Kerala Style -Meen Curry With Thengapal/Fish Curry With Coconut Milk

 

Had one of those rare weekends when everything went as planned. A quiet Saturday with friends of the family, a flawless Sunday with a long afternoon nap, clean to-do list, and best of all, with Monday being a holiday, absolutely no dreadful Sunday-Evening-Jitters. Yes, I bask in the  luxury of weekends and all. But the torture I go through at dusk every Sunday,  at the thought of having to get back to work the next day, makes me sometimes wish they never happened. Silly me, I agree. I choose the monotony of a work week forever, over a roller coaster of work, fun,  and back to work again.

Anyway, well rested and in high spirits on Monday evening I drove to the market, having decided to treat my DH with some well deserved home cooked meal. He did a fine job at making the weekend perfect for me. Among many other things, he'd gotten the  house  immaculately spic without me having to raise a finger (sigh! if only we had more valentines day weekends). So, when my fish monger showed off his wears of some the finest silver white Pomfrets that I hadn't seen for a long time, I was glad my luck was still sticking around. And, like I always do when I see a good buy, I went amuck. So, if you are not a big fan of Pomfrets, I’d suggest you come back to this site in probably a year’s time, because the next gazillion posts are going to be Pomfret this, Pomfret that and Pomfret this and that too ;).

By the time I was  done with the bulk Pomfret shopping, there wasn’t much time left to cook. So, I changed plans and decided to make this quick and easy fish curry in coconut milk, one of R’s favorite.  The recipe is similar to the Kerala Red Fish Curry , except that you thicken the gravy with rich coconut milk right at the very end. At my sister S’, insistence, if you haven’t already noticed, I managed to stick in a piece of kudampulli in the pictures too. She has me convinced that the pictures of fish curries in my previous posts looked incomplete without one of these jutting out like a sore thumb (*rolling eyes*). So, there S, I hope it meets your standards now :D!

Ingredients

1 lb fish cut into slices
2 tsp red [amazon-product type="text" text="chili powder"]B000JMAXNS[/amazon-product](base it on tolerable  spice levels)
1 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="paprika"]B000NO5CRY[/amazon-product](mainly for the red color) 
1/4 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="turmeric powder"]B000JMAXOC[/amazon-product]
3 –4 shallots finely sliced (if you don’t have these you can use one med sized onion) 
1 tsp grated ginger
1tsp finely chopped garlic 
2 kudampulli (camboge fruit rinds)
(If you don’t have this you can use tamarind instead, but the taste won’t be authentic)
1/4 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="fenugreek seeds powder"]B000JMBEGS[/amazon-product]
2 sprigs of curry leaves
1/2 tsp [amazon-product type="text" text="black mustard seeds"]B001E6CFAW[/amazon-product]
2 –3 tbsp [amazon-product type="text" text="coconut oil"]B002DGNP10[/amazon-product]/any vegetable refined oil
2- 3 oz of canned coconut milk ( canned coconut milk is much thicker and creamier than fresh coconut milk. If you are using fresh you might need about a cup in this recipe) salt to taste

Directions

Soak kudampulli in a cup of hot salt water and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add [amazon-product type="text" text="black mustard seeds"]B001E6CFAW[/amazon-product], when they pop add in the curry leaves and [amazon-product type="text" text="powdered fenugreek"]B000JMBEGS[/amazon-product].

Add sliced shallot and sauté till golden brown.

Add crushed ginger and garlic and sauté till oil separates.

Mix together [amazon-product type="text" text="chili powder"]B000JMAXNS[/amazon-product], [amazon-product type="text" text="paprika"]B000NO5CRY[/amazon-product] and [amazon-product type="text" text="turmeric powder"]B000JMAXOC[/amazon-product]in a little warm water to make a smooth paste, add to the pan and sauté for a few minutes.

Add soaked kudampulli along with the water and allow it to boil for a few minutes.

Add the fish pieces.

Close the lid and let it boil it again.

Once the water boils, reduce the flame and let it simmer for about 5 – 10 minutes until the fish is cooked. Add more water if necessary.

Add coconut milk and mix in gently. let it simmer for 5 minutes before putting off the flame.

Season again with a little oil, mustard and curry leaves if desired.

Serve with Rice or Kappa