I have heard all my life about the goodness of fish. Not surprising as rice and fish curry used to be a daily affair at my home and I am sure it still is. I prefer fish fry to gravies but still can’t keep my hands off a few of them, including Shark Curry. It’s one one of my favourites. Very little bones and all meat, it is perfect for a gravy. Here is my recipe for, as we call it in Malayalam Srav meen curry.

To get the perfect meen curry you need to strike a balance with all the ingredients, suiting to your taste. The spices and tamarind are totally your call. I like to keep the spice quotient high;)

To begin with soak the tamarind in water. Grind coconut, a tablespoon of chopped onion, 3-4 shallots and tumeric to a smooth paste adding some water.

Heat some oil in pan. Any cooking oil should be fine. I don’t have an earthen pot but it you have one go ahead and use it as it definately ups the flavor by at least 10 times. Add the fenugreek seeds, shallots, onions and curry leaves and stir fry (reserve couple of shallots for tempering). Once the shallots brown add in the tomato paste and cook until the you see sporadic oil bubbles in the mixture. Turn the flame to low and add the coconut paste. Now add coriander power, chilli powder and salt. Finally add the tamarind water gradually to suit your taste. Add water to bring the gravy to bring to the desired consistency. Let it cook for about 15 to twenty minutes. Slide in the fish pieces and cook until done.  

Finish off the curry with a tempering of mustard seeds and shallots in coconut oil. This gives a lovely flavour!

You can try the same recipe with Mackerel and Kingfish. It’s best to let the gravy rest for a while and let all the flavours combine before you eat. And like all fish curries, it tastes even better the next day!