Fish Moilee / Kerala Style Fish Stew!!!

Hi guys!!!

Fish Moilee is an awesome coconut milk based curry that is generally prepared in households in Kerala. It is generally prepared in combo with Aapam. I have prepared this curry a few times actually and found it great with rice. Using a firm white fleshed fish seems to work right. Do try to play around with fish types. I have used Seabass and King fish quite a few times for this curry. This time though I used Hake. It is a firm white fleshed fish found in European waters. I was skeptical about using it for the curry but it turned out well. The base of the curry is coconut milk. You can use store bought ones, but trust me, the freshly prepared coconut milk does enhance the taste.

Now lets see the recipe.

Ingredients:

To marinate:
Fish(Any variety) - 250 gms
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

For the stew:
Onion - 1 big
Tomato - 1
Green chillies - 1 or 2
Ginger - 1/2"
Garlic - 3 cloves
Curry leaves - a buunch
Thin coconut milk - 1 cup
Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)
Cinnamon - 1"
Cloves - 4 or 5
Cardamom - 2 pods
Oil - 2 tbsp + for shallow frying the fish
Salt - as per taste

Procedure:

1. Marinate the fish in the ingredients mentioned and refrigerate it for 30 mins. Then shallow fry the fish pieces for a couple of minutes. This is only to ensure that the fish does not break off when you drop it in the curry.
2. Heat the rest of the oil in a wide vessel and add the whole spices and let them sizzle. Crush the ginger, garlic and green chillies together and keep it ready.
3. When the spices release their aroma add the chopped onions and saute till they turn soft. Next add the crushed paste and saute.
4. Now add the masala powders, salt and thin coconut milk. When the mixture starts to boil add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves.
5. Let the curry boil for 5-10 minutes. Then add the shallow fried fish pieces and let it cook for another 10 minutes.
6. Finally add the thick coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes and switch off heat.

Serve hot with rice or aapam!!!