Boatman's Fish Curry!

Hello my dear friends!!! I am so glad to be blogging again..well, you guessed it..am back from vacation! Time just flew by..and I'll have to wait another 7 weeks before seeing A again. So, in the mean time, I'll just have to continue being occupied with my blog, and talking to all you lovely people out there!

It's time for my all time fave food again, fish! And this time, I prepared it in the way they make it on houseboats. The recipe is courtesy Amrita TV from one of my favorite programs, Taste of Kerala! I have to warn you though, this is an extremely spicy fish curry, so it's best you have it with some rice and moru kachiyathu. The best way to prepare this would be in an earthern pot or as we mallus call it, a mann chatti. I had to make do with the normal saucepan, but the taste was incredible. You can find the recipe of moru in my blog. I decided to experiment with a new fish this time, haddock. This is an extremely tender and incredibly tasty fish and i was glad I took a chance, it was totally worth it! So, enough blabbing, onwards with the recipe..

INGREDIENTS

• 600 gms haddock fillets (you can use king fish, black pomfret, salmon, sardines)
• 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 12 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, finely sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons red chilly powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 5-6 pieces kudampuli (camboge or fish tamarind)- In case you don't have this, you can use vaalan puli or the normal tamarind. You have to soak it for at least 15 minutes in warm water and squeeze out the pulp. If using this, you will require at least 4 tablespoons of the pulp.
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste
• Coconut oil, for cooking
• Curry leaves, garnish

METHOD

• In an earthern pot or saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add fenugreek seeds. Ensure the seeds do not get burnt, else it gives the curry a bitter taste.
• Once the seeds have turned slightly brown, add the ginger and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds till the raw smell goes.
• Add the chopped shallots and saute till the raw smell goes. Add a little salt at this stage.
• Make a paste of the chilly and turmeric powders and add this to the pan. Pour in some hot water to the bowl containing the paste, and add this, so as not to waste any of the paste. Saute this and reduce the flame while doing so to ensure that the powders don't get burnt. Wait till the oil starts appearing on top. 
• Add the camboge pieces or tamarind pulp at this stage along with some salt. 
• At this stage, if you feel the gravy is not enough, you can add 1 cup of water. You can add more water depending on the amount of gravy you require. I added only 1.
• Once the gravy starts boiling, check salt levels.
• Add the fish pieces gently, and rotate the pan. Avoid using the spoon so as to not break the fish pieces.
• After it boils initially, reduce the flame to low and cook uncovered for about 10-12 minutes. Ensure that you do not cover the dish as the taste reduces.
• The gravy will begin to thicken after 10 minutes, and the fish would have sufficiently cooked.
• Switch off the flame and garnish with curry leaves and a tablespoon of oil.

Tada, scrumptious fish curry is ready! Notice that I asked to cook the curry uncovered. That's the beauty of this dish, and it lasts longer too, even if you don't refrigerate it. What's that? Pics, you say? Your wish is my command :)

And one with my rice..

So, what do you think? You can reduce the spiciness if you want by adding just 2 tablespoons of red chilly powder. Then again, what's life without a little spice? :) Do try this out and let me know what you think, k? So till next time, adios amigos, take care and God bless!