South Indian Style Fish Curry

What do I do with left-over fish after I've had enough of fried fish? Yes. You got it. Make fish curry. The best part of this recipe is although it seems like too many things going in, the time consumed is surprisingly very less! Try it... you will know what I'm talking about.

Ingredients
1lb Fish, cleaned and cut into pieces (I've used King Fish)

For Gravy (Masala)
1 Onion (medium sized) - Roughly chopped
1/2 Tomato - Chopped
5 Cloves of garlic
A handful of washed coriander leaves
1/2 Cup Coconut (Pieces or Flakes)
2 tbsp Sambar Powder (My Mom-in-law made this for me. I'm lucky)
1 fl. oz. - Tamarind Paste
1/2 tsp. - Mustard Seeds
1/4th tsp. - Fenugreek Seeds (Methi seeds)

For Seasoning
1/2 tsp. - Mustard Seeds
5 pcs. Curry Leaves
1/4th Cup - Onion, finely chopped
Oil

And, of course, some salt to taste!!

Method
- In a frying pan, heat a few drops of oil and add 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds and the methi seeds and fry for about a minute on a low flame
- Add the coconut, onions and garlic and fry on a medium flame until the coconut flakes turn brown on the egdes OR until you get the fragrant aroma of all the ingredients releasing their flavours. I recommend the latter!
- Allow this fried muxture to cool
- Now, in a blender toss in all the fried ingredients, tomato, tamarind paste and sambar powder
- Grind to make a smooth paste and set aside
- In a saucepan, heat some oil and add the remaining mustard seeds and allow to splutter
- Toss in the curry leaves and then the onions
- Fry until the onions are translucent
- Pour in the ground paste and stir
- Add water just enough to make the paste into a gravy texture
- Add salt and allow to come to a rapid boil for about 5 minutes
- Now lower the flame and put the fish pieces
- Slightly cover and allow the fish to cook in the gravy

Serving Suggestion
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with either rice or rotis.

SERVES 4

Homestyle Fried Fish

If you are craving something hot and spicy with a melt-in-the-mouth texture, then you have hit the jackpot! This fish recipe is just so simple, even an amateur cook can make it... which explains why I choose to prepare it almost every time we buy fish!

Ingredients
4 King Fish pieces, cleaned (You can use any other variety of fish too)
5 tbsp - Tamarind pulp, slightly diluted
3 tsp - Chilli powder (You can adjust the spice according to your taste)
2 tbsp - Ginger garlic paste
1/2 cup - Rice flour
A drop of vinegar
A pinch of Turmeric powder (Optional - It's just added for colour!)
Oil, to fry
A sprig of cilantro to garnish
And, of course, some salt to tatse!!

Method
- In a mixing bowl, pour the tamarind pulp
- Add the chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, vinegar and salt
- Mix well
- Dunk in the fish pieces in this marinade, coating the fish well on all sides
- Set aside for about 3 to 4 hours (Longer the better!)
- Mix the rice flour with some salt and turmeric powder
- Spread it out evenly on a plate and set aside
- Now in a wok(kadaai), heat oil
- As the oil heats up, coat the marinated fish in the rice flour mixture
- Fry

Serving Suggestion
Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve hot with lemon slices.

SERVES 2