Fish Molee / Meen Molee

Fish Molee / Meen Molee

Fish cooked in coconut milk with lightly seasoned onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Goes well with Appam / Rice in Kerala Cuisine. A very tasty and less spicy dish !!!

Serves: 3 - 4

You will need

For fish:

Whole Karimeen (pearl spot) or Pomfret (aavoli) will give best result.

or

300 g fish pieces (nemmeen or any good quality fish)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wash and clean fish pieces. Wipe each fish pieces with a kitchen towel. Mix red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Marinate fish pieces with red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt mix. Keep aside for half an hour.

For coconut milk:

100 g fresh grated coconut required for 50 ml thick milk and 150 ml thin milk.

You should select coconut which are just mature (the more maturity, the less milk will it yield). Scrape coconut. Grind in a mixer for a couple of minutes with 30 ml water. Tie this ground mixture of coconut scraping in a clean cotton cloth and squeeze this to take the milk out. This milk taken out first time is the thick coconut milk (50 ml)and keep it aside in a cool place (the milk will spoil on heating). Once the coconut scrapping is fully squeezed, the resultant scrapping which is dry, is then immersed in 75 ml of luke-warm water for 5 min. Repeat the process to extract thin milk (150 ml). The thin milk is used for initial cooking.

Once the cooking is done with thin milk, take the dish off the stove and then only pour the thick milk and should not heat any more.

Other ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
10 shallots / chuvannulli, finely sliced (or 1 onion, finely sliced)
1 - inch ginger, finely sliced
10 cloves garlic, finely sliced
4 green chillies, slit lengthwise
1 spring curry leaves
150 ml thin coconut milk
50 ml thick coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Method

Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced onions / shallots and fry light pink in color.

Add sliced ginger, garlic, curry leaves and slit green chillies. Saute on a low to medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes.

Add marinated fish pieces, thin coconut milk and salt to taste. Do not add extra water. Cover with a lid and cook on a low to medium heat for 10 - 12 minutes or until the fish pieces softens and gravy thickens and fragrant. Switch off the heat. Keep aside to cool for 15 minutes.

Finally add thick coconut milk and stir gently. Serve with Appam / Idiyappam / Rice / Ghee Rice .....