Fish Moilee / Fish in coconut Sauce

  Fish moilee is a famous kerala fish curry made with coconut milk .  it is simple and easy to make fish curry with minimal ingredients.

As coconut is abudantely used in kerala cusine, this curry is prepared with coconut milk itself. It is called as meen moilee in Malayalam. This stew is having a history dates couple of years back . It was during the colonial days when portugese came to kerala , they were served extremely spicy gravy , which the portugese can’t able to taste.

 At that time , a local lady named moily came to rescue them by adding coconut milk to the dish and the foreigners enjoyed the dish , so the dish she prepared got her name as Meen Moilee.

 This fish curry is served with steamed rice , appam or dosa.

 There are many variations in making this curry , I followed a simple method. I used sardines ( Herring ) to make this curry.

 Herring has been a staple food source since at least 3000 B.C.  There are numerous ways of this fish is consumed like eaten raw , fermented , pickled or smoked.

Herrings are very high in the long chain Omega - 3 fatty acids EPA and  DHA . They are a source of vitamin D .

Requirements :

Sardines – 5 / 500 g

First Coconut milk – 1 cup

Second coconut milk – 1 cup

Shallots  –  10

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Green chilles – 2 -3

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Tomato – 1

Lemon juice – 2 tsp

Curry leave – a sprig

Oil – 1 tbs

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp

Method :

Clean and wash the fish.

Slightly cut the fish to enable the masala enter.

Apply lemon juice and salt on each fish. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan , add the mustard seeds and let it crackle.

Add the chopped shallots , slit green chillies and curry leaves , sauté for a few seconds till the onion becomes translucent.

Add the ginger garlic paste , chopped tomato , turmeric powder and sauté well.

Add the second coconut milk and let it boil.

Add the required salt and mix well.

When the gravy starts boiling add the fish one by one .

Cook the moilee in medium flame for ten minutes or till the fish is cooked.

Add the first coconut milk and let it boil for five minutes.

Fish moilee is ready to serve.

Serve with hot steamed rice.

Note :

In the original recipe , they won’t add tomato . I added tomato as I like tangy taste.

Shallots gives a unique flavor and taste to fish gravies.