10 Simple Ceviche ( Latin American pickled seafood)

Express Cooking Ananda Vikatan : Fish

25 June 2009 isse of Ananda Vikatan has my column  Express Cooking : South Indian fish recipes. I expect to hear an earful from my mom for this for sure !  Have a heart mom, I promise that the next issue would talk about pure vegetarian recipes :) I don't think it is fair imposing our preferences on readers !

1001 Indian Fish Curries

This cookbook lists 1000 fish curries, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The principle is simple – fish is cooked in 10 different ways, combined with ten different bases and 10 different flavourings to create a thousand different recipes.   

Sea fish is much loved all along the 7000 kms of Indian coastline. Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and coastal Tamilnadu are heavy sea  fish consumers. West Bengal, Kashmir, Central India and North East have an abundance of freshwater fish in their lakes and rivers and these are preferred to Sea fish. 

Vanjiram is Tamilnadu's favourite fish. Other sea fish like koduva, vavval, sankara, kilanga, sudumbu and nethili are also popular. Viraal, Kendai and Keluthi are favourites among freshwater fishes. For more information of Tamilnadu’s favourite fishes, click here.                           

Cooking Fish: Fish can be added directly to the boiling gravy as it cooks within 5 – 10 minutes. For more flavour, fish can be marinated, fried, grilled and then added to the gravy. These variations are listed in column 1.

 The Base : A wide variety of gravies are cooked across India. Tamarind based gravies are common in Tamilnadu & andhra. Fish tamarind , coconut and coconut milk based gravies are popular in Kerala, Konkan and Maharashtra. Vinegar based gravies are preferred in Goa, yogurt based gravies in Kashmir and mustard based gravies in West Bengal. These are listed in column 2.

 Flavourings : Different combination of spices fried in a variety of oils are used across India. Coconut oil is preferred in Kerala, and the Konkan coast, Sesame oil in Tamilnadu, groundnut oil in Andhra and Maharashtra, ghee in Kashmir, mustard oil in Bihar, orissa and West Bengal. Column 3 lists these variations.

 By combining a fish from column 1 with a gravy from column 2 and flavouring from column 3, you can easily cookup a huge range of fish curries.

 Tips :
1. Do not overcook fish. An inch thick fish is fully cooked in 5 minutes.
2. Fish curries taste better when cooked in an earthen pot. They usually taste even better the next day.
3. Other seafood like prawns, crab etc can be used in these curries instead of fish.

 Lean, healthy and easily cooked, fish is consumed world over. Unlike Indian curries, western fish curries are not heavliy spiced or cooked for long. In fact, mildly cooked or even raw fish is consumed in Japan and France. Fish marinated in lemon juice gets cooked in the citric acid and is eaten without any further cooking as ceviche. Baked / steamed / smoked fish is not so common in India, but are very popular abroad. Try using these in Indian gravies for a wide variety of fusion fish curries. Baked / steamed / smoked fish is not so common in India, but are very popular abroad. Try using these in Indian gravies for a wide variety of fusion fish curries .

1001 Indian Fish Curries

This cookbook lists 1000 Indian fish curries, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The principle is simple – 10 commonly consumed fishes are combined with ten different bases and 10 different flavouring techniques to create a thousand different recipes.  The building blocks are listed below.

Fishes commonly used in South Indian Cuisine:

Vanjiram : Seer fish / King fish. 

Koduva : Sea Bass.

Viraal : Murrel.

Karuppu Vavval : Black Pomfret.

Vellai Vavval : Silver Pomfret.

Sura : Baby Shark.

Sankara : Red Snapper.

Kilanga : Smelt.

Sudumbu : False Trevally.

 The base :

0.: None . No liquid base is used to cook dry fish curries.

1.: Onion . An extra dose of pureed onions is used for the North Indian Fish Dopyaza

2.: Nuts / Seeds . A rich base made from nut paste,  made popular by the Moguls. This is used to cook up rich, mild fish curries.

3.: Herbs . A variety of pureed herbs are used for tangy fish curries.

4.: Fish Tamarind . Used especially in the western coast, Kokkum r fish tamarind is chiefly responsible for the unique fish curries of Kerala, Goa and Konkan.

6.: Tomato is used as a curry base across the country.

7.: Tamarind is used to cook up a variety of sour fish stews like the Kulambu of Tamilnadu and Pulusu of Andhra.

8.: Onion – tomato is stir fried, blended to a paste with other additives and is used as a base in the rich Chettinadu fish curry.

 The flavouring :

0.:  Readymade Masala  is used across the country.

1.:  Mustard is fried in oil and is used to flavour South Indian fish curries

2.:  Ginger- Garlic  is used across the country.

