fish curry

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame and roast the dry red chilies, mustard and cumin seeds till they begin to release their aroma. Cool and grind to a fine powder.
2. Grind the tomatoes, turmeric, garam masala powder, coconut and above powder into a smooth paste. Keep aside. Squeeze the soaked tamarindwell to remove all the pulp.
3. Heat the oil in a wide heavy-bottomed pan and add the paanch phoran (see recipe here) and curry leaves. When they stop spluttering, add the onion paste and fry till light brown.

1. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the tomato and spice paste and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.
3. Add 2 cups of hot water and the tamarind pulp to this masala and stir to mix well.
4. Bring the gravy to a boil and then simmer.
5. Gently add the fish to this gravy and cook till done.
6. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with plain boiled rice.

Cooking Tips and Ingredient Substitutions

Use coriander leaf for garnishing and squeeze some lime some juice on top to finish it off. Alternatively,  serve it over basmati rice and put fresh thinly sliced white onion on top. If it seems seedy, grind all of the whole seeds or just use already ground spices.