At the Coorg table, you can immerse your tastebuds into a dark, tangy fish curry, with spice tones reminiscent of the famous pandi curry, but thinner and sharper. No coconut here — just ground onions, garlic and a few grains of raw rice as a thickener, a faint, pleasing bitterness from fenugreek seeds, dark roasted spices. Sharp, clear flavours emerge from the earthenware cooking pots. For a land locked, hill people, we eat a lot of fish in Coorg. The streams and rivers offered a generous supply of fresh water crabs and fish, like the sweet-fleshed bare meen.
Fishing trips had a touch of the theatrical — fire-lit or lamp-lit men, balancing along the mud embankments of the fields, or river-banks, to spear or trap fish. Bamboo traps were laid in cold, swift flowing streams. In season, the flooded paddy fields were full of crab and the prized, tiny koile meen.Fresh catch from the sea was just a day -trip away and, centuries of trade with the Malabar coast established a tradition of fresh and dried fish finding their way into Coorg homes, in sawdust-lined tin boxes, carried by Mapilah traders, to be haggled over in backyards. Salted fish was set aside for the monsoon months, or pickled in a thick layer of spices, immersed in baranis (earthenware jars).
To the fish and crustaceans of the sea and their own highland streams, the Coorgs brought their typical spice mixtures that added beguiling flavours. Whole mackerel, sardines, or slices of sweet-tasting river fish were lightly marinated in red chilli powder, turmeric and the indispensible kachampuli (Coorg vinegar), dipped in rice powder, and fried crisp on cast iron tawas. The contrast of the crunch of crisped exteriors, the lingering levels of spice in the firm flesh and a squeeze of lime was always perfect. There were plump morsels of pickled fish, and curries and pickles of prawns. Some days, an estate worker would come by with a catch of slender, flashing fish, a couple inches long, from the paddy fields. Fiddly to clean of the grit and mud, we spent ages rubbing slippery mounds with ash or salt for curry, or my favourite — clusters of koile meen, mixed with spices, for ‘cutlets.’
Fresh crab, caught in streams or fields were quick fried, or curried with finely ground coconut into a sour-spicy curry. Served with hot akki ottis and melted ghee. As we sat around a small, dining table, crunching crab claws and sucking out tender meat, my mother-in-law would explain which phases of the moon brought the crabs heavy with meat and, the knack of catching live crabs without receiving a painful pinch. I would nod enthusiastically, but left that particular task to the experts.
RECIPE
Coorg Fish Curry
Ingredients
* 1kg fish (seer works very well) cut into ½ inch thick steaks
Grind together to a fine paste
* 4 large onions
* 1 inch ginger
* 8 pods of garlic, peeled
* 1 ½ tsp jeera
Dry spices
* Red chilli powder to taste
* 2 tsp coriander powder
* 1 level tsp turmeric
For seasoning
* 1 tsp mustard seeds
* 2 green chillies
* 2 onions, sliced thin
* 8-10 curry leaves
For the roasted masala
* 1 tsp whole cumin (jeera)
* 1 tsp mustard seeds (rye)
* ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
* ¼ tsp raw rice
* ½ tsp black peppercorns kachampuli, or malt vinegar
Slow roast the above spices separately on a hot tawa until they release their aromas and change colour. Allow them to cool, and crush to a powder, separately, and then mix.
* Salt to taste
* ½ cup oil
* 2 cups hot water
Method
Wash and dry the fish fillets or steaks.
Mix the kachampuli (or malt vinegar), the turmeric, chilli powder, salt into the fish, and set aside.
Heat the oil in a deep pan, or kadai, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter, add the curry leaves, the sliced onions and the green chillies, and fry gently until softened.
Add the coriander powder, chilli powder, and ground paste of onions. Cook slowly, until the raw smell disappears.
Add 2 cups hot water, or more according to gravy required, and when simmering add the fish, and cook uncovered, until almost done.
Add the dry roasted, powdered spices, and simmer until done.
Optional — you can thicken the curry with a small amount of tamarind paste too.
– The writer is an anthropologist and independent author based in the city, who delves in to food, wine, travel and heritage. She is also behind A Gourmet’s Table In Coorg (http://coorg.com), a blog exploring the fascinating traditions of Coorg cuisine, food lore and special meals.
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> LifeStyle> Dine o Mite / by Kaveri Ponnapa, DC / September 06th, 2012
