Meen Porichathu - Malabar Style Fish Fry

I have a fish crazy bunch at home. D is not much fond of fish, in fact he would have his lunch without even a small piece, but he is quite generous when it comes to buying for all of us. I am in the middle - I eat certain types of fish but wont eat more than what I like to. Umma and my sister could literally dive into any fish meal. Umma claims that age has caught up with her and she is not able to eat too much fish now! Hehe... My sister could finish her meal and then spend the next few minutes cleaning up whatever is remaining in the casserole and curry, and surprisingly, her son also takes behind her! I was shocked to see how, at 3 and a half, he cleans his piece of fish from the bones and eats it, while Rasha would spit out the whole morsel in her mouth if a bone gets caught. Both the girls want me to give them clean pieces that they could just eat up, not taking any hassle to clean it up.

Considering that I have done 3-recipe series based on themes over the past months, this time I decided that I would share three fish recipes back to back! Malabar has their own share of fish delicacies, which I would like to cover as much as I can. Today, I share our typical way of frying fish, something that has to be there with our lunch of rice and curry, and sometimes a vegetable stir fry. Off to the way I make my fish...


Ingredients:

1/2 kg king fish, cut into thick steaks (any fish will do)
3 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp fennel powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste
Vinegar, as required
Coconut oil for frying
A sprig of curry leaves

Method:

Clean the fish well and drain. If any other fish, draw lines in between for the masala to go in.

In a big bowl, add ingredients from red chilli powder to salt. Add little vinegar, enough to make it into a paste. Dip each peice in and coat well on all sides. Reserve onto a plate. Repeat for all pieces. Keep aside for at least 15 minutes. The more kept, the better.

Heat coconut oil in a frying pan, just enough to cover the pan. As it warms, put the curry leaves and allow to sizzle. Put the fish pieces in and allow to cook on low flame for around 10 minutes or till golden brown. Flip the fish carefully and cook for another 10 minutes or till fully done. Drain onto a kitchen towel.

Serve warm with rice and curry!


Curious to know what is coming up tomorrow, InShaAllah? Definitely something with a shell fish, that I can't have myself but had to share the recipe here since I know many would love to know how to make a decent biriyani with it... Oops... I guess I pushed out a major part of the surprise. Stay tuned! :)