Meen Curry

Meen Curry (Kottayam Fish Curry)

1 kg King Fish(Nem-meen or NaiMeen)
    (Any other firm fish like Sword Fish, Halibut or Salmon may be
substituted)
2 Tablespoons Chili powder (Mulaku Podi)
1/2 teasspoonful Turmeric powder(Manjal Podi)
1/2 teaspoonful Fenugreek(Uluva  or Methi  )
1 Teaspoonful Mustard Seeds(Kaduku)
4 cut pieces Red onions(Chumanna Savala Ulli)
3 Garlic(VeluthUlli)
4 pieces Ginger(Inji)
5 pieces Kudam Puli -(Kukum star)
1/4 cup Coconut Oil(Velichenna)
10 stems Curry leaves(Curry Veppila)
Salt(Uppu) To Taste
6 Split green chilies(PachaMulaku)
1 Tablespoonful Paprika
3 cups Water(Vellam)

King Fish steaks , frozen and exported by  a  company based in Aleppy,
Kerala State are available here  in Toronto. They are easy to clean and
cut in to small pieces. Be sure to remove all skin and wash. If Kerala
King fish is not available ,the north American counterpart  (fresh or
frozen) or a substitute like GROUPER  or MAHI MAHI  or even SALMON  will do
equally well.

Remember the cooking procedure can be divided in to two stages. The first
stage is preparing the gravy and the second stage is cooking the fish
pieces in the gravy.

In preparing the gravy you use a frying pan ,Heat about a quarter of a cup
of coconut oil or vegetable oil until the oil is hot enough to  break a
few mustard seeds in this oil. Now add the chopped onions, few curry
leaves and split green chilies and stir fry .To this add a mixture of
turmeric, chili powder and paprika powder in half a cup of water. Cook..
When the oil begins to clear add the remaining spices previously ground,
half a cup of 'puli water' and sufficient additional water to make enough
gravy to cover all the fish pieces when cooking subsequently. Add salt as
necessary. Cook until the gravy is thick .Put this aside.

Next  to start the second stage and the actual cooking use a fairly large
frying pan. Prepare a bed  of curry leaves. Arrange the pieces of fish on
this bed. Pour the previously prepared gravy over this, The pieces of fish
should be completely covered. Add the remaining curry leaves and 'PULI
'pieces   ,cover  with a lid and cook slowly. Do not stir, if necessary
you can lift the frying pan by it's handle and give it a gentle rotating
or rocking motion during cooking to spread the gravy evenly. Stop cooking
when the fish pieces are cooked sufficiently and the gravy is thick. This
preparation is best after it sits for a  day or two to  allow time for the
spices to get in to the fish. In the old days they used 'CHATTIES'  made
of "MANNU" to keep the fish curry in .The curry got better as it stayed in
the chatty for some reason..
This recipe was posted to the usenet newsgroup alt.culture.kerala
by Dr. P.K.JOHN of Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Thu Feb 29 18:56:32 EST 1996


Source:

rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes