Fish

Stuffed Pomfret with green masala in Banana leaf


Delicious, succulent and moist Stuffed Pomfrest in mouth watering green masala and cooked iun banana leaf which prevents the fish from absorbing too much oil! Use stuffing of your choice, red, green or recheado masala. Recipe is from my mother’s book “Mais Recipes”. Get hold of your copy soon. Here is the link for details: https://cooklikececilia.com/mais-recipes-contact-details

Hot and Sour Sardines Curry


Hot and Sour Sardines Curry

Hot and Sour Sardines Curry

Tarle Amotik curry (Tallyanchi Kodi)

Ingredients

  • 3 large sardines or 8 to 10 small
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 green chillies
  • 6 kokum petals (dried mangosteen)
  • 10 to 12 Tefla (Indian Prickly Ash)
  • 1 tsp. salt or to taste

Grind to a Paste

  • 8 Kashmiri Chillies
  • 2 tbsp. coconut powder (optional)
  • ¼ tsp. cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp. peppercorns
  • ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
  • 6 flakes garlic
  • A small ball tamarind

Method

  1. Descale the fish, cut off head and tail and remove and discard the intestine, etc. 
  2. Clean and wash well. 
  3. ½ tsp. salt and set aside. 
  4. I have taken 3 large sardines and cut each into half.
  5. Grind the masala to a smooth paste. 
  6. Slice the onion and slit the green chillies. 
  7. Crush the tefla lightly to release the flavor and set aside. 
  8. Take a vessel and add the onion and green chillies.  
  9. No oil is required for this curry. 
  10. Add the masala with the masala water and adjust consistency of the curry (we like it thin). 
  11. Add 1 tsp. salt or to taste.
  12. Place on heat and bring to a boil. 
  13. Add the tefla and kokum pieces.
  14. The tefla add flavor to the curry and not to be consumed.
  15. Reduce flame and simmer 5 minutes. 
  16. Add the fish.  Do not stir to avoid breaking the fish.  Shake the vessel so the fish pieces settle and do not overlap each other. 
  17. Increase flame, bring to a boil, reduce flame and simmer 10 minutes till oil appears on the surface and the curry appears glossy. 
  18. Switch off and serve hot with steamed rice. 

Bhing Amotik Curry


Bhing Amotik Curry meal

Bhing Amotik Curry

Ingredients

  • 1 Bhing (Herring, Hilsa, Pala)
  • 1 small onion
  • 1” pc. Ginger
  • 2 green chillies

Grind to a Paste

  • 8 to 10 Kashmiri Chillies
  • 3-4 tbsp. coconut powder
  • 1 tsp. coriander seeds
  • ½ tsp. cumin seeds
  • ¼ tsp. peppercorns
  • ¼ tsp. turmeric powder
  • 1 small onion
  • 5 flakes garlic
  • A lemon sized ball tamarind

Method

  1. Descale the fish, slit from head to tail from the side to open in two horizontal  halves. 
  2. Cut each half in the center vertically into two and slice each strip diagnonally into wedges. 
  3. As this a thorny fish, cutting in this manner keeps the bones long enough to remove easily when eating. 
  4. Wash the fish well, apply a little salt and set aside.
  5. Grind the masala to a smooth paste. 
  6. Shred the ginger, slice the onion and slit the green chillies. 
  7. Take a vessel and add the ginger, onion and green chillies
  8. Add a tsp. of salt and squeeze together to extract the flavours. 
  9. No oil is required for this curry. 
  10. Add the masala with the masala water and adjust consistency of the curry (we like it thin).
  11. Place on heat and bring to a boil. 
  12. Reduce flame and simmer 10 minutes. 
  13. Add the fish and shake the vessel so the fish pieces settle and do not overlap each other. 
  14. Increase flame, bring to a boil, reduce flame and simmer 10 minutes till oil appears on the surface and the curry appears glossy.
  15. Switch off and serve hot with steamed rice.

Fried Fish Curry


I always loved this curry when my mother made it. Searing the fish or lightly frying it with just a little salt and turmeric powder and then including it in a curry that is not too spicy, just made the fish and the curry absolutely delicious. The same curry can be made with Rawas (Indian Salmon) or Surmai (King Fish) and is sometimes made into a Roce curry with coconut milk added to the curry at the end of cooking and then garnished with some golden fried onions. Absolutely lip smacking!

