The curries of the south are known to have a spicy edge, especially the ones local to Kerala. Hailing from Goa myself, makes the experiments with fried fish curries of southern India a meritworthy experiment.
The key ingredients of Kerala curry preparations lie in their use of coconut oil which exudes an unmistakably strong flavour (favourably so). If you can manage to come by Malabar tamarind, it would be a valuable addition to helping acquire the typical taste of a fried fish curry Kerala style akin to the one you’d enjoy when visiting the state.
Of course, I didn’t have this variety of Malabar tamarind in stock, so made do with the standard seedless tamarind locally available. The use of meen fish is recommended in a Kerala fried fish curry, but options in the form of kingfish, carp or black pomfret works just as well.
Kerala Fried Fish Curry
Equipment
- Mixer-grinder
Ingredients
Kerala Fried Fish Curry | Ingredients for Marination
- ½ kg Fish (sliced) (Kingfish / Carp/ Black Pomfret / Meen)
- ¾ tsp Haldi powder
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder (Kashmiri)
- ½ tsp Red chilli powder (Bedki)
- 1 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
- 1 Juice of lime (large)
- Salt (to taste)
Kerala Fish Fried Curry | Ingredients for ground masala
- ¾ tbsp Whole jeera
- 1 tbsp Whole dhania
- 5 Dry, red chillies (Kashmiri - preferred for its red colour)
- 1 inch Ginger (cleaned and chopped)
- 8-10 Garlic cloves
- ½ cup Fresh coconut (grated)
Kerala Fried Fish Curry | Ingredients for Cooking the Curry
- 2 springs Curry patta
- ¾ tsp Garam masala powder
- Pulp of tamarind (equivalent to the size of one and a half lemon)
- ¼ cup Coconut milk
- 1-2 tbsp Refined oil (preferably Sunflower or similar)
- 3-4 tbsp Refined oil (preferably coconut)
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
Kerala Fried Fish Curry | 1st Stage of Preparation
- Clean and slice the fish. Marinate the fish with the ingredients listed under “marination”- for 15 minutes (or longer if there’s time). .
Kerala Fried Fish Curry | 2nd Stage of Preparation
- Roast the jeera, dhania and red chillies on a tava and set aside till cool.paste.
Kerala Fried Fish Curry | 3rd Stage of Preparation
- Heat 3 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan and add the curry patta and sizzle for a couple of seconds.
- Don’t allow the leaves to stay in the pan for more than a couple of seconds, adding the ground masala paste soon after. Saute for about 6-7 minutes, reducing the heat after a couple of minutes.
- Add the garam masala powder when the masala is well-fried, together with a few spoons of water to give it a strirring consistency for a couple of minutes.
- Add the pulp of tamarind and a third of a cup of water and boil on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Use water as per the gravy thickness of your choice.
- Add the fried fish gently, give it a slight stir using a spatula (a silicon one preferably as it’s easy to manoeuvre in the curry without a threat of the fish breaking). Of course, fried fish is firmer than raw fish, with a lower likelihood of breaking.
- Let simmer with a closed lid for about 8-10 minutes.
- Towards the end, open the lid and add the coconut milk for a silky finish and let simmer for another few minutes.
Boiled rice pairs well with a South Indian curried representation of fried fish. However, even the regular Kolam / Basmati rice works just as good.
The flavour of this curry will invade the kitchen air even before you’ve tasted this representation of a Kerala fried fish curry.
