Traditional South Indian Fish curry - Meen kuzhambu

This is truly the traditional way of preparing meen kuzhambu, to get the original taste don’t compromise with any of the ingredients and follow the steps exactly. Adjusting the heat of the flame while cooking plays a major role, because burning an ingredient will spoil the aroma of the entire kuzhambu.

Photo of Fish curry- Zoom	Ingredients - Zoom

Ingredients ( to grind | to fry | for the curry )

Ingredients to grind
10 long red chillies
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
1/4tsp ground turmeric
1/2tbsp Bengal gram dal

Ingredients for to fry
Groundnut oil - 5tbsp
Vadagam - 1 tsp (check the recipe)
Pearl onion - 15 nos(peeled and cut in half)
Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
Garlic - 2 cloves
Green chili - 3 nos (split in half)
Turmeric - 2 pinch
Curry leaf – 15 leaves
Coriander leaf

Ingredients for the curry
Tamarind - 1 lemon sized ball
Water - 4 cups
Salt to taste (about 1 1/2tsp)
Fish - 7 pieces

Preparation Method

Grind the first set of ingredients and make a fine paste.

Smash tamarind and salt in water, make juice filter it and keep aside.

Clean the fish and keep aside.

Heat oil in kadai reduce the flame to low and add vadagam when its done popped add onion, crushed garlic, green chilies, curry leaf, coriander leaf and turmeric powder, increase the flame to medium fry till golden brown, then add tomato, fry till oil splits.

Increase the flame a bit and add tarmarind juice and the masala paste stir well till they blend and cover the kadai with lid. When you hear the boiling sound reduce the flame to low, do not open the lid for the first 15 min cos you will loose the aroma and that will change the entire taste of the kuzhambu.

After 15 min open the lid increase the flame a bit and add the fish pieces, allow it to boil for 5 min cover the lid and switch of the heat. Let it rest as such for a min of 1 hr before you serve.

If possible use mansatti (mud pot)　instead of kadai for the preparation, you can surely see the difference in taste, the best meen kuzhambu is always prepared in a mansatti.

Other names: Fish Kuzhambu, Meen Kuzhambu, Mean Kuzhambu, Tamil nadu style fish curry.

Meen or Mean is Fish in Tamil language.