Nadan meen curry / Fish curry

Meen curry is a regular of almost every household in Kerala I guess.. n why not, when we get fresh n 'pidakkunna' fish over here and also it goes well with rice, our main staple. There are different recipes for simple fish curry; however, I am gonna give you one way of making easy fish curry, without roasting coconut n all..You may use any fish for this recipe however, I like it best using seer fish or king fish (naimeen/ayakoora) or pomfret (aavoli) or Indian mackerel (ayala).

Ingredients :

King fish : 8 medium sized pieces

Fenugreek (uluva) : 1/2 tspn

Curry leaves : 2 sprigs

Salt : as required

Coconut oil : 3 tbspn

Raw mango : 1/2 a mango

Grind the following together with a little water to make a smooth paste;

Coconut : 11/2 cups

Turmeric powder : 1 tspn

Chilly powder : 2-3 tbspn

Shallots : 15 nos.

Green chilly : 5 nos.

Tamarind(puli) soaked in water: ball to the size of half a lemon is to be soaked

• Take a manchatti / claypot (meenchatti). When hot, add 2 tbspn coconut oil and then add fenugreek n saute for a while under medium flame until you get that smell of uluva.
• Add the ground paste and saute thouroughly. Add about 1 cup of water and required salt. Add mango cut into vertical pieces like you do for aviyal.You may replace mango with diced tomato(1 no.) if you wish.
• When its starts to boil, add the fish pieces gently into the pot and then the curry leaves and cook covered until the fish pieces become tender. Add the remaining oil through sides of the pot.
• Check sourness, add more tamarind water if required acc. to your choice. 
• Check salt, add more water or if too loose a consistency, cook uncovered for some more time to match the consistency of your choice. And be ready to have your lunch baby!

Titbits: 

- Remember, if fenugreek seeds exceed its required amount, its more than enough to spoil the curry; hence, never exceed the limit with the expectation that the curry will turn out to be more rich n tasty. 

- Keep in mind that stirring frequently with spoon would reduce the taste of the curry and also might break the fish pieces. 

- The older your fishpot, the greater would be your fish curry.

- You may even add split drumsticks cut into 3 inch pieces to add-on to the taste. 

- Its best to use an arakallu (grinding stone) to grind the ingredients for THE right taste. 

- Adding tomato or mango increases the sourness, its almost equivalent to adding tamarind.

Simple Fish (Pepper) Fry / Poricha meen

Guys, did u realise? Not even one fish recipe in this blog! That's not happenin'!... anyways, I'll start off with the most common n irresistible dish of any Kerala household which is adored by each n every Keralite..Be it lunch, or even as a snack, fish fries are always favourite for us.. and I guess for any non-veg in India too!

Fish fries would be the best if you use fresh fish along with using the right marination & the right quantities. You may use any freshwater fish like Pearlspot (Karimeen) or King fish (Neymeen) or .. Pompfret (aavoli) or any fish actually... Try this recipe with the fish u bought today.. Though there are different types of marinades, I would like to come up with the easiest n yummiest recipe for u... No much prep work needed!!!

If you bought Pearlspot, you needed  cut it into pieces, however, if its King fish, cut the fish into 1 inch pieces.

Ingredients :

Pearl Spot : 2 medium ones.

Turmeric powder : 1/4 tspn

Pepper powder : 11/2 tspn

Chilly powder : 1/2 tspn

Lemon juice : 5-7 drops

Curry leaves: 2 sprigs

Coconut oil : 3 tbspn

Salt : as required

Onion rings : 10 nos.

A slice of lemon

• Wash and clean the fish thoroughly. Now make slits over the body without squeezing the fish / giving pressure. Drain water and keep aside.
• Mix the three powders mentioned above along with salt (according to your preference) and water n make a thick paste and also, add lemon juice to it. Taste the marinade and add more pepper if you need it to be more spicy and also add salt if less.
• Marinate the fish with the paste, keep aside for 1-2 hours. Take care to marinate the fish evenly allowing the paste to cover the fish and even the slits and sides of the head.
• Take a heavy-bottomed pan, pour oil to it. Once hot, add the curry leaves along with the sprig and fry them, remove and keep aside.
• Now, put the marinated fish or fish pieces onto the pan and deep fry under medium flame or shallow fry until crispy. Do not flip the fish very often to prevent cracking and for the marination to stick to the fish. Wait for about say, 2-3 minutes and then, flip the fish..
• Garnish with fried curry leaves, onion rings and a slice of lemon. 

If you've got excess marination, you may fry the same under low flame till crispy and sprinkle over the fried fish.