Tamilnadu Fish Curry Recipe / Dindigul Style Meen Kuzhambu

I met Chef Paramraj during my travels. His food was home style comforting South Indian food which I liked a lot. His fish curry blew my mind. Clean flavors, nothing over powering and delicious in every single bite. I went to tell that his food was awesome after dinner and we had a good chat for a long time and he was happy to share the recipe for this curry. This is his home town Dindigul style fish curry. He says they never used ginger or garlic in fish curries in that part of the region. Its an extremely simple and easy recipe. He uses sesame oil / gingely oil for this curry. He says that gingely oil is the only oil used in Tamilnadu style fish curries. The flavor of gingely oil in south Indian curries cant be beat. I have to agree.
His food is a perfect example of home style rustic cooking that can be mind blowing. I got reminded of what Chef Jacques Pepin told once in an interview. “One of the biggest problems with young chefs is too much addition to the plate. You put cilantro and then tarragon and then olive oil and then walnut oil or whatever. It’s too much. It is important to have food nicely represented and all of that. But there is a certain quality to the food itself. Many young chefs add too much to their plates. I call it Punctuation Cuisine. They put sauce commas and dashes, one after the other. I get lost.”

Here is what you will need for the fish curry. First we need to make a fried masala paste. We will need gingely oil, Shallots (small onions) and fresh shredded coconut. Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan and add in the shallots and fry till slightly golden.

Then add the fresh shredded coconut and fry on low flame until its golden. Its important to fry the coconut along with the shallots on low flame. Getting the coconut nice and roasted imparts a nutty delicious flavor to the curry. Remove the mixture from heat once its golden. Grind to a smooth pasting adding up to 1.5 cups of water. Its important to grind the mixture to a very fine paste so the curry will be smooth and velvety. Set aside.

Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan until hot. Sesame oil is important for this curry. Add in the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the sliced onions and curry leaves. Saute till the onions are soft.

Add in the masala powders Turmeric, Chilli powder and Coriander Powder and fry for 10 seconds on low flame. Add in more chilli powder if you want a spicy curry. Fry the masalas on low flame so they don’t burn. Burnt masala powders will spoil the taste of the curry. So all eyes on the pan guys.

Grind the tomatoes in a small mixie to a paste. Add it to the pan.

Fry until the mixture is completely dry.

Soak a lime size tamarind in two cups of water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind in the water to extract all the juices. Strain the juice and set aside the tamarind pulp / juice. Discard the tamarind seeds and the pith. Add the tamarind pulp to the pan. Add in the salt. Add in the ground shallot-coconut mixture and a cup of water.

Keep the stove on low flame and cover the pan with a lid. Let it simmer for 20 minutes on low flame. Stir the curry once or twice when simmering. After 20 minutes, add in the fish steaks. I used Indian Salmon today. Cover the pan again and cook for 7-8 minutes on low flame. Remove from heat.

Let the curry rest for at-least one hour. The fish will soak up all the flavors of the curry. Below is a picture of fish curry pond :).

Serve with rice.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Tamilnadu Fish Curry Recipe / Dindigul Meen Kuzhambu

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Recipe for Tamilnadu style fish curry / meen kuzhambu recipe.

Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh

Recipe type: Curry

Cuisine: Tamilnadu

Serves: 4 persons

Ingredients

For the Paste

• 2 tablespoon sesame oil (gingely oil)
• 20-25 shallots (small onions)
• ½ cup fresh shredded coconut

Other Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon sesame oil (gingely oil)
• ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 3 teaspoon coriander powder
• 3 tomatoes
• lime size tamarind
• 1½ teaspoon salt
• 600 grams fish steaks (I used Indian Salmon)

Instructions

1. Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan and add in the shallots and fry till slightly golden.
2. Then add the fresh shredded coconut and fry on low flame until its golden. Grind to a smooth pasting adding up to 1.5 cups of water. Its important to grind the mixture to a very fine paste so the curry will be smooth and velvety. Set aside.
3. Heat sesame oil (gingely oil) in a pan until hot. Add in the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Let the mustard seeds splutter. Add in the sliced onions and curry leaves. Saute till the onions are soft.
4. Add in the masala powders Turmeric, Chilli powder and Coriander Powder and fry for 10 seconds on low flame.
5. Grind the tomatoes in a small mixie to a paste. Add it to the pan.
6. Fry until the mixture is completely dry.
7. Soak a lime size tamarind in two cups of water for 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind in the water to extract all the juices. Add the tamarind pulp to the pan. Add in the salt. Add in the ground shallot-coconut mixture and a cup of water.
8. Let it simmer covered for 20 minutes on low flame.
9. Stir the curry once or twice when simmering. After 20 minutes, add in the fish steaks. Cover the pan again and cook for 7-8 minutes on low flame. Remove from heat.
10. Let the curry rest for at least one hour. The fish will soak up all the flavors of the curry.
11. Serve with rice.

3.5.3208

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