Fried Fish Curry

Ingredients

  • 2 medium pomfrets (750 gms. Total approx.)
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. turmeric

For tempering

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 green chillies
  • 1” pc. Ginger
  • 2 tbsp. coconut oil

Masala to grind to a paste

  • 4 Kashmiri chillies
  • 4 heaped tbsp. coconut powder
  • ½ tbsp. coriander seeds
  • ¼ tsp. cumin seeds
  • 6 to 8 peppercorns
  • 1 small onion
  • 2 flakes garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
  • Small marble sized ball tamarind
  • 1 tsp. salt or to taste

Method

  1. Clean the fish and cut into desired pieces. 
  2. Wash well and drain.  
  3. Apply salt & turmeric powder and toss the fish lightly.  Set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.  Meanwhile prepare the spices for the masala and grind to a smooth paste adding a cup or two of water.
  4. Heat a frying pan and add 2 tbsp. of oil to the pan and fry the fish pieces lightly on both sides.  Remove and set aside.
  5. For tempering, slice the onion, shred the ginger and slit the green chillies. 
  6. Heat the oil in a pan and add the chillies, ginger and onion and fry till light brown. 
  7. Add the masala paste with the masala water, 1 tsp. salt, bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. 
  8. Add the fried fish, bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes till oil surfaces.
  9. Serve hot with boiled rice, vegetable and some pickle for a light but delicious meal.

Quick Raw Mango Curry


Quick Raw Mango Curry

A delicious tart & spicy curry made with 6 fleshy mango seeds. I had used the mango flesh to make “God Lonche” pickle (Sweet & Sour Mango Pickle) and didn’t want to waste the mango seeds.

Served the curry for lunch with boiled rice, valchi bhaji tel piyav, kaane fry (lady fish fry) and prawn balchao (made by my friend Melville). Lip smacking!!

Ingredients

  • 3 raw mangoes, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 1” pc. Ginger, shredded
  • 2 green chillies, slit
  • 3 flakes garlic, chopped
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • ½ tsp. mustard seeds
  • ½ tsp. cumin seeds
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tsp. jaggery
  • 2 tbsp. oil

Grind to a paste

  • 2 tbsp. Bafat masala powder
  • 2 to 3 tbsp. coconut

Method

  1. Heat oil in a vessel, add the mustard seeds and cumin,
  2. When they pop, add the garlic, ginger, chillies and onion and fry till light brown. 
  3. Add the masala paste, with the masala water, salt, stir and cook till oil appears on the edges. 
  4. Add the raw mangoes and bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer till oil surfaces. 
  5. Add jaggery, cook further 2 minutes and take off flame. 
  6. Serve hot with plain boiled (steamed) rice. 
  7. We had this curry with rice, valchi bhaji (check out my Valchi Bhaji Tel Piyav video) and Kaane fry (Lady fish fry)
  8. Was simply awesome!

A Typical Konkan Coastal Fish Curry Rice Meal for Four persons cooked in less than 30 minutes


A Typical Konkan Coastal Fish Curry Rice Meal for Four persons cooked in less than 30 minutes (excluding preparation)

To keep it real have used my daily regular utensils 😉 😉

A meal for four persons

  1. Raouns (Rawas, Indian Salmon) Fish Curry
  2. Cabbage Vegetable
  3. Lepo (Sole Tounge Fish) fry
  4. Steamed rice
  5. Mango pickle (homemade)
  1. Rawas/Raouns (Indian Salmon) Fish curry

Ingredients

  • 8 pieces Raouns fish
  • ½ medium onion
  • 2 green chillies
  • 1” pc ginger
  • 1 raw mango
  • 1 tsp. Salt or to taste

To grind to a paste

  • 4 Kashmiri chillies
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
  • 6 peppercorns
  • ½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 tbsp. coconut powder
  • 2 flakes garlic
  • ½ medium onion

Method

  1. Clean and wash & cut fish.  Apply a little salt and set aside. 
  2. Grind the masala to a smooth paste. 
  3. Slice the onion, green chillies and ginger. 
  4. Wash and peel the raw mango and cut into wedges.
  5. Heat 1 to 2 tbsp. coconut oil and add the sliced onion, green chillies and ginger.  Saute till lightly brown. 
  6. Keep the flame low so the flavors of the onion, chillies and ginger release and give off a nice aroma. 
  7. Add the masala paste, the masala water, raw mango pieces and salt. 
  8. Stir and increase the flame and bring to a boil, simmer till oil appears on the edges. 
  9. Add the fish, stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce flame to medium low and cook for ten minutes. 
  10. When curry is done it will leave fat and appear glossy.
  11. Remove from flame.

P.S.: Same recipe may be used for Pomfret, Gole fish (Hammour), Mandeli (Golden Anchovies), Surmai (Kind Fish).  This curry is called sweet fish curry where chillies are less and coriander seeds are more. Other curries are the amotik (Spicy hot) usually made with Tarle (Sardines), Bangde (Mackerels), Bhing (Herring) Tato (Shark) etc., Green curry with fresh green masala for Pomfret, Fresh Bombay duck, etc. and the Kane  (Lady Fish) where curry to similar to above but Ajwain is added to the masala and onion and garlic are increased. 

