10 Simple White Curries ( South Indian)

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook.
This cookbook lists 10 white curries cooked across south India. The following curries are listed in this cookbook:

1.:      Yogurt . This is by far the most loved ' curry' in south India. Not cooked ? It sure is - milk is boiled and is 'cooked' by bacteria into this delicious 'curry'. Still can't call it a curry because there are no spices? - Just add a tempering of mustard, chilies and curry leaves ( see sidebar of the cookbook)

2.:      Thayir Pachadi (Raw Yogurt curry) 

3.:      Inji Thayiru (Ginger – Chili – Yogurt  curry)

4.:      Thambuli (Raw Coconut- Yogurt blended curry)

5.:      Kobbari Pachadi (Coconut – Chili blended curry)

6.:      Aviyal (Coconut – Cumin- Chili - Yogurt curry)

7.:      Erissery (Coconut - Cumin curry)

8.:.     Sodhi  (Coconut milk – Lemon curry)

9.:      Olan (Coconut milk curry)

10.:    Kaalan (Coconut – Cumin – Yogurt curry)

And off this goes to Yummy Food's FIC- White event.

Tamil Cuisine Calendar 2009 Download

Click on the image to view and print the calendar

This A3 size calendar focussing on Tamil Cuisine lists 4 One page cookbooks and has the Jan - June 2009 calendar. Hang it in the kitchen and you'll never run out of recipe ideas.

The following cookbooks are printed in this calendar

1. 1001 Kulambu ( Sour curries )

2. 1001 Sambar ( Lentil Sour curries)

3. 1001 Kootu ( Coconut - lentil curries )

4. 1001 Rasam ( Thin curries )

And that goes to Best of the year 2008 event.

Get the big picture straight !

There is a big difference between learning a few recipes and understanding a cuisine. 

To understand a cuisine, you should get the big picture straight. You should know something about the culture, the history, the building blocks and the external influences that have shaped a cuisine.

For example, South Indian cuisine is built on Tamarind, tuvar dal, yogurt and coconut. Almost all the thousands of curries you'll encounter in Tamilnadu, Andhra, Kerala and Karnataka would be just various combinations of these building blocks.

Though most spices used are common, the emphasis on different spices vary between these four states. Each state also has its own set of favourite vegetables and cooking oil. This differing emphasis on the building blocks, spices and different oils lead to completely different set of recipes. However, at their heart, they are all alike, being built from the same four building blocks.

With this big picture in mind, you are less likely to get lost in the mind boggling array of recipes cooked across the south.

Get the big picture for each cuisine, stay true to it and you will find that it is very difficult to goof up a recipe !

Announcing "Recipes for the rest of us"

I find nothing more pleasurable than introducing newbies to the joy of cooking. Watching their faces light up after their first successful dish is indeed a great reward ! My series of One page cookbooks are solely devoted to getting newbies try their hand at cooking. It is with this mission in mind that I announce the first "Recipes for the rest of us " event. 

I seek your recipes whose simplicity and extreme ease would motivate a first time cook.

The guidelines :

1. Cook anything simple and post the recipe on your blog.

2. Multiple entries / archived entries welcome. However, do edit the archived post, include a link to this event and post fresh.

3. Include the logo in your post if you wish.

4. Please send an e-mail to siramki at gmail dot com with the following details on or before Jan 10, 2009.

*Subject Line: Recipes for the rest of us

* Blog author:

* Blog name:

* Dish Name:

* URL of the post:

* A JPG picture of the dish 

5. Non bloggers can just e-mail the recipe and the picture.

6. The roundup of would be posted in Jan 2nd week.

A few guidelines for your recipes :

1. Please avoid exact measurements. Would be nice to have very simple measurements like a handful or a pinch.

2. Please avoid complicated steps.

3. Please avoid recipes demanding a good deal of manual skill.

4. Please avoid recipes demanding fancy kitchen equipment.

5. In short, it should be something a ten year old kid should be able to cook up.

A recipe like Mythreyee's Kosambari would be a good fit. I look forward to your participation. Let's get more people share in the joy that we experience on a daily basis !

Top 10 fish eaten in Chennai

Click the image on the left to view the Chennai Fish Guide.
The first time cook can easily get confused in the fish market. This guide can come in handy to spot your favourite fish, its English name, the indicative price,  prime sizes and preferred cooking techniques.

The top 10 fish preferred in Chennai are listed in this guide. The following are Chennai's favourite fishes :

Vanjiram : Seer fish / King fish. 

Koduva : Sea Bass.

Viraal : Murrel.

Karuppu Vavval : Black Pomfret.

