Meen Peera / Fish Aviyal

We wouldn't prepare Meen peera at home normally, but started to cook it once when I saw my TVM neighbour prepared it. This curry is usually prepared using kanava / squid , mathi / sardines or with small fishes like netholi / chooda etc. I have made little changes to the recipe according to my taste.



Ingredients
Fish fillets 1 1/2 cups
shallots / chuvannulli 10
green chillies 3 or more
ginger piece 1/2 " length
coconut grated 1 1/2 cups
curry leaves few
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
chilli powder 1/2 tsp
kokum / kudam puli 3 small pieces
coconut oil 1 Tbsp
salt



How to prepare
Crush coconut, green chillies, shallots , ginger and curry leaves as we do for aviyal.
Cook fish with kudampuli, salt and the powders with little water.When it is about 3/4 cooked, add the crushed ingredients and reduce water. Fish with less bones is good for this. If you use sardine, remove bones after cooked (mullu kudanju kalayuka). Pour the coconut oil into this and keep covered. Remove from fire. If you like tamarind use it instead of kudam puli.

See the Meen thoran recipe,

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Kappa , Meen , Ulli chammanthi / Tapioca , Fish , Small Onion Chutney

Kappa /tapioca with fish and ulli chammanthi /shallots chutney is a delicious dish which I usually crave for... :) This fish preparation is not a curry , it is the "mathi thappuvechathu" dish which we do prepare using the old baking method! (See the recipe and baking method here)
During a specific season, we get fresh big sardines (mathi / chaala) which contains lots of fat ( meen neyyu) in it and with the lesser number of bones too. That kind of sardines are good for preparing this. Sardines soak in the thick masala of freshly ground ginger, garlic, shallots, pepper, gooseberry (or tamarind) etc and slowly reduce water on a medium heat.You can try this with ayala/mackerel also.



For preparing Kappa / tapioca,
Cut and peel the roots. Wash and boil in water enough to soak it. Add salt when it is boiled. Cook and drain when it is done.



I have posted a Ulli chammanthi recipe before, with dry red chillies. This one is with green chillies, which is best with kappa.

Ulli chammanthi
Small onions 7
Tamarind 1 gooseberry size
Green chillies 4 (according to taste)
Salt
Coconut oil

Peel small onions, wash them.. Grind all the ingredients together and add coconut oil in the end.

See other Kappa / Tapioca preparations here.

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Pachathenga Arachuvecha Meen Koottan / Fish Cooked in Coconut Gravy

This is the fish curry which I always suggest to make whenever umma prepares pathiri. The thick gravy seasoned with curry leaves and chopped shallots is really great with other breakfast dishes like kaipathiri,appam, puttu , pola , dosa and idli too..You can use tamarind / puli or kudampuli instead of mangoes but I prefer preparing this with mangoes. Now it is mango season and I am waiting for some moovandan manga (mango trees that started to give fruits in an age of three years) from home courtyard to prepare this curry. Fishes like puthiyappila kora (Sulthan Ibrahim here in UAE-in Malayalam puthiyappila means bridegroom), mathi / chala / sardines, Hammour, Kanambu are good for this type of preparation.

Ingredients
Fish 10 pieces
coconut grated 11/2 cups
mango 1 or 2 according to sourness
small onions 10
green chillies 3
tomato 1
turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
chilly powder 2 1/2 teaspoons or according to your taste
fennel seeds / perumjeerakam 1/4 teaspoon
curry leaves few
salt
coconut oil



How to prepare
Grind coconut , 6 small onions, perumjeerakam and all the powders together using 1 cup or enough water. Pour this into a chatti / clay pot. Add 2 cups or more water according to the thickness. Add salt, chopped tomatoes and boil.
When the tomato pieces are half cooked add fish pieces and mango pieces.
If the fish takes only less time to cook, add mango pieces first, then later it is about 3/4 cooked, add fish pieces. Cook till the fish pieces are done.
Add slit green chillies after the fish is cooked. You can add it in the beginning also.
Chop the remaining small onions. Heat coconut oil, fry small onions and then curry leaves. Pour this over the curry.

This curry goes well with



Thanks to Pravs of Simplyspicy for the lovely Nice matters Award! You and all other blog friends are really very nice..I know many of you have already got this and you all deserve this too. It is little difficult for me to chose some one among you, so I pass this to all of you my lovely blog friends and readers who visit here regularly and leaving encouraging comments.. :)

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Chilly Fish

I had few salmon fillets in my freezer, and was wondering what to do with it. Since salmons are not much familiar here, no body liked it and said, it has a biscuit taste! A friend told making curry with salmon fish will taste good, but I postponed it for the next time, and just tried a chilly fish with the usual chilly chicken ingredients and it was worth , all the fillets disappeared! :) I used the same method to finish the leftover canned sardines after the roti canai event..:D

Ingredients and how to prepare
Fish fillets 6
onion 1
green chillies 2
ginger 1/2 " piece chopped
lemon juice 1/2 tsp
garlic paste 1 tsp
ginger paste 1 tsp
curry leaves few chopped
coriander leaves chopped few
soya sauce 1 tbsp
chilli sauce 2 tsps
tomato sauce 2 tbsps
pepper powder 1 or 2 tsps
chilli powder 1 tsp
corn flour 2 tsps
salt
oil

Cut fish fillets into small pieces. Marinate them with garlic and ginger paste, salt, pepper powder,chilli powder ,lemon juice ,half of the soya sauce and cornflour. Keep for half an hour. Shallow fry them. Chop onion and cut green chillies. Heat oil,(use the remaining oil used for frying ) saute onion, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger together for some time. Don't saute too much. Add fried fish, remaining soya sauce, chilli sauce and tomato sauce. Mix well, after adding coriander leaves remove from fire.
You can try this with prawns too.



