Mom's "Casual" Fish Vindaloo

Before I start this post, I'd like to first thank all of you who've written in to me enquiring about this blog, or rather my absence from the blogosphere...It felt great to know you're still checking in, inspite of my not keeping it updated and for that, I'm truly apologetic...sometimes life does get in the way of your best intentions! After my last blog post, and starting with the new blog series on the kiddie party menu, a lot of stuff happened-shifting to a new city, home, keeping up with my freelance writing job, etc.-and suffice it to say that something I really enjoyed doing-writing and blogging and keeping in touch with all of you readers-just took a backseat. I will have to abandon my kiddie party menu series for now, but will take it up again as soon as I get hold of the recipe folder that held those recipes! So here's onto a new recipe, minus any series :-)

I bet all of you are familiar with the way mothers shrug off, with complete nonchalance, any compliments of how wonderful and tasty any of their recipes turn out to be....and how sometimes, even with the best of directions, you simply can't replicate that special taste? Well, this fish vindaloo falls in that category. I'm with my parents now taking a much-needed break and so you will be seeing many more such "mom's special" recipes here. I think the vindaloo preparation was originally brought in to India by the Portugese and goes especially well with pork. Well, here in Kerala, we've taken this and made it even more exotic by using it on....fish! What else?! So here's to a fish vindaloo recipe that's absolutely mouthwatering, matches excellently with both rice and chapathi, and keeps well for a number of days too (if you have the self-control to keep leftovers, that is!)

Use any good, fleshy fish....as always, please remember that these measurements and portion sizes are just a rough estimate. As any seasoned cook with tell you, I really don't use measurements at all when cooking, but blogging forced me to pay more attention and try to at least remember the approximate measurements for the benefit of those of you who maybe novices in cooking. But to even the novices, I say, be bold and experiment!

Since my camera is still recuperating from its "blank screen of death", I'm using my 2 mp cellphone to photograph these dishes...so although I'm embarassed by the quality of the pics, something is better than nothing. Don't let the pics fool you though, this is truly a mouthwatering dish and it's super-easy-just perfect for those lazy nights!

To serve 4 people

1. 8 nice, fleshy pieces of fish
2. 1 large onion or 2 medium-sized onions, sliced thin
3. 1 large tomato, chopped fine
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. 4 cloves
6. 1-inch cinnamon stick
7. 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
8. 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
9. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
10. 4 teaspoons chilli powder
11. 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
12. 10 flakes of garlic
13. 2 tablespoons vinegar
14. Salt to taste
15. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

•  In your mixer-grinder's spice jar, grind all the ingredients from the cloves to the garlic, adding the vinegar to make it a nice smooth paste.
• In a pan, heat the oil and tip in the sugar. Keep it on simmer until the sugar caramelizes (becomes a golden brown color).
• Now add the onions and fry till translucent.
• Then add the tomatoes and fry till nice and pulpy.
• Now add the ground spice paste and fry till you see oil oozing out into a thin film outwards and a nice aroma wafts through.
• Add the fish pieces and salt now and mix gently to coat well with the gravy.
• Add half a cup to one cup of water to the pan and cover with a lid, simmering gently for about 10 minutes until the fish is cooked through.

That's it! Serve hot and enjoy!

PS: Please adjust the chilli powder and pepper to suit your taste.