Unakka-Meen Curry - Dried fish cooked with raw plantains in a curry sauce.

Start the first recipe post of the year with something sweet…..weave the words with a poetic touch…… speak from the heart and write to my glory .....hmmmm. Well, sat at my desk few days back, trying to find my missing writer’s cap and kept wondering when that auspicious moment would strike me like the streak of heavenly lightening from the sky. Nothing magical happened and the blank screen stared at me and seemed to be teasing me.

And this morning I called home; after a long talk, just when my father had curled up to his slumber and at that last minute of wrapping up the conversation, my mother asked me .

”….edee….annu nammal onakka-meen curry vechappo thenga arachu chertho? “ (…did we add ground coconut to the dried fish curry we made that day? )

My impulse would have been to say “which one ? did we really make that ? I don’t remember…“. had I not spotted the picture of the same, last week or so, while digging into my ‘yet-to-post’ folder (that has a galore of pictures marked from 2009, most of them taken during my parents’ visit) . As I hurriedly flipped the pages of my little yellow notepad to check the recipe for her, I could hear my mother from the other end recollecting how much I enjoyed that dish, with a plateful of boiled rice, consecutively for two days, while pregnant with my Little King !! Her exact words were, “…nee annu payasam kazhikkunna poleyaa kazhiche…” !!!

Knowing that my mother wanted to make that curry once again , this time to satisfy my sister-in-law’s pregnancy cravings, I quickly ran her through the recipe and brushed her memory. At the end of the call, she asked me “ ….athokke post cheythoode…? “ (“…why don’t you start posting all those recipes…?”). Though I gave her a set of excuses at that time, bits and pieces of that conversation has been playing at the back of my mind , all through the day.

Few minutes back, I found myself walking up to the desk and keying in again………that conversation with my mother gave me the nudge I wanted……. her words refreshed my taste memories and here I am ready to make one more post!!

Though my mother prepared this dish during her stay with us, the framework of the recipe indeed belongs to my mother-in-law. Years back, she had given me a rough idea about this dish, with roots tying to her Kuttanadan background, and I had jotted it down hastily in the drafts folder of my mailbox (yeah, I use my mailbox for non-mailing purposes too). Somehow the combination of dried fish and plantains sounded quite appealing and appetizing to my palate, not to ignore the fact that a fish curry with dried fish itself was completely new to me. I love such rustic food , especially when seafood is combined with a vegetable.

Here’s the details of the recipe, as my mother made it:

Ingredients: (Approx.)

• 150gm dried fish /Unakka-meen

For cooking:

• 1 ¼ cups raw plantain, cut into crescent shape ( Soak as per the directions noted below)
• 3 green chillies, split lengthwise
• 1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• Salt to taste
• 1 -2 pieces of Kudampuli/Gamboge (adjust as per the strength of Kudampuli as some are very tart)
• 1 cup water

For Grinding:

• ½- ¾ cup freshly grated coconut
• 2 – 2 ½ tsp red chilly powder ( adjust as per your tolerance)
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• Around ¼- ½ cup water

For seasoning:

• 1-2 tbsp Coconut oil
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 dry red chilly
• 2-3 small red pearl onions/kunjulli
• 10-12 curry leaves

Directions:

• Soak the cut pieces of plantain in some water with a couple pinches of turmeric, for about 15 minutes, before rinsing and draining.
• Soak dry fish in water , for about 30 minutes, along with some newspaper sheets. This is to soften the dry fish; also the newspaper sheet absorb all that salt from the fish. Cut the fish into pieces, as per your choice.
• Grind freshly grated coconut with chilly powder and turmeric powder , along with water, to make a fine paste.
• In a curry chatti/earthenware or a sauce pan, cook plantain , with all the ingredients listed under “ For cooking”, and bring to a boil, on medium heat . At this point add the dry fish chunks and cook along with plantains and herbs. When it is half done, pour the ground paste and bring to a boil again. Now reduce the flame and let it simmer and cook till the fish is completely cooked. (Note: Please make sure that plantains and fish pieces are cooked just right and retain shape) Do a taste test and add salt if needed. In another pan, heat some coconut oil , crackle mustard seeds , followed by dry red chilly and small onions and sauté for a minute or till onion slices turn transparent, now switch off the heat and immediately tear some curry leaves and throw them into the pan. Pour the entire thing into the curry chatti , over cooked fish and plantain; please DO NOT stir immediately after pouring the seasoning and let it rest for atleast 30 minutes.
• We served with some warm rice.

See you soon with more :)

Luv

Shn

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