Chilly Sardines
Sardines in tomato sauce 300 gms
onion 1 chopped
green chillies 2 chopped
ginger 1/2" piece chopped
garlic cloves 2 chopped
curry leaves few chopped
soya sauce 1 tbsp
chilli sauce 2 tsp
pepper powder 1 tsp optional
mustard seeds
oil

Heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, saute onion. when transparent add green chillies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Saute and add sardines with the sauce which it is soaked. Add the other sauces too. Mix well and remove from fire.

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Simple Fish Fry Marinated WithTamarind Pulp

This is the first dish which brought some applause after I started cooking.. :) I was zero in cooking when I prepared this.I had prepared few dishes like semiya payasam, vegetable cutlet, omelet and mango pachadi. Since my umma was with me I had nothing to worry with her help. But after marriage I tried to learn from many people who cook well. And this one I prepared my self using the remaining tamarind pulp which is used for preparing fish curry. This simple masala is great for frying ayala / mackerel and mathi / chala / sardines.



Ingredients and preparation
Shallots /red onions / chuvannulli 6
fennel seeds 1/4 tsp
chilli powder 3 tsps or as desired
turmeric powder 1 tsp
tamarind paste / puli 1 tsp
salt
oil for frying

Grind shallots / chuvannulli and fennel seeds together. Mix with the powders and salt. Marinate fish in this.Do shallow fry.

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Fish Roast - Mathi/Sardine

Ingredients

Sardines six
Onion two medium size
Tomato two
Vinegar one table spoon
Garlic cloves four
Ginger piece one inch length
Green chilly two
Pepper powder two tea spoons
Turmeric powder half teaspoon
Curry leaves few
Coriander leaves chopped one hand full
Salt

How to prepare
Marinate fish using one teaspoon chilly powder, half tea spoon turmeric powder , two pinch of fennel seed/perumjeerakam powder and salt.

Fry fish in oil.
In the remaining oil, sauté onions.

When it turns color add crushed ginger and garlic. Sauté for a while.

Add tomato pieces, curry leaves , vinegar and powders and enough salt.

Cook till done in low heat without adding water.

Stir occasionally.

When this is done place the fried sardines in this masala.

Cover with the masala.

Cover the pan and cook on a low flame.

When it begins to boil sprinkle coriander leaves and remove from fire.

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Meen Mulakittathu / Spicy Red Fish Curry

This curry is good with Kappa/Tapioca, Rice, Rava Upma, Dosa etc.People from different places in Kerala cook this curry using various methods. Some uses chopped onions and adds ginger also. Mathi mulaku curry is the common dish in most of the houses in our place. They make it every day!

Ingredients
Sardines(Mathi) - 6 nos(cut and cleaned)
Onion(medium) - 1 no or
Shallots(Kunjulli) - A handful
Tomato(big) - 1 no
Curry leaves - A few
Salt - As reqd
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Green chilies - 2 nos or as reqd
Garlic pearls - 6 nos
Tamarind(Puli) - A lemon sized ball or Raw mango(big) - 1 no

How to prepare
1)Soak tamarind in hot water and take the paste of about one tea cup.
2) Add another 1 1/2 cups of water.
3) Put all the powders, finely chopped or ground onion, tomato, salt, crushed garlic into it.
4) Cook till little thick.
5) Add sardines and cook till done.
6) Add curry leaves and green chillies.
7) Pour coconut oil and remove from fire.

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Spicy fish curry / Meen mulaku curry - old method

This is an old method of making fish curry, which is prepared grinding all the ingredients (spices) on a grinding stone / ammikkallu. This curry comes out as thick, so you can add more water to make it according to your taste.



Ingredients and method
Fish - sardines( mathi) - 6,
Tomatoes - 2,
small onions - 7,
tamarind - one lemon size,
red chillies - 5,
turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon,
curry leaves - few,
Garlic cloves- 3,
coconut oil - 1 table spoon,
salt.

Roast red chillies and grind with garlic,small onions and add mashed tomatoes to it.
Mix together.
Soak tamarind in little water for some time and take the extract.

Mix this with turmeric and add to the ground paste to make a thick solution.

Soak fish in this and cook.

Remove from fire when it is done, add curry leaves and coconut oil.

( if you like kudam puli use it instead of tamarind).

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mathi thappuvechathu / sardines in pepper and tamarind

Ingredients
Fish - sardines- 6 cut and cleaned,
small onions - 6,
garlic cloves 5,
ginger - one inch piece,
turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon,
pepper powder 3 teaspoons (or according to taste),
fennel seeds - 1/2 tea spoon,
tamarind paste - 1 cup thick,
chilly powder and corriander powder - 1/2 teaspoon each,
Indian goose berry - 3,
curry leaves,
green chillies.

Method
Pour tamarind paste in a pan.
Add all the powders.
Grind small onions, garlic cloves, ginger piece, fennel seeds and goose berry (after removing seed).
Add this to tamarind paste and put salt.
Immerse the fishes in this thich solution.
Pour little coconut oil on top.
Heat.
Cook till done and reduce water.
Place slit green chillies and curry leaves on top.
Have with rice.


Actually mum places a banana leaf on top and put some Kanal made with chakiri( outer skin of coconut , burned and in red color like charcoal) and cook.
This dish looks black.

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