Kerala · Coconut oil

Kerala Fish Curry

Meen curry — coconut oil, kudampuli, curry leaf, the Malabar at its quietest.

Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min plus 4 h rest
Serves
4
Kerala Fish Curry — finished dish

Ingredients

  • 600 g kingfish or seer fish
  • 4 pieces kudampuli (Malabar tamarind)
  • 100 g shallots
  • 20 g ginger
  • 4 green chillies
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 3 sprigs curry leaves
  • 2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 4 tbsp Bharat coconut oil
  • salt
  • 400 ml water

The oil that the curry is built on

A Kerala meen curry is not a sauce that fish is added to — it is fish, kudampuli, and the spice paste, brought together in coconut oil, and the oil is the carrier. Refined coconut oil cannot do this; the curry will be flat. The cold-pressed virgin oil holds the curry leaf, the mustard seed, and the kudampuli in a single round flavour.

Soak the kudampuli in warm water for half an hour before you begin. It is what gives Kerala fish curry its dark sour edge — neither tamarind nor lime can replace it.

Method

  1. Wash and salt the fish. Set aside.
  2. Soak the kudampuli pieces in 100 ml warm water.
  3. Make a paste of the chilli powder, coriander powder, and turmeric with a little water.
  4. Heat the Bharat coconut oil in a manchatti (earthen pot) or heavy kadhai. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek, and curry leaves. Let them crackle.
  5. Add the shallots, ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Cook over medium heat until the shallots are translucent — five minutes. Do not brown them.
  6. Add the spice paste. Cook on low heat, stirring, until the oil separates — three to four minutes.
  7. Add the soaked kudampuli with its liquid, the remaining water, and salt. Bring to a simmer.
  8. Lay the fish steaks in the curry, spooning the liquor over them. Cover and cook on low heat for twelve to fifteen minutes. Do not stir; swirl the pot if needed.
  9. Take off the heat. Drizzle with a final teaspoon of fresh Bharat coconut oil and a sprig of curry leaf.

Notes from the kitchen

  • Rest the curry for four hours before serving, or — if you have the patience — overnight. The flavour deepens. Reheat gently.
  • Serve with steamed red matta rice and a side of thoran.
  • Kudampuli is sold dried in South Indian stores; outside India, look for “Malabar tamarind” or “Garcinia cambogia” (the cooking spice, not the supplement).

The oil for this dish

Bharat Coconut Oil →

Pressed from sun-dried copra. The oil of Kerala, Konkan, and the South.