Rohu fish is commonly found in rivers in South Asia. Before it was not common in Kerala but now Rohu fish is widely available in Kerala market. It has a soft white flesh and it has good fat in it. Here I'm sharing a common Kerala fish curry recipe for making Rohu fish curry.
Ingredients
1tblsCoocnut oil
1/2tspMustard seeds
1/4tspFenugreek seeds
1tblsChopped ginger
1tblsChopped garlic
2sprigsCurry leaves
2nos.Green chili
1/2cupChopped shallots/ onion(shallots will be ideal)
1big pieceTeared malabar tamarind
To tasteSalt
1/4tspTurmeric powder
1tblsRed chili powder
1nos.Chopped tomato
2cupWater
500gmsCut and cleaned Rohu fish
Instructions
Heat coconut oil in a clapot.
Splutter mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.
Add ginger and garlic and saute for few seconds.
Add chopped shallots, green chilies, curry leaves and saute till translucent.
Add turmeric powder and red chili powder and saute till raw smell subsides.
Add salt and water and boil.
Add cleaned fish and cook for 10 minutes in low-medium flame.
We can make Kerala style fish curry in many ways, with or without coconut. This is a bright red color, tangy restaurant style fish curry made with coconut milk. We can use finely ground coconut paste also for this fish curry.
I’ve already shared many recipes in this blog with and without coconut.
Either use finely ground coconut paste (Grind coconut with 2 1/2 to 3 cups water) or coconut milk. To make the coconut milk – Grind the coconut with 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water and squeeze out the coconut milk. No need to separate first and second extract of coconut milk. Such way, coconut milk won’t split while making the fish curry.
Make this fish curry in the evening, keep overnight and serve next day.
This curry can be keep outside for 2 days if handled properly like boil the curry in the morning and the evening and kept in a hygienic place without using wet spoons (if made in a clay pot).
The fish curry gravy will be thickening over time.
Use some pieces of tomato if you wish while making this fish curry.
We are not using ginger and garlic in this recipe, still you can experiment by adding chopped ginger and/ or garlic.
Clay pots are the best to make this fish curry.
You can choose any type of fish to make this curry like Tuna, Mackerel, King fish, Salmon, Cobia, River fishes etc.
Best combination
Boiled Cassava (Kappa Vevichathu)
Puttu
Rice
Dosa
Kerala restaurant style fish curry recipe | Choora (Tuna) fish curry
4. Dried gamboge fruit (Kudampuli) - 4 Medium pieces
5. Green chili (Pachamulak)- 2 Nos (Slitted)
6. Curry leaves - 2 Sprigs
7. Fenugreek powder (Uluva podi) - 1/4 Teaspoon
8. Turmeric powder (Manjalpodi) - 1/2 Teaspoon
9. Coriander powder (Mallipodi) - 1/2 Teaspoon
10. Red chili powder (Mulakpodi) - 2 1/2 Tablespoon
11. Coconut oil - 2 Tablespoon
12. Salt - To taste
Instructions
1. Heat a Clay pot and add coconut oil.
2. When oil is heated up add shallots and salt. Saute till shallots are soft in medium flame.
3. Add dried gamboge fruit, green chilis and curry leaves and saute till fragrant.
4. Reduce the flame very low then add fenugreek powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and red chili powder one by one and saute till raw smell goes off. Don’t let it burn.
5. Add coconut milk and boil. When boiled, add cleaned fish pieces and cook in medium flame for 10 minutes.
6. Reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 more minutes and switch off the flame.
7. Add a sprig of curry leaves and keep the pot half opened to let the oil separate on top.
Mathi/ Chaala Thakkali curry is a Kerala style sardine fish preparation with tomato in coconut paste. Mathi/ Chaala can be prepared in many ways with or without coconut. This recipe is very suited for Mathi/ Chaala than any other fishes. We can keep the curry 1 day and 1 night without refrigerating if we prepare this Mathi/ Chaala curry in earthen utensil and boil morning and evening. But in my opinion this curry is tastier when we eat right after the cooking. 🙂
The truth is I love the tomatoes in this fish curry than the fish pieces. 🙂
Notes
Mix the fish curry gently while cooking else the fish pieces will fall apart.
Adjust the sourness with the amount of gamboge and tomato added.
