According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's cook of 17 years, T Murukesh, Kerala's CM has extremely simple tastes and prefer fish and a variety of vegetables with every meal. Fish curry, Moru Curry, Karimeen Pollithachu, Avial, these are apparently a must in his lunch menu. Here goes the recipes:
Chemballi (Red snapper) curry
Ingredients
1 kg red snapper
50 gm ginger
100 gm green chillies
Curry leaves- Two bunches
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp chilli powder
Salt
50 gm tamarind
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
Grated coconut
Tomato
Preparation
Marinate the cleaned fish with 1tbsp chilli powder, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, and salt and keep it aside for 20 minutes
Smoothly grind 2 tbsp chilli powder and grated coconut together
Now boil together with the marinated fish (not clear if it should be shallow fried) ground paste, tomato, tamarind water, ginger, and green chillies
Once the fish is cooked and oil starts separating, pour 2sp coconut oil and also season with fried fenugreek seeds
Garnish generously with curry leaves.
Moru Curry
Ingredients
1 kg Kerala cucumber
2 tsp chilli powder
20 gm ginger
4 green chillies
1 tomato
1 tsp mustard seeds
Curry leaves- 2 bunches
4 dry red chillies
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
Salt
1 coconut
Curd
Preparation
Boil the cucumber pieces with chilli powder, turmeric, tomato, green chillies, salt, and ginger
Grind the coconut, turmeric powder, and chilli powder together
Add this to the curry, along with tomatoes, and simmer for a few minutes
Once it cools down, add curd
Heat oil, add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, dry red chillies, and curry leaves, when the mustard seeds start popping and the chillies turn red add it to the curry
If you add a teaspoon of mustard seed paste to the Moru curry, it will add to the taste
Karimeen Porichathu
Ingredients
5 king fish
50 gm ginger
3 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
Salt
Lemon juice- ½ of a lemon
Curry leaves- 2 bunches
Coconut oil
Preparation
For the marinade grind together ginger, garlic, chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice, and salt
Lather the paste over the fish and keep it aside for an hour
Heat a pan, add curry leaves and once it's hot fry the fish till it's crisp.
Avial
Ingredients
1 green banana
¼ kg yam
¼ kg carrot
¼ kg bottle gourd
¼ kg cowpea beans (Achinga)
¼ kg drumsticks
150 gm Coccinia (Kovaykka)
150 gm beans
Kerala Cucumber- small piece
1 piece bitter gourd- Julienne these vegetables and cook them in turmeric and salt
2 green chillies
Garlic- 1 fistful
1 tsp jeera
½ cup curd
1 coconut
Preparation
Coarsely grind all the ingredients together, add to the cooked vegetables, simmer for a few minutes, and season them with a tbsp of coconut oil and curry leaves.
