Weeknight Dinner - Nutty Green Beans and Keralite Salmon Curry

I am always on the lookout for quick and easy dinner ideas I can make on weeknights for my family. I try to balanace some vegetable, some carbs and something non-veg - I don;t always manage, but that's the intention. I was really excited when I saw Mallugirl's Summer Express Cooking Event. Now I have a few ideas I could share, but most of all I am waiting to see the round up to get new ideas from all my blog friends.

The menu tonight is nutty green beans and a Keralite Salmon Curry (I don't know if it really is a Keralite recipe, maybe Mallugirl can correct me if it is not).

Advance Preparation:

Chop 1/2 cup peanuts beforehand (I always keep some chopped peanuts and ground cashewnut powder at home, they can be thrown into a number of dishes to jazz them up a bit)
Make a paste of ginger and paste of garlic (I always do this over the weekend to last me through the week)

If you chop the onions in advance you'll save 3-4 minutes later on.

The original recipe for Nutty Green Beans is here. I used very little oil (about 2 tsp and added some water to ensure the beans get fully cooked).

Ingredients for Nutty Green Beans:

A handful of peanuts
2 tsp Kanda Lasun Masala (See original recipe link above for a photo of the masala packet)

1 pound packet of frozen french cut beans

Ingredients for Salmon Curry:

1 pounds Salmon fillets cut into pieces
1/2 large onion
1 tbsp garlic (minced or paste)
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp methi (fenugreek) seeds
10-12 curry leaves
1/2 inch size tamarind. Original recipe used kokum but I didn't have any so used a substitute
1/2 can coconut milk
red chilly powder, salt and turmeric to taste

0-5 minutes:

Chop onions
Wash rice (I used about 1.5 cups) and put it in the microwave for 17 minutes - ok that'show I do, it, You go ahead and make rice any way you like.

Put the onions, garlic and curry leaves to fry on one burner

Put the peanuts to fry on the second burner

Soak the tamarind in warm water

6-15 minutes:

Add ginger and methi seeds to the onion paste and fry a few minutes more.

Make a extract the tamarind paste and keep aside

Add the salmon and fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and turmeric.

The peanuts being fried probably look frothy, that is alright. Add the kanda lasun masala green beans. The kanda lasun malsala is quite spicy so I added it judiciously, you can add alittle more if you like. It also has salt, so add salt later after tasting if it needs any more. Mix this well and cover. I added very little oil, so you might need to add some water.

Now add the red chilly powder, tamarind paste and coconut milk to fish. Add some water to get the consistency you need.

16-25 minutes:

Stir the green beans a bit, check if it needs more water. Cook covered.

By now the salmon should have come to a boil. Cover it and reduce the heat of the burner. I do tend to taste at this point to see if it needs more tamarind or red chilly or salt.

If you have some free time, go ahead and start cleaning up :-)

Your rice should be done.

26-30 minutes:

Remove the green beans and transer to a serving dish.

Check the salmon. Usually fish cooks faster then meat, so it should be done. Adjust the time as you feel is needed. It should have simmered for nearly 10 minutes now and is likely well cooked. Remove and transer to serving dish.

Voila - dinner is ready!