Recipe - Fish curry (Kerala)

Thought I should start blogging few of my experiments in the kitchen which went right (things that tell me it went right - tongue says its good, the vessels get empty soon , the stomach doesnt complain even 8 hrs after consumption and most importantly, I live to blog this)

All good. Now for one of my recent experiment which I had wanted to perform since long - Kerala style fish curry (red) with tamarind. The one which every mallu should be familiar with - the one your mom or wife cooked each day and you ate. This time, I took over the kitchen with much anguish to my wife. Its a different story that the taste of these dishes cool her down ;)

Things you need:

Sliced fish pieces (preferably seer or pomfret) with the skin removed - 1/2kg
Red chilli powder - 3 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tablespoon
Pepper powder - 1/4 tablespoon
Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tablespoon
Ginger garlic paste (dabur works for me) - 4 tablespoon
Curry leaves - around 8 leaves chopped
Mustard - 1 tablespoon
Cooking oil (coconut oil preferably) - 4 tablespoon
Dry tamarind - 4 or 5 medium pieces
Salt - to taste
Water - 5 cups (we need to sink the fish the first time we put them in)

Getting there:

Though its best to cook this in an earthenware which appears to change the taste tremendously, you might as well cook it in any of the medium sized kadai/vessel you have. Heat the oil till it smokes a bit before you put the mustard in. Mustard usually burst quick if the oil is hot enough and all of them turn silent once they are done with their bit of bursting. Its now time for the ginger garlic paste to make their sounds and they take around 3 minutes to calm down. They usually turns light brown at this point.

Put the red chilli powder , fenugreek powder, turmeric powder and pepper powder into the mustard+garlic paste while bringing the flame a notch down. Once you get the smell of the hot chilli powder in a few moments, its time to pour in the water and up the flame. Layer the fish pieces into this water base and let it come to a boil.

When the water is boiling good, put the tamarind pieces, curry leaves and salt. Leave the vessel closed and on medium flame for another 10 mins.

Once you start to get the smell of the cooked fish across the room, you would want to lower the flame such that the gravy thickens to your liking. Be careful not to overcook the fish in this case - you definitely want the fish to retain its shape while serving.

All good. Its time to experiment your food on anyone around. If you did follow until here, you have in vessel an authentic Kerala fish curry. Simple ain't it?