Surmai / Neimeen / Kingfish Tawa Fry

We went to the fish market in INA last weekend and bought kingfish / surmai and mackerel / bangda. This time we got a whole kingfish / surmai that was not too big, it was then cleaned and cut as per our choice. The fish vendor also had some really big surmai that would be filleted according to the customers' choice. At home, the only way to cook kingfish / surmai is to fry it. We like to tawa fry the fish after marinating it for some time in the masalas. 

Tawa fish fry is where the fish slice is fried in a tawa or a very shallow pan with enough oil to cover the underside of the slice of fish. If necessary oil can be added little by little as more batches are fried. Also another feature is that this fish is not batter coated but is fried with only the marinade on.

Ingredients
Surmai - 500 gms
Onion - 1/2
Garlic - 7 to 8 cloves
Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp
Black pepper pwd - 1tsp
Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil - 4 to 5 tbsp
Clean and slice the fish and keep aside.

Grind the onion and garlic with no water or as less water as possible. Take this mix into a bowl and add the red chilli, pepper and turmeric powders and the salt and mix together with a spoon. When mixed well, apply to each slice of fish and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

 

Heat a tawa or if you do not have one, use a shallow pan and add the oil into it. This is not a deep fried fish, it is done with enough oil to coat the bottom of the fish completely without submerging the slice. When the oil is hot, lower the heat on low to medium and place the fish slices in, leaving space between slices. After about 5 to 8 minutes, turn the slice over and cook. Fry both sides till the slices are cooked, till firm. If you do not want your fish crisp, take it out once the fish is firm and golden on both sides. At home, we like our fish to be fried firm and crisp on the outside and is mostly done till browned. Enjoy this fried fish with rice and dad or sambhar.

 

 

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.

Eggplant and Dry Prawn / Vangi Sode Ghalun

This dish is a typical Maharashtrian curry that is paired off with chapatis. During the monsoons, fishing activity ceases or is on a very low scale because of the unpredictable weather conditions. The fish breeding season is also around the same period and the fishing community takes a break from fishing activity and restricts itself to repairing boats or nets. This is also the time when serious fish eaters  resort to dry fish preparations. Prior to the monsoons, housewives stock up on dried fish that is made to last through the season and dry prawn is most popular amongst the dry fish category. Dry prawn can be made into chutneys, curries and dry preparations combined with vegetables.

 

Ingredients
Eggplant, diced - 1 cup
Dry prawn - 1/2 cup
Onion, large - 1
Tomato, large - 1
Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp
Kanda lasun masala - 1 tsp
Kokum - 1 small piece
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

If the dry shrimp is really small then lightly roast it till its aroma is released, should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat. If the dry shrimp is big then the shrimp has to be cleaned by removing the head and legs and then roasted. The measure given here is after removing the head and legs.

Chop the onion and tomato and keep aside.

Heat a pan and add the oil, when it is hot add the chopped onion and sauté till light golden. Then add the chopped tomato and continue sautéing. When the tomato has softened add the turmeric and red chilli powder and sauté. Add the dry prawn and mix in then add 1 cup water and add some salt. Let the mixture come to a boil and add the kanda lasun masala and mix. Then cover the pan with a lid and cook. After about 10 minutes add the chopped eggplant, kokum and water if required. Mix well and cover with a lid and cook. When it is cooked check for salt and if required add some. Add the chopped coriander leaves and mix and take off the heat.

If you do not have kanda lasun masala omit it and adjust the red chilli powder for the spice level.

Aiyla Varthathu / Talela Bangda / Mackerel Fry

Aiyla porichathundu, karimeen varathatundu..... goes a Malayalam film song proving the love Keralites have for seafood. I have always loved aiyla fry especially the way mom makes it. I have lovely memories of mom frying the fish at lunch time, with me at the table gorging on a hot piece of fish with a plate of rice, sambhar and thoran. Mom fries the Ayala fish to have a nice and crisp outer and soft flaky inside. Living in Mumbai during childhood meant we got a fresh supply of fish always. There were fish vendors who came to our door with fresh fish at about 9 or 10 in the morning and if we missed that then there was a fish market close by to stock from. But after moving to Delhi, we found that there are only a few markets that have good fish and INA market is one of them. The other day when I went to the market I found mackerels in the fish shop and immediately picked a couple. I was not sure of its freshness but the thought of having varatha ayala was already making my mouth water. Thankfully, the fish vendor cleans the fish and cuts it to the size of choice. All the aiyla then needed, was a quick rinse to clean and it was ready to be marinated. When I clean fish, I usually add turmeric powder to the water for the last rinse to take away some of the fishy smell.

We were so hungry that I didn't wait to take pics before dinner and there were only few pieces left after

For the marinade, I used the same spice mix that my mother does, with an additional dash of crushed garlic. I got the fish vendor to cut each bangda in 3 pieces and then made small cuts on each piece so the masala penetrates each piece nicely. The recipe:

Ingredients

Aiyla / Bangda - 4

Red Chilli pwd - 1 tbsp, heaped

Turmeric pwd - 1tsp

Black Pepper pwd - 1.5tsp

Garlic - 6 pods, crushed

Salt as per taste

Oil - 5 to 6 tbsp

Prepare the marinade by mixing the powders together, add a few drops of water to make a thick paste. Rub the marinade paste onto each piece of fish on all sides and into the cuts. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours.

Heat oil in a flat pan and add the fish pieces, as many as the pan can hold with space left between the pieces. Keep the heat on medium and after about 7 minutes flip the pieces onto the other side. In case the pieces are thick, stand the pieces on all sides to cook well. It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to cook each batch of fish alternating between low and medium heat.

 

Cheera thoran, cabbage thoran, fried fish, rice with rasam