Kerala Fish Stew

This Kerala Fish Stew is a family affair. I first had this curry when my husband and I went to Dehradun just after getting married, so we could spend some time with his side of the family. As a new bride, my head was filled with solemn ideas of what was expected of me in this somewhat unfamiliar world. As it happened, the trip turned out to be just wonderful, where we got to spend a lovely week with our warm big-hearted family. My recollections of this meaningful trip are peppered with memories of food…my mother-in-law finding out how much I loved the fresh malai that we would have with rusk every morning and creating a special reserve of fresh cream just for me…Badi Nani and Dadi Bua, our grandmothers, firmly holding my hand and making me stir halwa three times before hurrying me out of the kitchen, insisting that that should be the only time I entered the kitchen, and all I was to do on the trip from then on was to relax and let myself be treated like royalty. “No work should be given to our Bahu Rani (Princess Bride)” they’d declare.

I did end up sneaking into the kitchen when Anadi’s uncle, who is a delightful chef (and runs a bunch of restaurants in Europe to add further legitimacy to this dish), was putting together this lovely fish stew. Guided purely by the inspiration of the moment, he would add some ingredients, come back after a while, taste it, and decide it needed a little of something else. He’d hum and hover mysteriously over the pot for a few minutes and then go away again. In broken Hindi, I convinced his right-hand man to keep track of what was going into the pot each time and tell me so I could note down his inspiration of the day as my secret recipe.

It turned out to be a gorgeous stew with a beautiful medley of flavors. I went back and forth about calling it a Kerala stew because of the tamarind or a Bengali stew thanks to the mustard oil. Today I think the tamarind wins. But I hope you like it as much as the Bengalis in our family do!

Kerala Fish Stew

Soumya Santhanakrishnan

Bringing back fond memories of family with this delicate fish stew.

5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

• 4 Tilapia Fillets You can also use 2 swordfish fillets instead
• 1.5 Large red onions
• 1 Lemon
• 1.4 cup Cilantro leaves
• 1.5 tsp Tomato paste
• 1 tsp Tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp Yoghurt
• 0.5 tsp Mustard seeds
• 2 tsp Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
• 0.5 tsp Red chili powder
• 0.5 tsp Coriander powder
• 1 tsp Fish curry masala powder (optional)
• 1 tbsp Mustard oil
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• To taste Salt

Instructions

 

• Cut the fish fillets into 1 inch pieces and keep in a large bowl.
• Chop the onions roughly and set aside
• Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the fillets and let it sit while you get the rest of the ingredients together (Tip: The lemon juice helps ensure the fish isn't "smelly" when you cook it. You can also use milk instead of lemon juice).
• Chop cilantro leaves and keep aside.
• Bring a large pot to medium-high heat. Add mustard oil and vegetable oil and wait for it to heat up.
• Add the mustard seeds to the oil and let them splutter.
• When the seeds have stopped spluttering, add the chopped onions and sauté for ~12 mins until the onions are cooked and you can’t smell the rawness of the onions anymore.
• Add garlic paste and ginger paste and sauté for two minutes.
• Then add tomato paste, red chili powder, coriander powder and fish curry masala powder and stir well to let the spices combine. Let it cook together for a few minutes.
• Switch stove off and let the mixture cool down for five minutes.
• Use an immersion blender and blend the mixture nicely till it is a smooth paste. You can add up to 1 cup of water to help with the blending.
• Now add the tamarind paste along with 1.5 cups of water and bring the stew to a boil.This is one of those recipes where you will need to add salt to taste because it depends on how strong your tamarind paste is. You probably won’t need more than 0.5 tsp salt.
• Add the fish to the stew and close the pot. It will take 6-8 mins for tilapia to cook. Be careful about not overcooking the fish.
• Once the fish is cooked, bring the pot to low heat. Add yoghurt and mix well. Your stew is ready! Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve.

Keyword curry, easyrecipes, homemade, indian, recipes, saffronnspice, seafood, southindian, southindianfood, stew, tastecooking, tasty