Fish molee – Popular less spicy fish curry in coconut milk. Usually it’s served as a side dish for Palappam (Kerala style bread).
King fish or Pomferts are the best options but still you can make a choice of any firm white fish. In this preparation fish is shallow fried first and put in the gravy.
Meen Thilappichathu is a common red fish curry preparation in Cochin (Middle Kerala). Even though ‘Meen Thilappichathu’ is almost same as Kottayam style fish curry/ Kollam style fish curry, less ingredients are used in this type of preparation. Also vinegar/ tomato is added for sourness instead of Gamboge (Kudampuli). But still Gamboge can be added if needed. ?
Best Combination
Rice + Moru curry
Rice + Sambar
Meen Thilappichathu | Kochi Style Red Fish Curry
Recipe Type: Fish Recipe
Cuisine: Kerala
Author: Anishya
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
1. Fish – 500 gms – Cut into pieces
2. Shallots – 1/2 Cup (Chuvannulli)
3. Ginger – 2 Inch piece
4. Garlic – 8 Cloves – Medium size
5. Green chilly – 1 No
6. Curry leaves – 2 Stem
7. Turmeric powder – 1/2 Teaspoon
8. Cashmiri chilly powder – 3 Tablespoon
9. Vinegar – 1 Tablespoon/ 1 Tomato chopped
10. Salt – As required
11. Coconut oil – 2 Tablespoon
Instructions
Crush ingredients 2 – 5 coarsely.
Heat oil in a pan saute the crushed ingredients.
Add turmeric powder and red chilly powder and saute for a minute in low flame.
Add water (around 2.5 cups or for the gravy required), vinegar and salt. Let it boil.
Add cleaned fish pieces when boiling.
Cook in low flame with the pan covered.
Gently stir the curry now and then without breaking the fish pieces.
When done, add some coconut oil on the top of the curry, swirl the pan and switch off the flame.
Let the pan covered for at least 5 minutes and then serve.
Notes
Any fish can be used to make ‘Meen Thilappichathu’ but my preference are Pearl spot (Karimeen), Tilapia or some fresh water fishes.[br]Vinegar/ Tomato, anything can be used for tanginess.[br]Earthern potts are good for making Kerala style fish curries.
Malayalam word for fish is “Meen”. Some people call it as “Malsyam.
Kerala is very famous for Kappa (Cassava roots) and fish curry. Even in today’s world of modern fast food culture, malayalees have a good nostalgic feeling even hearing the name “Kappayum meenum”. Fish curry is an unavoidable dish in most of the non vegetarian malayali houses.
There are many ways to prepare the Kerala fish dishes – Red Fish Curry (with red chilly powder and kudam puli – gambooge), Thenga Aracha Meen Curry (fish curry with coconut gravy), Thenga Paal Fish Curry/ Fish Molee (fish curry made in coconut milk), thenga varutharacha fish curry (fish curry in roasted coconut gravy), Peera Patichathu (fish in crushed coconut), Meen Pollichathu (prepared in banana leaf) and many more. I’ll introduce you all kind of fish recipes in Kerala style in my upcoming posts.
Today I’m introducing a hot red fish curry. Here I’m using Cashmiri red chilli powder for hotness and gambooge for sourness. In some part of Kerala people use tamarind to give the sourness. Red fish curry is known in many names like Chuvanna Meen curry, Meen vattichath, Meen vevichathu etc – Kerala’s most favorite traditional side dish.
For a traditional style of preparation it’s recommended to use a “Meen Chatty” (earthern kadai) to make the curry. Usually red fish curry is prepared in the evening and keep it overnight and use it next day. So that the curry become more tasty by fish pieces absorbing the sourness, hotness, oil well.
Coconut oil is an another important ingredient of Kerala cooking. It gives a nice aroma to red fish curry.In this recipe I’m not adding usual tempering with mustard seeds or with any other ingredient but I add few drops of raw coconut oil at the end of the cooking. Also in this preparation I’m grinding the ingredients together to obtain a thick gravy.
Best combination
Kappa (Tapioca)
Rice + Moru + Thoran
Rice + Sambar
Rice + Curd + Chammanthi
Rice + Chammanthi
Porotta
Kerala Style Fish Curry | Mulakarach Meen Curry | Mulakitta Meen Curry
