Fishless fish curry: A Kerala-style coconut milk curry without the fish

Missing fish curry from your meal? This Kerala-style curry has the look, colour and coconut-rich gravy of a traditional fish curry, but there is no fish in it. Tomatoes, onions, green chillies and spices are cooked with coconut milk and kudampuli, then finished with a fragrant tempering of shallots, dried chillies and curry leaves.

The curry gets its richness from two extracts of coconut milk. The thinner second milk goes in first, while the thick first milk is added towards the end to keep the gravy creamy.

Ingredients

1. 1 small onion, sliced
2. 1 small piece ginger
3. 4 green chillies
4. 2 tomatoes, sliced into 4 pieces each
5. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
6. 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
7. 2 1/2 tsp chilli powder
8. 1/2 cup thick coconut milk
9. 1 1/2 cups thin coconut milk
10. 3 small pieces kudampuli
11. 5 shallots, finely chopped
12. 3 dried red chillies
13. 2 sprigs of curry leaves
14. 1 tbsp coconut oil
15. Salt to taste
16. 1 cup water

Preparation

1. Add the sliced tomato, onion, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves to a cooking pot. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, salt, kudampuli and a little coconut oil. Mix everything well.
2. Add 1 cup water, mix and place the pot on the stove. Cook until the tomatoes are soft.
3. Pour in the thin coconut milk and gently stir the curry with a ladle until it comes to a boil. Stirring gently helps prevent the coconut milk from splitting.
4. Once the curry has boiled and thickened slightly, add the thick coconut milk. Stir gently again and allow it to come to a boil. Turn off the heat as soon as the curry starts boiling.
5. For the tempering, heat some coconut oil in a small pan. Add the chopped shallots and sauté until they turn golden. Add the dried red chillies, curry leaves and 1/2 tsp chilli powder. Sauté briefly and pour the tempering over the curry.
6. The fishless fish curry is ready to serve with rice, appam or other Kerala-style favourites.