Fish Molee (Fish in Coconut Milk)

This is a typical Kerala dish which is very simple and yet mouth-wateringly delicious. This is not spicy and so even children will enjoy this. This goes extremely well with appam, white bread and rice. If you search the internet for this recipe you will find at least 4-5 different variations of the same recipe. I have tried most of them and also the method that my father uses to cook this. I am describing below the basic recipe which in itself is complete. I shall also explain the variations you could try. After all, cooking is about being creative and finding a taste that you like most. So try the different variations and settle down for what you like most.

Ingredients

1. Fish Fillets - 500 gm. You can use fish fillets or a whole fish like a pomfret (silver or black) or a pearlspot (karimeen) etc.
2. Onion - 1 cup. Two large onions thickly sliced.
3. Ginger - 1 tablespoon. Cut into thin juliennes and slightly crushed.
4. Garlic - 10 cloves. Cleaned and slightly crushed.
5. Green Chilly - 3 No. Slit lengthwise and deseeded. Use more green chilly if you want to make this spicy.
6. Curry Leaf - 1 sprig.
7. Tomato - 1 No. 1 large tomato cut into thick slices.
8. Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon.
9. Vegetable Oil - 2 tablespoon. Use coconut oil for more authentic taste
10. Thin Coconut Milk - 200 ml. Second extract of coconut milk if you make this yourself.
11. Thick Coconut Milk - 100 ml. First extract of coconut milk if you make this yourself.
12. Salt To Taste

Method

• Heat the oil in a flat pan. Tha pan should be big enough to accomodate the whole fish. If you are using fish fillets, the pan should be able to hold all the fillets in one single layer.
• Add ginger, garlic, green chillies, onion and curry leaves in that order and saute them till the onion turns translucent. After adding each ingredient wait for 5-6 seconds before adding the next one.
• Add turmeric powder and saute for a few seconds more
• Lower the heat and add the thin coconut milk. Add this slowly and if required remove the pan from the fire while doing this. Make sure not to curdle the milk.
• Add salt as per taste and then bring the gravy to a boil and then lower the heat.
• Add the fish in one single layer in the pan.
• Add the tomato slices
• Pour the gravy over the fish using a spoon and then cover and cook it for 3 minutes on low heat. Do not stir the dish. You may gently shake the pan or keep pouring the coconut milk over the fish pieces every now and then. You can also turn the fish over after about 3 minutes taking care not to break the fish into pieces.
• Add the thick coconut milk and mix it well by gently moving the pan in a circular motion. Let it stand for a minute and then remove from fire.
• Garnish with curry leaves and slit green chillies.

Recipe Variations

• You can cut the onions to square pieces of about 1 cm x 1 cm in size
• You can cut the tomato to 4 or 8 pieces along its length. Cut the tomato into two halves and then cut the halves again into halves. This way cut the tomato to 4 or 8 pieces.
• You can add two 1" cinnamon sticks and two green cardamoms into the oil before adding anything else.
• You can add 1 teaspoon of vinegar as seasoning before taking the dish out.
• You can also add half a teaspoon of black pepper powder along with the turmeric powder.

Notes

• This dish should have a thick gravy once finished. Therefore add just enough thin coconut milk to cook the fish.
• It would be a good idea to apply a little salt to the fish and keep it aside for about 15 minutes. This way the fish will absorb enough salt making it tastier. If you follow this, make sure not to add excess salt into the dish while cooking.
• It is a good idea to prepare this dish in advance. Give the fish pieces at least an hour to absorb all the taste.
• While making the coconut milk, use warm water instead of cold water. After adding the water knead the coconut gratings for a few minutes before squeezing out the milk.

Fish Fingers

My son Alex loves fish. But for Aarti my wife (a vegetarian), feeding him fish is a nightmare. She imagines that every time she feeds him a morsel of fish, Alex is going to clutch his throat and yell in pain, because a fish bone is stuck in his throat. So I generally try to make the fish boneless before it is a part of any dish.

I do this myself or occasionally ask my fishmonger to do it for me. Since I do not trust anyone else to do it as well as I do, I generally do it myself. Everytime I have entrusted this to the fishmonger, I find myself spending time again, trimming and removing fish bones from the steak. So the best method is to buy the fish whole, bring it home and then work with a sharp and pointed knife. If you are not equipped with a good knife and cutting board, buy boneless fish steaks or depend on your fishmonger to do it for you. If you would like know how to do this properly look here.

Ingredients

1. Fish Fingers (Kingfish/King Mackerel) - 10 No (Cut fish fingers from boneless and skinless kingfish steaks. The size should be about 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch thick and about 2.5 to 3 inches long)
2. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
3. Lemon Juice - 1 table spoon
4. Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
5. Salt - As required
6. Mixed Dried Italian Herbs (Contains a mix of dried Basil, Oregano, Marjoram, Thyme, Sage, Rosemary) - 1 tsp
7. Bread crumbs - 1 cup
8. Corn Flour - 1/2 cup
9. Refined Flour - 1/2 cup
10. Egg - 1
11. Oil - To Deep fry

Step 1

• Take the fish fingers in a large bowl. Add ingredients 2 to 5 and half a tea spoon of italian herbs to the bowl and mix well with the fish fingers. Take care not to break the fish fingers. Refrigerate this for about 30 minutes.

Step 2

• Mix corn flour and refined flour along with a little salt and the remaining half a tea spoon of italian herbs in a flat plate.
• Take the bread crumbs in a flat plate
• Break the egg into a bowl and beat it using a fork until the white and yolk are mixed well. Add a little salt to this and mix again.

Step 3

• Roll each fish finger in the flour mix and then dip it in the beaten egg mixture.
• Roll the fish finger in bread crumbs until they are fully covered by the bread crumbs.
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan and when the oil is very hot drop the fish fingers (2-3 at a time, depending on the size of the pan) into the oil and then reduce heat after a few seconds. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the fish fingers have turned golden brown. Remove from the pan and drain the excess oil using paper towels. Serve hot along with mint chutney or a sauce of your choice.

Notes

You can use any kind of fish steak to make this dish. Avoid fish like Tuna etc. which tend to become a little hard when deep fried. Instead of fish fingers you can use chicken fingers. You will have to cut chicken fingers from the boneless breast of a chicken. Chicken fingers will need a little more time to cook.

These fish fingers will have a mild and distinct flavour of the italian herbs and lemon juice. These will not be spicy since we are not using any fresh chilly or chilly powder. Children will love it. Make sure not to deep fry the fish fingers for too long. That will burn the bread crumbs and will also dry up the fish fingers. Properly cooked fish fingers should be flaky and soft. Fish gets cooked really fast. Also fish should not be marinated for long unlike chicken/meat because they abosrb the marinade real quick.

Mixed italian herbs will be available in any super store. They generally mix it in such a way that those herbs with very strong flavours are less in quantity - basically keeping things in balance.

The photograph of the fish fingers above is not of the dish that I made. But it will look exactly as above. I will upload my own pictures once I get hold of a digital camera to do so.