TARIDAAR COPRAY CHI MUCHEE

Guess what? I am posting another recipe for a simple fish curry! Ian enjoys fish as much he enjoys his veggies,poultry and meat.So I enjoy frying fish and making curries with it for him. He calls is 'Mee Mee' fry and waits for me to finish mixing rice, yogurt and fish for him to start eating. Every time he sees me draining freshly cooked rice, he would ask me for 'Mee Mee' fry :-) It melts my heart...every single time!

Ian has grown so much after he turned two. He talks a lot and loves to sing. If you ever come home and need something from the kitchen, you know whom to ask. He know where everything is kept and helps me put away things when we get back home after grocery shopping. I love to see the look on his face when I ask him to do things...he really feels important then!The other day, he saw me put away some story books and asked me to give him one. When I did, he said 'Thank you, Amma!'. I was shocked and couldn't breathe for a second or two. He also blesses us every time we sneeze.His version is,'Bless La Amma!'.Yesterday, we were at the mall for Toddler Tuesdays, and met a reader's cousin for lunch. Someone at the restaurant we were eating sneezed, and I heard a small voice saying, Bless La ! next to me. I wonder how they learn how to connect things!

Getting back to this delicious simple curry. This is another favourite from Mr. Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries. It is super easy to make and very very tasty! The recipe calls for Kokum and I  have substituted it equally with Gambooge / Kudampuli. Also, this curry uses raw rice as an ingredient! I've never heard of it before and that's one reason why I tried this dish.I've made slight changes to certain ingredients and I have given the measurements accordingly.

TARIDAAR COPRAY CHI MUCHEE
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds skinless catfish filets, cut up
1/2 cup shredded fresh coconut
2 tablespoon long- grain white rice
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
4 dried Thai or cayenne chilies, stems removed
5 pieces dried black kokums/gambooge, each roughly 2 inches long and 1 inch wide
1/4 cup boiling water
2 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup finely choppped red onion
3 fresh green Serrano chili,chopped fine

Method:
Sprinkle salt over the fish,spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and let them chill in the fridge,covered,for 30 minutes.Meanwhile pour 1/2 cup water into a blender jar and add the coconut,rice, coriander seeds,peppercorns, turmeric and dried chilies. Puree, scraping as needed,to make a thick paste.
Combine kokum with the boiling water and let it steep for 10-15 mins. Squeeze the fruit to extract the pulp and discard the fruit.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat .Add onions and chilies and stir fry until the onion is light brown around the edges and the chilies smell pungent,2-3 minutes. Ad the ground coconut paste and stir-fry until the spices and coconut form a thin yellow film on the bottom,1-2 minutes. Pour 1 1/2 cup water into the blender jar and swish it around to wash it out. Pour this to the skillet and scrape the bottom to deglaze it. Submerge the fish filets,in a single layer,in the sun-yellow sauce and cover the skillet. Poach gently, turning the fish halfway through cooking once,12-15 minutes.Add the kokum water,swirl the pan gently to get it mixed in.Adjust salt,simmer for a minute or two and serve hot!

This curry pairs well with Kerala Matta Rice,Basmati Rice or even Sona Masoori rice. We like to eat fish curries with Kerala Matta Rice mostly because how the mouth feel is. The grains are bigger, chubbier and starchy. It is truly a delectable fish curry with a twist from my usual ones. Jobin thinks this curry is delicious and I agree to it 100%!