Kokonda – Fijian Fish Salad

A couple of posts ago I mentioned to you all that I was working on getting my readers involved with my blog by inviting them to contribute their recipes as a guest. Well here is my very first and special reader Simon Deo from Sacramento who has offered to do a guest post for me today.😊 Just so you all know this isn’t a sponsored post. I am merely helping the people in my community to spread the love of our Fijian cuisine. Oh and also because I’m just damn sweet! Careful now..so I don’t give you diabetes.😁

I approached Simon on a Facebook foodie group. I asked Simon if he could prepare a native dish for me. He immediately agreed and offered to cook up Kokonda which happens to be his favourite. I happily accepted. I, of course have my own selfish motive behind this because just like South Indian cuisines I don’t know the a-b-c of native Fijian cuisines either.😉

Simon has been very kind to accept my offer and honour my blog with his speciality today. I believe he is feeling a wee bit nervous and apprehensive about the outcome so I hope all my readers, fellow bloggers and buddies will give him a very warm welcome.

Over to Simon now…

Hi everyone my name is Simon and I’m from Sacramento Ca. I am a college student who loves to cook and take photos. My interest in photography started in high school which is when I fell in love with images I took that turned out natural and captivating. I do photography professionally as extra work here in Sacramento or sometimes around California. Some of my photography samples and gallery can be seen on my website Simon Deo Photography or you can check out my Facebook page link https://www.facebook.com/simondeophotography.

Simon says…give me a pout!!!

I self taught myself cooking just like my photography. My passion for cooking started in my childhood. I started with playing and experimenting around in the kitchen with foods and from then on I just couldn’t help but discover new flavors all the time. After graduating from high school I decided to take the two things I love the most, combine it together and share it with everyone.

I first began sharing my photos via Facebook and Instagram. Later I discovered a group called Mai Kana via Facebook. There I was able to share my food photography and recipes. I received very encouraging feedbacks and compliments which felt absolutely stupefying. From there I was approached by Sanjana Soni. She invited me to do a guest post for her blog. Of course I immediately said yes. It was a great opportunity for me to share my knowledge of cooking with others all over the world. So today I will be sharing with you a native Fijian dish called Kokonda which originates in Fiji. It’s basically fish cooked in citric acid mainly lemon/lime.

I first came across Kokonda in Fiji where I tried it at a restaurant and absolutely loved it. Biting into it I remember tasting a creamy and tangy soup. Than as I continued the journey of taste there was a bit of a crunch and then a tender piece of seafood went in my mouth. It was absolutely scrumptuous. Years later I came up with my own version of Kokonda. It was equally delicious but I threw in a my own twist to it by adding a sweet factor. When I normally cook I try to balance my recipe as much as possible. For Kokonda I already had the sourness from the lemon but I wished I had a sweet factor so I decided to add a sweet fruit to it. The addition of a fruit gave this dish a bit of a kick! I hope all of you will enjoy my recipe.

Simon with his parents and sister.

Ingredients
2 cups of Fish of choice
1 1/2 cup of Lemon juice
1 1/2 cup of Lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
3 Green chilli for taste
1 cup of Peach, pineapple or mango (I used peach)
1 cup of Coconut cream or milk
1 cup of Bell pepper (preferably red)
1/2 cup of Onions or shallot.

Method
Slice your fish in 1/2 or 1/4 inch bite sized pieces.
• Add 1 and 1/2 a cup of lemon and 1 and 1/2 a cup of lime juice to the fish in a bowl. Make sure your fish is fully submerged in the citric acid.
• Add salt and pepper and give it a quick stir.
• Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it “cook” in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, chop your fruit, in my case a peach (or any other fruit of your choice). Also chop bell peppers and onions in cubes (keep the cubes about half the size of your fish bites) and then set it aside in the fridge tightly covered with a plastic wrap.
• After 2hrs (or maybe more as per your preference) add your chopped veggies and fruits into the bowl along with the coconut cream and give it a good stir and cover once again.
• Slice your green chilies very thinly and add into the bowl with the fish. Give it another good stir and taste to check for salt. I like to serve this with tortilla or potato chips (using the kokonda kind of like a dip) but you may choose to serve however you desire!

Nariyal Chutney (Coconut Chutney)

I had tried on many occassions to perfect my coconut chutney but was never satisfied with the result. It really wasn’t that bad or unedible but just not as delicious as I had hoped. Then a few years back I inherited a recipe from my friend Sammi’s late grandmother Yenktamma Naidu. Everyone fondly knew her as Awa. Coming from a South Indian I felt like I had been handed a family heirloom and felt mighty proud.😊Since then I have been making my coconut chutney Awa’s way. I will forever be indebted to her for passing her recipe to me. God bless her soul.

