Kerala Fish Curry

Method

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1. Rub the fish with a little salt and turmeric and set aside for 15 minutes.

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2. Heat the coconut oil in a clay pot or heavy pan. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then the fenugreek and half the curry leaves.

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3. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies and fry 8 minutes until the onions are soft and pale gold.

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4. Lower the heat, add the chilli powder, coriander, turmeric and pepper, and stir 45 seconds — burnt chilli powder will ruin the curry.

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5. Add the soaked kudampuli with its water, 200 ml of the thin coconut milk and the salt. Bring to a simmer and cook 8 minutes.

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6. Slide in the fish in a single layer. Do not stir from here on — swirl the pan instead, or the fish will break.

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7. Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes until the fish is just cooked through.

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8. Pour in the thick coconut milk, add the remaining curry leaves, and warm through for 2 minutes without letting it boil.

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9. Rest, ideally for several hours, before serving with rice.

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Chef’s Tips

• Kudampuli is worth ordering online. Tamarind is the fallback but gives a rounder, less smoky sourness.
• This curry is genuinely better the next day, which is unusual for a fish dish. Make it in advance if you can.
• A clay pot (meen chatti) is traditional and does change the flavour, but a heavy stainless pan works fine.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• For a non-vegan version, double cream can generally stand in for the coconut milk; going the other way, a plant-based cream sold for cooking is the closer match to dairy than tinned coconut milk on its own.
• A pinch of dried chilli flakes works in place of fresh chilli — start with about a third of the quantity the green chillies in the list implies, since dried chilli is more concentrated, and add more to taste.
• A quarter-teaspoon of ground ginger per tablespoon of fresh is the standard ratio if you are working from the spice rack rather than a fresh root.

Pairing Suggestions

• Kerala red rice or plain basmati
• Thoran (stir-fried coconut vegetables)
• Appam or steamed tapioca

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 2 days. Reheat very gently without boiling. Not suitable for freezing.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.