Asin's food fundas

The Ghajini actress on why she was called the 'pink fruit' and 'yellow curry' girl in school

Asin's thought for food
I am: A non-vegetarian.

I start my day with: A cup of oats or a bowl of muesli and some fruit. Sometimes, I have an egg or idlis.

The minute I get up: I have to have my breakfast. I am an early riser I am usually up by 6 am. But it depends on my scheduleu00a0 if I have slept late then I wake up at around 9 am.

A traditional Malayalee breakfast is: Appam, idli dosa or utta payam which is made of fruit or puttu kadala which is made of chana.

I am not a: Coffee or tea drinker. I am actually a water and milk baby.

My favourite fruits are: Mango, jackfruit, custard apple, different types of bananas.

My fitness regime:u00a0 I do cardio and when I get the time, I do weights.

I lunch on: A few chapattis or a bowl of rice with vegetables. There are usually pulses for protein. I also love fish.

My favourite vegetable: Carrots.

My lunch is prepared by:u00a0 My mom. She is responsible for my food, so I carry my food to the sets. I am not fussy about food and I don't mind having unit food. But since mom makes it with so much love and care, I make it a point to have the dabba that she has made.

Lunch on the sets: Is amazing. In the South, the variety you are offered is mind-blowing. I am not exaggerating, there are eight different items. But, as I told you, I carry my own food.

My favourite Kerala dish: Rice and prawns eating that is sheer bliss.

Food on the sets of Ghajini: Aamir loves south Indian food. He was on a strict diet, so I would tempt him with chocolates and ice creams.

I snack on: Fruits or coconut water or nuts. I have an early dinner but I don't have any snack thereafter.u00a0

My dinner: Is usually quite early, at around seven pm, if I am at home. But it's delayed if I am shooting. I have whatever mom has made. In Malayalee it's called palhara. Mom usually likes to have rice but I don't have rice for dinner. There is kappa and meen, which is tapioca and fish or we have rice porridge, also known as kanji. I also have eggs or chicken for dinner.

My favourite desserts: I don't have any sweets. I prefer fruits. I enjoy Indian sweets more than foreign chocolate, because there is so much variety jalebis, laddoos, Mysore pak, payasam. I love Indian sweets but I indulge in them only occasionally. At home, I am the least health-conscious person. My mom and dad are more health-conscious than I am, so fortunately there is no temptation. I don't have that big a sweet tooth, I can resist sweets but if somebody offers them, I don't mind having them.u00a0

A childhood memory associated with food: A fruit called chamba used to grow in my backyard. It was a pink fruit that would become red when ripe. I don't think it has a Hindi or English name. I used to love that fruit. One day, my mum sent me to school with a packet of this fruit to give my friends; and they just loved it. Soon the whole school came to know about it and they would ask me for the 'pink fruit' because they didn't know the name (I went to the Naval Public School and there were a lot of North Indian girls studying there). So in school, I became famous as the 'pink fruit girl'. Also my friends used to come home for 'more curry' (pulisheri), which is made of curd and turmeric. I was known by colourful food pink fruit and yellow curry.

In my fridge you will always find: Fruits. There is no junk food.

My Sunday Meal: We don't have a special Sunday lunch. In Kerala, we would have a lot of non-vegetarian items with appam.

I feel guilty about eating: Indian sweets.

Eating out: I don't eat out so I don't have any favourite restaurants.

My favourite cuisines are: Indian, Chinese, Italian and Thai and sometimes Mexican.

My favourite spice is: Chilli. I love spicy food more than sweet.

My favourite beverage: Coconut water.

My favourite poison: I don't drink.

My idea of a romanic meal: I like the backwaters in Kerala they have nice hotels and houseboats on which they cook fish on the houseboat. I would like to eat traditional food.

Asin's favourite recipe: Fish molee
Ingredients
1/2 kg fish fillets
1/4 cup refined vegetable oil
1 cup onion, sliced
1 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger, crushed
6 green chillies, half slit
1/2 tsp peppercorns, crushed
Few sprigs of curry leaves
2 cups, thin coconut milk
1 big tomato, cut into four
1 cup, thick coconut milk
Salt to taste
Method
Clean fish well in salted water
Heat oil in a pan. Saute onion, garlic, ginger, chillies, peppercorns and curry leaves.
Add thin coconut milk and stir to simmering point. Add fish pieces and salt. Cook the fish over in low heat with the lid on, until gravy thickens.
Stir in tomato and thick coconut milk. Continue to cook in low heat for a few minutes, taking care to see that the curry does not curdle.