Happiness in a 'Chatti'! - The Kerala (Kottayam) style kudampuli fish curry

Happiness in a 'Chatti'!
The Kerala (Kottayam) style kudampuli fish curry

Intro

'...Kudampuli ittu vecha nalla chemmeen curryundu...' Ever listened to the lyrics from this evergreen Malayalam song of the 70's? The ultimate Malayali sea-food song! I am posting a 'Kudampuli ittu vecha nalla neymeen (not chemmeen) curry' recipe today.

After i posted the click of my latest Kerala style kudampuli fish curry on Insta and her kin this week, I received requests from quite a number of friends and my own kin to share this recipe - so dedicating this mouth-watering post to all of you.

I've never posted a recipe in this space before. This is the first one & so it definitely had to be something really special. So, here's the recipe i follow to cook up 'happiness' in an earthern 'chatti', as I deem it. The hot 'n spicy Kerala fish curry. I must say that this one's a tad spicy and is definitely gonna strike a chord with you if you belong to the hot 'n spicy clan of foodies....just like me. A warm hug to my amma (Dr. Mariamma Cherian - the Kottayam Achayathi) for helping me perfect this recipe over the years!

So let me begin with the 'Chatti' - The 'Chatti' or the 'Meen chatti' is a type of handmade earthernware (clay-pot) used for cooking spicy fish curries, in Kerala - Southern India, the part of the world where I belong to. Now, seasoning the meen chatti itself is another expedition! Maybe a story for another time... Let's jump right into the recipe now.

So fish-lovers...here goes... ta-da!

Ingredients

These directions are for around 600 gms of Seer fish (Neymeen) cubes - or any other fish you might like to try instead.

Fish tamarind, originally called Cambodge, sometimes called pot tamarind and regionally as Kokum or Kudampuli - 3 pieces

1 tablespoon red chilli powder

1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder

2 teaspoons coriander powder

2 coffee spoons mustard seeds

1 coffee spoon fenugreek

2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste

3 to 4 sprigs of curry leaves

1 large tomato, optional. I added this time & it tasted good. But the orthodox Kerala/Kottayam version doesn't have tomatoes

Cooking oil (as necessary) - coconut oil is best, but I used olive oil this time

Directions

• Soak the tamarind in a small teacup of water overnight, or 4 to 5 hrs before the cooking process. (Another brilliant tip from one of my masterchef friends - 'You could soak the tamarind in hot water with a pinch of salt, minutes before you cook, to extract the essence better, in case you forget to soak overnight')
• Keep the fish chatti clean and ready
• After the soaking period, fish out the tamarind pieces from the water and spread them out on the chatti, along with fresh curry leaves and fish cubes
• In the remaining tamarind water, mix the chilli and coriander powders to form a thick paste
• Put a frying pan on medium flame. Add the oil and splutter the mustard and fenugreek seeds
• Add the ginger garlic paste to it. Saute for 15 to 20 seconds. Add diced tomato at this point, if you are adding it along
• Now add the thick chilli coriander paste mixed in tamarind water to the pan and let it fry for a minute or two. Add a sprig of curry leaves to the pan at this point
• Thin the above fried mix with half a cup of water and let it boil to a thick consistency. This will take about 3 to 4 mins
• Remove the pan from the flame and pour the contents from the pan on to the fish cubes waiting in the chatti along with the tamarind pieces and curry leaves
• From here on, the chatti will take over
• Lightly poke around with a blunt spatula to mix. Add a small teacup of water to the chatti at this point and place it on medium flame to start the cooking process
• When the contents start to boil and bubble, add salt as required.
• Cook on low flame for 15-20 mins (preferably keep the chatti open, as it helps to thicken the gravy)
• After removing the chatti from flame, exercise a lot of self restraint to stop yourself from hogging the fish right away (as I always remind myself). It's also important to keep the chatti closed and at a safe distance from other crazy foodies in the house for at least an hour
• After an hour, your kudampuli fish curry is ready to be served and devoured!

If you can manage to save this fish curry for the next day, nothing like it! - It's a true test of your self-restraint alright, but it's an elevated experience like no other, I must say.

...The end!

Cheers,

Amogha