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

Monday, July 10, 2017

Aiyirai meen kulambu

Ayira meen (Tamil அயிரை மீன் ) is a variety of river fish (fresh water fish , especially paddy fields or ponds) , that we used to enjoy in Tirunelveli. At that time, this fish would come to the market around evening only (market means, the local vendor who used to come by bicycle). I have never seen this in Chennai. Though everything is available anywhere nowadays, this ayira meen kulambu can be found in other cities too. This ayirai fish is a speciality of Tamilnadu and I am not sure if anyone other than Tamilians would have heard of this.

My amma used to tell me that , this fish season occurs during the beginning of summer in Madurai (when the lakes dry and the fishes and brinjal would come in auction). During summer (at that time) they used to clean the ponds and the rain water gets collected afresh when it rains and would feed the entire city.

Amma had a house help called Padarathi amma. She had shown us the process of cleaning this fish. I am not a fan of looking at live food. So I request my readers to browse and find the videos on cleaning this ayira meen.

Ayirai meen literally lives in mud there. So it has to be forced to spit the mud from their mouth (may be a tale , I don't know if it is true). So the live fish would be put in milk and let for 30 minutes and within that time , it is believed that they loose all the mud.

Luckily I bought a well cleaned ayirai meen (not fresh) that was farm raised from an Asian store in my area. I didn't go through that cleaning process (I won't and I can't, but this curry tastes amazing, if someone prepares this for us ....ha ha).

My hubby never likes tiny fishes :) So I got a small scoop (1/2 lb) of this for $2.99 / lb.

I have read somewhere that , this curry is actor Kamal's favorite and he would have this fish curry along with idli dosai, during his South Tamilnadu visits. So I too made this one evening , had it with rice and the next morning enjoyed it with dosai :)

Ps: My recipe is a no-tamarind one. This is how we prepare fresh water (tiny) fish in my native. This version is recommended in native health recipes.
Ayira meen


ayirai meen kulambu
Aiyirai meen kulambu with dosai


Ingredients: 
Ayirai meen - 1/2 lb (200 gm approx)
Tomato - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
coconut oil  or sesame oil - 1 tbsp 
fennel (sombu) - 1/2 tsp
curry leaves - 2 sprig
green chillies - 2 (slit)
salt - 1 tsp (add to taste)

To grind:
Coconut (shredded) - 1/2 cup
Shallot - 3
cumin - 1/2 tsp
black pepper - 1 tsp
green chilly - 2 (increase as per taste)

Method:
Wash and clean the ayirai meen as per need to remove any sand or impurities. Keep aside.
Grind coconut, shallot, green chillies, black pepper, cumin together to a fine paste.
Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil or sesame oil in a wok. Fry the fennel seeds to red. Now add the curry leaves along with chopped tomato and fry till the tomato gets cooked well.
Add 2 cups of water , turmeric powder , coriander powder, salt, ground masala and bring them to a boil.
Now add the cleaned fish and stir only one time before it gets cooked. Spread a few slit green chillies and curry leaves over it. Reduce flame and cook uncovered.
DO NOT stir in between. Just shake the vessel gently to mix the masala with the fish.
Take off heat in 15 minutes.

Ayirai meen kulambu is ready! 

Serving suggestions:
Serve over hot rice or along idli or dosai.
Serves 2.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Fish curry












Fish curry or fish kulambu or Meen kulambu in Tamil is a yummy dish . This is my mom's version of fish curry. 
 I prepare it like a thick gravy. But the original version is a more liquidized one just like this recipe.

.Depending upon your taste you can add water to the tamarind paste before making curry.Today i tried the original version with king fish and you can see the picture too.


Items required:
Fish - 1 lb 
(choose any fish like Butter fish ,king fish,anchovy,salmon,catfish etc.Dont choose shell fishes for this preparation.)
thick bottom shallow vessel with a lid - 1
broad spoon -1
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
mustard seeds- 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds- 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - 1 gooseberry size
chilli powder -1 tbsp
coriander powder-2 tbsp
turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
tomato - 1
green chillies -2
curry leaves- 2 brigs.
To grind:
shredded coconut -2 tbsp
red onion(chopped)-1 cup
cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:
wash the fish and remove all the fins and scales by a knife.
Then slice it into big chunks.
Apply turmeric powder over the fish and keep aside.
Extract juice from tamarind and add chilli powder, coriander powder, pinch of turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
Heat the sesame oil in vessel .Add mustard and fenugreek seeds. After the nustard seeds crackle add the curry leaves .
Then add chopped tomato and saute it for 1 minute.
Add tamarind juice mixture and let it boil for 5 minutes.
Then add the finely ground coconut-onion paste.
Immediately after this starts boiling add the fish pieces.
cover the vessel and simmer the heat.
Keep the curry gets cooked in simmer heat for 15 minutes.
DO NOT stir the curry after adding the fish, otherwise you may end up with broken pieces.
Then put off fire.Garnish with chopped green chillies and curry leaves and serve hot with rice or chapathi or Idly or dosai .

Serving suggestions:

Serves 5 people.
Serve fried fish and ripe mango as side dish.
If there are only 2 people, just 1 lb of fish is enough.1/2 lb fish can be fried and the other half can be mada as curry.

Tamil meaning for fishes:
shark -pillai sura.
sardine - chalai.
anchovy-nethili
Butter fish- kuthippu,
king fish- seela / vanjiram

(Add a tsp of jaggery / brown sugar before switching off, for  a more subtle taste)

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