Fish Cutlet

You might know them as fish cakes, patties, or rissoles—but back home, we call them fish cutlets. And once you’re used to a name, it’s hard to change! Whatever you call them, these little bites are bursting with bold flavours and a satisfying crunch.

I hadn’t made them in ages. Then, the other day, when we visited my friend Anto, she served her homemade fish cutlets—and wow, they hit the spot. Inspired, I whipped up a batch over the weekend, and honestly, they’re easier than you think.

Meen Pollichathu- Fish cooked in banana leaf

 My husband's Malayalam accent is terrible. He doesn't know most words and what he does know, he cannot pronounce right. But, if it is to do with food, then he will keep saying it - till I make it for him.  And that is the story of the meen pollichathu; he had it for the first time in Kerala and was so smitten that he wanted to have it again. In Kerala they predominantly make this dish with the Karimeen or pearl spot or green chromide fish which is found in the backwaters.  In Melbourne, I used the Spanish Mackeral - which is my go to for a lot of these types of traditional dishes.  The Karimeen is a fish that tastes divine for all Malayalis and the Spanish Mackeral can never match that; but still, the dish tasted immensely satisfying.  The one thing you need for this dish is a nice banana leaf with no tears. The fish is cooked "en papillote" style - and the banana leaf is the key to getting the flavours right.  Last year I planted some banana trees in my backyard and I was lucky to get fresh leaves for the dish.

Rajam's Fish Mollee

 In 1993, when I was getting ready to migrate to Australia, I would sit with my mother for hours and write down recipes in my little brown diary.  I have thumbed through my diary for several years now and it is heavily stained, and dog eared. I have been transferring recipes from the diary into the online platform.  The diary however retains the magic of my mother's memories, the cooking smells that came from our kitchen at home and the delighted squeals of the rest of the family when the food was plated up.  The online platform, I find, doesn't have the soul though it is very convenient.

This recipe was one of the most loved of my appa's and he would get the fish sliced thinly from the market so amma could make it just the way he liked it.  The fish we bought for this dish was Spanish Mackerel but I guess you can use any firm fleshed fish. I was lucky that the fish monger at my local market sliced the fish thinly for me just how I like it.

This recipe is said to have been passed down from the Portuguese traders  who visited Kerala to buy spices.  It has now become one of the most sought after dishes in restaurants that is well known by all Keralites and a lot of visitors too.

This stew is very versatile and can be served with appam, rice, idiappam or bread rolls and toast.

Today I have served it with red rice flour idiappams.

Netholi Curry with Green Mango - White Bait Curry with Green Mango

It was January 2019 and I was in India for a get together with my University friends. I met my long time friend Yaso after 31 years and spent a few days with her in home in Madurai.  Yaso had come down from the United States for the get together and also to visit her mother who lived in Madurai.

Yaso said to me one day that she wanted me to meet dear friends of hers  who lived close to her mother's - and we turned up at this lady's house.  She said her name was Sarala Mohandas and that she was originally from Nagercoil. 

When someone says to you they are from your parents home town you start asking a lot of questions - and turns out this lady, who was known by her "common" name Rajam, knew my mother and my mother's siblings too.  In fact she went to University with my mother's youngest brother!

What a coincidence, and when she offered this lip smacking white bait curry with crispy dosas, it felt like my mother was making my favourite dish for me - and I ate like an ogre - with no inhibitions.  Personally, I took it as a sign my mother was definitely looking after me! 

I fell in love with aunty Sarala's fish curry so much that I asked her for the recipe and she was generous enough to write it out for me.

The other day, I made just enough for me since my husband is not a fan of fish curry as such.  He sat there licking his fingers and telling me "How come you never made this before?"  

Anyhow, this is going to be a permanent dish at home during whitebait season, I can tell you!

Chef Pillai's Venad Coconut Milk Prawns

 I am very lucky to have my first cousin living in Sydney. He is the only one in my family who lives in Australia and he migrated fairly recently.  During the Easter break he rang me to tell me he was coming to Melbourne for a visit and as a good big sister, I asked him what he would like to eat.  His response was "fish, akka, anything with fish". :-) What a predictable answer!  I remember as a new migrant how I craved for home cooked fish curry and struggled with finding the same fish from home in the markets here.

Fast forward twenty years - and now I am comfortable to cook a homestyle fish meal for my near and dear ones who are homesick.

Here is one of the recipes I made for him - I changed the recipe just a bit as I wanted some gravy.

Chef Pillai's Sardine Curry with Black Pepper and Chilli

 Chef Suresh Pillai is a phenomenon in Kollam - my home town. Culinary Director of the Raviz group of hotels and a native of Kollam, who else can teach you better to make the best fish curries?

