Kerala Fish Curry Meen Moiley

Sometimes I wonder about how a particular recipe got its name...some have logical explanations like Meat Beli Ram ..a spectacular full bodied peshawari mutton curry that was made famous and created by a legendary North West Frontier Province cook called Beli Ram....but several recipes make you wonder about the origin of their names....

I always wonder specially when I make Kerala style Meen Moiley ....its a coconut based fish curry with a very sophisticated blend of spices .
The curry is delicately spiced with powdered Fennel seeds, cinnamon bark, cloves, crushed black pepper and bruised green cardamoms!

Was is Aunty Molly's recipe? I like to think of her as a warm , generous Portuguese lady who called Kerala home a long long time ago....

Aunty Molly must have been a genius then to put to good use all of Kerala's magnificent spices in one single curry.....and yet nothing is overpowering......

It could be true considering that Kerala's long coastal belt abundant with spice plantations , fresh sea food attracted so many adventurous traders from the world over - the Portuguese, Dutch , Arabs , Phoenicians , Romans , British all came to Kerala in search of black gold - Pepper which grows wild and abundant in the state....and they all left a mark on the local cuisine...no wonder the food of Kerala is so brilliant ....

Maybe then Aunt Molly was a fantastic cook of Portuguese origin ....it makes the recipe a little more exotic when I think of it that way!

She must have been a legendary cook and the whole village must have smelled the delicate aroma as the curry bubbled away on her stove....

And you do know about a good cook and a good recipe, don't you?
Word travels fast like a forest fire....soon the entire village was cooking Meen Moiley Aunty Molly style and then the whole state!

And now I cook it too even though I have no link with either Kerala or Portugal :)
Good food and a good recipe does travel fast then....

Here is the recipe its my absolute favorite...a wonderful curry that showcases the best of Indian Spices...

Meen Moiley

Serves : 4 

Ingredients :

Fish  : 500 g ( I used Surmai )

To Marinate : (for 30 minutes in the refrigerator)

Haldi, salt , pepper : 1/2 teaspoon each

For Sauce :

 Black Rye : 1 tsp

Cloves : 5

Cinnamon : 1"
Green Cardamom : 2 slightly bruisedOnions : 2 , finely chopped
Garlic : 4 cloves finely chopped
Ginger : 1" piece
Green Chillies : 5 slit
Haldi : 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder : large pinch
Crushed black pepper : 1/2 tsp
Saunf powder : 1/2 tsp 
Tomato - 1 finely chopped 
 Thin coconut milk : 2 cups*
Thick coconut milk : 1 cup*
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Curry Leaves - 2 springs 

Heat oil then add black rye and let them splutter . Add cinnamon , cloves , elaichi . Add chopped onions, ginger garlic and green chillies. Cook for 5 minutes. Add haldi , red chilli powder ., add the chopped tomato and curry leaves....cook for 2-3 minutes . 

Then add thin coconut milk . Let all this boil for 5-7 minutes . Now add fish and cover and cook for 10 minutes .

In the end add thick coconut milk , curry leaves and to finish add saunf powder .

* I got lazy this time and used Maggi coconut milk powder ( 25 g) pack diluted in 3 cups of hot water instead of extracting fresh coconut milk.
*If you are using coconut milk powder just add it all in once and then boil for 7 minutes.