Yesterday’s fish curry

It is very rare that one gets to see the Diamond Anniversary of a couple and I had the opportunity to capture the same on video last week.

Had a lunch party for the couple (my in laws) on our terrace and invited some close friends who were in town. Even though the guest list was not a small one(29), we decided to cook all the food at home (including baking the birthday cake) 

The menu for the lunch was Kerala Chicken curry, Cabbage thoran, Pineapple pachadi, Sambhar, Pork roast and fish curry. 

 

All enjoyed the Appam and there were hardly any takers for rice. 

The moluku idichu varatha pappadam was a novelty for many and they wanted to know how it was made.

All were tickled by the “Yesterday’s fish curry” and one even jokingly commented “don’t tell me you are giving us leftovers”

I had to finally show them the recipe book in which it was named as “Yesterday’s fish curry”

As the recipe says these fish curries taste better the next day and is served a day after it is cooked. Good that we made two chattis of fish curry as it needed constant replenishing. (chatti is the earthen pot in which it is cooked and served)  

For desert we had parippu payasam, another sweet delicacy from Kerala.

The cake (Dulche De Leche Pound Cake) got over within no time as some went in for a second helping. We could not get the flaked almonds in any of the nearby stores, so soaked some almonds overnight and sliced them fine to garnish the cake.

The highlight was the couple cutting the cake and feeding each other

You can see how they looked 60 years ago in the attached video.

Sixty years ago

Every year the Christmas tree is put up. 

In the night it gives a better glow.

As I look at the picture, I realise that there are two things in it that are really old and valuable.
One is the crib which is placed under the tree. This crib has a special significance as it was bought 59 years ago.  As the years went by the colours faded and my Dad repainted them. I remember how he used a strand of coconut fibre (as a brush) to paint the eyes and the eyelashes of the statues. Somewhere along the way we lost one of the sheep but the rest are still intact.

I had a black and white picture of these very statues clicked by my Agfa Click-III, about 40 years ago in a wonderful crib made by my Dad. I am still trying to locate that picture. (I am sure its somewhere in the attic)

The other thing is the big lamp that is hanging above the tree. It is a German Lamp and was bought in 1953 by my mother-in-law with her first salary. That makes the lamp 60 years old.

Its good to have and preserve such old things which brings back memories.

I like this angel. It is a part of the decoration of our tree and its from Africa.

This is a new addition to the tree and I like the wordings on it “when I count my blessings, I count you twice”

That brings us to today’s Xmas menu for lunch.

This picture gives a fairly good idea of the table spread.

To list them out, (from bottom left clockwise) its Chicken roast, Beans, Moor curry, Meen Peera, Salad (cherry tomatoes, lime basil and dressing), Pork Vindaloo and Lime Basil Rice.

The Meen peera is a south Indian delicacy. Its made with Veloori (white sardine) and grated coconut.

I had to click the Chicken Roast once again to show how yummy it was.

It was signed off by Crème Caramel.

 Happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all.