Kerala Fish Fry

I was born into a vegetarian home, but was raised as a non-vegetarian by my dad. He started eating fish and meat when he moved to the city of Cochin to get his undergraduate degree. My grandfather, of course, had no idea and I think, would have skinned him alive if he ever knew. I remember once as a young girl I was walking with my dad and grandfather, and I randomly pointed to a restaurant and asked my dad, “Is this where you used to eat chicken and fish?” Unaware of the bomb I dropped, I happily skipped on ahead. 

My dad fed me my first piece of fish, just like he gave me my first sip of whiskey. 

“Try everything once,” he said. 

Being from Kerala, he loves seafood and it is that love that he has passed on to me as well. Every Sunday, my dad, sis, and I would pick up fish curry and fish fry for lunch from this tiny little Kerala restaurant called Kalpakka. My mom didn’t eat or allow us to cook meat in the house, but we could bring it in as long as we cleaned up after ourselves. We discovered that place one day when my mother fell ill and we had to fend for ourselves. Neither of us knew how to cook at that point, so we decided to go out. 

Yellowed, narrow steep steps led to the restaurant which was divided into three dining rooms, one of them with air conditioning, the others without. You paid extra for that luxury, but it was worth it in the Madras heat. On the tables were two cups, one filled with a tomato stew called rasam and another with a yogurt based stew called  morkozhambu (yeah, the Tamil language has some difficult pronunciations). This is normally had with plain white rice, but it tasted so good that we finished it in the first five minutes, spoon by spoon. Much to my dad’s delight, a waiter speaking Malayalam (the language spoken in Kerala) greeted us with a pale blue menu card that looked worse for wear, and recommended the fish curry and fish fry. 

Fifteen minutes later, he walked back in with a huge tray full of food that filled the entire room with the aroma of masalas and coconut. He placed a stainless steel plate in front of me with a flat, oval piece of fried seer fish, of the mackerel family, with onion rings and a wedge of lime on the side. The fish was marinated in ginger garlic paste and a combination of chili powder, pepper, salt and cornflour before being shallow fried for a minute or so until it turned dark maroon. In another stainless steel dish was the fish curry, overflowing and spilling onto the table. The curry was a simple onion and coconut milk stew that was garnished with a couple of pieces of fried coconut. The fish pieces floating in it had clearly been soaking in the gravy for a while, as they had imbued the saffron colour of the curry. This was served with a portion of steaming red rice, which is a staple in the state of Kerala and a papadam, which is essentially a thin, crisp dough made usually out of black lentils. You can guess how amazing it was if it became the Sunday tradition in our house. 

One day, I was craving a good helping of mashed potatoes and I didn’t have my usual chicken to go with it. In fact, because of the lack of shopping due to the pandemic, I didn’t have any protein except frozen Tilapia. Fish and potatoes is such a classic combination. Since I’ve never cooked fish in my life, I thought I’d start with paying homage to the fish fry at Kalpakka. The original recipe calls for Kingfish, but since it is not easily available where I live, I end up using Tilapia, mostly frozen. It actually took me a long time to get this recipe right, my main problem being getting the masala to stay on the fish after it hits the tawa. I also had an issue trying to make it as a complete dish. The fish got lost in the taste when had with chapatis, it was too dry with plain rice, and on its own, it was at best a snack to be had with whiskey, rather than a meal by itself. Mashed potatoes, made it a meal. 

This dish is super easy to make. Marinate the fish in a combination of salt, pepper, chilli powder, turmeric powder and lime juice for about 30 minutes and shallow fry in a cast iron for 7 minutes on each side. That’s it. The trick to ensure that the marinade stays on the fish and not at the bottom of your pan is:

1. Make slits on the flesh of the fish to make sure the marinade seeps through;
2. Make sure your pan is hot to begin with, but cook the fish on medium flame; and 
3. Once you place it on the pan, try not to move it until it’s time to flip. 

The recipe for mashed potato is one that I’ve been experimenting with for the last four years. For this, I like boiling my potatoes in the pressure cooker because it ensures soft potatoes, which is essential for a creamy texture. Start with melting some butter in a saucepan. I like to add minced garlic at this point and just as they turn golden, I mash the potatoes in my hand and add them to the pot with ¼ th cup of milk. Mix that well together. If you have a hand held mixer, use it. As you agitate the potatoes, they’ll start to release all that starch, lending more to the creaminess. Check and adjust the salt. When the potato mix starts to thicken, add 2 tablespoons of cream and mix well. Take it off heat and add the lemon juice. Garnish with some chopped coriander. 

The whole meal takes about 30 minutes, perfect for one of those busy weekdays. 

AuthorPriyanka SivaramakrishnanDifficultyBeginner

AuthorPriyanka Sivaramakrishnan