Meen Thenga Paal Kari (Coconut Milk Fish Curry)

It's very late and I'm very tired, so I'm just going to do a super quick write-up for this one. It was quite nice though and reasonably easy to put together. I made some curry leaf rice to go with it and that, along with some leftover vegetable curry and lime pickles made for a nice dinner.

Meen Thenga Paal Kari

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 500g skinless halibut fillets¹
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (mapte beans/urad dal)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 12 fresh curry leaves
• 1 large tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Sprinkle the tumeric over both sides of the fish and set aside for ~30 minutes.,/li>
2. Heat half the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mustard seeds and cook, covered, until the seeds have stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
4. Add the lentils and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds.
5. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is browned (~7 minutes).
6. Add the coconut milk, cilantro, sambhar masala, salt, and curry leaves and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until thickened (~10 minutes).
8. Add the tomato and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
9. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat.
10. Add the fish and sear on both sides (~2 minutes per side).
11. Pour the sauce over the fish, cover, and cook, basting as needed, until the fish is done (5-8 minutes).
12. Serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

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¹ I used pollock instead. The fillets were much thinner than the 5cm that Iyer recommends for this dish, but I was still happy with my results. You may just need to adjust your cooking time slightly depending on how thick your fish is. ^Back