3.:  Asafetida   is widely used in South Indian curries

4.:  Panchphoran  is a mix of five whole spices and is chiefly used in Orissa and West Bengal

5.:  Fenugreek  lends a bitter note and is more common in South Indian curries.

6.:  Cloves – Cinnamon are commonly used in Muglai curries.

7.:  Roast & Ground whole spices  are used across the country

8.:  Fried & Ground whole spices are more common in South Indian cuisine.

Top 10 fish eaten in Chennai

Click the image on the left to view the Chennai Fish Guide.
The first time cook can easily get confused in the fish market. This guide can come in handy to spot your favourite fish, its English name, the indicative price,  prime sizes and preferred cooking techniques.

The top 10 fish preferred in Chennai are listed in this guide. The following are Chennai's favourite fishes :

Vanjiram : Seer fish / King fish. 

Koduva : Sea Bass.

Viraal : Murrel.

Karuppu Vavval : Black Pomfret.

Vellai Vavval : Silver Pomfret.

Sura : Baby Shark.

Sankara : Red Snapper.

Kilanga : Smelt.

Sudumbu : False Trevally.

Nethili : Anchovies.

Viraal is the only fresh water fish commonly consumed in Chennai. All fish are fried / stewed except Sura, which is always steamed  and Sankara which is never fried.

Fresh water fish curries are always eaten hot. They are never stored as they give off a fishy smell when stored. Sea fish curries can be eaten hot / cold. They actually get better after a day.

Tips on buying fish: Buy fish with bright, clear eyes, shiny, bright skin and flesh that springs back when pressed. Avoid fish with cloudy / sunken eyes or with overwhelming fishy odour.

Tips on cooking fish: Every inch thickness of fish requires 10 minutes of cooking. If your fish chunks are an inch thick, they will be fully cooked in ten minutes. To check if fish is cooked, prod the flesh with a fork. Cooked fish is opaque, flakes easily and has milky white juice. Undercooked fish is still translucent and has clear juices. Avoid overcooking as it will make fish rubbery. 

100 Simple Indian Fish Curries

Click the image on the left to view the cookbook.
This cookbook lists 100 fish curries, greatly simplified, so that a first time cook can easily cook them. The principle is simple – fish is marinated (the lemon juice in the marinade partially cooks the fish) and this marinated fish is combined with ten different bases and 10 different flavouring techniques to create a hundred different recipes.  The ten different bases are listed below:

0.: Onion - An extra dose of onions is used as a base in the famous Dopyaza ( Double onion curry)

1.: Nuts / Seeds - Using nut paste and yogurt as a base is a hallmark of  the Mogul cuisine. This is usually used to cook the Muglai fish curry.

2.: Herbs -  A variety of herbs are blended with tamarind paste and used as a base for Fish curries from Tamilnadu.

3.: Coconut milk is widely used as a curry base in all the coastal cuisines, especially in Konkan, Goa and Kerala. As coconut milk curdles on cooking, the fish is cooked ( pan fried) first and coconut milk is added at the very end.

4.: Yogurt is used as a base to cook the delicious 'Dahi Maach' in Bengali cuisine.

5.:  Kokum or Fish tamarind  is used as a base to cook up a variety of Keralite and Konkani fish and seafood curries.

6.: Tamarind is used as a base in the southern states of Andhra, Tamilnadu and Karnataka to cook fish kulambu / fish pulusu.

7.:  Onion – garlic - tomato stir fried and pureed with tamarind paste is used to cook the Chettinadu fish curry.

8.: Mustard paste is chiefly used by Bengalis to cook up tangy fish curries. 

Ten different flavouring combinations are listed in this cookbook. You’ll note that each flavouring technique calls for a different type of oil. However, you can safely substitute refined vegetable oil in place of other oils.

0.: Readymade spice mixes are a quick way to flavour the curry.

1.:  Mustard + Red chili  fried in coconut oil is chiefly used in Kerala cuisine.      

2.: Cumin + Ginger- Garlic  is a flavouring common in Muglai cuisine.

3.:  Mustard + Asafetida  fried in sesame oil is commonly used in Tamil cuisine.

4.: Panchphoran, a mixture of spices fried in mustard oil is the standard flavouring used in Bengali / Oriya cuisine.

5.: Mustard + Curry leaves + Fenugreek  is another southern flavouring combination.

6.: Cloves – Cinnamon  with ginger garlic paste and garam masala is commonly used in North Indian cuisine.

7.: The mixture of fried & ground coriander seeds, pepper and cumin is used across India.        

8 .: A special blend of roast & ground spices is used in Goa for the fragrant Fish Xacuti.