MEEN KUZHAMBU – FISH CURRY IN TAMILNADU STYLE – SPICY FISH CURRY

Meen Kuzhambu or fish curry as it is called in Tamil is a spicy, tasty and tangy fish recipe.

There are different methods of preparing fish curry in Tamilnadu style, like in some fish curries we use tamarind, coconut etc. In this fish curry we are using onions and tomatoes as main ingredients.

In this Meen Kuzhambu we marinate the fish for 1/2 hour and fry it and then cook in the gravy.

Let’s go thru the process and ingredients for preparing Meen Kuzhambu:

Ingredients:

For marinating:

Fish                                                     ½ kg

Red chili powder                                1 tsp

Turmeric powder                              ½ tsp

Oil                                                       4 tsp

Salt to taste

For grinding:

Onion                                                   1 big

Tomatoes                                            2

For gravy:

Onion (finely chopped)                      1 big

Tomato (finely chopped)                   1

Garlic (finely chopped)                      20 cloves

Ginger (thinly chopped)                    ¼ “ piece

Green chilies (slit)                              4

Coriander powder                              1 tsp

Red chili powder                                 1 tsp

Water                                                  2 cups

Salt to taste

Oil                                                       4 tsp

For garnishing:

Coriander leaves                            3 tbsp

Procedure for preparing Meen Kuzhambu:

1. Marinate fish with red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and keep aside for 1/2 hour. Then fry the fish in the pan by frying on both the sides.
2. Grind together onion and tomatoes into fine paste.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add to it finely chopped garlic and fry till the raw smell disappear then add garlic(thinly chopped),onions (finely chopped) and green chili (slit) and fry for 5 minutes till the onions turn to light brownish color on low flame.
4. Add coriander powder and fry for ½ a minute, add red chilli powder and salt and fry for ½ a minute on low flame.
5. Add finely chopped tomato and fry for 3- 4 minutes on medium flame. Add the ground paste and 2 cups of water and cook till bubbling or till the raw smell disappears on medium flame.
6. Add fried fish and cook covered till the curry boils and reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Cook slowly by rotating the pan occasionally and turning the fish carefully so the fish is well coated with gravy. Put off the flame.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Spicy and tangy Meen Kuzhambu is ready. Serve with rice or chapatti.

Note:

• Increase or decrease the spice level according to your preference.