Recently I was reminiscing and went straight back into my Fiji flashback.💭It was the weekend, Saturday to be precise, a day I knew I will be allowed to catch up with my school mates and go and show off my “mufti day” clothes. I loved not having to wear my school uniform and letting my hair out which was a change from having to coconut oil it to plait it with ribbons. I wore my best outfit and waited for my friends to turn up so we could just hang out and do a full round walk of our small city. We made sure we walked slowly (not much choice in the heat) so it would take the max time to cover from one end to the other. Yes, that was our Lautoka city small and cute. Then after lunch we would stroll to Marine Drive harbour and sit and watch the ships sail by and throw rocks into the sea.

Most of our weekends were spent watching any and every Bollywood movies at the cinemas. Even better when your parents owned one. It was free VIP entries for us. My parents always knew where to find my missing siblings and I….hiding in the cinema which was our second home. We would snack on fried peas, bhuja mixes and sip soft drink. Soft drinks were luxury items to have those days so you can imagine how much I looked forward to enjoying each sip followed by a burp or two. The downside was watching the actors feeding themselves on screen which made us all more hungry. As soon as it was intermission men darted towards the loo or outside to kill their lungs. Women and children made a quick dash to the takeaway shop to buy hot mutton pies and fish and chips. I would love to hear everyone sigh whenever there was a climax scene and say “saaa” (for ahhh or ohhh) or in sad scenes everyone of them in unison will begin to “tch! tch! tch!” (for awww nooo you poor thing) or in fight sequence there will be a very loud Oilei!! (for what I belive is maybe OMG!). And if the movie stopped or the reel finished in the middle of the most exciting scene of a son reuniting with his mum then itll be a mild hurl of abuses like “oyye operator kani kani” (basically meant operator wake up from your Kava induced sleep). Oh! how I miss all that.

As much as I loved watching movies I absolutely hated the cinema halls. I could never relax once the lights turned off. No, not out of fear from being kicked by smelly tinea ridden feet from behind but from far more dangerous things. The “thing”…the thing that petrified me..the thing that could make your skin crawl…the thing that was brown and had antennaes….yucky and gross cockroaches!!!! And those “malteser suckers” could fly I tell ya! Yikesss I could just die.😱I as an adolescent was traumatised by those evil pests. Anyways I managed to survive to see many more movies and finally when I discovered the cinemas in Australia I was cured…aaaah!

Getting to the point…so as soon as it was Saturday I knew mum will be going to the markets to buy some vegies and freshly cooked Idlis and coconut chutney. I always looked forward to that and it wasn’t often the vendors at the markets sold it. I will never forget how delicious the chutney was. I was recently craving it badly so I decided to make a few in experimental batches and see if I could replicate the taste. Finally I think I did it!! I believe I was very close to it. This chutney is my experimental version inspired by Late Awa’s original recipe with a slight twist.

As you all know I cook the lazy way so I’ve used frozen shredded coconut. I have tried many frozen brands but Vadilal’s is by far the best. Obviously you can’t compromise on the fresh taste of grated coconut but this brand comes quite close to it. It’s moist and fluffy in texture and smells heavenly. Hailing from the tropics I happen to know my coconuts (no pun intended😁). A few years back I did it the old fashioned way by placing the coconut grater (shaped somewhat like a cricket bat with prongs attached to it) on a chair with my butt firmly on it and grate away. This chutney is for those lazy cooks who wants something quick because they’de rather be spending time with their family or enjoying “tutti frutti”.😉

This recipe is a special request by a reader and a friend. Roberta Movick this ones for you.

Ingredients
2 Cups Frozen Shredded Coconut (I have used Vadilal Brand)
1 Tablespoon Tamarind Pulp
1 Small Garlic Clove
1/2 Medium Sized Onion
5-6 Small Red Chillies (adjust to suit level of hotness)
5-6 Curry Leaves
Salt To Taste
Oil For Tempering

Method
• In a bowl of hot water (about a 1/4 cup) soak tamarind pulp. Set aside for water to cool down.
• Once cooled squeeze the pulp with fingers to release flavour into the infused water? Discard squeezed pulp. Set the paste aside.
• Chop onions, garlic and chillies finely.
• Heat oil in a non-stick frypan.
• Throw in the garlic, chillies, onions and saute till translucent.
• Now add curry leaves, shredded defrosted/thawed coconut and salt and cook till lightly browned.
• Set aside to cool and throw it all into the food processor with the tamarind liquid paste.
• If chutney is too dry to grind add a little bit more water to ensure it turns out moist and fine.

