Topic: Kerala Fish Curry

[Kashmiri Bob]

Thought I'd have a swing at a BIR fish curry.

Pangas fish shallow fried in oil and butter, with mustard seeds.  The fillet was previously rubbed with sea salt, and a little turmeric.  The oil was pre-seasoned with whole green cardamom, cassia bark, clove, and asian bay:




Off we go:





Curry leaves in this one.  1 cs of mango pulp.





Look at the mess!





Job done. Well, nearly. Totally forgot to add the coconut blend I'd made special:





This was an OK curry, nothing special.  Think the coconut would have lifted it.  As it was might as well of called it a mild fish madras, or something like that.  Not overboard on pangas.  Many TAs/restaurants love it.  It is incredibly cheap.  In fact, if you order say, a fish bhuna, and it doesn't specify on the menu what the fish is, chances are it will be pangas.  Personally, I would prefer cod, or haddock.

Rob 

Got the idea for the dish after watching this video.  Check it out.  Absolutely gorgeous!  Almost as nice looking as one of Chewy's curries.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRQNk-jL5n4

[goncalo]

I had a chat with a chef from kerala a few weeks ago and this dish has been on the back of my head. He mentions though that using canned coconut milk does't scratch the surface of what you get with freshly extracted coconut milk. He also stressed how important it is for the coconut to be grown in kerala, as some countries coconut aren't great for the dish (i.e brazil)

Another good one, adventuring yourself towards the more traditional end. Look forward to your next dish!

[Garp]

I'm not a fish lover, but that looks not bad at all.

Maybe a bit oily, but no worries - nice to see all your efforts Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

I'm not a fish lover, but that looks not bad at all.

Maybe a bit oily, but no worries - nice to see all your efforts Rob

Cheers Garp.  I've made worse.  I've certainly delivered worse to customers.  The oil, well, who cares?  Don't have to eat it all, I suppose?

Without wanting to sound completely pretentious, if any newer members are reading any of my posts and looking at some of the pics and thinking, "looks quite tasty", I can of offer the following.  I've been making curries for about 2 years.  I have time to do so; it's fun.  I have also followed Chewy's videos/recipes/techniques closely.  There is more to them than meets the eye. Start here. You will not regret it.

Rob 

For a proper restaurant quality phal:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7727.0.html