Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Holiday Cooking : Sardine in Tamarind and Coconut curry

A holiday in the middle of the week is so welcome and ofcourse so awesome. But spending that holiday alone sitting at home, browsing through TV channels can be really boring. Whenever I get such holidays I mostly try and do something soul satisfying. 

Today I woke up early, went to the fish market with a super enthusiastic and energetic friend and bought lots of sardines. Lots meaning since it was a wholesale fish market, the vendor wont give half and even after both she and I shared, it was still lot for me.

So here's what I did with my first set from the LOT of Sardines. 

Washed and cleaned them properly.
Took 4 Sardines, rubbed some turmeric and salt on them and kept aside.
I dry roasted small tea spoonfulls of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and a dry red chilli. 
Till the time these dry roasted masala cooled down, I shallow fried one small onion, cut into small pieces; some fresh coconut pieces and a medium tomato again cut into small pieces.

In the meantime I put some dried tamarind in the water so that they become soft and juicy.
Let the onion, coconut and tomato cool a bit. Now grind the dry roasted masala. After that grind/ blend the fried coconut, onion and tomato to a smooth paste.
Heat little oil in a kadahi. Let some mustard seeds and curry leaves crackle. Add a pinch of turmeric and pour the coconut, onion and tomato paste. Fry this till the cooked smell starts coming. I added a little water while frying. Once done, paste the tamarind in the grinder and add in the kadahi. Put salt as per your taste and add atleast 2 cups of water. Let this come to a boil. Now add the fishes. 
Put a lid. Let it boil and the fishes to get cooked. Once the gravy is reduced to your choice switch off the gas.

Serve hot with plain rice. 

Trust me, its simple easy and tastes really good.



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