Fish cooked in curry leaves gravy, aromatic and green fish curry…
Curry leaves are unavoidable in South Indian cooking, they impart an incredible aroma and taste to any dish. A sprig of curry leaves are added while cooking almost all veggie and seafood dishes. It’s also added while making the tempering in oil along with mustard seeds and dried red chilies, as it gets fried in the oil the aroma that comes out of it is just amazing.
Curry leaves are abundantly grown in South India, due to the tropical weather and are found in the backyard of most houses. Fresh curry leaves are picked from the plant and used right away for cooking. Not to forget, curry leaves have amazing health benefits.
The other day, while making fish curry I made a paste of curry leaves along with coconut and other ingredients and cooked the fish in curry leaves gravy. It was quite different from the usual fish curries and tasted good. I enjoyed it with rice, fish fry, and jackfruit seeds thoran.
Preparation pictures
Cooking small onions
After adding the pureed curry leaves and coconut
Cooking fish in the curry leaves-coconut gravy
- Oil- ½ tbsp
- Green chilies- 2, chopped
- Curry leaves- 1 cup
- Grated coconut - 1 cup
- Chili powder- ½ to 1 tsp
- Water- ½ cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Oil-1 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Dried whole red chilies- 2
- Small onions, halved- 8
- Fresh Tamarind- 2 inch slice soaked in ¼ cup warm water
- Warm water- ½ cup
- Fish pieces- 8 medium slices, any kind of fish (tilapia, king fish, pomfret, salmon)
- Ground black pepper- ½ to 1 tsp
- Salt- ¾ tsp
- Making curry leaves paste: Place a pan over medium heat, add oil, let turn hot.
- Add green chilies, curry leaves and grated coconut. Roast for a few minutes.
- Just before coconut turns golden in color, add chili powder and salt, saute for a minute and remove the pan from the heat. Let cool down.
- To a blender jar, add the roasted curry leaves and coconut mix along with ½ cup water, puree till smooth paste. Keep aside.
- In a small bowl, soak 2-inch slice fresh tamarind in ¼ cup lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind in the water to release the juice. Strain the juice and discard the skin. Keep it aside.
- Place a saucepan or clay pan over medium heat, add oil and let turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
- Add dried red chilies, saute for a few seconds.
- Add halved small onions, season with ½ tsp salt and saute till onions turn translucent.
- Add the pureed curry leaves and coconut. Combine well and cook for a few minutes till the raw smell goes away.
- Add the tamarind extract, combine well.
- Add ½ cup warm water, combine well & let the gravy come to a slight boil.
- Add the fish pieces into the gravy and cook covered till the fish has cooked well and the gravy thickens a bit.
- Season with ground pepper and more salt if needed.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep it covered for a few minutes.
- Serve this curry leaf fish curry along with rice or chapati.