This dish is best served as sides with Idlis and Dosas.

Saijan Bhaji (Drumstick Leaves Stir-Fry)

It’s been a week today since we lost a most respected member of our family our beloved Grandma Biji. I was a bit hesitant to post a recipe this soon as it’s a sad time for us all. It’s also a time which I felt needed to be recorded in memory for my daughter Mishka. Biji was my daughter’s great-grandmother. She had an opportunity to meet Biji in India when she turned one and oftened facetimed together thanks to the innovative technology of these days. It’s quite useful for precious times like this where we can stay connected to our families even though they reside miles away. Our Biji now rests in peace and smiling down upon us from heaven showering us with her blessing.

Todays recipe is of stir-fried drumstick leaves. Drumsticks are often used in Sambars and curries but I love it most in my Dhals. I don’t know much of the use of its leaves except for the way we cook this in Fiji. Basically this is how my mum cooks it either with coconut or with eggs (recipe coming soon). In South India I think this is called Murungai Elai Poriyal (my blogger buddies please correct me if I’m wrong). Why I chose this recipe today – because of the ingredient coconut. It is used as a prayer offering to our Gods in the Hindu religion. I felt it couldn’t get as pure as that thus remembering our Biji as a link to God.

photo credit: Tatters ❀ via photopin cc

Sunday 11/5 is Mother’s Day so this one is in memory of our Biji and all the women out there be it our mums, grandmothers or mother-in-laws. You are the goddesses on this heavenly earth and so the offerings to you all. Happy Mother’s day!

Ingredients
5 Cups Drumstick Leaves (loose)
1 Cup Frozen Shredded Coconut
1/4 Tspn Jeera (Cumin seeds)
3-4 Garlic Cloves
1 Onion Sliced
2-3 Red Chillies (optional)
Oil
Salt To Taste

Method
• Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add Jeera and allow it to brown lightly for a few seconds.
• Now add onions and chillies and saute till the onions are translucent.
• Throw in the shredded coconut and stir fry for a minute or two.
• Finally add the drumstick leaves with salt and cook till the leaves are done (this is entirely dependent on how well cooked you like your greens).

This dish is best served with roti/chapati.

Corned Mutton Curry (Gravy Version)

Hi everyone I have a dash and run post today before my op tomorrow so I wont blabber much (maybe just a little). I had a few requests for the tari/surwa (gravy) version of my corned mutton curry so here it is, enjoy!😊

Aww! ok just a short story then..I cant resist. Last week we had a fire drill at work and we all had to evacuate our building and assemble at a designated spot. My manager and my manager’s manager (I just had to say it the Desi way hehe) we were all gathered waiting around with a few other colleagues to hear instructions from the fire warden to head back to our building. I happened to notice a few ladies walk right past through us to go upstairs into a building. Few ladies were also coming down the stairs looking flushed and glowy.

Curiousity got the best of me and I had to find out where they were heading. I looked up and read the sign. We were standing right in front of a beauty parlour so aptly named “BrazillianBeauty”. Trust me to speak my thought out aloud and say “well, guess we all know who is coming down after a Brazillian“. Of course I was’nt embarassed then (because this is just me I come up and say totally ridiculous things at times) but I must have embarassed everyone else standing there. It clicked to me a few minutes later what I had said and only then I wished the ground would split open and swallow me up😳. Lesson learned – keep my thoughts to myself (I can only try so no promises😉).

Ingredients
4 Medium Sized Potatoes
1 326g Canned Corned Mutton (I have used Salisbury brand)
1/2 Onion
3-6 Curry Leaves
2-4 Garlic Cloves
1 Inch Piece Ginger
1/2 Tspn Tumeric Powder
1 Tspn Garam Masala
1 Tspn Kashmiri Chilli Powder (optional)
Pinch Of Mustard, Cumin And Fenugreek Seeds
Salt To Taste
2 Tbspn Oil

Method
• Wash, peel and cut potatoes into med-small cubes.
• Crush ginger and garlic.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds. Allow it to splatter and brown lightly.
• Add onions, garlic and ginger and fry till brown.
• Now add tumeric, garam masala chilli powder, curry leaves and stir for a second or two before throwing in the potatoes.
• Cook the potatoes in medium flame until done and then add the corned mutton and cook further 5 mins.
• Finally garnish with coriander/cilantro.

This dish is best served with rice.