Fish Chili Curry or Meen Mulaku curry
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
To grind to paste:
  • Small Onions- 8
  • Kashmiri red chili powder- 2 tbsp or according to your spice level
  • Fennel Powder- 1 tbsp
  • Water- ¼ cup
While cooking
  • Sardines or any fish- 10 small sardines or 8 fish pieces
  • Coconut oil- 2 tbsp
  • Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves- 1 sprig
  • Tamarind, fresh- 3 inch slice soaked in ½ cup warm water or (use Coccum or Kodampuli- 4 pieces)
  • Salt- 1½ tsp
Instructions
  1. If using sardines, remove the internal organs, sprinkle some salt to the fish and rinse well.
  2. If using fresh tamarind, soak it in ½ cup warm water for 5 minutes, squeeze the soaked tamarind in water to extract the juice and strain the juice.
  3. If using coccum or kodampuli, soak 4 pieces in ¼ cup water.
  4. If using concentrated tamarind paste use very less may be 1 tsp.
  5. Grind small onions, Kashmiri red chili powder and fennel powder to a smooth paste, add ¼ cup water while grinding. Keep aside.
  6. Place a saucepan or clay pot over medium heat, add oil and let oil turn hot.
  7. Add fenugreek seeds, saute for a couple of seconds, don't brown it.
  8. Add the ground paste to the pan, saute well in oil for 5 minutes till the raw smell of red chili powder/onions goes away, make sure not to burn the paste.
  9. Add ¾ cup warm water, let the gravy come to a slight boil.
  10. Add the fresh tamarind extract or coccum pieces, combine well.
  11. Add curry leaves & salt, combine well.
  12. Now, add the fish to the gravy.
  13. Cook covered for 15 minutes till the fish has cooked well and the gravy has thickened.
  14. Don't stir too much as the fish would break apart, you could swirl the pan to combine.
  15. If you want this curry to be spicy, you could add ¼ to ½ tsp of ground pepper as well.
  16. Taste and add more salt if needed, swirl the pan to combine.
  17. Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered for sometime.
  18. This curry tastes really incredible with Kappa or tapioca.
  19. Not to mention, this fish curry tastes better the next day!
Notes
Make sure to use Kashmiri red chili powder, regular chili powder is very spicy.
Recipe by Cooking with Thas - Wholesome Homemade Recipes at https://thasneen.com/cooking/fish-chili-curry-or-meen-mulaku-curry/