Ingredients
- Sea bass or in Tamil it’s called Koduva Meen – 1 kg
- Oil – 100 ml (ground nut or gingelly oil or refined oil)
- Pepper – 1/2 tablespoon
- Cumin – 1/2 tablespoon
- Mustard – 1/2 tablespoon
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tablespoon
- Garlic – 10 cloves
- Shallots – 30 (shallot means à sambar onion or small onion)
- Curry leaves – few
- Mint leaves – a little
- Green chillies – 3
- Brinjal – 4 (medium sized)
- Tomatoes – 3 (medium sized)
- Salt – 1/2 tablespoon
- Chilli powder – 3/4 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tablespoon
- Coriander powder – 1.5 tablespoon
- Cumin powder – 1/2 tablespoon
- Tamarind – take the size of a lemon
Things to be done before we start cooking
- Soak tamarind (the size of a lemon) in 150 ml of water for half an hour.
- Clean the sea bass fish pieces with water and let them dry in a clean plate.
- Get 10 cloves of garlic – peel the skin and then ground it using a ‘mortar and pestle’.
- Peel the skin of 30 shallots (small onions).
- Take 4 brinjals, wash them, then put a slice in the middle.
- 3 tomatoes – wash them – then using a mixy jar, grind and get the tomato juice.
Steps to Prepare
1 Place a pan (3 litre capacity or even bigger) on the burner, turn on the stove, keep flame in HIGH mode.
2 Pour in 100 ml of oil (use either groundnut or gingelly oil). Let the oil get hot.
3 Once the oil gets hot, turn the flame to LOW mode, then put in the below –
- Pepper – 1/2 tablespoon
- Cumin – 1/2 tablespoon
- Mustard – 1/2 tablespoon
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tablespoon
4 Wait for 10 to 15 seconds, then add the crushed garlic (10 cloves). Stir for 10 seconds.
5 Now put in the 30 shallots that have their skin peeled off. Stir a little, say for 30 seconds, till the shallots turn a little soft. Please note that the shallots should not turn brown.
6 Add a few curry leaves (15 leaves minimum). Stir for 15 to 20 seconds.
7 Now put a little of mint leaves. And add 3 green chillies too. Stir for 5 seconds.
8 Then, add 4 sliced brinjals, stir a little for 10 seconds.
9 Pour in the tomato juice extracted from 3 tomatoes. Stir for 20 seconds.
10 Now let’s add the below –
- Salt – 1/2 tablespoon
- Chilli powder – 3/4 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tablespoon
- Coriander powder – 1 + 0.5 tablespoon (total 1.5)
- Cumin powder – 1/2 tablespoon
Stir well for 10 seconds.
11 Pour in the tamarind-soaked water (150 ml).
Also, pour in another 350 ml of water.
12
- Close the pan with a lid
- Turn the flame to HIGH MODE – Let the water and contents boil for 2 minutes.
- Then, turn the flame to LOW MODE – let the contents get cooked for another 15 minutes with lid closed.
13 After this 15 minute, remove the lid, put in 6 pieces of sea bass fish.
After adding fish pieces, lets close the pan again.
Let the flame be in LOW MODE. Let the contents get cooked for the next 8 to 10 minutes.
(Please note, the sea bass fish pieces are a little big, so they need 8 to 10 minutes for cooking)
14 After 10 minutes of cooking, remove the lid, sprinkle a little of curry leaves and mint leaves on the top.
Turn off the flame, our fish curry is ready to be tasted with dosa or idli or rice.
