During the mango season, a meen manga curry is mandatory on the menu several times. Tart, green, raw mangoes are delicious with fish and shrimp. The sour notes enhance the sweetness of seafood and a hot and sour fish curry with rice always delivers.
A simple, country curry
This meen manga curry is a naadan style curry, a rustic dish prepared by both fishermen and farmers. Locally sourced ingredients such as mangoes and mackerel (plentiful and cheap) are cooked with onions, garlic, ginger and curry leaves, along with a few basic spices. It’s simplicity itself and yet it has such satisfying flavors. A mean meen manga curry is a curry that is cooked in a clay chatti and eaten the next day, when the flavors have had time to marry and meld and acquire depth and complexity. You have to experience the difference in taste to realize the difference. I can eat just the gravy of a day-old meen manga curry without the fish and feel completely satisfied; it gets so much better. Try it.
Kerala fish curries typically use kudampulli or cambodge (also called Malabar tamarind) as the souring ingredient. A yellow-green fruit, it looks like a miniature melon on the tree and turns a black color after drying. Leathery appearance. It has a distinctive astringent sourness that pairs beautifully with fish. In this fish curry, raw mango replaces it as the souring agent. I used half a raw mango, you can vary the amount depending on your personal taste and how sour your mangoes are.
Which fish should you use?
Mackerel is a firm, oily saltwater fish with a rich, oily, meaty, robust flavor, similar to tuna, making it ideal for curries like this hot and sour meen manga curry. It’s cheap, packed with omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamins, iodine, etc. – a great choice as an everyday fish. Mackerel is used extensively in the regional coastal cuisines of India because it can take strong spices, heat and acidity while retaining its inherent rich flavor. If you prefer a different fish, try using an oily fish, one that can withstand the sourness of the mangoes and the heat of the red chili powder.
Tip for perfecting the gravy/sauce
This recipe uses ground masalas which need to be ground into a thick paste along with water. This is the key to achieving a bright red, thick sauce/gravy. You may be tempted to mix the dry, ground herbs into a little water to make it easier; Unfortunately, this will not produce the desired result. You will get a thin, watery sauce. If you briefly grind the chili, coriander and turmeric powder in the grinder, you will make a difference.
Serious Manga Curry
A hot, spicy mackerel and green mango curry from Kerala.
- 500 G mackerel, cleaned and halved
- 1 small raw, green mango, peeled, pit removed and cut into pieces (reduce the amount of mango if it is too sour or to taste)
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger, cut into thin julienne
- Salty
For the herb paste
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1½ teaspoon chili powder (less or more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 6-7 cloves of garlic
For tempering
- 10-15 Curry leaves
- 6-7 shallots, slices
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 dried red peppers, broken in half
-
With a little water, grind the coriander, chili and turmeric powders and the garlic into a thick, smooth paste.
-
In a clay chatti, mix the spice paste, ginger, mango pieces and salt with the cleaned fish. Add a cup of water and cook on low heat. Gently shake the chatti to stir the curry. A spoon or ladle can separate the pieces of fish. Let the curry simmer until the mango is soft and the fish is cooked. Turn off the flame.
-
Heat the coconut oil in another pan. Add the mustard and fenugreek seeds and let them crackle. Add the red peppers, curry leaves and shallots. Fry until the shallots turn golden brown. Pour the tempering sauce over the fish curry and serve.
Reference By: www.quichentell.com
