Papaji's Full Fish Fry Curry !!



Not Bad !:)

 The other day I bought some Fish – Fresh – Pink/Red Color Fish – I thought it was ‘Chemballi fish’ (Red Snapper) not fully grown - to confirm when I asked the Fish Guy , even he didn’t have much idea of the name :) So, I thought whats there in name – its been long time lets try the new fish today. The pink colored fish actually looked beautiful , and Esther could not stop appreciating the colour and features of the fish . So I thought let me not cut the fish into pieces and try something new – I marinated the fish and kept it out thinking what new can I try – And then I remembered my Dad ! Papaji as I call him is a great cook himself, and he has some specialities – “The Full Fish Fry Curry’ is one of his specialities , though I had idea of the recipe , I thought of calling him and checking it out, it was Saturday and I knew he might be at work , but I knew I had call him then , not later – Called him up and he was little tied up at office – I assured him nothing important and it was about ‘Full fish Fry Curry’ – I could feel his surprise and smile the other side – he said he will call me back soon .. He did and told me how to go about making the Fish curry :) Coincidentally this happened just a day before Father’s Day !

Whatever I am today as a person, my values my principles - I owe most of it to Dad . I am thankful to god for giving me Dad , for all the moments of my life where he was with me, and even for those moments where I wished he was with me – in both the cases he helped me become stronger and independent person. My interest in sports, cooking, food, music , doing thing myself , my hobbies , most of it is because I have seen my Dad doing and enjoying  whatever he did  and he is very good at most of the things , whether his work, or badminton, or calling numbers in the game of Thambola, cooking or fixing things - Dad has his unique style of doing things like his ‘Full Fish Fry Curry’ :) Miss you and Love you Papaji !!

Ps : If you are curious to know where is the Fish Curry, after frying the fish wrapped in Banana leaf (So that the fish does not get too crispy ) Thick gravy of coconut milk, lots of onion,ginger,garlic,green chillies, curry leaves and very mild masala and a spoon of vinegar is put on top of the fried fish ! it is very delicious recipe :)

Recipe

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Clean the fish ,do not remove the head

Marinating Fish

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 Ginger Garlic paste

1. 1/4th Tsp tuermeric
2. 1 Tsp Pepper powder (You can add more as per your taste)
3. 1 Tsp Chilli powder (Kashmiri Mirch if you don’t want it too hot)
4. Salt

Mix all the above ingredients and apply all over and inside the fish .

Keep it aside atleast for 30 mins (Longer the better :))

Tip :- Wrap it in a (Vazhaella) -Banana plantain leaf use a skewer (toothpick) to secure the leaf and fry the fish both sides (Banana leaf is used so that the fish does not get too crispy and also the masala (marinate) does not get burnt , since this done on relatively big fish – you wont want the fish to break while frying) .

 For the Gravy (Curry)

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1.  2-3 Medium size onion (You can also use spring onion – the small one it tastes better but you need lots of it )

2.  3-4 green chillies slit

3.  Ginger – cut thin and long

4.  Garlic – 2-4 (as per your taste – you can avoid also if you don’t like garlic)

5.  Curry Leaves - 2 strands (I put lots :)

6.  Turmeric Powder (1/4 Teaspoon)

7.  Coriander Powder (3-4 Teaspoons)

8.  Chilli Powder (1 – 1.5 Teaspoons)

Tip : For better results grind the Turmeric, Coriander, Chilli powder with 2 teaspoon of water in the grinder )

   

Milk of 1 medium regular size coconut

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First time put a little (Qtr cup) warm water grind the coconut in the mixie and squeeze out the milk (This will be thick creamy milk and very less in quantity – Keep it separate)

After taking the first Milk put 1 cup of water to the coconut and grind it again for the coconut milk (you can use Chai ki Channi to filter the milk)

And if you still think some more milk can be extracted put a little more warm water and just use your hand to squeeze out the extract

   

If you are using the Coconut powder – follow the instruction to get at least 2 cup of milk (depends on how much gravy you want)

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Curry/Gravy
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In a pan ( I use Chatti – the earthen pot) put some cooking oil ( well you don’t have to use coconut oil if you don’t like it :) ) put all the ingredients 1-5 in the oil and Sauté it till the onions turn Slight golden brown .

At this stage add the grounded masala and Salt , and sauté it till the masala starts separating from oil .

Pour the 2-3 extract of coconut milk at this stage and allow it to come to boil (Let it boil and reduce to half or till you find good consistency of the gravy ) .

At this stage pour the first extract of the coconut milk – make sure that the heat is kept low , and once you see the boil switch of the heat – do not let it boil .

After few minutes add a Teaspoon or 2 as per your taste of Vinegar in this gravy and stir it.

 Place your Fried fish on a flat surfaced bowl carefully – and pour the coconut gravy on top of it :)