Meen Curry(Fish Curry) Trivandrum Style

Last night after blogging late into the night, I decided to plan my next day so that I utilize it quite efficiently. I know, I am a housewife with only a hubby to manage. So there is not much I had to juggle around. But still I felt that I was rushing through the day finding myself without time even to cook or relax. So, I set some targets for the day. One was to cook fish curry for the afternoon lunch and blog about it before evening and glad to say that I have accomplished that by this blog post of Kerala Fish Curry. Quite pleased about it that I have decided to break my other targets of the day to celebrate :) 

Fish curry is one of the Kerala specialties.  In fact in most of the homes in Kerala, fish curry is an integral part of their break fast/lunch/dinner. How ever in my home, somehow it was cooked  very occasionally like in 3 months or so. I am not sure what the reason for that was. But non veg dishes except for egg was cooked very rarely. 

When I got married, my hubby told me that his favorite food was fish. but even then, it is only recently that we started cooking fish frequently in our home. The reason for that was actually being advised to eat fish regularly in our diet. Fish is in fact a source of omega 3 fatty acids. Fish is also rich in calcium, protein, phosphorous and minerals like iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium and potassium and vitamins such as D and B2. Eating fish helps to lower blood pressure and good for healthy heart and brain. So non vegetarians, do make sure to include fish, at least two times a week. 

The fish curry recipe that I am going to share is my mom's recipe. This recipe is mostly followed in Trivandrum, my home town. My hubby prepares fish curry in a different way (my mil's version) which I will try and post later. The first time I made the dish, I kept on tasting the dish through out wanting to make the fish curry just how my mom makes and felt discouraged that it was not tasting good. But once I switched off and served, it was yummy and my hubby was thoroughly impressed and it tasted just like my mom's :) 

Kerala Fish Curry - Trivandrum Style:

Ingredients:

Salmon - Use any you like.

2 cups grated coconut

3 - 4 shallots

1/4 Tbsp Turmeric

1 Tbsp chilly powder

1/4 Tbsp Coriander powder

Tamarind - lemon sized ball

Curry Leaves

Water

Salt

Prepping:

Step 1: Clean the fish properly. Drain and keep aside.
Step 2: Dry roast chilly powder. This step is purely optional. 

Step 3: Grind coconut, shallots, turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, salt and sufficient water to a smooth paste.

Step 4: Soak tamarind in water for 10 min.

Method of Preparing:

Step 1:

Add  the ground paste to a pan and cook it. 

Note: We usually use man chatti (Earthern pot) to prepare the fish.  

Step 2: 

Once it boils, add the fish pieces, curry leaves and tamarind water to it. Cover and cook for 15 - 20 min. We do not use cradle to stir the fish. Just swirl the pan from side to side. 

Taste and adjust salt and tamarind if needed. Let it cook for another 10 min and switch off once the gravy reaches the desired consistency. 

Delicious fish curry(Meen curry) is ready. Serve hot with Rice. Enjoy!!

Notes:

• You can also add a pinch of coconut oil on top. Since salmon is an oily fish, I didnt do so. 
• You can also add a pinch of roasted fenugreek powder to the gravy. Purely optional step. 

Sending the recipe to the event "Spotlight - Show your best creation" hosted by Chandrani and started by Indrani.