (Mutton Fry)

Preparation time : 15 minutes     

Cooking time : 30 minutes

Serves 4 

Difficulty :  Medium

Chettinad Kari Varuval is a tasty, spicy side dish . My son started eating mutton (goat meat) only after having tasted this dish. I am sure all mutton lovers will love this recipe. My mom used to make this varuval to finish off the rice if she had cooked the rice in excess. Because we would not know how much rice we ate with this varuval. I don’t know how many of you heard about “kadai sadam”. After finishing varuval, my mom used to mix rice in the left out masala in the kadai. I have no words to describe that taste, it was such a  heavenly taste !!  It is not only the food that tastes so great , it is the bond of love that adds the unique taste to that dish.

I have described so much about this dish. So watch out for the quantity you eat when you make this dish. Ok? 

Ingredients:

• Mutton ( Boneless) – ¼ Kg.
• Small Onion (finely chopped) – 20 Nos.
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 Tbsp
• Tomato (finely chopped) – 2 Nos. (medium size)      
• Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
• Pepper Jeera powder – 2 tsp
• Salt as required.

To grind:

• Coconut – 1 tbsp
• Khus khus- 1 tsp
• Cashew   - 3 Nos.

For seasoning:

• Bay leaf – 1 no.
• Cinnamon – 1” piece
• Kal paasi  - 1 piece
• Elaichi – 1 No.
• Clove – 1 No.
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Red chilli – 2 Nos.
• Curry leaves – few
• Gingelly Oil – 2 tbsp

Method:

Wash mutton thoroughly, cube it and pressure cook along with salt, turmeric powder and ½ cup water  for about 3 whistles and 5 minutes in simmer. Take a thick bottomed kadai, pour oil (preferably gingelly oil), season with items one by one given under seasoning. Add onion, fry till it becomes golden brown,  then add ginger-garlic paste, sauté till the raw smell leaves. Next add tomatoes , fry till it get mashed well, then add all masala powders, sauté till oil gets separated. Then transfer the contents from the pressure cooker, mix well, add required salt ( remember we add salt while cooking mutton), cover with the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the coconut paste, now the gravy will start thickening, add pepper jeera powder,  stir now and then, till the gravy gets dried. Your kari varuval is ready!

This can be served with any rice with sambar, rasam, curd or with elumbu sambar and with chapathi or parotta. Finally, don’t miss  your kadai Sadam ( கடாய் சாதம்) with your family!!

Note: If you want  thick gravy to mix with rice or side dish for chapathi, you can add one more tomato and remove from stove little bit earlier.  Coconut paste is optional.

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