Fish molly

Fish Molly is a very popular Kerala style fish curry which is mostly served with appam. But my vote is always for ghee rice+ fish molly combination, the taste is just awesome. It is mild and delicious as the fish is cooked in coconut milk.  Usually, fish molly is prepared with King-Fish(Neymeen), but it is also tasty with Pomfret(Avoli) and Pearl Spot fish(Karimeen).

 

Servings: 4          Prep Time: 15 min            Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients

King Fish or any firm fleshed fish       - 500 gm

Chilli powder                                              -  1 tbsp

Turmeric powder                                      - 1 tsp

Lime juice                                                    - 1 tbsp

Salt                                                                - to taste

Step 1 :-

·         Clean and cut fish into medium size pieces.

·         Make a mix of chilli powder, turmeric powder, lime juice and salt.

·         Marinate fish pieces with this mix for at least 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Gravy

Onion (thinly sliced)                                - 2 big

Green chillies (slit)                                    - 3 nos

Ginger (crushed)                                      - ½ inch piece

Garlic (crushed)                                        - 8 pods

Tomato                                                        - 1 big

Garam Masala                                         - 1 tsp

Thick Coconut Milk/ 1^st Extract           - 1 cup

Thin Coconut Milk/ 2^nd Extract            - 2 cups

Salt                                                                - to taste

Coconut Oil                                                 - as reqired

Step 2:-

·         Heat oil in a pan and fry the marinated fish pieces slightly and keep it aside.

·         Heat oil in a pan, add crushed ginger and garlic and sauté for a minute.

·         Add curry leaves, sliced onions, slit green chillies and sauté till it become soft.

·         Add the tomatoes and sauté for a minute.

·         Add garam masala and simmer the heat.

·         Add the thin coconut milk/ 2^nd extract and salt and mix well.

·         When it starts to boil, add the fried fish pieces carefully and cook till the oil comes out of the gravy.

·         Then add the thick coconut milk/ 1^st extract and gently rotate the pan using its handle and switch off the flame when it just starts to boil.

·         Serve hot.

Tips:-

·         For sautéing onion, garlic etc, use the same oil used for frying the fish.

·         Don’t use spoon for stirring after the fish is cooked as it may slice the fish. Better you rotate the pan gently using its handle.

·         If you add chilli powder and spices while preparing the gravy, you will get a spicy version of Fish Molly.