Simply Blissful Living - Taste of Fiji

  Ingredients: 1.5 lbs firm white fish, gutted, cleaned, and cut into desired pieces (650 grams approximately) 1 large onion, sliced 8-10 cloves of garlic, crushed  1 inch ginger, crushed  Hot pepper to taste, crushed  Curry leaves, 1-2 sprigs 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon asefotida/hing 2 tablespoon gram flour/besan 2  tablespoon hot Fiji Masala or garam masala 1.5 teaspoon turmeric 2 tablespoon oil for curry 2 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 whole tomatoes chopped  1 tablespoon tamarind paste/concentrate mixed with 1/4 cup water  13.5 fl oz canned coconut milk (398 ml) salt to taste 1/2-1 cup water *adjust to your liking* oil to fry fish Take garlic cloves, ginger, and hot peppers and crush into a paste.  In a shallow bowl, take cleaned and cut fish and marinate using 1 teaspoon of the ginger/garlic/pepper paste, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon Fiji masala, 2 tablespoons of gram flour, salt and some water to coat fish properly. Let fish m...

This shrimp dish is so quick and easy yet so satisfying! Growing up we had shrimp quite often as it was readily available on the islands! Now-a-days, I like to cook this at least once a month because its so easy and yet so delicious!  Ingredients: 1 lb/16 oz peeled & deveined shrimp  2 tablespoon oil 1 cup onions, chopped (about 1 large onion) 1 cup tomatoes, chopped (2-3 tomatoes) 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 8-10 garlic cloves, crushed 1 inch ginger, grated/crushed hot pepper to taste 2-3 sprigs curry leaves 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 tablespoon garam/Fiji masala  1/4 cilantro, chopped 1/2 cup water ** adjust as needed salt to taste  Method: Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan on medium to medium high heat. Add onions and cook until soft and golden. You can add a pinch of salt to speed up this process.  Moving the onions aside, add cumin seeds and let splutter/crackle. Add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and cook until tomatoes are soft,...

Ingredients: 1 (15 oz) can Mackerel  4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 medium onion, sliced 2 medium tomatoes, chopped 4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled & crushed 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves 1 tbsp Fiji or Garam Masala 1 tsp turmeric  1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp chilli powder (or to taste) 1/4 tsp asafetida 1 tbsp tamarind pulp 1-2 tbsp oil  salt to taste cilantro  1-2 cups of water (or as desired) Method: Remove bones from fish fillets and break up into smaller chunks if desired On high heat, in a heavy bottom pan, heat oil.  Once hot add tomatoes and onions. Cook until soft (2-3 mins). Add crushed garlic and ginger. Cook approximately 1 minute Add curry leaves and all spices. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add a little water if needed Add potatoes and salt. Cook covered for 5 minutes Add fish and tamarind along with some water. Cook covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Check to see i...

It wasn’t a meal we had daily, heck, we’d be lucky if we ate it once a month! Lamb curry was something that was an indulgence growing up in Fiji. Lamb, like all other meats, was expensive; therefore, it was deemed a “special” meal. Once every month or so, mom would go to “town” or B Kumar Supermarket on Shalimar Street and buy lamb. I don’t remember if it was precut pieces or if mom did the chopping herself, something she is quite good at, by the way, but I do remember the delicious lamb curry she made! We would all sit down together, with rice and lamb aur aloo tarkari (lamb and potato curry) and devour all the food on our Fiji la plate! Man, those were the good ole days!  Even though we can now afford lamb on a regular basis, we still don’t make lamb curry regularly. It is a still a treat. Even Ma doesn’t make it often, but when she does, I make sure to grab a plate of food at her house or she’ll pack me some and bring it by. {moms are great that way}  Recently, I...

Back on the islands of Fiji, Pumpkin curry, or kaddu tarkari as we called it was a popular dish during weddings and most major celebrations. In fact, it may still be practiced today, that when there is a marriage, kaddu puri (pumpkin curry with deep fried puri) is expected. Mom used to always say that weddings aren't completed without it.  When I found an overgrown patty pan squash type pumpkin at the store last Halloween, I thought it was a steal at $1 so I purchased it. I kept it in the garage, where its cold and dark, for a few months. Just last week, I "found" it and knew that it had to be cooked since the weather is warming up and the garage will no longer be "cool" and dark. It lead to a delicious pumpkin curry with puri and some raita. Let me share the recipe with you! I've also shared my YouTube video showing how I made this. Follow along and make this delicious pumpkin soon! Ingredients 6 cups pumpkin, cubed  1 small onion, chopp...