Kerala fish curry
Kerala’s meen curry: fish in a red, tangy sauce of coconut, chilli and kokum (or tamarind), cooked in a clay pot. In Kochi it’s eaten with red rice.
Ingredients
- 600 g firm fish steaks (mackerel, kingfish or hake)
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons of tamarind paste (or 4 kokum)
- 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves and 1 piece of ginger
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and 1/2 of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds and a few curry leaves
- Coconut oil and salt
How to make it at home
- Heat the coconut oil and fry the mustard seeds until they pop; add the curry leaves.
- Fry the onion, garlic and ginger, then the ground spices.
- Add the tomato and tamarind with a little water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the fish and cook for 5 minutes without stirring (swirl the pot instead).
- Add the coconut milk and heat without boiling. Serve with rice.
The trick: Better the next day: the fish soaks up the sauce.