Kottayam Fish Curry (Meen Mulakittathu)

Kottayam Fish Curry or Meen Mulakittathu as it is traditionally known in Malayalam, is a spicy, fiery fish curry using the souring agent, black kokum. So many ways to enjoy this curry….with rice, gruel, steamed yam but it makes the most delicious pairing with steamed or tempered tapioca.

The international or global reach of food happened in the last 2 decades and today, most of us want to cook and enjoy all kinds of cuisines – Middle Eastern, Meditteranean, Asian, Indian, Italian, Mexican etc. to name a few.

But there was a time when food was rather a ‘traditional affair’ and people ate specific ingredients or dishes pertaining to the region and remained largely unaware of other types of preparations.

Kerala is quite divided when it comes to food; the style of cooking and ingredients varies widely between the different regions.

My dad and mom came from different regions within the state and so I grew up hearing stories from my mom about the difficulties she had to go through after marriage getting adjusted to the eating styles and dishes in my dad’s household. And the main dish that kept cropping up was this Kottayam fish curry, which she needed a long time to get used to.

This spicy fish curry has become the culinary trademark of the Travancore region of Kerala though it is proudly referred to as Kottayam fish curry to the outside world.

There are 2 main differences that makes this dish stand out from all other seafood preparations of Kerala – use of black kokum as the souring agent instead of tamarind and absence of coconut (no one needs an explanation about Kerala’s fixation with coconut). There are some households which add coconut to this dish but mostly as a garnish and not as an actual ingredient in making the curry.

This is a staple dish of every household in Kottayam and neighboring districts; I don’t think a day goes by without this dish. Traditionally, this Kottayam fish curry is either eaten with steamed root vegetables like tapioca, taro and yam or paired with native red rice and a buttermilk curry.

When it comes to describing the flavours of this fish curry, let me just say that it is unapologetically fiery with really bold flavours. Which is why, there is always going to be a divided opinion about this one – you either love it or hate it. No middle ground…..

As for me, you would have figured how much I love it which is of course why it gets featured here……

Well, I could go on and on about this dish, but let’s get to cooking Kottayam fish curry.

Print Recipe

Kottayam Fish Curry (Meen Mulakittathu)

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, Kerala

Author: Dhanya Samuel

Ingredients

• 1 kg barracuda medium sized pieces
• 9-10 shallots/small onion finely sliced
• 1 inch ginger finely chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 ½ tbsp red chilli powder adjust to heat preferences
• 1 ½ tbsp kashmiri chilli powder adjust to heat preferences
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 4-5 sprigs curry leaves
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 3 pieces of black kokum/kudampuli
• Salt to season
• 4-5 tbsp coconut oil.

Instructions

• This fish curry is traditionally made in an earthen pot which lends a unique flavour to the dish. If you do not have one, a regular kadai or pan can be used.
• Clean the fish and cut into small pieces and keep aside.
• Heat oil, crackle mustard seeds and then add fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Next add chopped shallots, ginger and garlic and sauté till the onions turn light golden brown.
• Make a paste with red chilli powder, kashmiri chilli powder and turmeric powder and add to the above and sauté again till the oil clears.
• Add 1 cup water and then put in the kokum pieces and salt and bring to boil.
• Add the fish pieces and cook till done. Stir in between and add more water if necessary. The gravy for this dish is meant to be a thick one just coating the fish pieces.
• Garnish with curry leaves.

Notes

To get the red hot colour to the dish without being super spicy, I used a mix of red chilli and Kashmiri red chilli powder.

This curry has better flavour when eaten the next day. The sourness deepens as time passes so check the flavour after a couple of hours and remove the kokum pieces if necessary.