Malabar fish curry cooked in thick and creamy coconut gravy tastes amazing with both rice and boiled tapioca. Fleshy fish tastes the best when cooked like this. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
1 kg seer fish/tuna/trevally
50 ml coconut oil
8 gms fenugreek seeds
20 gms ginger (sliced)
10 shallots (chopped)
Some curry leaves
3 green chilies
4 tomatoes (chopped)
Rock salt as required
20 gms Kashmiri chili powder
15 gms regular chili powder
10 gms turmeric powder
Lemon sized ball of tamarind
Fish stock (prepared by boiling the fish bone and head)
½ coconut (ground to paste)
8 gms pepper powder
8 gms fennel powder
For the tempering
20 ml coconut oil
Chopped shallots
Some curry leaves
5 gms Kashmiri chili powder
Preparation
Heat oil in an earthen chatty
Roast the fenugreek seeds
Add ginger and curry leaves
Saute well
Now add shallots, tomatoes, green chilies and rock salt as required
Saute until the tomatoes are nice and mushy
Lower the flame before adding 1 ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder and ½ tsp turmeric powder
Mix well
Pour in the tamarind water
Add the fish so that the gravy would have its flavour
Allow the gravy to boil
Now add the cleaned fish fillets
When the fish is almost done, add the smooth coconut paste
Mix well without crumbling the fish fillets
Add some pepper powder and fennel powder before turning off the flame
Meanwhile, heat coconut oil in a pan
Saute the shallots
When they begin to change colour add curry leaves
Add the Kashmiri chili powder too
Pour this aromatic tempering into the fish curry
Rotate the earthen chatty to mix everything well
Do not use a spoon to mix the curry
Rest the curry for at least an hour before serving for the fish fillets to absorb all the flavours
Thick and delicious Malabar fish curry is ready!
