My Ma's Fish Molee

My good mate Renjit texted me one arvo,"Would u like 2 invite me over 4 dinner 2 night?". My response was "sure thing mofo" and I returned home from work to cook a traditonal Kerala style meal, featuring a fish curry cooked in coconut milk broth. This dish is usually served with lace appam (fermented rice pancake).

This recipe comes from "A Treasure Chest of Recipes". This book was put together by the Marthoma Church in Sydney. It is a pucka Kerala dish:

1/2 kg Spanish mackeral sliced 2 onions thinly sliced
1 inch ginger, chopped 6 green chillies thingly sliced
4 cloves garlic chopped 1 sprig curry leaves
1 cup thin coconut milk 2 tomotoes sliced thick
3 tablespoon oil


Spice mixture:
1 teaspoon corriander powder 1/4 teaspoon pepper powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin powder 1/4 teaspoon tumeric powder
4 cloves garlic



Heat the oil in a flat pan with lid. Fry the sliced ingredients until light brown. Add the ground spices and curry leaves and stir on a low heat for 5 minutes.

Using a spatula push the mixture to one side of the pan. Place the fish pieces in a single layer in the centre*. Put the mixture (masala) over the fish and add the coconut milk.

Sprinkle salt then place the sliced tomotoes on top, simmer till fish is cooked through and remove from fire.

This dish is best eaten using your hand.

*The fish can be fried in a spice mixture before adding the coconut milk.