Prawns Fried rice

Having lotsof leftover rice in the refrigerator...sick and tired of wanting to eat them with the same combi of curry n veggies, well this is the best alternate option you can come up with.

I had some frozen tiger prawns too, which i used in here. You can omit this or substitute it with chicken or either use just plain veggies.

Ingredients :-
Prawns - 250 gms
Red chilli paste - 2 tsps
Soya sauce - as per taste
Sesame oil - 2 tbsps
Veggies - 1 cup of diced veggies (red n green peppers, carrots etc)
eggs - 2
salt to taste
cooked n cooled rice - 2 cups
onions finely chopped - 1 (use spring onions 3-4 for a better flavour, i didnt have any)
ginger, garlic and red chillies finely chopped - 1 tbsp each

Method:
Marinate the prawns with 1 tsp of red chilli paste, sesame oil 1 tbsp and soya sauce 1 tbsp. Keep aside while you finish chopping the vegetables approx 10-15 minutes.

Heat a wok and add some oil to it. Beat together 2 eggs, add salt and pepper and pour it into the wok. Fry the omlette on both the sides, remove from wok and keep aside. Cut it into thin long slices.

Clean the wok and keep it on high heat. Add some oil. Once the oil is close to smoking point, add the chopped ginger garlic and red chillies. once these soften add the onions and fry till soft. Throw in the prawns and stir them around till they start to become pink.
As soon as the prawns start to change color, add the veggies and stir around.
Note: Do not wait for a long time to cook the prawns as they will continue cooking while you add the vegetables. Else they might become too rubbery.
Add rest of the soya sauce, sesame oil and red chilli paste (optional if you dont like it too hot) and salt. Once the veggies have softened, add the rice and stir till everything is mixed. Finally add the slices of omlette and garnish with coriander.

Find other yummylicious fried recipes here, here and here.

Varutharacha meen curry - fried and ground fish curry

I was hunting for the perfect accompaniment to go with kerala appams(rice pancakes that look like mini UFO's turned upside down :D). I called up mom immediately and this is the recipe she gave me. My mom is even worse than me when it comes to giving the measurements n also the ingredients :( but thankfully this time i did remember exactly how much i added

In a frying pan, heat 1-2 tsp of oil (coconut oil), fry around 1/2 cup of dessicated or freshly grated coconut. When the coconut starts changing color, add 3-4 peeled pearl onions or shallots. Fry for a minute taking care that the coconut is not burning and stirring continuously. Reduce the heat to low and add 3 tbsps of coriander, 2 tbsp of chilli powder. stir in and take off the heat immediately. Grind this into a smooth paste once its cooled.

In a saucepan or meen chatti(if ur the lucky people who have one), add the ground spicepaste, 2-3 cups of water and some kudampuli(fish tamarind) soaked in water. I normally use just one piece of kudampuli as it can be very overpowering. You can substitute this with tamarind paste or pulp soaked in water. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the cleaned and washed fish pieces (250-300 gms cut into small pieces). I used a firm fish called KingKlip, you may use small fishes like mackerel, sardines etc or even pomfret king fish etc.. Let the mixture simmer for atleast 15-20 minutes till the gravy thickens. Add salt to taste.

Separately fry some finely sliced pearl onions/shallots preferably in 2-3 tbsp of coconut oil for the authentic taste, add fenugreek powder and curry leaves. Add this to the fish curry and let the curry rest for atleast 15-20 minutes before serving. The longer the curry rests, the better it taste. Enjoy with hot steaming appams or plain rice.