Fish Molee is a light and summery fish stew from Kerala. Bets are on in our house that this at least three people’s favourite summer food especially when paired with idiyappam.
We all love Fish and seafood at home and good fish curry with rice is comfort food for all of us. And in summer Fish Molee or Fish Moilee tops the list of things we love to eat.
A very light curry made with basic spices and coconut milk, this is just perfect for summer. The spice levels for our home are just perfect too. And it pairs so well with rice, dosa, appams and idiyappam. Pro Tip – Buy instant idiyappam (from Double Horse) and cook them in two minutes if you serve this for a weekday dinner. I know they aren’t as good as making from scratch but for crazy busy days they work perfectly well.
If you make this, share a picture with me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook? I would love to hear what you have to say about it.
Fish Molee : Light Summery Fish Stew from Kerala
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 500 gm fish I used Sheela/Cheelavu/Barracuda but kingfish/seer works well too
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- Salt to taste
For the curry
- 1 inch ginger finely minced
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup thin coconut milk
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tomato cut in rounds
- 1 tbsp coconut oil for curry
- 5 Green Chilies slit
- coconut oil for frying
- salt as required
- coconut oil as required
Instructions
- Clean and cut fish into pieces. I make my fish vendor do this for me and for this curry, I prefer the cuts to be into slices or steaks as they call it. Marinate the fish with lemon juice, pepper, salt and turmeric powder for 15-20 minutes.
- In a pan, add little coconut oil and shallow fry fish on both sides. You can use any other oil as well but I feel coconut oil gives it a lovely character and taste.
- In a separate pan (I use a mud chatti for the same), heat oil. Add curry leaves, ginger, garlic and green chillies, sauté for a minute.
- Add the sliced onions and sauté until it turns translucent, don't let it turn brown. One of the things I have realised about Kerala cooking is that onions for the curry are almost never fried to golden or even a light brown.
- Add turmeric powder and thin coconut milk. Close the lid and allow the curry to boil for 5-6 minutes on a medium flame. When the oil starts floating a bit on top, lower the flame and add lemon juice, mix well.
- Now add the fried fish and bring to a boil. Do not stir once the fish is added as your fish might break. Also don't cook too much beyond this point since the fish is already fried.
- Add the thick coconut milk and cook on a low flame for another 1-2 minutes, make sure not to allow the dish to boil beyond this stage by keeping the heat to low.
- Turn off the heat, Add tomatoes and some more curry leaves, close the lid and let the tomatoes cook in the heat of the curry.
- Serve hot with rice, idiyappam or appams.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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