Rajam's Fish Mollee

 In 1993, when I was getting ready to migrate to Australia, I would sit with my mother for hours and write down recipes in my little brown diary.  I have thumbed through my diary for several years now and it is heavily stained, and dog eared. I have been transferring recipes from the diary into the online platform.  The diary however retains the magic of my mother's memories, the cooking smells that came from our kitchen at home and the delighted squeals of the rest of the family when the food was plated up.  The online platform, I find, doesn't have the soul though it is very convenient.

This recipe was one of the most loved of my appa's and he would get the fish sliced thinly from the market so amma could make it just the way he liked it.  The fish we bought for this dish was Spanish Mackerel but I guess you can use any firm fleshed fish. I was lucky that the fish monger at my local market sliced the fish thinly for me just how I like it.

This recipe is said to have been passed down from the Portuguese traders  who visited Kerala to buy spices.  It has now become one of the most sought after dishes in restaurants that is well known by all Keralites and a lot of visitors too.

This stew is very versatile and can be served with appam, rice, idiappam or bread rolls and toast.

Today I have served it with red rice flour idiappams.

Ingredients:

1 kg thinly sliced Spanish Mackerel cutlets (or any firm fillet of fish if you prefer boneless)

2 large Spanish onions, sliced finely

6 to 8 green chillies, sliced ( reduce chillies if you want a milder curry)

1x 3 inch piece of ginger, skin scraped, sliced and crushed

1 big garlic bulb, skinned and crushed

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely powdered

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 1/2 tins of coconut milk (600 ml)

3 - 4 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 stalk curry leaves

salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a saucepan and add the mustard seeds.  When they splutter, add the sliced onions, green chillies and crushed ginger. Sauté for a few minutes till the onions become translucent.

Meanwhile in a bowl, mix 300 ml of water and 300 ml of the coconut milk. Set aside.  Reserve the 300 ml of the unmixed coconut milk to be used later in the process.

When the onions turn translucent, add the garlic, turmeric powder and cumin powder. Mix well - may be for a minute or so, until the garlic just turns fragrant.

Now add the coconut milk mixed with the water, mix well and let the sauce cook.

The cooking process will take a couple of minutes.  At this stage add salt and a tablespoon of vinegar at a time. The aim is to get a sweet, spicy, tangy sauce.  The sweetness is from the coconut milk, spice is in the ginger, garlic and chilli - and the tang comes from the vinegar. 

Wash the fish and drain the water or pat dry. 

When you are happy with the sweet - spicy - tangy taste of the sauce, lay the fish carefully in the sauce. Then pour the reserved thick coconut milk on top of the fish.  Cover with lid and cook in a low flame - for about 5 minutes until the fish becomes firm and white.

The finished gravy looks like this:

Serve hot with bread, rice, appam or idiappam.