Kerala Fish Curry By Indu Nair
When you look for a magnificent “meen” (fish) recipe, this can come to your rescue!
Indu Nair is a creative entrepreneur — an ex-corporate girl — now the owner and founder of her brand InduDiva, which deals in eclectic handmade fine silver jewellery and curated handloom sarees.Popularly and affectionately known as BongMallu, Nair by birth , but Bong in spirit. Born and raised in Calcutta (she is the 3rd generation of her family to be in Calcutta) , now lives in her karmabhoomi – Mumbai. Loves trying out her grandmother’s recipes (traditional Kerala ) and not great at documenting then , but it’s WIP
. She is a foodie , textile aficionado , handicraft enthusiast.
Ingredients:
- Fish – cleaned and cut into pieces – 1 kg
- Ginger – 1 piece , 2″ approx
- Tomato – 1
- Kokum (Kudampuli in Malayalam) – 3 pieces
- Shallots – 8 , sliced
- Curry leaves 3 small stems
- Coconut oil I.5 tbsp
- Fish Masala 1 heaped tbsp (Eastern / Nirapara / Double Horse is what I prefer the most. Available in South Indian shops or online )
Method:
- Add Nirapara fish masala and coconut oil to fish pieces and keep aside for about 20 min.
- In a pan (I use only cast iron or clay) , heat coconut oil and sauté ginger (cut into long strips , sliced shallots , curry leaves for a couple of minutes till shallots turn golden brown .
- Meanwhile , take a level gap of Fish masala and mix with a tsp of water to make a paste. Mix this paste in the heated pan with the sautéed ginger , shallots etc .
- After a couple of minutes , add the coated fish pieces and sauté until the masala is thoroughly mixed. Now add a cup of water and bring it to boil .
- Then add chopped tomatoes , kokum pieces and salt and keep covered and cook on low flame for 5 to 8 minutes or until the fish is cooked . After about 5 min , you may turn the fish pieces over .
- Once done , pour 1 tap coconut oil over the fish pieces and serve hot with steamed white rice /red Matta (unpolished) rice