Monday, December 28, 2009

Chettinad Fish Fry & God

Chettinad Meen, Chettinad Fish Fry
Chettinad Meen - Chettinad Fish Fry


Deep thoughts around Christmas time

Big Sis S: Did you know Jesus died and then came back again ?

Me: Yes

BSS: Did you know that was during Easter ?

Me: Yes

BSS: So is he around now or did he again go to heaven ?

Me: He became old, got tired of living here and so went back to heaven

BSS: So what, he is an angel now ?

Unsure Me:Mmmm, I think he became God

BSS: How can Jesus be GOD, GOD is his father, remember Jesus is God's son.

Very unsure Me: Mmmm....

Now exasperated BSS: So what happened to GOD ? Did GOD become something else ? Or is GOD is no longer there ?

Very very unsure Me: Maybe GOD retired.




And with that said, lets have some Chettinad Fish Fry. I had never had Chettinad Fish Fry until a couple of months back. We had brought home, some steak pieces of sword fish and being new to sword fish, wasn't sure what to make of them. D suggested Chettinad Fish Fry which apparently he had at Legal Seafoods and had liked a lot. Of all the recipes on Chettinad Fish that turned up on Google, he said the dry one at Malar's Kitchen Tantra seemed closest to the fish fry he had tasted. I followed the recipe exactly and only skipped the tamarind paste because we are not too fond of that much sourness. I also did not add the eggs, all else was followed to the tee.


The fry turned out to be delicious and since then I have made the Chettinad Fish Fry with Sword Fish and also Tilapia. The pic here is the one with Tilapia fillet.


Read more...






Original recipe here.


Chettinad Fish Fry





The following recipe is for 4 pieces of Tilapia Loins


Dry Roast till fragrant and Grind to a fine powder
1 tsp of Fennel seeds
1 tsp Coriander seeds
2 Cloves
1 Star Anise
1" stick of Cinnamon
3 Dry red chilies
1 tsp Peppercorns







In a pan, warm a little oil.
Saute until soft and aromatic
4-5 cloves of Garlic
1" Ginger
a sprig of Curry Leaves
Make a rough paste of above in a mortar and pestle.

Saute 1 tomato chopped. This gives some juice and color if you are skipping tamarind





In a mixer jar add the
Dry Masala Powder
Wet Masala of Garlic-Ginger-Curry Leaves and
Tomato

little Turmeric
Chili powder to taste
3 tsp Lemon juice

Note: I skipped 1 tsp Tamarind paste
Add salt to taste and make a smooth masala paste.





Marinate the fillet of fish or steak pieces of fish in this masala marinade for 1 - 2 hours

Heat oil in a Frying Pan. I shallow fried the fish so not too much oil.

Add quarter of an onion finely sliced , fry till translucent. Add 3-4 curry leaves. Remove and keep aside

Add the fish pieces and cook till both sides are brown and crisp. Add the fried onions and curry leaves





Serve hot


19 comments:

  1. Deep thoughts! I remember someone wished a friend's mom a 'happy Good Friday' and she said Son, it's not a happy day for us - and this used to be a source of much amusement for us. But of course, God got resurrected and it was a happy ending after all!

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  2. LOL retired God - Mine would be: Got enough of Earth went to relax in Heaven!
    I would probably love to give a touch of tamar because I am fond of tangyness...

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  3. Chettinad fish, there is no parallel.

    Big talk Sandeepa, you better learn up your facts.

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  4. Sandeepa,
    Kids I tell you ,they are super smart and that was very wise talks with Big S LOL...
    chettinaad fish , mone hoye eyibaar bani a feli..

    hugs and smiles

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  5. Sandeepa, your conversation with BSS had em in splits! I mean she is correct and has a valid point with each question she has asked you! I will use your answers when my daughters asks the same.
    PS - did you get my email (sent to desimomzclub id)?

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  6. looks yummy and i love chettinad recipes..

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  7. Similar profound observations made by my 4 year old when she saw the crib displayed at the neighbourhood mall - "who is that baby?" So I launch into a gyaan session about Christmas and how its not only about Santa etc etc. At the end of which she asks "But where are his amma and appa and why have they left him in between those animals?!!"

    The masala looks great and I think I am going to use it to make grilled chicken this week.

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  8. Looks like Big Sis S would soon bombard you with all sort of self doscovery questions. Either you need to do some homework or deliberately accept that you don't know ;) Thats what most of the time I do...Love the fish fry. With some piping hot rice and rasam I will retire right away ;)

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  9. the first time that I had Chettinad cuisine was in a little restaurant in Chennai with an office gang... the post brought back memories of that lovely evening

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  10. SJ

    haven't seen your mail yet. Will do

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  11. nice and easy - I will try this soon..

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  12. :D Made me LOL! Kids add so much joy to life!

    The fish fry makes me drool! I'm going to give it a try soon.

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  13. I'm glad my baby doesn't talk yet, I need to brush up my facts soon!! Happy New Year!

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  14. Happy New Year, San! Did a quick scan thru your posts (and there were a lot! Good job, girl!!). Enjoyed your cnversation with Lil S. Looks like moms and dads these days need to make an effort remember things they learnt from their school days and be uptodate on current stuff in order to converse with little children! This was so cute :)

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  15. Sandy, its not fair you leave out that story at that!..it was getting interesting...remember I may have to get geared to answer my boys such questions..:)..hope all is well..

    Happy new year dear!

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  16. God did not retire and Jesus did not get tired of living on earth. He came here for a specific purpose. To be a sacrifice for man in order to save him from the punishment of committing sin, because sacrificing an animal cannot save man. There are many versus in the Bible which hint that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. Jesus is coming again to judge the world and take with him those who believe in him. So if you believe that he died for your sins and saved you, and live the way he desires you to live, you shall be saved. If you examine the normal Bible and history of present day Israel you will find it to be true.

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  17. I wonder if the TV show Supernatural had an impact on the discussion.

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