Happy week Everyone!!!
Hope you are all back on track after Pongal Holidays. It was a kind of hectic weekend for me on a personal front as little D was not keeping well. I didn’t get a chance to cook different dishes and just stayed around cooked sweet and sugar candy pongal and offered the same as ‘Neivaidhyam’ (offering to God) on the day of Pongal (Harvest Festival).
I was just recollecting the memories of last year with all my family members at my native. I was unable to make it up this year, but all my aunt and cousins kept on updating things over phone with me, which in a way was a kind of live commentary. Thanks to my aunty due to whom I felt I didn’t miss much of the fun at my native.
Memories apart, I’ll come to today’s recipe – Sura Meen Puttu. This was again introduced by my hubby through one of our family friends. It all started by his instant dislike towards the dish when it was suggested as a natural remedy for improving the lactation of feeding mothers. Whether it helps the purpose or not, I’m really not focusing it here. I made it once when my cousins were around as it involves simple yet, little time consuming procedure. I prepared it similar to that of a Tuna fish Stir Fry.
All of a sudden everyone enquired what this dish was (my family members were not exposed to many variety of sea food recipes) and gave a good feedback. What else makes the cook to feel happy other than getting good feedback! An impulse to cook it again and again. Agree?
Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
For cooking the fish:
Shark fish / Sura meen – 250 grams
Water – 2 cups
Salt – to taste
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
For fish puttu / Scrambled fish:
Oil – 1 tablespoon + as required
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 1 spring
Red onion – 1 no., medium size, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste – 1 and 1/2 teaspoons
Red chilli powder – 2 teaspoons
Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons
Turmeric powder – a generous pinch
Salt – to taste (see notes)
Method:
For cooking the fish:
1) In a saucepan / cooking pot, add water, salt and turmeric. Bring it to boil.
2) When it is roll boiling, add the fish fillets to it.
3) Let it cook for exactly 5 minutes. If you have added big sized fillets, check it after five minutes and extend the time if require.
4) Remove the fish fillets from the water and discard the water. Cool the fish fillets.
5) Once the fish fillets cool down, peel off the skin and remove the bones, if any. Discard the bones and the skin.
6) Scramble the fillets using your hand.
For fish puttu / Scrambled fish:
1) In a pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds when it is hot and allow it to splutter.
2) Add curry leaves followed by onion. Saute till the onion becomes soft.
3) Add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell goes off.
4) Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Cook for few minutes.
5) Add the scrambled fish fillets. Mix it well.
6) Drizzle some oil and continue cooking till the scrambled fish and masala blends well.
7) In fixed intervals of say 1 minute, drizzle some oil till the fish is cooked well.
8) Turn off the flame and serve this dish with rice or roti.
Notes:
1) Any fish can be used, preferably with less bones. If you are using shark, follow the above method for cooking it otherwise simply steam the fish.
2) I used freshly minced ginger garlic paste. If you are using a store bought product, increase/decrease it as per your taste.
3) Make sure to add less salt in this recipe as we already added salt while boiling the fish. At the end you can adjust the salt level by tasting it.
