Meen Kozhambhu (Fish Curry)

Meen Kozhambhu (Fish curry) is a traditional dish of Tamilnadu cuisine. There are different methods of preparing it, below one is the simplest one. This curry would be tasty if it is prepared and served after few hours. You can make this with any kind of fish, I used white snapper, since it is fleshy and doesn't have much scales. More oil is used for this, which will make it tasty as well as a preservative for this.


Ingredients:
White Snapper fish(Kondal in tamil) - 8 pieces (cut into small cubes)
Tamarind - small lemon sized
Onions - 2, finely chopped, medium sized
Tomatoes - 2, finely chopped, medium sized
Chilli powder - 1-2 tablespoons(adjust as spicy required)
Coriander powder - 1/2 tablespoon
Cumin seed powder - 1 teaspoon
Ginger paste - 1/2 tablespoon
Garlic paste - 1/2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 2 teaspoons
Asofoetida powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Fenu greek - 1 teaspoon
Red or Green chillies - 2
Coriander leaves - few, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

Method:
Soak Tamarind in 2 cups of warm water. Extract juice and keep aside.

Wash fish thoroughly, add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, keep it for 10 minutes and wash again once. Marinate with little(teaspoon) chilli powder & coriander powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds and allow it to splitter.

Then add fenugreek, chillies, curry leaves, onions, asofoetida powder and fry well until onions are pale.

Add ginger paste, garlic paste and fry until raw smell goes off.

Then add chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and mix well. Cook it until oil separates out, and keep stirring in between. You can smell nice aroma from the gravy.

Once the gravy is thick, add tamarind extract, chopped coriander leaves and salt, mix well and cook it for 5 minutes. It the gravy is too thick, then add little water.

Reduce the flame, add fish pieces to it and cook it closed with a lid. Once fish is cooked and it starts boiling, we can put off the flame.

Serve hot with rice.


Note:
Vegetables like brinjal(egg plant), Ladies finger(Okra), Drumstick can also be added to this after tomatoes.


Cooking time : 45 minutes
Serves - 4 persons

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