Meen Vevichathu Recipe

Fish (meen) curry is a very popular recipe in Kerala. Almost every region has its own style and recipe of preparing fish curry. In this recipe, I have focussed on the preparation of Kottayam style red fish curry. This is a tangy and spicy fish curry cooked with Kashmiri chilli powder (Kashmiri lal mirch) and other spices, well flavoured with cocum (kudampuli). Ideally, it should be cooked in an earthen pot, which adds its own special charm to the flavour of the curry. But if unavailable, a pan can also be used. I have used cocum in this recipe, but tamarind (imli) can be used too as a variation. Coriander powder (dhaniya) is used to obtain thick gravy. Turmeric powder (haldi) and chilli (lal mirch) provide the spice and colour to the dish. This is a very spicy curry, so the spices should be added and adjusted according to taste. Shallots/ small onions (pyaaz) should be added alongside ginger-garlic paste (adrakh-lahsan). These shallots should be sautéed until golden-brown, as it helps in increasing the flavour of curry. The fish to be used should be cleaned properly and gently dropped in the curry mixture. It should be kept in mind that the secret to making the perfect fish curry lies in finding the correct balance between the tanginess (puli) of cocum and salty flavour. Meen Vevichathu tastes even better the next day. It can be served with plain hot rice. This fish curry is sure to tickle the bones of sea-food lovers.

If you are looking for more malabar fish curry do check Malabari Fish pepper curry, Malabar Fish Roast.

How to make Meen Vevichathu Recipe