Sweet, tangy and wholesome – a Pomfret fish recipe, Kerala style!
It’s December! The weather is officially cold, Christmas is right around the corner and we’re already looking for an excuse to start cooking up rich delicacies. This Kerala-style, Kudampuli Fish Curry with White Pomfret is one of them. Mildly spicy, tangy and best served over some rice and mashed tapioca, this easy-to-make curry is the perfect meal to warm you up this season.
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What goes into a Kudampuli Fish Curry?
Also known as Meen Mulakittathu or fish in red chilli, this dish has its origins in the Malabar region of Kerala, specifically Kannur. It’s enjoyed for the immersive sweet and sour flavours that it offers that comes from a key, tangy ingredient – kudampulli or Pot Tamarind.
Quick sidebar on kudampuli: this berry-like fruit is used as a souring agent in most Kerala fish curries. In Karnataka, it is known as uppage. The fruit’s extract or its dried rind provides tartness to the dish (in this recipe we’ll be using its rind). It’s got a distinctive sweet-sour flavour that makes it different from regular tamarind, which is purely tart in nature.
Besides the kudampuli, the ingredients for this curry are fairly straightforward. You can use any fleshy fish for this dish, such as Seer, Red Snapper or Pearl Spot. We have used White Pomfret – the mild taste of the fish pairs nicely with the flavourful gravy. This recipe takes a total of 40 minutes to make, but with our cleaned and cut White Pomfret Steaks you don’t have to spend ANY time on meat prep!
Tips to make a delicious Kudampuli Fish Curry
- The vivid red colour of the dish comes from the use of red Kashmiri chilli powder. This chilli powder isn’t really spicy so if you want to amp up the spice, you can stick to regular chilli powder.
- For the authentic, Kerala-style experience, we encourage you to use a clay cooking pot (known as a meenchatti). These pots have a porous nature and regulate moisture while cooking, changing the flavours of the curry.
- Cook this dish a day earlier to enjoy it in its prime form! The curry tastes best the day after it has been prepared.
Kudampuli Fish Curry
Ingredients
- 500 grams White Pomfret Steaks
- 1/4 cup Shallots
- 5 - 6 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger piece
- 1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
- 2 sprigs Curry leaves
- 4 tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 3 - 4 pieces pot tamarind/kudampuli
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients - chop the ginger and garlic cloves, and crush them, thinly slice the shallots.
- Wash the kudampuli (pot tamarind), and soak it in 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes.
- In a pan or pot, heat some oil. Splutter fenugreek seeds, followed by curry leaves, and ginger, garlic and shallots.
- Add 1/4 cup of water, chilli powder, and turmeric. Mix well, and fry this mix while stirring occasionally. Reduce till most of the water disappears.
- Add two cups of water, salt, and the soaked pot tamarinds (kudampuli) with water, mix well, and bring to boil on a medium flame. Reduce the flame, gently place the fish steaks into the boiling fish curry gravy, and cook with a lid on.
- Bring to boil again, open the lid, drizzle some coconut oil, and cook for some more time to reduce some water. Stir gently so that you don't break the fish pieces. Switch off when you see the oil emerging on top.
- Let this rest for at least 4-5 hours. The flavours will slowly work their way through the fish resulting in a flavourful fish curry. For best results, cook in the evening, and serve the next day for lunch.