Fish Molly/ Kerala fish molly/ fish stew

Back home fish was a daily affair, the only dilemma we had was which fish to buy .The fish here lack that flavour we grew up eating with. From eating it daily we went down to eating it only maybe fortnightly. 

One cold January morning during our normal grocery shopping weekend, we came across this Asian shop which sells fresh Indian fishes. It was quite an accidental discovery and we were very thrilled. The options were also  quite impressive. Being fish lovers, me and my hubby were like kids in a candy shop. We usually end up buying a lot more than we need and some weekends I would prepare three different dishes with fish ! Anyway we have been buying regularly from that shop and enjoying our fish ever since. When I found some fresh Pomfret last week, I bought it with the plan of making this fish molly, a Kerala special fish curry. I paired it up with Appams and it went down as a treat for us.

I really wonder how this curry got the name Fish molly. Molly is a female name quite common in Kerala, perhaps it was one Molly who developed this recipe :)

Ingredients

Pomfret / kingfish / or any firm fleshed fish – 500 gm

To marinate

Salt

Pepper – 1 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

Lime juice – 1 tbs

Cinnamon stick – 1 small

Cloves – 3

Cardamom - 3

Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Bay leaves – 2 ( fresh or dry)

Onion ( medium) – Thinly sliced

Tomato – 1

Ginger minced – 1 1/2 tsp

Garlic minced – 1 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 2-3 sprigs

Oil preferably coconut oil

Very thin Coconut milk - 1 cup (  if using tinned coconut milk dilute 1/4 cup  coconut milk with 3/4 cup water)

Thin coconut milk – 1 cup (½ cup tinned coconut milk with ½ cup water)

Thick coconut milk – ½ cup

Fried onions – 2 tbs (optional)

Method

• Marinate the fish with ingredients mentioned under to marinate and keep it aside for ½ an hour.
• In a pan add some oil and shallow fry the fish on  medium flame until ¾ th done by flipping both sides, takes about 7 minutes.
• In another pan add some oil and sputter fennel seeds.
• Add in cinnamon sticks, bayleaves, cardamom and cloves and when nice aroma comes out add the sliced onions and  few curry leaves.
• Saute the onions until soft.
• Add minced ginger and garlic and fry until raw smell goes.
• Add very thin coconut milk and few  curry leaves let it boil.
• Add the fish along with thin coconut milk and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Finally add the thick milk and chopped tomatoes when it starts to boil remove from fire.
• Garnish with fried onions.