2. Cabbage vegetable

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 cups shredded cabbage
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 green chillies
  • 1 small tomato (Optional)
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • 4 flaked garlic
  • ½ tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
  • 1 tsp. salt or to taste

Method

  1. Shred the cabbage and soak in salted water for few minutes. 
  2. Slice the onion and green chillies, chop the tomato.
  3. Crush the garlic cloves and wash the curry leaves.
  4. Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow to splutter. 
  5. Add the garlic and curry leaves, followed by the chillies and onion and saute for a minute. 
  6. Add the cabbage and salt, mix.
  7. Cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes till done.  Do not add any water.
  8. Garnish with fresh coconut.

3. Lepo fry (Sole Tongue fish fry)

Ingredients

  • 8 to 10 Lepo
  • 3 tsp. red chilli powder (or to taste)
  • ½ to 1 tsp. salt (to taste)
  • 2 tbsp. vinegar
  • Rice flour or Rava to coat the fish

Method

  1. To clean the fish, cut the head and pull out the skin from both sides and the intestines.  Wash and leave aside to drain.
  2. Mix the red chilli powder, salt and vinegar to a paste and apply to the fish and marinate for half hour.
  3. Heat some oil to shallow fry the fish. 
  4. Take some rice flour or rava in a plate. 
  5. Roll the fish to coat evenly and fry on medium flame for 5 minutes on each side till crisp.

4. Steamed Rice

  • 1.5 cups basmati rice or boiled rice if you wish
  • 1 tsp. salt
  1. Wash the rice and soak in water for atleast 15 minutes.
  2. Bring water to a boil in a vessel. 
  3. Add the pre-soaked rice, salt and bring to a boil. 
  4. Reduce flame and simmer till rice is tender.  Strain the water. 

Tip: Cook the rice on low flame so the grains remain whole and separate and do not break.

Tuna Fish Cutlets


Tuna Fish Cutlets

Canned Tuna Fish cutlets

I owe my gratitude to our dear family friend Anita Martins for this easy and simply delightful recipe. Would never have know the ‘mayonnaise’ trick that really takes the taste to another level. Yes, absolutely, you add some mayonnaise to the tuna mix!!

This recipe is a hit at our home and made almost on a weekly basis as it is one of my childrens’ favorite. Even though they hardly eat fish, except for shrimp, they are game anyday for Tuna cutlets provided the tuna is out of a can! Moreover, since it is so quick and simple it is a go to recipe if short on time or out of options on what side dish to make. Goes very well with Dal or Moghe Sar, Vegetable curry, Kuwalo Bafad, etc.

I prefer using the “White Meat Tuna in Sunflower Oil” and also add the oil to the mixture. This really adds to the taste and texture of the cutlets. Although making the cutlets would be a little difficult to handle due to the wet mixture, but once you roll in the semolina it becomes easier to shape.

Fry the cutlets as soon as the mixture is ready otherwise the onions may begin leaving moisture and as the mixture already has the fish oil it will tend to become too wet to handle. If there is a gap between preparation and frying, just put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix just before frying. Also making the cutlets and keeping them aside before frying will tend to break them. Just roll the ball of mixture in semolina and keep aside and form the cutlets when you are ready to place on the frying pan.

Tuna Fish Cutlets

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 2 tins tuna fish (160 gms, each in sunflower oil)
  • 2 large onions
  • 4 green chillies
  • 1/2 tsp. ginger paste (or 1″ pc. ginger chopped fine) (optional)
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • ½ tsp. turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp. garam masala powder
  • ½ tsp. black pepper powder (use white peper instead, if available)
  • Small bunch fresh coriander (optional)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Rava (Semolina) to coat the cutlets
  • Oil for shallow frying

Method

  1. Empty the contents of the fish tins in a bowl alongwith its oil. Don’t be tempted to discard the oil as it adds to the flavor.
  2. Chop the onions, chillies, ginger & coriander leaves finely and add to the fish.
  3. Add the egg, mayonnaise, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala & pepper powder and salt.  Mix everything well. 
  4. Heat a frying pan on medium low and add 4 tbsp. oil.
  5. Take a portion of the mixture the size of a lemon and roll in semolina.
  6. Form the balls into cutlets on the palms of your hand and gently place on the frying pan and shallow fry on medium low till crisp and brown on both sides.

P.S.: The mixture will be quite wet but when rolled in the semolina will be easier to handle and will set when frying.  Do not put too much oil, just fry in enough oil on medium low.  The cutlets may break if fried in too much oil.

Try my other cutlet recipes, Sprout Cutlet Rolls, Spicy Fish Cutlets, Hara Bara Kabab, Zucchini & Quinoa Patties

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

 

Website Powered by WordPress.com.
%d bloggers like this: