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Showing posts with label fish curry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fish curry. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Fish Head Masala ( Fish Head cooked in Typical Punjabi Style )

Food innovations are all about following one's instincts and cravings. And breaking all those rules can sometimes lead to delicious results. Most of my signature recipes are lessons in sheer craziness and yet they are delectable without a doubt. This Sunday my family had to put up with yet another episode of madness when I decided to cook the much revered Rohu fish head in a Punjabi style gravy topped up with a dash of Chinese flavoring.

Needless to say, husband had his reservations. He argued that the most prized part of the Rohu's anatomy could have been put to better use. "With a plethora of Odia recipes available, what is the need to try something else ?", he put forward his views. But I had become smitten by another recipe posted by a dear friend on Facebook and I just had to try this variation. The Chinese bit was my addition as I did not want a dominant 'garam masala' flavor. And the final product turned out to be drool-worthy.

Read on for the recipe -


















Preparation Time - 35 mins

Ingredients -

  • 1 Fish head ( big one cut into two halves )
  • 1 Fish Tail 
  • 1 mediun sized potato
  • 1 medium sized onion
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • 1 tsp garlic paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cloves
  • 2 inch cinnamon
  • 6-7 peppercorns
  • 1 large country tomato 
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions
  • 1-2 slit green chilis
  • 1-2 finely chopped garlic cloves 
  • salt to taste
  • 3 tsp oil


Preparation - Marinate the fish head and tail with 1/4 tsp turmeric and salt . Let it stand for 15 mins.

Grind the onion to a fine paste and keep aside.

Puree the tomato and keep aside

Cooking - Heat 2 tsp oil in a non-stick . Add the fish head and tail and fry for 7-8 mins . Then lightly crush the fish head so that it turns up a little more crisp. The whole process should take about 15 mins on a medium flame. Remove and keep aside.

Peel and cut the potato into 4 parts. Add it to the same wok and fry till they turn light brown on the sides. Remove and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the whole spices and fry till fragrant.

Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for 2-3 mins.

Add the onion paste and cook to a light brown.

Finally add the tomato puree with the soy sauce and remaining powdered spices. Cook till oil starts to leave the sides.

Add the fried fish head, tail and potato pieces. Saute for 1-2 mins before adding 1 cup hot water. Cover and let cook for 6-7 mins or till potatoes are done.

Now add the chopped garlic and spring onions. Simmer for a minute.

Remove from the flame and serve hot with steamed rice or rotis !!




Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Chettinad Fish Curry

A few days back, we had purchased Seer fish in a larger quantity than usual. After preparing a batch of Rawa fry on the same day, I had popped the rest into the deep freeze as I wasn't too sure of making a routine Odia style fish curry with it. The fish curries in Odisha are usually done with river fish like Rohu, Catla or Mirkali ( a golden version of Rohu ) which have a different texture and smell as compared to sea fish like the Seer fish. Hence the dilemma.

So, I ended up looking for various Seer fish preparations on the net. Quite a few of them seemed to be too spicy for our liking and I had almost resigned myself to preparing another batch of rawa fry with a little twist in the flavor. I even marinated the fish with salt, turmeric and lemon juice for the purpose of preparing a fry. Simply out of habit (though sheer boredom is more like it ), I kept surfing for curries even as the fish was being fried ( without the rawa layer which I wanted to add at a later stage ). And I stumbled upon this wonderful blog Chettinad Recipes which had the recipe for a light yet seemingly delicious fish curry. Without any deliberation, I went ahead and prepared it with the pan fried fish ( the original used raw one ) and it turned out every bit as delicious as I had envisioned it would be.

Read on for the recipe -

















Preparation Time - 35 mins

Ingredients -

For the marination -


  • 500 gm Seer fish 
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp red chili powder
  • 1/3 tsp turmeric
  • salt to taste
For the curry -

  • 1 cup chopped shallots
  • 1 head of garlic ( peeled and finely chopped )
  • 2 medium size Tomatoes ( country variety is preferable )
  • 1/2 tsp Tamarind paste  ( depends on the sour content of the tomatoes/one's preference )
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 pinch fenugreek seeds
  • 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 sprig of curry leaves
  • 2 tbsp Fortune Vivo oil
  • salt to taste
  • chopped cilantro for the garnishing

Preparation - Wash and clean the fish. Marinate with salt, turmeric, red chili powder and lemon juice for 20 mins.

Peel and finely chop the tomatoes.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a wok. Add the fish pieces and fry them lightly on both sides. Remove and keep aside.

In the same wok, add the mustard, black peppercorns, cumin, fennel and fenugreek seeds. Once they crackle, add the chopped onions and garlic. Saute till the onions start to sweat. Then add the tomatoes and sprinkle a bit of slat over them. Cook till tomatoes turn mushy.

Add all the powdered spices and cook for 3-4 mins.

Add the tamarind dissolved in about 2 1/2  cups hot water. Adjust salt. Bring it to boil.

Add the fried fish and let it simmer for 15 mins. Stir 2-3 times in between to that it does not get burnt at the bottom .

Once the curry acquires the desired consistency, add the chopped cilantro and the roughly torn curry leaves.

Cover with a lid and remove from flame. Let it stand aside for sometime.

Serve at room temperature .


Thursday, May 5, 2016

Poi Besara ( Fish Head and greens curry from Odisha )

The scorching summers in Odisha are fiery enough to bleach, burn and obliterate most greens from one's backyard garden. But one creeper that is not only capable of withstanding this heat but thriving in it, is the Malabar spinach or 'Poi'. I vividly remember watering most plants twice a day during the summers, once early in the morning and another time during the evening, just to enable them to survive the wrath of the sun God. But this dark green plant seemed oblivious to the misery of it's fellow plants as it continued to grow at a vigorous rate and bloom. That is, inspite of the regular plucking of the leaves and the tender stem. With the vegetable supply dwindling down during summers, the Malabar spinach was a much needed addition to the summer menu.

One of my favorite curries with Malabar spinach was a frugal but delicious fish head curry. To quell the sibling rebellion over who would get the choicest bit of the fish, aka the head, my grandmother would fry the bit, crush it to bits and fry it up again. This would be made into a curry with malabar spinach, some pumpkin, potato and any other veggie one would find at the time. Instead of the heavy onion-garlic-ginger paste that goes into the chencheda, this one would be spiced with an ultra light mustard-garlic-chili paste.

Read on for the recipe - 


















Preparation Time - 30-35 mins

Ingredients -

  • 2 medium sized potatoes ( cut into small cubes )
  • 1 cup pumpkin ( cut into small cubes )
  • 1 cup Malabar spinach stems ( slit into 2 )
  • 2 cups malabar spinach leaves ( shredded)
  • 1 large Rohu/Catla fish head 
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 10 garlic cloves
  • 2 dry red chilis ( use for if you want it hot )
  • 5-6 tsp oil
  • salt to taste
  • 1/5 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp mustard seeds for tempering
  • a pinch of nigella seeds ( kala jeera)

Preparation - Wash and marinate the fish head with salt and a little turmeric.

Make a fine paste out of the 2 tsp mustard seeds, half of the garlic cloves and red chilis. Dissolve this paste in 1 cup water and keep aside.

Crush the remaining garlic. Chop the onion into medium sized pieces.

Cooking - Heat 3 tsp oil in a wok. Add the fish head and fry it.

Once it looks browned on all sides, remove it and crush it with a heavy object. Add it back to the wok and fry to a crisp on a low flame.

At the same time as you start cooking the fish, heat the remaining oil in another wok. Add the mustard, nigella seeds and crushed garlic. Once they turn fragrant, add the onion. Fry to a translucent.

Add the potato, pumpkin and malabar spinach stems. Sprinkle salt over the veggies and let them cook for 6-7 mins on medium flame.

Finally add the malabar spinach leaves and toss on high for 2 mins.

Now carefully pour the mustard paste water over the vegetables taking care to leave the solid residue in the cup .( The solid portion can make the curry bitter )

Add another cup of water and adjust the salt. Cook covered till all the vegetables are done, especially the malabar spinach stems which take long time to cook.

Once most of the water is gone, add the crisp fish head bits to the curry. Mix and remove immediately from flame.

Serve hot with white rice and dal / pakhala. 

















Note - If you do not have fish head, this can be made using other parts of the fish. But with fish head, the taste is best.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Fish head with baby potatoes and dried lentil dumplings

A very basic curry made with crushed fish head and potatoes, this one is symbolic of the very essence of Odia cuisine. Practicing frugality and making the most out of the scarce resources, the Odia women in rural areas come up with the most ingenious recipes to feed their families. This one for example used just the fish head (and also tail in some cases) with a large quantity of potatoes and onions. The abundance of potatoes make it somewhat sweeter in taste than the regular mustard gravies. The fat in the fish head melts and permeates the curry to give it that undeniably awesome flavor.


















Cooking Time Required: 15-20 mins


Ingredients -

  • 1 no. Maccha munda/Fish head 
  • 1 tsp mustard-garlic paste
  • 1 mediu sized onion 
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 
  • 10-12 baby potatoes / 1 large potato (if baby potatoes are not available)
  • 2 nos dry red chili/green chilli 
  • 8-9 nos boris/dried lentil dumpings ( optional )
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 3-4 tsp vegetable oil ( mustard oil is preferable )



Preparation: Clean the fish head thoroughly. Add salt and turmeric and keep aside for 15 mins. (Any large sized freshwater fish weighing 1 kg or more will do.)

Wash and cut the onion into chunks. Cut the baby potatoes into two.

Cooking: Deep fry the fish head till crispy, crush nicely and keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wok. Fry the boris/lentil dumplings to a reddish color and remove from the wok.

Add the remaining oil followed by the mustard seeds and broken red chillis . Allow seeds to crackle.

Add the onion chunks and stir fry till translucent. Add the baby potatoes at this stage and fry for 3-4 mins. Add the crushed fish head along with 1 cup of water, mustard-garlic paste, salt and turmeric . Bring to a boil.

Allow to simmer for 5-6 mins while stirring at intervals. Remove from fire, add the fried boris and keep aside for 10 mins.

Serve with rice and dal.

















Note: Add 2 green chillis while making the mustard-garlic paste for upping the spice
content.



















This is an old photo where I have used baby potatoes. For an added twist, this recipe is also prepared with dried/smoked fish.

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