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Meen Mulakittathu - Spicy Kerala Fish curry

I am having a over proudly feeling of being a Malayali, especially when I make Kerala dishes. It can be because of the rich authentic cuisine heritage we have, that each dish is like a golden feather on our crown. That was too much :P I know. 
Even when trying all international dishes, the satisfaction making a Kerala food cannot be reached from any other recipe. It's not about the taste I am talking about, but the food making process. It could be because of I am a hard core mallu :P 
So coming to this dish, I like to call it "meen mulakittath" and of course it's inspired from central Kerala fish preparation. Trivandrum style fish curry usually have grated coconut, which I am used to, growing up, but this one I made sure to have the coconut inclination with the base of central Kerala fish recipe. So I have some coconut milk going on in this.
This was made as accompaniment to kappa roast on Christmas day, on our Christmas lunch spread. And kappa, oh that's not just a food for mallus, it's an emotion! Writing this up in my lonely apartment in Bangalore, I could feel my excited taste buds on the memory of this wonderful pair I had.
So my usual quorum of people were there, and my Chechi was all delighted by this one, that she started having it with appams, bread or rice whatever she could find, ignoring my duck stew and duck mappas even. The fish used was again the King, Seer fish fillets and the thick spicy, tangy gravy was so tempting to stop licking our hands and making the plates clean.

So not testing your patience anymore, here it goes the recipe.

Ingredients:
Seer fish, cut into round shapes - 15 pieces
Onions chopped - 2 
Ginger chopped finely - 2 tsp
Garlic chopped finely - 2 tsp
Shallots, slit length wise - 1 cup
Tomatoes chopped - 2
Pot Tamarind (kudampuli) -5 pods, soaked in 1 cup water
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Chilly powder - 1 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coconut milk, thick - 1 cup
Salt to taste

Shallow fry fish:
Oil to grease a non stick pan
Fish marinated with chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt

Method:
Shallow fry fish and keep aside.
In a clay pot pour oil and sputter mustard seeds. Add shallots, ginger, garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add chopped onion and curry leaves and saute till light golden. Add tomatoes and cook till oil separates. Add all powders and cook for a minute. Add tamarind water and bring to a boil. Add fish pieces and cook for 5 minutes. You can add more water to reach the consistency you are looking for. Add thick coconut milk and cook till frothy and remove from.heat immediately.
Garnish with curry leaves and serve.
Labels:
Location: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

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