BLACK POMFRET CURRY

 BLACK POMFRET CURRY 

We are back home in India after a few months in the United States. It feels good to be back in my kitchen. I wanted to make a fish dish and decided to try this one made with black pomfret- which is called Kappu Maanji/Paplet/Halwa. 

Apart from being very tasty, one of the biggest benefits of the pomfret is that it is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and has numerous health benefits. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for dishes made with pomfret, such as:-

• Paplet Masaledar 
• Maanji Pulimunchi

Often, I just like to shallow fry the pomfret.  Today, I went in for a curry which pairs superbly with simple hot steamed rice!! This recipe has been adapted from Mangalore Recipes .

We loved it and I am sure you will too! 

Ingredients:-

• Black Pomfret, about 500-600 gms
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp 
• Coriander Seeds, 3 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds, 1/8 tsp
• Mustard Seeds,1/8 tsp 
• Peppercorns, 1/4 tsp
• Raw Rice, 1/8 tsp 
• Byadgi Red Chillies, 8
• Short Chillies, 4
• Small sized Onion, 1 + 1 
• Tamarind, size of a small lemon 
• Garlic Cloves, 6-8 
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 1 cup
• Ginger, 1 and 1/2 "
• Green Chillies, 3-5 ( less spicy variety) 
• Salt, to taste
• Coconut Oil, 1 tsp + 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash and clean the pomfret and slice them into 8-10 fillets

Mix together turmeric powder and salt. Rub this on the pomfret fillets evenly and let it marinate for about 10 minutes

Slice the onions, chop the ginger and slit the green chillies. 

Dry roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns,  and raw rice all together. Keep aside. 

Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a kadhai. Add both the Byadgi red chillies and the short chillies. Roast the chillies well on medium flame and keep aside

In a mixer jar, grind together the roasted ingredients along with the roasted chilies, 1 sliced onion, coconut gratings, tamarind, and turmeric powder to a smooth paste adding just the required amount of water. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in the kadhai, and on medium heat add the second sliced onion and chopped ginger, and slit green chilies

Fry till the onion turns slightly golden 

To this add the freshly prepared ground masala and mix well

Add a little water to form a gravy but make sure the gravy is thick

Add salt, mix well and bring to a boil

At this stage, drop the marinated fish pieces one by one gently into the gravy and mix carefully 

Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium  heat

Switch off the gas and transfer to a serving bowl

Serve Black Pomfret Curry with hot steamed rice 

MANGALOREAN FISH CURRY

 MANGALOREAN FISH CURRY

We have become recent fans of Food Lovers TV the Kripal Amanna show and I wanted to try out one of his demonstrated recipes. By a happy co-incidence, we had got some good seer fish from our usual shop. A quick internet search showed us Kripal demonstrating the making of Mangalorean Fish Curry. The decision was made!! 

Though my blog is largely vegetarian I do have some Seafood recipes as my husband and I are very fond of prawns and fish. 

Elsewhere in this blog, you will find recipes for some really yummy dishes such as:-

• Goan Fish Curry 
• Maanji Pulimunchi 
• Sungta Alle Piyava Ghashi (Konkani Style Prawn Curry)

So, this recipe  has been adapted from "Mangalorean Fish Curry"  by Kripal Amanna  of Food Lovers TV. While he has used  a mix of 9 Kashmiri Red Chillies and 6 Gunter Chillies, to suit our spice level, I went in for 9 of our usual Byadgi Red Chillies.

You can make this using different types of fish. We have a distinct preference for pomfret and seer fish so we used seer fish today. Indo Pacific King Mackerel/seer fish/king fish is known as Surmai in Marathi, Anjal in Kannada and Visonu in my mother tongue, Konkani.

I was happy that the dish came out very well. We had this for lunch with hot steamed rice. It was truly delicious. 

Ingredients:- 

• Seer Fish/Anjal/Visonu, 500 gms, cut into fillets
• Water, 400 ml or as required
• Salt, to taste

To Roast and Grind For The Masala:-

• Coriander Seeds, 1 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1 tsp
• Peppercorns, 10
• Mustard Seeds, 1/4 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds, 15
• Carom Seeds, a pinch
• Byadgi Red Chillies, 9
• Turmeric Powder, 1/2 tsp for marination + 1/2 tsp for the masala
• Large Onion, roughly chopped, 1 
• Garlic Cloves, 10
• Ginger, 1/2 " piece
• Tamarind, lime-sized ball
• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 5 tbsp
• Coconut Oil, 1 tsp -to roast the chillies

For the Seasoning:-

• Small-sized Onion, 1
• Curry Leaves, 12-15
• Coconut Oil, 2 tsp 

Method:

Mix together 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of salt and apply this to the fish fillets evenly on both sides and marinate them in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.

