Chettinad Fish Curry/Meen Kulambu

INGREDIENTS:

1)Fish - 300 grams (Salmon,pomfret,etc..)
2)Mustard seeds and Urad dal - 1/2 tspn
3)Curry leaves - 1 sprig
4)Onion - 1 (small size) or 1/2 of a medium size onion
5)Green Chili - 1
6)Ginger garlic paste - 1 tspn
7)Tomato - 1
8)Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
9)Tamarind - small gooseberry size
10)Sugar - less than 1/4 tspn or to ur taste
11)Salt - to taste
12)Oil - as required (Sesame oil is preferred)

ROAST AND MAKE PASTE OF:

Dry Red Chilies - 2 to 3
Coriander seeds - 1 ½ tspn
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
Fennel seeds(Perunjeeragam) - 1/4 tspn
Peppercorn - 1/4 tspn
Toor dal (thuvaram paruppu)- 1/4 tspn
Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam) - a pinch
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coconut - 1 tspn

START:

1)Cut Onion, Green chili, Tomato into small pieces. Soak Tamarind in water for 15 minutes. After that extract a cup of tamarind juice from it. Keep all this aside.
2)Heat 1/2 tspn of Oil in a pan. Add Dry red chili, Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Fennel seeds, Pepper corns, Toor dal, Fenugreek seeds, Curry leaves and Coconut then roast them till they are almost brown. Then remove from heat and let it cool on then grind into a very fine paste by adding little water.
3)Heat 2 to 3 tspns Oil in a pan. Add Mustard seeds and Urad dal, once it starts spluttering add Curry leaves, Onion and Green chili, fry till they are golden brown.
4)Add Ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes out. Add Tomato and mash it with the spatula.
5)Then add Turmeric Powder, ground paste (from step 2) and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
6)Add Tamarind juice, 1 cup of water, Salt and Sugar to it. Bring this curry to boil once, then reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes. At this stage curry becomes thick.
7)After that add Fish pieces and cook for 5 minutes or till the fish and gravy are cooked.

Chettinad Kadai chicken

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken : 1 kg
Tomato : 1 kg ( chopped)
Red Chili : 6-8 ( coarse powder)
Green chili : 2 (sliced )
Garam Masala :1 tsp
Oil : 1/2 cup
Ginger : 3 2/3 tbsp ( 50 gms) ( chopped )
Garlic : 4 tsp
Capsicum :1/2 ( cut into small cubes)
Coriander Leaves : 2tsp

START:

Heat oil in a pan. Add Garlic paste, red chili(fry the whole red chili and grind it into fine powder), tomato and cook for 5 minutes.
Stirring constantly add ginger and green chillies. Add salt and cook on a medium heat for 3 - 5 minutes.Add chicken and sprinkle garam masala. Cover and cook for 5 - 10 minutes.When the chicken is cooked and when oil seperates from the masala, garnish it with coriander leaves capsicum.Kadai chicken is usually served in Brass Dish.

Thattai/Thattai murukku

INGREDIENTS:

Boiled Rice : 4 cups ( soaked ) OR Rice flour - 4 cups
Split Chick peas(Pottukadalai) : 1 cup
Channa dal(Kadalai paruppu) : 2 tbsp ( soaked )
Gram flour(Kadalai mavu): 1 cup
sesame seeds : 1 tsp (optional)
Asafoaetida seeds : 1 tsp
Peanuts : 2 tbsp (just pressed)
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Dry red chillies powdered - 2
curry leaves : 7( chopped)
Salt

START:

Soak the channa dal (Kadalai paruppu) in water for 1 hour. Drain the water and keep aside.Mix rice flour, gram flour, chick peas flour, Peanuts, chilly powder, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, Asafoaetida , curry leaves and salt. Add the soaked channa dal to the mixture.Add water little by little and make the dough as murukku dough. Make small lemon size balls and flatten each balls as thin as possible.
Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the thattai in medium heat by turning them over till they are crispy and golden brown in color.Thattai ready!
NOTE:Cool to room temperature and store it in a air tight container.

Chettinad chicken curry

Ingredients:

8 medium sized pieces (about 800 grams) of chicken
8 curry leaves (big)
2 medium onion(s) chopped
2 large tomato(es) chopped
1 teaspoon(s) each of red chilli and turmeric powders
2 teaspoon(s) lemon juice
2 tablespoon(s) oil
2 cup(s) water
salt to taste

For the Paste:
2 teaspoon(s) poppy seeds (khus khus)
6 whole red chillies
6 tablespoons grated coconut (optional)
1 teaspoon(s) each of coriander, cumin and fennel seeds
1" piece cinnamon broken
2 cloves and green cardamoms each
2 teaspoon(s) each of chopped ginger and garlic

Start:

In a little hot oil roast all the ingredients for the paste except for ginger and garlic. Allow to cool and grind to a paste along with ginger and garlic.

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium level till hot and fry the chopped onions till they are golden brown. Add the curry leaves, the ground paste , turmeric and red chilli powders. Fry for some more time. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for about 2 minute(s) or till the oil leaves the sides of the pan.
Add the chicken and mix well. Cook on medium level for about 5 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and water. Sprinkle salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or till the chicken is fully tenderised.

Note: Curry leaves are must for this dish.