Wednesday 3 April 2013

Thayir sadam - Yohurt Rice - Curd Bath with Fried Karimeen (pearlspot fish)


One of my favorite dishes is Thayir sadam or simply yohurt rice. It's so easy to prepare and can be had with pickle or fried fish. I tend to prepare thayir sadam especially when there is left over rice from a previous meal. It's a great comfort food and yummy too. Now what can I say about fried Karimeen or fried pearlspot fish, its the favorite fish amongst malayalees ( people who belong to Kerala, India)

Prep time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes

Serves - 1 person


Ingredients for Thayir sadam

Cooked rice - 2 medium sized cups
Green chilles - 2 medium sized spilt in half lengthwise
Mustard - 1 tsp
Onions - 1 small diced
Channa dal (Yellow lentil ) - 1 tsp soaked in water for 10 minutes
Curry leaves - 2 small sprigs
Oil - 1 tbs
Salt - a pinch
Yohurt ( plain) - 1 medium sized cup
Ginger - a 1/2 inch piece finely pounded or ground



Heat oil in a wok, when the oil is very hot add mustard seeds and when it splutters add onions, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and the yellow lentil and saute for a few minutes till onion becomes translucent and the yellow dhal turns crispy.
Add the rice to this mixture along with the salt and stir well. Switch off the heat and then add the yoghurt to the rice.
Thayir sadam is ready to be served with pickle or fried fish or sarlas ( red onion salad)

Notes: The Thayir sadam thickens as it cools down so you will want to add more yoghurt to bring it to the consistency you want.

Fried fish

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time : 5 minutes

Serves - 1 person

Ingredients

1 Karimeen /pearlspot fish cleaned and cut into small pieces
1/2 red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
2 tbs oil to fry the fish
1/2 tsp to marinate the fish

Clean and cut into small pieces the Karimeen or pearlspot fish. Marinate with salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and oil. Keep for half an hour and then fry in deep oil till its crispy.




Monday 1 April 2013

Easy Banana Bread

This is one of the easiest recipes that I know for baking that always turns out delicious banana bread.
This was shared by Joan Pettigrew years back and its been tested and tried many times. I am reminded of my Indian cooking, just throwing in spices and stuff into a wok on the stove while I prepare an indian curry. I don't know why its called banana bread because it's just tastes like a banana flavoured cake.


Ingredients

Mix in single bowl the following ingredients, in this order:

1 cup mashed bananas
i cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, very soft
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
11/2 cup flour
a pinch of salt

Mix well in order given and bake at 350 Farenheit for around 30 minutes. Check to see whether the banana bread is done before taking it out of the oven and placing it on a rack.
Eat it while its warm or serve with whipped cream.

Notes: I reduce the butter and sugar in half and compensate it with more bananas. My oven gets this banana bread ready in 20 minutes time while preparation time is just 10 minutes.