Vellai Vavval : Silver Pomfret.

Sura : Baby Shark.

Sankara : Red Snapper.

Kilanga : Smelt.

Sudumbu : False Trevally.

Nethili : Anchovies.

Viraal is the only fresh water fish commonly consumed in Chennai. All fish are fried / stewed except Sura, which is always steamed  and Sankara which is never fried.

Fresh water fish curries are always eaten hot. They are never stored as they give off a fishy smell when stored. Sea fish curries can be eaten hot / cold. They actually get better after a day.

Tips on buying fish: Buy fish with bright, clear eyes, shiny, bright skin and flesh that springs back when pressed. Avoid fish with cloudy / sunken eyes or with overwhelming fishy odour.

Tips on cooking fish: Every inch thickness of fish requires 10 minutes of cooking. If your fish chunks are an inch thick, they will be fully cooked in ten minutes. To check if fish is cooked, prod the flesh with a fork. Cooked fish is opaque, flakes easily and has milky white juice. Undercooked fish is still translucent and has clear juices. Avoid overcooking as it will make fish rubbery. 

100 Simple Indian Fish Curries

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This cookbook lists 100 fish curries, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The principle is simple – fish is marinated (the lemon juice in the marinade partially cooks the fish) and this marinated fish is combined with ten different bases and 10 different flavouring techniques to create a hundred different recipes.  The ten different bases are listed below:

0.: Onion - An extra dose of onions is used as a base in the famous Dopyaza ( Double onion curry)

1.: Nuts / Seeds - Using nut paste and yogurt as a base is a hallmark of  the Mogul cuisine. This is usually used to cook the Muglai fish curry.

2.: Herbs -  A variety of herbs are blended with tamarind paste and used as a base for Fish curries from Tamilnadu.

3.: Coconut milk is widely used as a curry base in all the coastal cuisines, especially in Konkan, Goa and Kerala. As coconut milk curdles on cooking, the fish is cooked ( pan fried) first and coconut milk is added at the very end.

4.: Yogurt is used as a base to cook the delicious 'Dahi Maach' in Bengali cuisine.

5.:  Kokum or Fish tamarind  is used as a base to cook up a variety of Keralite and Konkani fish and seafood curries.

6.: Tamarind is used as a base in the southern states of Andhra, Tamilnadu and Karnataka to cook fish kulambu / fish pulusu.

7.:  Onion – garlic - tomato stir fried and pureed with tamarind paste is used to cook the Chettinadu fish curry.

8.: Mustard paste is chiefly used by Bengalis to cook up tangy fish curries. 

Ten different flavouring combinations are listed in this cookbook. You’ll note that each flavouring technique calls for a different type of oil. However, you can safely substitute refined vegetable oil in place of other oils.

0.: Readymade spice mixes are a quick way to flavour the curry.

1.:  Mustard + Red chili  fried in coconut oil is chiefly used in Kerala cuisine.      

2.: Cumin + Ginger- Garlic  is a flavouring common in Muglai cuisine.

3.:  Mustard + Asafetida  fried in sesame oil is commonly used in Tamil cuisine.

4.: Panchphoran, a mixture of spices fried in mustard oil is the standard flavouring used in Bengali / Oriya cuisine.

5.: Mustard + Curry leaves + Fenugreek  is another southern flavouring combination.

6.: Cloves – Cinnamon  with ginger garlic paste and garam masala is commonly used in North Indian cuisine.

7.: The mixture of fried & ground coriander seeds, pepper and cumin is used across India.        

8 .: A special blend of roast & ground spices is used in Goa for the fragrant Fish Xacuti. 

100 Simple Omelets

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook.
This cookbook lists 100 simple omelets from 00 to 99. Ten different bases are paired with ten different additives to create a hundred omelets. Each omelet can be cooked in six different ways (Thanks P!),  making possible 600 different omelets. 

The base:
A variety of eggs as listed in column 1 are used as the base.

The additives: 
Some of the most popular additives are listed in column 2.

And this goes to 101 recipe series. 

10 Simple recipes with Cherries

Click the image on the left to see the cookbook.
This cookbook lists 10 simple recipes using cherries. The following recipes are listed in this cookbook: 

1.:  Cherry Salsa 

2.:  Cherry Raita

3.:  Cherry Salad

4.:  Cherry Muesli

5.:  Cherry Chutney

6.:  Cherry Smoothie  

7.:  Spicy Cherry Spread

8.:. Cherry Lassi 

9.:  Cherry Milkshake  

10.: Cherry Pickle

And this goes to AFAM- Cherries, an event started by Maheshwari.