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I learned this mouth-watering South Indian fish curry recipe from my MIL, who excels in non-vegetarian dishes. This recipe best suits the sea breed fish (Pomfret, King Fish, etc.)

I came up with another recipe of Arachuvitta Meen Kuzhmabu that could also be equally good when compared to Meen Kuzhambu.

What is meen kuzhambu?

‘Meen Kuzhambu’ is a Tamil word that translates to ‘Fish curry.’ This is Indian fish curry, in which fish is cooked in the tamarind sauce. Fish kuzhambu is a perfect blend of hot and tangy.

It is one of the essential everyday recipes that the South Indian families always make at home. This recipe is the one that the people of Tamil Nadu make, especially in the mid-state, like the Chettinad cuisine.

What does this curry taste like?

The critical criterion for a perfect meen kulambu is tanginess. The South Indian fish curry tastes more delicious if tangy than the regular gravy recipes. The sourness of the tamarind subtly down the fish’s odor.

Best Fishes for making South Indian fish curry

We used to have fish curry on our lunch menu at least once a week. After coming here, getting Indian fish verities is hard in the United States. Sometimes, we get it from the frozen aisle from the Indian stores, and we are not always lucky with the quality of the fish. It is a kind of hit-or-miss attempt.

Pomfret, kingfish, and barracuda are some of the Indian fish varieties that are a good choice for making fish curry.

We get from the Asian fresh markets, but these are quite far away from my place. When we really crave authentic fish curry, we drive for 2 hours to get the fish from the Asian fresh markets.

American fish varieties like fresh salmon and grouper are best to make in this South Indian fish curry. I have found good quality fresh salmon and grouper in nearby Giant store and Wegman's. Salmon is available in most of the time, where the other one is rare.

Serving suggestion

The one and only companion of this kind of fish curry is the white rice. Though I have tried with other Indian dishes, I found the rice is the only dish that can perfectly pair up with.

The leftover Indian fish curry is good to serve with South Indian breakfast dishes like idli, dosa. My mom uses to make this curry in a large quantity and save some for serving on the next day at breakfast.

Normally, we use the leftover kuzhambu for dinner as the side dish for kal-dosa/uttapam.

Key ingredients

Vadagam. This is an authentic and traditional recipe of Tamil Nadu and has some unique ingredient called ‘vadagam’, I have come up with the post exclusively describing to make in the home. Vadagam is a dried onion with spices. This is usually sun-dried, which is not possible in the colder regions like the North-Eastern coast of the United States. So, in that post, I have explained how to make vadagam in the oven, without sun drying.

If vadagam is not available to you, you may season with mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, garlic, cumin seeds, and curry leaves.

Coconut. Another important ingredient is the fresh coconut in this Indian fish curry recipe. You may also use frozen grated coconut, which is easy to find in the Indian stores.

Tamarind. Another key ingredient in this recipe. You may use original tamarind, or tamarind paste or tamarind pulp. This is an important item which cannot be substituted with any other ingredients. If this ingredient is not handy, reserve this authentic meen kuzhambu recipe for future use.

Printable recipe card

Indian fish curry

I learned this mouth watering Indian fish curry recipe from my MIL, who excels in non-vegetarian dishes. This recipe is best suitable for the sea breed fish.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 40

Servings: people

Calories: 189kcal

Ingredients

For prepping

1 lemon size tamarind / 2 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 cup hot water

For seasoning

1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon vadagam
½ cup onion chopped

For grinding

3 tablespoon grated coconut
3 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder

For cooking

6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt or as required
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 lb fish slices

Instructions

For prepping

Soak tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes or until it becomes soft and tender.
Extract tamarind juice from the pulp. And transfer to a bowl and set aside.

For seasoning

Over medium heat, in a pan add vegetable oil, vadagam.
Allow the mustard seeds in the vadagam to splutter.
Then add chopped onion and saute until it becomes transulacent.
Allow it to cool.

For grinding

In a blender jar, add the onion mixture, tomato, red chili powder, coriander powder, and grated coconut.
Grind it to a fine smooth paste. Set aside.

For cooking

In a saucepan, add the ground mixture, tamarind extract, salt, and water.
Over medium heat, bring it to boil and cook for 10 minutes or until it leaves out the raw flavors.
Then add fish slices. Turn to low heat, and cook for 12 minutes.
Before switching off the heat, add sesame oil. Stir and close it with the lid.
Serve this fish kuzhambu with rice.

Nutrition

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Author Sujatha Muralidhar

**Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is an approximate estimate only.

Tips and Variations for Meen Kozhambu:
1. If vadagam is not available, heat oil in the pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, chopped garlic, and wait till it gets splutter. Use this in replace of vadagam.
OR
refer to how to make vadagam in the pepper bowl.
2. Adjust the thickness of the coconut.
3. If you are making larger quantities, multiply the ingredient proportions.

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