E-mail : c.keluvettan@mailcity.com

Kerala Fish Curry

Ingredients

King Fish - 1 kg
Chili powder two tablespoonful
Turmeric powder- half teaspoonful
Fenugreek(Uluva or Methi ) half teaspoonful
Mustard seeds (kaduku) one tea spoonful
Red Onions--4 cut pieces
Garlic-- 3
Ginger --- 4 pieces
Kudam Puli-(Kukum star)---5 pieces
Coconut Oil---1/4 cup
Curry leaves-- 10 stems
Salt---As required
Split green chilies---6
Paprika-one tablespoonful
Water--- 3 cups

Method

King Fish stakes, frozen and exported by a company based in Aleppy, Kerala State are available here in Toronto. They are easy to clean and cut in to small pieces. Be sure to remove all skin and wash. If Kerala King fish is not available ,the north American counterpart (fresh or frozen) or a substitute like MAHI MAHI or even SALMON will do equally well.

Remember the cooking procedure can be divided in to two stages. The first stage is preparing the gravy and the second stage is cooking the fish pieces in the gravy.

1. In preparing the gravy you use a frying pan ,Heat about a quarter of a cup of coconut oil or vegetable oil until the oil is hot enough to break a few mustard seeds in this oil.
2. Now add the chopped onions, few curry leaves and split green chilies and stir fry .To this add a mixture of turmeric, chili powder and paprika powder in half a cup of water. Cook. When the oil begins to clear add the remaining spices previously ground, half a cup of 'puli water' and sufficient additional water to make enough gravy to cover all the fish pieces when cooking subsequently. Add salt as necessary. Cook until the gravy is thick .Put this aside.
3. Next to start the second stage and the actual cooking use a fairly large frying pan. Prepare a small layer of curry leaves (Kadi patha). Arrange the pieces of fish on this curry leaf layer. Pour the previously prepared gravy over this, The pieces of fish should be completely covered.
4. Add the remaining curry leaves and 'PULI 'pieces ,cover with a lid and cook slowly. Do not stir, if necessary you can lift the frying pan by it's handle and give it a gentle rotating or rocking motion during cooking to spread the gravy evenly. Stop cooking when the fish pieces are cooked sufficiently and the gravy is thick. This preparation is best after it sits for a day or two to allow time for the spices to get in to the fish. In the old days they used 'CHATTIES' (wide, shallow bottom pan) made of "MANNU" (Mannu=clay. Basically it is round, wide, shallow clay pot), to keep the fish curry in .The curry got better as it stayed in the chatty for some reason.