Poricha Meen Kulambu - Grandma's Recipe / South Indian Fish Curry

Ingredients :

• 1 lb of fish (I used Striped Seabass)
• 3 small onions,chopped
• 4 green chillies,slit
• 2 tomatoes,chopped
• 4 tsp of kulambu powder(replace with 2 tsp chilli powder + 2 tsp coriander powder)
• 1 cup of tamarind water(made from a lemon sized tamarind soaked in 1 cup of water)
• 1 tsp of fennel seeds
• pinch of methi seeds
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
• bunch of curry leaves
• gingelly oil,salt

To grind :

• 1 cup grated coconut
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 garlic pod

Procedure :

1. Heat 5 tsp of gingelly oil in a kadai.Season the oil with fennel seeds,methi seeds and curry leaves.Then add the small onions and green chillies.
2. Then add tomatoes,and cook it through.Now add the turmeric powder and kulambu powder and stir well.
3. Cook till the oil separates.If the ground masala is a fine paste,then add it now.Otherwise,if its a coarse grind,use a strainer and squeeze all the liquid into the cooking gravy.
4. Now add tamarind water and salt.Bring the curry to a boil.
5. Add the fish and don't cover with a lid.Let it cook ,as the curry reduces down.
6. Don't move the fish around too much,or it will start to break.
7. Keep the flame,in a medium low,until the curry gets a thick consistency.Gently move the fish with a fork,if it starts getting stuck to the kadai.(about 10 to 15 mins)
8. Now,the fish curry is ready to be served.
9. For fish fry click here : Simple Fish Fry

Trivia :

• I used fresh striped sea bass fish.You can always use any other choice of either fresh or frozen fish.(eg : tilapia,red snapper,pomfret etc.,)
• Cooking the fish in a slow heat,for a long time,with the coconut paste and also in lots of oil gives this curry its unique flavors.
• My grandma makes this with coconut oil,which I've skipped.Also,I've comparatively used lot lesser oil too.
• I've used the head of the fish,when making the curry,which has a lot of flavor.
• Add little bit more tamarind water,if you like it little bit more sour.
• The kulambu powder is a family recipe,which is basically a combination of chilli powder,coriander powder,with some more spices.I'll try to post it later.You can replace it with,equal proportions of chilli powder and coriander powder or any other store brought kulambu powder(like vathal kulambu,kara kulambu etc powder,).Just make sure it doesn't have too much hing(perungayam,like in rasam,or sambhar powder).