After VC turned non-vegetarian again, it has been almost as if his sole preoccupation in life (aside from work, of course) is food. IE: what shall we eat next? Food/meals/cuisine/culinary choices and experiments have become his biggest preoccupation. I dont blame him though..after years of nothing paneer, mushrooms and baby corn, allowing himself meat again must feel like stepping into utopia.
So today, we decided to attempt the proverbial Fish Curry and Fried Fish combination at home. This was my first time buying fish, cutting cleaning and marinating fish, and cooking it all alone. VC helped, and I wouldnt have been able to do it otherwise. This was a joint effort in every sense.
I consulted my Granny for advice on what fish to buy, how much to buy and of course HOW to make it. I was astonished at how simple it sounded, and even turned out to be once i tried my hand at it! I bought a pair of white pomfrets, and we were set! At the risk of sounding immodest, I must say that the end result was pretty satisfactory for Fish Curry and Fried Fish virgins that we are!
Fried Fish
What you need (for about 6 pieces)
Freshly squeezed tamarind pulp
Red chilli powder
Garlic paste
Turmeric
Salt
Rice flour
Rava
What you need to do
Mix together the above ingredients and apply on the fish evenly. Let the fish sit in the marinade for atleast 2 hours.
When ready to fry, make a mixture of rice flour and rava. This powder, when coated on the fish gives it the crispiness you want. Dab the fish in the powder and coat it evenly on all sides. Shallow fry in a pan till golden brown and crisp!
Fish Curry
What you need (for about 6 pieces to serve 2 hungry people)
Juice of half a lime
Turmeric
Salt
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 a medium sized onion chopped
4-5 dry red chillies
Freshly squeezed tamarind pulp
2-3 pods of garlic
3 tbsp whole coriander seeds
2 slit green chillies
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
What you need to do
Marinate the fish in a mixture of the lemon juice, salt and turmeric and allow it to sit for a couple of hours.
In the meantime, grind together the fresh coconut, chopped onion, red chillies, tamarind, garlic and coriander seeds to make a fine paste. This is the masala that is the basis of the curry.
In a pan, heat some oil. Saute the finely chopped onion till almost brown. To this, add the freshly ground masala, some water and salt. Bring this to a boil on a medium flame stirring occasionally. Turn down the flame and throw in the slit green chillies and fresh ginger. Stir it in and let it simmer for a while.
Once the masalas are cooked and the heady fragrance of the masalas takes over your senses, drop the pieces of fish in. Gently, one at a time. Pomfret usually cooks quickly and didnt take u longer than 5 minutes. The fish should be incorporating the flavours by now.
And thats pretty much all there is to it!
Done!
This is best enjoyed with steamed rice, onion and tomato salad, with lots of lime. Big hugs and a giant thank you to my dearest Ammama for helping me out today. She wished me "best of luck" too :P and assured me that it was simple enough for a novice like me to get right even in the first attempt. And she was right. My fish curry and fried fish will probably never be as good as hers, but it was pretty darn tasty to spice up our Sunday afternoon. This ones easy-peasy and if youre a fan of coastal fish curry and fried fish, you have to give it a shot!
