Aiyla / Bangda / Mackerel Currry - a Kerala Fish Curry

Picture a small cottage at the side of the fields overlooking swaying coconut trees and endless stretches of paddy fields. A gentle breeze blowing across, bringing with it strains of a barely discernable song and an aroma of something nice cooking away on a wood fire stove. Now what completes the picture for Keralites? Focus onto the pot bubbling away on the stove, it is a Fish or Meen Curry, and alongside is a pot of red unpolished rice. Take this a little further - at lunchtime, these pots and plates are kept on the floor and each person is handed a plate heaped with boiled red rice and a little fish / meen curry on the side. The traditional way to enjoy this meal is by pressing handfuls of rice in the insides of the palm into balls and dipping these rice balls in the fish curry and quickly popping it into the mouth. A satisfied sigh follows after it is swallowed. A heaped plate is thus demolished in a matter of minutes and a satiated burp follows.

Today, when my mother made the fish / meen curry in a typical Keralite way it was easy to imagine the above. The absence of the many props did not lessen our enjoyment of our fish and rice lunch.  We made the aiyla / bangda fish in a coconut and coriander gravy - a pacha thenga and mallee aracha curry in the chatty. Typically, my mother's measurements are described as a little of this and either a small or big spoon of that. This time, though, she did wait for me to measure the main ingredients out. So, here goes the recipe .....

Ingredients
Aiyla / Bangda /Mackerel fish - 6
Thenga / Nariyal / Coconut grated - 3/4th cup packed
Cheriya ulli / Sambhar onions / Shallots - 12
Mallee / Dhaniya / Coriander pwd - 6 tbsp
Green chilli - 4
Ginger - 1.5 inch pc
Garlic cloves - 5 to 6
Curry leaves - 15 to 20
Kodumpulli - 1 pc (the Kerala kokum)
Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp
Red chilli pwd - 4 tsp (mix of kashmiri & hot chilli powders)
Coconut oil - 1.5 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Clean the fish, cut it into pieces and apply salt and keep aside. Slit. The green chillies lengthwise and julienne the ginger. Wash the kodumpully and soak it in water. Incase kodumpully and shallots are not available substitute with 2 pieces kokum and 3/4th of medium sized onion.

Add the grated coconut, coriander powder, shallots, red chilli powder and garlic into a blender jar and grind to a fine paste.

Take the chatty (or any pan) and add the ground paste, slit green chillies, curry leaves, ginger juliennes, kodumpulli, turmeric powder and a bit of salt. Add about 2 to 2.5 cups of water to make a watery thin gravy and mix well. Add the fish and put the chatty on the stove on high heat. When the curry starts boiling, lower the heat and let it cook. It will take only about 10 to 15 minutes for the curry to be done. Hold the chatty with mittens and swirl it to mix the curry. Check the curry for salt and sourness. If the curry is too sour the kodumpully can be removed. This curry should have medium thick gravy which is hot and sour. If cooking in a chatty, the chatty retains heat and the curry continues to cook for some time even after taking it off the heat. The gravy thickens during this time so adding a bit of extra water at the start helps.

When done add the coconut oil and take off the heat. Keep covered for a few minutes and then take the lid off.
Serve hot with rice and a thoren.

Meen chaaru / Fish Curry straight from Kerala

Fish is a staple food in the diet of most people living along the coastal region in India. In Kerala, many families can have a meal of just rice and fish with no accompaniments and be content. There's an oft-said  joke that a person from the coastal area can have a plateful of plain rice just by sniffing the aroma of fish wafting in from a neighbor's house.

The last time I went to the fish market I got some black pomfret and decided to make this fish curry with it. Traditionally in Kerala, this fish curry is cooked on a wooden fire in a chattee and is supposed to be served only the next day. Since coconut is not added to this fish curry it keeps well for the next day by which time the spices have seeped into the fish and the gravy has absorbed the fish flavor as well. The mud chattee, the smoke from the wood fire and the kodumpully (type of tamarind / kokum) all lend their own flavor to this curry. This curry is thick and very very hot and hence just a few drops would be enough for a ball of rice. In Kerala, balls of rice are made and one side of these balls are lightly dipped in the curry and popped into the mouth. Anymore curry and one would have the whole galaxy bursting in the mouth, it is that hot.

This recipe is not that hot since I have added coconut milk to it and hence it also does not keep for the next day unless put into the frig. Though this curry does not have the flavors of the chattee and the wood fire, the inclusion of the kodumpully, the cheriya ulli (sambhar/small onion) and the karuveppila (curry leaves) manage to make it a yummy curry. Kodumpully is a sour fruit that is first sun dried and again dried in smoke imparting a smoky flavor to fish curries. It is the kokum of Kerala and is primarily added to fish curries as a souring agent.

Ingredients

Fish - 250gms cleaned pieces (any fish -sardine, mackerel, pomfret, king fish)

Sambhar onions - 10 to 12
Garlic - 10 to 12
Ginger - 1.5 inch
Red chilli pwd - 1.5tbsp
Coriander pwd - 1.5tbsp
Turmeric pwd - 1tsp
Fenugreek pwd - 1tsp (fenugreek seeds roasted and powdered)
Coconut milk - 6tbsp
Vegetable / Sunflower Oil - 2tbsp

Coconut oil - 2tbsp

Curry leaves - 4 to 5 sprigs

Slice the shallots or sambhar onions and finely chop ginger and garlic, Mix the red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and fenugreek powder together in a bowl and make a paste with a little water.

Heat a kadhai, add 2tbsp oil and 1tbsp coconut oil and when hot add the sliced onions and fry till light golden. Add the chopped ginger and garlic and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the masala paste and fry till the oil starts coming out and the mass comes together into a ball. Add 1.5cups water, 3 sprigs curry leaves, salt and kodumpully and let it boil. Check for taste and add the fish pieces and let it cook. Add a couple of tbsp of coconut milk and when done add the rest of the coconut milk, curry leaves and let it come close to a boil. Pour the remaining 1tbsp coconut oil on top, cover with a lid and immediately take off the heat. 

 

Notes: 

- The curry tastes best after letting it rest for a couple of hours.

- Use a mix of Kashmiri chilli powder and hot chilli powder to get the red color along with the hot spiciness.

- The fenugreek may make the curry taste a little bitter at the start but let it rest and the bitterness will go down.

- Use at least a little coconut oil to get the authentic Kerala taste.

This Fish Curry - Kerala style goes to the "Side dish mela", hosted by cooking4allseasons.