Bhajani fish curry: super simple, ready in 15 mins!!

I am a member of a few food groups on Facebook. It makes for good sharing and learning experience. Quite often I note down recipes that seem interesting and save them in my "to try" list. But the truth of the matter is that seldom do I actually try any of them. I have so little precious time to cook, that I just make recipes that I already know, have been making for a while or experiment/change something in that familiar recipe. Trying some new recipe means I would have to spend a few more minutes figuring it out; precious time that I don't have!! I am sure all you foodies who are working moms would agree with me. Then again, every now  and then you come across that kind of recipe which tempts you to try it. This is one such recipe, which upon reading I figured was so simple that it was worth giving it a try. Boy! Am I glad that I tried it!! It is a ridiculously easy and simple recipe that the entire dish could be ready in 15 minutes or less! It is so delicious and flavorful that you cannot stop eating! I fell in love with this recipe. This recipe was shared by Mr. Prasad Naik who is a foodie who believes in sharing without any hesitations. I just fell in love with this recipe of yours Prasad Naik! So this post is dedicated to you. I would strongly urge all my readers to try this recipe atleast once!

 
Servings: 3-4

 
Ingredients:

Tilapia : 1 medium sized fish, cut into medium-size slices.( Any fish that cooks quickly can be used. Fillets are perfect).

For marination:
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Black pepper: 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice: from 1/2 lemon

For the sauce/ masala:
Cooking oil: 1 tbsp ( I used coconut oil).
Onion: 1 big, chopped fine or puréed into paste in a food processor.
Garlic: 6-8 cloves, minced
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder: 1 tsp
Garam masala powder: 1 tsp
Cilantro ( coriander leaves): 1 cup + 1 tbsp for garnishing.
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Tamarind pulp: 1/2 tsp dissolved in 1 cup water.

 
Method:

Clean the tilapia, marinate it with salt, pepper powder and lemon juice and keep aside for 10-15 mins.

When the fish is being marinated, add the onion and garlic to the food processor and pulse it until it is chopped fine.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot/skillet. Add the chopped onion-garlic mixture, red chilli powder, haldi ( turmeric powder), garam masala, cilantro and salt and let it sauté for 3-4 mins.

Now add the tamarind solution and bring it to a boil. Add the marinated fish pieces and let it cook for 5 mins or until the fish is cooked to desired consistency.

Garnish with cilantro.

 Serve hot with white rice!

Enjoy! I am bringing this to Fiesta Friday # 63. Julianna@Foodie on Board and Hilda@Along the grapevine are this week's co-hosts.
 
Cooking made easy:

I have used fresh fish slices in the above recipe. You could use any fish fillets like Tilapia, Salmon, which cook easily.

Instead of chopping the onions and garlic, if you have readily available onion paste and garlic pastes, you could use it. This makes the process even faster!

 
Tip for healthy living:

Whenever possible buy and use wild caught fish. The farm-raised fish have been found to have higher amounts of chemical residues in them.


 Food for thought:

Love will draw an elephant through a key-hole. Samuel Richardson

Mangalorean Fish Curry ( Fish in a coriander-cumin flavored coconut sauce)

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I love fish. Given a choice between chicken and fish I will always go for the fish. I like fried fish better than the curried one but I could never say no to the sauce from the fish curry with some rice! Mmmmm heaven on earth! The sauce tastes even better the next day! After the nine-day fasting recently, the first thing I craved for was fish!! Luckily for me, I have a Chinese supermarket that sells fresh fish two blocks away from me! Then why is it that I don't make fish that often?? Well, I predominantly eat vegetarian meals and eat non-vegetarian once in a while when I crave for it. Anyways, this particular fish market also sells live fish. They have a range from live Tilapia to Buffalo fish to carp and even catfish! I decided to buy live Tilapia. This is the first time I am buying live fish! Why?? I don't know why I never bought live fish before! However I do know that I would bring it more often in the future. The fresh fish was so devoid of the "fishy" smell that you couldn't tell that I was cooking/ cooked fish! The fish was firm, nice and fresh. The bland Tilapia perfectly complimented the spicy coconut sauce.

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

Tilapia fish: 1 medium sized, cut into medium-sized slices( any fish that is cut into medium slices can be used).
Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
Dried Red chillies: 4
Coriander seeds:1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Black pepper corns:1/2 tsp
Methi seeds ( fenugreek): 1/8 tsp
Tamarind: marble size if using dried, 1/4 tsp if using the pulp.
Onion: 1 medium, chopped fine
Garlic: 2-3 small cloves, diced
Ginger: 1 inch, minced
Green chillies: 2-3, slit lengthwise
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Water: 1 cup + as needed for grinding the paste.

Method:

Clean the fish thoroughly, marinate with salt and turmeric powder for 15-20 minutes.

Grind the coconut with coriander seeds, jeera, pepper corns, methi seeds, red chillies, tamarind and little water to a fine paste in a blender. Keep aside.

Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a pot.Add the chopped onions and garlic, saute until they turn transparent. 

Now add the green chillies, ginger, the ground masala( paste), salt and one cup water and bring it to a boil. 

Add the marinated fish slices to it, cover and cook on medium heat until the fish is tender( around 8-10 minutes depending on the fish).

Serve hot with steamed rice/ bread/ flat bread.

Enjoy! I am bringing this taste of Mangalore to my friends at Fiesta Friday! Hilda and Julianna are the co-hosts!

Cooking made easy:

You could make the above dish using powdered spices like coriander powder, cumin powder etc instead of whole and use coconut milk instead of grated coconut. It would be much quicker and easier and you would have no grinding to do!

Tip for healthy living:

While buying fish avoid buying big fish. It is better to buy small fish. Why? For fear of mercury in fish. Big fish tend to have a higher proportion of mercury accumulation in them than the smaller fish. It is also better to buy wild-caught fish than farm-raised fish. Farm raised fish have been found to contain several harmful chemicals in them including PCBs.

Food for thought:

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. Twyla Tharp