Kerala fish curry

The red-hot fish curry of Kerala is a unique preparation. We use a special black tamarind for this. If well-made, it tastes absolutely divine - for those who love hot and spicy stuff.

Here is a recipe provided by Moly, the first live-in nanny-cum-cook, I had. Her husband was a fishmonger, which was probably why she could churn out such lovely fish curries.

• Wash and clean 1/2 kg fish, preferably fleshy ones like seer fish. But even sardines and mackerels taste wonderful if they are well-made.
• Slice longish a handful of ginger-garlic and small onions.
• Crush 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic separately.
• Wash 4 medium sized tamarind pieces and soak it in water for 5 minutes. Mind you, this is not the tamarind used in sambar and rasam.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in an earthen fish chatty. Season the above stuff in oil along with curry leaves.
• Add 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (piriyan mulagu, which is less spicy) till it turns brownish (not black) and the oil leaves the masala. The texture and taste of the curry depends on how well this is seasoned.
• Then put 1 tbsp coriander powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of fenugreek powder.
• Add water and the tamarind pieces.
• Add 1/2 kg fish after once the water starts boiling.
• Cook covered for 7-10 minutes.
• Garnish with 2 twigs of curry leaves.

Your fish curry is ready. Tell me if it came out ok, will you?