MEEN KOZHAMBHU (FISH COOKED IN TAMARIND SAUCE)

This is a very popular Tamil dish. My mom is a hardcore herbivore and cannt really stand the smell of meat and fish. She gets so annoyed seeing me use her knives, utensils, spoons and ladles for cooking non-veg dishes. It was my grandmum and aunts who got me in to the practice of eating meat since childhood and I just adore them for making me a carnivore. I seriously feel that the vegetarians are missing something in life. ;-)..just kidding!!!

My grandmum lives in a village about 11 km from Cuddalore, Coastal town in Tamilnadu (South Indian State). Coastal regions are known for their fresh fishes. My summer breaks will always be related to my grandmum’s fish curry. The way we would fight for the fish fries brings a huge smile on my face now…good old days nah!!!. My granddad makes it a point that fish is a definite food in the menu atleast 2 to 3 times a week when we were around. My grandmum is one non-veg expert and getting a pass percentage from her for a dish I cook is so difficult. She isn’t like usual grandmum’s who would appreciate anything or everything… she is one terrible critic….so best thing I decided was not to ask her comment anymore he he he!! But last time I made this curry at home, she really liked it.

I cooked this gravy for my friends in UK and they just loved it so much so that they didn’t want to waste even a single drop of my fish gravy. My best friend B mixed the rice inside the kadai to scrap even the last drop out. Lolzzz ha ha ha these NRIs are quite silly at times!!! Have a look at my Kadai ;-) So all credits to my lovely grandmum who taught me her delicious spicy fish curry and I am sharing that recipe with you guys now.

Meen means Fish and Kozhambhu means Gravy in Tamil. This is one of my grandmom’s signature recipe. This is quite a spicy gravy cooked with tamarind juice and the taste would take you to another world. She uses a special ingredient called “Vadagam” and I guess that gives it a unique taste. Using shallots or pearl onions instead of usual onions will make the dish extra tasty. This classic dish is a perfect accompaniment to rice and goes great with Fish fry. Yummmmmmyyyyyyyyyy!!!! :-)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tsp Vadagam (if you want it more tangy, then increase the quantity)
• 10-15 Shallots/Pearl onions - Finely diced
• 7-8 Cleaned fish
• 2 tbs tamarind juice
• 2 tbs chilli powder
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 4tbs coriander powder
• Oil
• Salt to taste
• 7-8 curry leaves
• 1 tsp sugar
  

For the marinade

• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 1tbs chilli powder
• 2 tbs coriander powder
  

METHOD

Marinate the cleaned fish pieces in turmeric powder, chilli powder and corainder powder for 30 min.

Add oil in a kadai. Once they are warm add the vadagam. Saute for 2 min. Add the diced shallots and cook for couple of minutes. Now add the turmeric powder, chilli powder,coriander powder and salt and cook till the raw smell disappears.

Add the tamarind juice and cook on high flame for 5-10min. Once they start to boil, simmer the flame and cook the kadai with the lid on for another 10min. When the gravy thickens add the marinated fish pieces and curry leaves. Cook till done. Adjust salt to taste. Finally sprinkle the sugar. Serve hot with rice and papads.

This is how a Vadagam looks like (below): This is the ingredient that brings a magical taste to our Tamil fish curry. My grandmum makes it in a bulk quantity for us. It holds a very different strong smell. (I am unable to put in words). Here is the recipe straight from my grandmum to you guys!

Ingredients:

1 kg Finely sliced Shallots/ Onions
100 gm Peeled garlic
1 cup Curry leaves
50gm Cummin seeds
30gm Fenugreek seeds
100gm Mustard seeds
100gm Urad dhal
2tbs Turmeric powder
2 tbs Rock salt
50ml Castor Oil

METHOD
Place all the ingredients expect the castor oil in a cooking bowl. Mix it thoroughly.

Press them hard with hand and cover it with a cotton cloth. Let it ferment for 3 days.Dont use wet hands.

On the 4th day, mix castor oil to it and make small balls out of it.

Dry them under the hot sun and store them in a airtight container.

It can be used for more than a year.

The above given amount is for a bulk preparation, you can reduce the quantity according to your need.

Note: Salmon doesn’t work well for this dish cos I noticed that the spices doesn’t go into the fish. Try Red snapper/Butter fish instead.