Travel Blog – Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels

Bored of wearing snow boots, gloves and more layers than a millefeuille? Tired of hot water bottles, soup, sniffles and falling over? Fear not – Doctor Smith has the perfect anti-ice-and-cold remedy for you: fish curry. And not just any old Ruby Murray, but an Alleppey fish curry at that, with a recipe that hails from Kerala’s coast, whispered into our ears by the Raheem Residency’s Bibi Baskin.

One of our number (the lovely Caroline) invested in an electric blanket recently. If only she’d spoken to us first – a steaming bowl of fragrant fish in spicy sauce, with snow-white rice and zingy chutney, is the tastiest winter warmer of them all.

Alternatively, if you’re suffering from January blues, are too apathetic to cook and have some Mr & Mrs Smith Get a room! gift vouchers burning a hole in your pocket, book your flight to India and a room at the regal Raheem Residency. There you can feast on Alleppey fish curry at the hotel’s Chakara Restaurant, overlooking the golden sands of Alleppey Beach.

Alleppey Fish Curry:

600g of seer fish/tuna/any white fish
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon fenugreek
10g of chopped ginger
10g of chopped garlic
4 sliced green chillies
100g chopped onion
15g red chilli powder
10g coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small bunch of curry leaves (without stems)
15g kokum
50ml coconut oil or sunflower
½ cup of coconut milk
Pinch of salt

Preparation:

• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the mustard seeds and the fenugreek.
• After they begin to crackle, add ginger, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and onion. Sauté until the ingredients become light brown in colour.
• Add red chilli powder, coriander and turmeric, and sauté until the raw smell disappears.
• Add one cup of water, stir well, and bring to the boil.
• Add the kokum, the fish and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until the fish is fully cooked.
• Remove the lid and add the coconut milk. Boil for five minutes and remove from the hob. Serve hot, with plain basmati rice (and optional lashings of mango chutney).

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Boutique hotels, Eating & drinking, Uncategorized, Worth getting out of bed for. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.