Roughly chop the ginger

Roughly chop the large-sized onion -  for the masala 

Finely chop the medium -sized onion - for the seasoning

In a thick-bottomed kadhai , dry roast the spices ( coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, carom seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds) on low/medium heat taking care that they don't get burnt.

Once they give off a good aroma and are roasted, transfer to a plate and allow them to cool.

Add 1 tsp coconut oil to the same kadhai  and roast the Byadgi Red Chillies till they become crisp, switch off the flame and allow them to cool 

In a mixer jar, grind together the roasted spices, roasted chillies, along with coconut gratings, garlic cloves, chopped ginger and onions, tamarind and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Add water- little by little -and  grind to get a smooth masala of thick consistency. 

Transfer the ground masala to the kadhai, add water from the mixer jar, to get a curry of thick consistency 

To this add salt to taste and mix well

Switch on the gas and bring the masala to a boil 

Cover and cook on low flame . Check for salt and add if required.

Now one by one add the marinated fish fillets gently into the masala so that they are fully submerged in the curry 

Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes on medium heat till the fish gets cooked

Lastly do the seasoning by heating 2 tsp of coconut oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onions and curry leaves and saute till the onions get browned

Pour this seasoning onto the fish curry 

Switch off the gas and transfer to a serving bowl

Serve the Fish Curry with hot steamed rice 

GOAN FISH CURRY

 GOAN FISH CURRY

Before I got married, we were strict vegetarians in my parents' house. Over the years, I began to eat non-vegetarian food once in a while and began to cook it too. Later, this dropped and we used to eat out more often than I cooked at home.  

Due to the Covid we haven't been going out so I decided a few days ago to make Goan Fish Curry. This is because we love prawns and other seafood and have fond memories of annual trips to Goa! I was delighted to get cleaned and ready to cook Black Pomfret delivered at home by Big Basket. In Goa, pomfret is known as Paplet. 

Apart from tasting delicious, Black Pomfrets have many health benefits as well. They are high in fatty acids besides having lots of Vitamin B 12 which is good for the nervous system.

This Goan Fish Curry was delicious and we enjoyed it for lunch with hot steamed rice. I have adapted this recipe from the video by Chef Varun Inamdar of Get Curried.

Fresh Fish from Big Basket! 

Happy to see My Story in Facebook Page for "Cooking With Shobana" for this - Goan Fish Curry In The Making - was well liked. I am sure you will like the dish too ! 

Ingredients:-

• Black Pomfret, 500 gms, or about 7-8 slices 
• Green Chillies, slit, 2, for the final touch! 
• Water, 2 cups
• Salt, to taste

To Be Ground To A Smooth Paste: 

• Fresh Coconut Gratings, 1/2 cup
• Byadgi Red Chillies,  5
• Tamarind Paste, 1 tbsp
• Green Chillies, 2 
• Ginger, 1 " piece, 
• Garlic Cloves, large-sized, 3
• Medium-sized Onion, 1/2
• Turmeric Powder, 1/4 tsp
• Cumin Seeds, 1/4 tsp
• Black Peppercorns, 1/4 tsp
• Coriander Seeds, 1 tsp 

Method:-

Wash, peel and roughly chop the ginger 

Roughly chop 2 green chillies 

Slice the onion

Wash the fish slices 3-4 times in water

Apply turmeric powder and salt to the fish slices and keep aside to marinate for about 15 minutes 

Dry roast the Byadgi red chillies, cumin seeds, black peppercorns and coriander seeds in a kadhai for a couple of minutes and then allow this to cool 

In a mixer jar, grind together the fresh coconut gratings and the dry roasted ingredients, along with tamarind paste, green chillies, ginger, garlic, sliced onion and turmeric powder initially in a pulse mode till the ingredients get crushed. Then grind the ingredients once more, adding the required amount of water to a smooth paste

Heat a thick bottomed kadhai and add the freshly ground paste, 2 cups of water and salt. (Remember that some salt has already been added to the fish while marinating)

Mix well, cover and cook the curry for about 10 minutes by when you will find that the masala would have released oil 

To this add the marinated fish slices and again cover and cook for about 6- 8 minutes or till the fish gets fully done

You can check whether it is well cooked or not by piercing the fish slices with a toothpick 

Take care that the fish is not overcooked otherwise the fish slices could break up

Lastly, add the slit green chillies 

Switch off the gas and transfer the curry to a serving bowl

Serve the Goan Fish Curry hot with steamed rice