Kerala Meen Curry, a delightful Top 1 fish curry

RugminiKamalan R

Kerala Meen Curry is a delicious accompaniment with noon day meals and holds an integral part in Kerala Cuisine. You can enjoy an ultimate feel with the spicy and tangy flavored fish curry. In Kerala, noon day meals is a specialty and the dishes are perfectly set with a nutritious thoran or stir fry, a watery base curry dish to blend with rice, a spicy flavored fish dish and a pickle to tingle your taste buds. Though meat dishes are quite popular, you will discover that most of them opt for tangy flavored fish curry dishes that go well with rice. You need not waste much of your time and energy on fish curry dishes. Fried fishes consume much of your time and you have to make sure that fried fishes are hot and crispy while serving. The red colored fish curries are mostly prepared ahead of two days in advance and it tastes best the coming days.

It is ‘kukum star’ or ‘kodampuli’, a dried fruit that acts as the souring agent. But you have to make sure that the tanginess is proper otherwise the dish becomes too mush tangy. You have to select the number of dry fruits needed for your curry, most probably two or at the most three depending on the quantity of fish you are preparing. Make sure that you are using good quality kukum star wherein the sourness is perfect. I have come across kodampuli where the sourness is blended with a bitter flavor too and that will damage your meen curry. Better to buy these dry fruits from known sources who has properly smoked and dried the ripe fruits. Kodampuli is soaked in water briefly and added to fish curries. It gives curries a slightly smoky and sweet sourness, very delightful to your palate. Nothing beats the traditional styled Kerala Meen Curry with kukum star.

With kids you have to make sure that the curry is not too hot. Kids avoid hot and spicy foods that burn their delicate lips. Traditional foods in Kerala Cuisine are usually very delicious and wholesome. Kerala fish curry is one such healthy dish. The best part of the dish is that very few ingredients are required and it doesn’t require much of your time and energy. For your information, these fish curries were traditionally prepared in mud or ‘mann’ chatties meaning vessels on the aduppu or fireplace. You will notice that refrigerators were not available in olden times and these curries were stored for 3 to 4 days without getting bad in these vessels. Surprisingly the fish curry tasted best in coming days. The tanginess from these fruits will have entered the fish curry in full strength.

Another fact you have to keep in mind is that in olden times, curry dishes were prepared in aromatic coconut oil. Our land is blessed with plenty of coconuts and coconut oil imparts a fresh aromatic flavor to dishes. Kerala Meen Curry was and still is unique and special with a spicy red colored thick gravy and ample coconut oil floating on top. Sprinkling some fenugreek powder on top of cooked meen curry dish instills a variety and awesome flavor unlike the usual fish curries. This is a finger licking and very delightful curry that can be easily prepared at home. Fish is nutritious and rich in vital nutrients necessary for human body. It is medically stated that you should consume fish everyday for the proper functioning of human body. You can explore a step wise illustrated Spicy Meen Curry here that can be easily prepared at home. Enjoy the fish curry dish.

 

Kerala Meen Curry

Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Cuisine Kerala
Servings 3 people

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • For preparing Kerala Meen Curry first clean the fish well and cut into pieces.
  • Heat oil in a pan or a kadai.
  • Splutter mustard seeds.
  • Add ginger, green chillies and curry leaves and saute well.
  • Add coriander powder, chilly powder and turmeric powder and saute well.
  • Add sufficient water, salt and kukum star and mix well.
  • Cover and allow it to boil.
  • When the gravy starts to thicken, add the fish pieces and allow it to cook.
  • When the fish is cooked and the gravy is thick enough, remove from the flame.
  • Sprinkle the fenugreek powder on top and stir the vessel a little so that it gets spread all over the gravy.
  • :- Do not use a ladle or spoon as there are chances of breaking the fish pieces while doing so.
  • Enjoy Kerala Meen Curry with rice.

Notes

You can visit an easy to prepare fish curry here Manga Meen Curry. You can also visit this link Bengali Fish Curry.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Response (5)
  1. r
    rekha March 15, 2009

    This is not varutharacha curry but a good fish curry.

  2. R
    Raju.p.kumar July 28, 2010

    Good recipe..

  3. L
    Laiju March 29, 2007

    This recipe is too gud, easy to make and very yummy.. Everyone should try this out…

  4. S
    Sumy January 25, 2007

    Easy and yummy!!! The fenugreek addition in the last stage totally changed the taste of the curry. It was fun cooking and thanks a lot for sharing.

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