Kerela Style Mussels Fry

Mussels / Kallumakkaya / Kadukka(deshelled)

Ingredients

1/2 kilogram

shallot (chopped)

1/2 cup

garlic (crushed)

1 tablespoon

ginger (crushed)

1 tablespoon

turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon

chilli powder

1 1/2 tablespoons

pepper powder

1/2 teaspoon

coriander powder

1 teaspoon

garam masala

1 teaspoon

vinegar

1 teaspoon

curry leaves

3 sprigs

Coconut oil / vegetable oil / sunflower oil

Prepartion

• Clean mussels - Place your mussels in a colander or bowl in the sink and run them under cold water. Rinse and scrub as necessary.

• De-shell the mussel - These mussels had quite hard shells and were difficult to open up using hands. I chose this way to deshell them. Place 2 to 3 inch of water in a saucepan with a steamer and bring to a boil. Add the mussels to the steamer and cover. Reduce heat to medium and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Take it out of the steamer and de-shell. It's easy to open up the shell once it's steamed. Also, remove the dirt out of the mussel. Do it in batches.

• Heat oil in a pan and add finely sliced shallot and curry leaves. Saute until it becomes golden brown color.

• Crush ginger and garlic or make it into a paste. Add ginger-garlic and saute it well.

• Add turmeric powder, chili powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Saute it well. Add oil as required to fry the masalas.

• Add cleaned mussels, enough salt, vinegar and cover and cook. Don't add water. Mussels have water in them, which seeps out while cooking. ** Vinegar is optional. I like slight sourness in the dish and hence added it.

• Ideally, it should get cooked by the time water gets dried up. Add sufficient oil around 2 tbsp oil

• Fry it up to the consistency you wish to have. Enjoy