KERALA FISH MASALA

Though we used to have fish almost every day its been ages since I posted a fish recipe. Because I end up making two same curries every time(kottayam style fish curry  and thenga aracha meen curry ). But this time I wanted to try something different and this was the one which came into my mind without any confusion. This fish masala is one dish which we both love to order whenever we dine out in any seafood restaurants in Kerala. Fried fish pieces coated with onion and tomato masala...its truly delicious:)

 

This recipe is simple but bit time consuming .But the end result worth all the efforts. This curry goes well with anything and everything.

Ingredients

1.      Fish-500gm,cleaned and cut into smaller medium sized pieces(any fleshy fish)

2.      Onion-4 medium thinly sliced

3.      Ginger1 n ½ tbsp chopped

4.      Garlic-8 pods,chopped

5.      Green chilly-2 nos,slitted

6.      Tomatoe-2medium sized,chopped

7.      Garam masala-3/4tsp

8.      Kashmiri chilly powder-1/2tsp

9.      Thick coconut milk-4 tbsp  (optional)

10.  Salt

11.  Oil-around ¼ cup

12.  Tamarind extract( puli vellam) -2tbsp 

For the marinade

1.      Kashmiri chilly powder-2tsp

2.      Turmeric powder-1/4tsp

3.      Pepper powder-1/2tsp

4.      Lime juice-1tbsp

5.      Salt

6.      Water to make the paste

Method of preparation

1.      Prepare marinade with the ingredients listed under marinade. Marinate the fish pieces and keep it for 15 minutes. Shallow fry the fish pieces .if any marinade remains keep it aside .It can be added while making the masala.

2.      In the same oil sauté ginger, garlic,green chilly and onion respectively. Cook until onion turns soft and slightly brown.(add salt while sautéing  the onion)

3.      Add ½ tsp chilly powder and garam masala.Add if any leftover marinade is there. Stir for 1 minute. Now add tomatoes .cook until tomato melts completely.

4.      Add 1 cup of water and tamarind extract. Check for salt. Be careful while adding salt since the fish is already added with salt. Let the water boils. Add fried fish pieces in. Cover and cook till the masala thickens. Lastly add coconut milk and give a gentle stir.Keep this curry closed for some time.

I made it as semi dry.If you like to have dry version reduce the amount of water.