Fish Molee (Fish in coconut milk gravy)

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           My mom makes meen molee occasionally,I made a small change in the recipe(I marinated the fish before using(from Kothiyavannu)). This dish goes well with appam, this is the first time I am making this dish as I got the green signal to give fish for my baby daughter. The doctor advised to give a mildly spiced fish gravy to begin with and she suggested fish molee.

Ingredients: 
King Fish(any firm fleshed fish), washed, cleaned & cubed  - ½ kg.
Turmeric powder                               -         1 tsp.
Lemon juice                                      -         of half a lemon
Salt         
Onion, sliced finely                          -        2
Tomato, sliced                                  -        1
Ginger garlic paste                           -         1 Tbsp.
Black pepper powder                       -         ½ tsp.
Thin Coconut Milk                          -          1 Cup
Thick Coconut Milk                        -           1 cup
Mustard seeds                                  -           ½ tsp.
Curry Leaves                                   -           few sprigs
Green chilly, slit lengthwise            -           4
Oil (pref., coconut oil)                     -           3 Tbsp.
Salt according to taste

Method:

1. Marinate the fish in turmeric powder, lemon juice and salt for about half an hour.
2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the marinated fish for a 3 or 4 minutes on each side and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan and splutter the mustard seeds, add the sliced onion, green chillies, curry leaves and saute until the onions becomes soft. Add the ginger garlic paste and pepper powder and saute for a 2 or 3 minutes. 
4. Add the tomatoes and saute for a minute or two.
5. Lower the flame and add the thin coconut milk and salt & combine well.
6. Carefully add the fried fish to the gravy. Cover & simmer until the fish is completely done.
7. Add the thick coconut milk and swirl the pan, simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.
8. Remove from flame and serve with palappam or vellayappam.

Spicy Pineapple Salad

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                                This is a simple salad just like the pineapple mint salad. Ajust the amount of chilly powder according to your taste.

Ingredients:
Pineapple, diced     -         2 cups
Onion, diced           -         1 small
Red Chilly Powder -         ½ tsp.
Salt as required
Mint leaves for garnishing (optional)

Method:
Combine all the above listed ingredients in a bowl & serve.

Pineapple Mint Salad

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                    Pineapple is my least favorite fruit apart from guava. I only like the core (weird uh..)which later I found was not consumed by many others. The fruit is way too sweet for me, so I used to add salt & chilly powder before having it. Anyways did you know pineapple can be cultivated using only it's crown?  This salad is very simple it just requires 2 ingredients as mentioned in the title, but then you can make changes by adding salt or onion etc., it's up to you. The salad is so refreshing, you can adjust the amount of mint leaves. Honestly I thought it smelled like a mint toothpaste. 

Ingredients:
Pineapple, diced                                              -                 2 cups
Mint Leaves (Pudina), finely chopped            -                2 Tbsp.

Method:
               Combine both the pineapple and the mint leaves and serve. Even better refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.

Arabic Salad

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       I simply love the salad bar @ Pizza hut,  just can't get enough of it, came to know most of their names only after coming to the Emirates. The basic ingredient of several salads here is olive oil and mayo. Before, the salads I new where onion salad, tomato, cucumber, carrot etc., the very basic ones. Arabic salad is a common item in the buffet section at several restaurants, its a simple salad, with few ingredients and very easy to make too. There are many kind of variants of the salad, this is the way I make it.

Ingredients:(serve 2)
Cucumbers, chopped finely          -        2
tomatoes, chopped finely             -       1 medium
Parsley, finely chopped                -      1   cup
Mint leaves, finely chopped         -      ½ cup 
Onion, finely chopped                  -      1
Lemon juice                                 -       ½ of a lemon
Pepper powder                             -       ¼ tsp.
Olive Oil                                      -       1 tbsp.
Salt as required

Method:

                   Mix the lemon juice, pepper powder, olive oil and salt in a bowl. Now combine all the chopped vegetables and green leaves with the prepared marinade and serve after half n hour or so.