Kerala Fish Curry – Meen Vechathu!

By the time I completed my schooling I had to my credit of being thought in 8 different schools, at 8 different locations - uhmm its not that the teachers threw me out :) my dad had a transferable job and we followed him wherever he went. Anyways this moving along had a big advantage – more friends and more recipes! Yeah, the unity in diversity thing of our nation is applicable to the foodie department too. For the same main ingredient you get to see different ways of preparation. Take the fish for instance – some cook with ground coconut, some with coconut milk, some with a mix of both, and there are others who don’t rely on coconut at all.

However, from Trivandrum fish curry to Coimbatore fish kolambu, everything managed its way to our dining table – thanks to Mummy. At my in-laws, it is cooked the coconut milk way. And is quite easy too. Like fish is first marinaded with all the ingredients except coconut milk and brought to boil. Once the fish is cooked the coconut milk is added and coconut oil spluttered with mustard and fenugreek powder is added.

My moms’ traditional version is different – she cook the fish in ground coconut paste and other ingredients and finally add roasted fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

Yesterday I tried a mix of both and was not sure of the outcome until the final feedback from JK (my hubby). Once, he gave the thumbs up sign, I packed some and gave to Ms Panicky downstairs, when she too (and her husband) ‘wow’ed my dish – I decided it wont be a bad idea to post it and here it is my thekku and vadakku fusion fish curry.

PS: Sorry for the poor photography, actually I (read: the fish) was not prepared for one!

Ingredients:

To Marinate:

King Fish – 1 kg

Onion – medium size, thinly sliced

Ginger – chopped, 1 tbsp

Garlic – chopped, 1 tbsp

Green Chilly – 4, sliced lengthwise

Salt – to taste

Chilly Powder – 2 tbsp (alter according to your spice factor0

Turmeric Powder – 1 tbsp

Gambooge (Kudampuli) – 4 nos

(some don’t like the flavor of gambooge, that case u can either use tamarind or raw mangoes – I used tamarind in this)

Coconut – freshly ground, half cup

Coconut Oil – 3 tbsp

Marinade the fish with the ingredients mentioned below the To Marinade section and leave it for 30 minutes at room temperature. (Mom advises to marinade the fish in the ‘meanchatty’ itself.)

Add gambooges soaked in water/tamarind soaked in water to the fish and cook on medium flame. If you are using mango, cook the fish by adding 2 cups of water and add the mangoes when the fish is half cooked – adding the mangoes in the beginning could overcook it. Once the fish is cooked add the freshly ground coconut and cook for a while and remove the flame.

 Heat 3 tbsp coconut oil in a pan and add fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to it and sauté for 5-6 seconds and transfer the whole contents to the cooked fish.

Tastes yum with hot white rice, vellayappam and boiled tapioca.

When Kuttu Became the Cook!

 My dashboard has witnessed many a blogs on books, on book reviews, on movies, on random thoughts and the list goes on! However, I found my blognergy losing and reach point zero within the 3rd or 4th post. The realization hit me hard! I am not born to write on events, books and the newspaper kinda stuff – that’s what I do for a living, but for a hobby nothing can be filling than writing an all-food blog!

Till this January, I was a I-know-how-to-cook and what-to-add kinda girl, because I have seen my mom cooking and I knew by heart how to prepare biriyani, when to add masalas, coconut oil for beef, sameside stirring, smell to taste, and the like. But only when I was given the chattagam and chatty did I realize theory is not all! It is practical that matters. Not that practical is quite new to me – I have taken practical classes in our kitchen – however there I had mummy supervising and helping me out with generous tips. But at the in-laws place I am a know-it-all and wouldn’t it sound bad if I go asking doubts? Anyways my first practicals (Akale-akale) didn’t disappoint me, not tummies either! The impression was made!

Now is the real testing phase of my life – I reached Doha, Qatar and have only my hubby to cook for! But that’s the worst part – I was often reminded of the adage on the “way to mans’ heart”!!! if not now, NEVER! So I googled, googled and googled and was please to see a big group of foodbloggies – cooking and serving round the clock!

The adage did work out! Thanks to all the bloggers! Now that I have passed the test, its time to think back – the paths followed and the blogs read! It would be real bad, if I don’t show my gratitude! I made up my kitchen, cleared my dashboard of old blogs and set an online space for my kitchen! Welcome to my blog and do boost me with your comments!