Fish Curry / மீன் குழம்பு

Fishes are rich in omega3 which is an essential nutrient for Children's brain development. Apart from the health constraint, Its taste is irresistible. It is one of the non-veg variety which makes us mouth watering while thinking about it itself. Fish curry tastes best in the next days. Always serve fish curry at least after 2 hours of preparation, it gives the better taste than serving it immediately. I really cannot wait after its preparation, So always I make this curry first, then prepare the steamed rice and fish fry or any other dish i prepare, so it gets its own resting time.

The best ever fish curry I have tasted is at my senior's home. When we visited her during our college days, her mom prepared such a wonderful meen kuzhambu. We tasted the fish in "Muthal Mariyathai" movie style at her house only for the first time.
In restaurant, I always like, (in chennai) Hotel Samco's fish curry with steamed rice. I have tasted it around five, six years back. Hope still they have the same quality and taste.

Ok, Lets see my version of fish curry now.

Ingredients:

Fish - 5-6 pieces (I used king fish)
Onion - 1/2 a medium sized
garlic 2-3 cloves
Tamarind - big gooseberry sized
salt- as per taste
Oil - as needed to saute onions

To marinate:
Chili powder - 1 tsp
turmeric - 1 tsp
salt - a pinch
lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

To Grind:
Small onions - 5-6
Big onion - 1/2 a medium sized
tomato - 1 big (cut it to cubes)
coconut - about 1/4 cup
chili powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1.First Wash and marinate the fish pieces with turmeric , chili powder , salt and lemon juice for 1-2 hrs.
2.In a kadai, heat a tbsp of oil and saute  onions (small, big) and tomato.
3. In a blender/mixi, grind sauted  onions, tomato, and the items listed in "to grind".
4. In the same kadai, heat another tbsp of oil, and saute garlic, and finely chopped half an onion.
5. When the onions turn transparent, add the ground paste and saute until the raw smell leaves.
6. Then Add the extracted Tamarind water, if required add a cup of water
7. Let the mix boil well for 5-10 mins.
8. Once the raw smell leaves and the gravy is cooked add the fish pieces to the gravy and let it cook for another 6-8 mins.
9. Once the fish is cooked, add the chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame.














Notes:
1. Depends on the fish steak size the cooking time differes.
2. I added  about 2 tbsp of "Fish fried oil" at the end, which gives extra flavor for the kuzhambu.