I got some plump fresh sardines from Preston Market and decided to try this recipe out. Chef Pillai's tag line is "sprinkle love where ever you go" ...and this dish certainly sprinkled a lot of love.

I will warn you, though, this curry is hot.  It is best served with plain boiled rice or boiled tapioca.

And a cold toddy / white wine on the side will enhance the taste. 

Thank you, Chef, this one is a keeper!

I served this fish curry with boiled Tapioca. Recipe for tapioca is here:

http://kitchenanugraha.blogspot.com/2020/04/kappa-mayakkiyathu-boiled-and-tempered.html#more

Cray Fish /Tasmanian Lobster Masala

I was at the market the other day and saw these beauties for sale.  I was a bit nervous of the live ones - as it was the first time I am cooking with them.  The lady at the shop suggested I take a pre cooked one since it was my first time - so I followed her advice.  I was going to cook it exactly like crab, I thought to myself - and now that I am done, I can tell you that it tasted divine.  The flesh was firm and sweet and the coconut milk added at the end accentuated that flavour.

Don't be scared by the spiny head and body - it is very easy to cut it with your kitchen knife and shears.

I boiled the shells and the legs in water and I will use that as stock when I make seafood paella or risotto next. I was fascinated by the shell - and took lots of photographs too. It might be a while before I try buying a live lobster, though.  The lobster I bought was a little less than a kilo including the shell and it was enough for the two of us.

Salmon with Chilli and Dill with sides of Sweet Potato and Broccoli

 It is summer in Melbourne - and you don't want to cook elaborate meals and sweat in the kitchen.  This is a nice, easy, filling lunch or dinner - ready in 30 minutes, with the sides.  I admit I went a bit crazy with the chilli flakes - but you can always reduce it if you think it is too much!

Nei Meen Roast - Pan fried Spanish Mackerel

 I have been working long and hard on my garden project.  The weekends fly by with all the organising and the prep work.  Finally I have managed to get my planter boxes filled with soil and all that remains to be done is planting - for now!

Once planting is over it will be a constant task keeping weeds out, trimming and shaping the plants, watering them and hopefully harvesting fruit and flowers.

This is an easy dinner when you are tired from doing hard work in the garden and want to relax with a quick and easy meal.

Spanish Mackerel is my favoured fish because I grew up with it but really any firm fish that can be sliced into thin cutlets will work.

Of Puttu and Old Fish curry - a tale of lost traditions

You know that fish curry tastes best after a couple of days - for that matter most curries taste better the next day.  But with fish curry, the older it gets the tastier it gets. I have spent last couple of weekends with the family painting our back fence and I am exhausted.  I made a pot of curry on Friday night and today I had it with puttu on my ever silver platter.  

Have you ever heard of the word "ever silver"? Back in the 20's or 30's most of the women who got married in my community started off life with a whole bunch of brass, copper and silver utensils.

As they were used, these utensils used to oxidise and get blackened with the wood fire stoves and coal fires that the women used as well. They subsequently spent a lot of time cleaning these utensils with tamarind and lime - which are naturally acidic and dissolved away the Verdigris and black stuff.  It was a lot of hard work and scrubbing, to keep them shiny and nice.

With the progress of the stainless steel industry and the arrival of new shiny utensils that did not need so much of scrubbing to keep clean and bright, my grandmother and many of my grand aunties and relatives traded in their copper, brass and silver utensils and even silver jari saris for stainless steel.  

I remember watching the hawkers come in with their scales and weights and exchanging utensils and all the haggling that happened in patti's home.

The stainless steel utensils got a new name - "Ever Silver" - they remained forever silver and bright!

Today's meal is old fish curry and fresh puttu served up in an ever silver plate with an ever silver bowl.

"Very pedestrian" - as Matt Preston would proclaim, adjusting his cravat and speaking in his English accent. "Very very tasty" - I would reply in my very Indian accent.....

Today's post is about old lost traditions and respect for my forefathers. Old fish curry is something that is available in most Nagercoil or Kerala households.  And puttu can be whipped up in under 10 minutes.  Together it is a marriage of flavours made in heaven.

Dried Kooni Chammanthi - Dry baby shrimp chutney

 My patti (grandmother) Ella used to make a mean baby shrimp curry.  With drumstick bean leaves and baby shrimps, it was a burst of flavours on the palate.  I saw these dried baby shrimp in our local Asian Supermarket and picked up a pack to make some dry chutney and to reminisce my childhood days in patti's house with my cousins.  What a blast we used to have - all 9 of us.  I will never know how she ever managed the lot of us.  All I know is that my summer holidays seemed to finish too quick each time.

Barbequed Rainbow Trout

 After being in lock down for over 3 months when we could not venture further than 5 km from home, I was over the moon to get to Preston Market for some fresh fish.  I was not disappointed. Our plan was to get the family to paint our fence over the Diwali weekend.  After the painting we didn't want to be cooking a festive Indian meal.  So we settled on BBQ.  When I saw the trout in the market we settled on barbequed trout for our mains.  

Back home, all of us paint brushes in hand, taping and protecting the decking portion, worked on the fence from 9 am to 5 pm.

This recipe is very quick and easy and oh - so delicious if you have fresh fish.

Fish Padda - Pickled gravy fish

 I trawl the net for interesting recipes all the time.  I liked this one by Maya Gomez because it looked so red and beautiful. Yet on reading her notes I knew it was not going to be hot.  It would be a little hot and tangy and would go perfectly with the yogurt rice I was planning on making today.  Sundays are lazy days with simple lunches because we are all thinking of getting organised for work the next day.

I had some previously marinated fish in the fridge that I used - so my job in the kitchen was quick.

This is very similar to a fish pickle recipe that I know and have to make again at some point, except this can convert to a gravy with the addition of some water.  Today we just used it with the thick gravy - tangy and hot against the creaminess of the yogurt rice.  Threw in some peanuts for texture and voila' - a perfectly lazy Sunday lunch!

Theeyal - with prawns and drumstick ; Toasted coconut curry with prawns and drumstick

One of my dad's favorite dishes was Theeyal. It is easy to understand why - when this dish is being made, the smell of the toasting coconut and spices play havoc with your nose and taste buds.  It is a curry that takes all your senses on a journey of discovery and delight.  I normally make this dish completely vegetarian. However, I saw this recipe for prawns and drumstick and since I had both ingredients I made it this way. 

If you get fresh organic shallots, substitute all onions and vegetables and make this with just the shallots.  Trust me, you will not forget the taste experience.

Meen Varattiyathu - Fried fish in an onion tomato gravy

 This is one of my mother's signature dishes.  She usually made it with fresh Spanish Mackeral. Having been locked down for quite a while now and unable to go to the market, I have used salmon to make this dish.  I think any firm fleshed fish would work for this recipe.

The idea is to marinate the fish, shallow fry it and then cook it in a gravy of onions and tomatoes.  This recipe goes very well with chappaties.

Netholi Varuthathu - Fried White Bait

I saw some fresh tiny whitebait that were so little you cannot really clean them.  Brought them home and washed them several times with water and rock salt. Usually the white bait I get is much bigger and it takes a while to clean them.  But since these were so little, the cleaning was quite easy.

Today I have just shallow fried them and served it for dinner with rice and dal.  They would go just on their own with a drink of cold beer too.

Meen Pollichathu - Fish Grilled in Banana Leaf

Banana leaves are hard to come by in Melbourne!  My neighbour has a banana tree - and the leaves are always shredded by the awful Melbourne winds. In winter the tree simply dries up and turns into a brown shriveled up mess. I know how the tree feels - it is the Melbourne cold - I feel like that too!!!!

I often see posts of beautifully grilled fish in banana leaves and salivate thinking of the ones I have had back home. The other day I spotted this banana leaf in a pack for $3.00 and decided to try it.

I got home and opened the pack and realised that it was half a leaf and it was broken in places - so I could not use one leaf as a whole and had to make do with the bits.  Still I was happy with the result and enjoyed the flavours of banana leaf infused in the grilled fish.

Normally, if the leaf is whole you wrap the fish in the leaf and tie it up using a bit of banana stem fibre like a little parcel and then it is easy to manoeuvre  when you are grilling it. 

Flaked Fish - Meen Ularthiyathu

Ularthiyathu - means cooked slowly and then dry roasted - that is a very long title for a recipe so I have just stuck with Flaked.  I have tried to incorporate a lot of home cooking for my children with stories so that they remember the people who made these dishes and the memories we shared.  My father and mother in law retired in their hometown of Nagercoil.  One of my fond memories is of my mother in law cooking this fish and my father in law patiently taking the bones off the fish - in preparation.  He used to do a thorough job and though prep took some time, the actual cooking is very quick.  This post is dedicated to my in laws - Edith and Rajanayagam Daniel.

Kottayam Fish Curry

I am always on the look out for new and interesting fish curry recipes.  Here is one I sourced from an old newspaper cutting.  Even though the curry looks hot and fiery, it is a mild curry.  The reason it looks spicy is because we have added Kashmiri chilli powder.  It is one of those chilli powders that lends the red colour without being too spicy.  Had some left over bits of Spanish Mackerel I wanted to use so here goes:

Crispy Skin Salmon Paella

This dish is made from all the left over vegetables, rice and salmon I had in the fridge - so i made it up as I went along.  I liked the end result, try it and let me know if you liked it too!