Fish curry with Raw Mango and Drumsticks in a spicy Coconut gravy

Hello dear all. I know I’ve been a slacker this whole month, having hardly posted any recipes at all. I would have loved to make excuses such as I was busy with office work or that lil’Appu kept me busy after I came home or else I got too lazy to post a recipe etc etc...but I’m not going to make any excuses. I’m enjoying my parents company, our new home, our new garden and backyard and all the new shops, parks, lakes etc around our neighborhood and we have all our weekends pre-planned with activities and friends, trying to enjoy summer to the fullest, so ya, I have very less laptop time left these days :-)
But I can't leave my lil'MED unattended for long, it’s a part of me now and I want to personally say a big big thank you to all my silent readers, who's been stopping over and checking out my space, as my blog stats have not dripped at all and infact is getting better each day. Many many Thanks to all of you.

Today I want to share a Fish curry recipe. I has had already shared a similar recipe a little while ago – Fish Curry in spicy Coconut gravy. This dish is almost exactly the same, but with a few more star ingredients : Raw Mango and Drumsticks which adds a lot more flavor and makes this a simply lip-smacking version. Its tangy, mildly spicy and has a hell lot of flavor and is an awesome dish to have with plain white/brown rice. 

I have used Tialpia fillets for the fish; other fish varieties that go well with this curry are Mackerel, Salmon, King Fish, Catfish, Codfish etc. Any fleshy fish with/without bones are good, oily fishes would be best.

In Kerala we usually eat a fatter, more huskier version of brown rice known as Kerala Matta rice. It’s a flavorful rice and I must say goes well with almost all keralite dishes. To many in Kerala this is ‘The Rice’, any other kind is either not flavorful or not ‘rice’ enough in their food dictionary :-) Manish loves this rice, though I prefer the plain white rice (aka Sona Masoori brand that we get here)

Perhaps later on I might do a post dedicated to Kerala Matta rice, but for now let’s focus on our Fish curry. The fish absorbs the flavors from the raw mango and kodampuli , the curry leaves infuses a lovey aroma to the dish and the drumsticks are a delight to eat in between. See how gorgeous it looks...now lets check out the recipe.

Fish curry with Raw Mango and Drumsticks in a spicy Coconut gravy

You'll need:

Tilapia fillets – 4-5 (cut into bite sized cubes)

Raw Mango – ½ Mango peeled and cut into thin strips

Drumsticks – 6-7 pieces (I used frozen drumsticks –if using fresh then cut 1 drumstick into 3” pieces)

Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
Dry red chillies - 3-4 pieces
Corriander seeds - 2-3 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1.5 tsp
Water – 3 cups (1 cup for ground masala paste + 2 cups for gravy)
Ginger (cut into thin strips ) - 1/2  inch
Green chillies - 2-3 cut lengthwise
Roma Tomato – 1 medium (cut in quarters)
Meen puli/Kodampuli (Gambooge Tamarind) - 1-2 lime sized pieces
Fenugreek powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig (6-8 leaves)
Salt - to taste

Directions
1. Clean and cut the fish into small cubes.
2. Grind the coconut, dry red chillies, turmeric powder and corriander seeds into a fine paste with 1 cup of water.
3. Heat a non-stick deep bottomed pan on medium heat and pour the spice-coconut paste.
4. Add the ginger, green chillies, fenugreek powder and tamarind and let it come to a simmer.
5. Now add the fish, raw mango slices, drumsticks, tomato pieces, curry leaves, salt and add 2 cups of water or as per the gravy required and let the mixture boil until the fish is cooked.
6. Serve hot with Rice.

Go on, try out this dish today and you’ll thank me for it and I’ll pass on your thanks to my mom as it’s her recipe originally :-) And as we eat fish a lot, you shouldn't be surprised if I posted this recipe again with different star ingredients...hehe!

We have Memorial Day long weekend coming up this week and I’m looking forward to spending some fun time outside along with lil’Appu  and my family and guess what, I’m planning on getting me a new bike (cycle) and I’m all excited…yaaayy!! Hope I don’t fall, my balance on these two wheeler's suck big time! Have a great week you guys and keep in touch.

-Manju