While you can make a fish curry with any kind of fish available, river water fish also known as freshwater fish is the best as they go well in a curry. I know a lot of us don’t have access to freshwater fishes but trust me they make a lot of difference to a curry. I have already shared my mom’s fish pulusu made with tamarind, which is a specialty of the Andhra cuisine. But the recipe shared in this post is way different from that and is made in a onion tomato base. This fish curry tastes best with plain steamed rice, flavored rice like jeera rice, ghee rice or with roti, paratha and naan.

How To Make Fish Curry (Stepwise Photos)

Make Masala Paste

  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cumin and allow to splutter. Then add onions & saute until golden.
  2. Add ginger garlic and fry for 30 to 60 seconds. When they turn fragrant, add tomatoes and half tsp salt.
  3. Fry until the raw smell goes away.
  4. Add coconut, red chili powder, turmeric and fennel seeds (optional).
  5. Fry everything well until the onion masala smells good. Ensure the raw smell has gone. Cool this completely.

Prepare Fish

  1. This one and next step are optional. Marinate fish with red chili powder, turmeric, very little salt and ginger garlic paste. Do not leave this marinated fish aside, just fry them right away.
  2. Heat a pan with 1 tsp oil, fry the fish until the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste has gone. You can use the same pan used to fry the onions, I used a different one since I used a steel pan. Set this aside.
  3. Add the cooled ingredients to a blender jar along with 2 to 4 tbsps of water.
  4. Blend to a coarse or smooth paste to suit your taste. We prefer coarse texture in our curry so I made a coarse paste. If you prefer a smooth texture, make a smooth paste.

How to Make Fish Curry

  1. Add another tbsp. oil & heat on a low flame. When the oil turns slightly hot, add curry leaves and green chilies.
  2. When the leaves splutter, add the ground paste. Mix everything well .
  3. Sprinkle garam masala and salt. You can add more red chilli powder at this stage to adjust the heat. I added a bit more. Fry everything well until the masala smells good.
  4. Pour 1 ¼ cup water and mix well to make lump free gravy. You may need to adjust the amount of water slightly.
  5. On a medium flame boil until the oil begins to separate and the gravy thickens. This may take about 5 mins. Check the salt and spice now. Adjust any taste that is needed. If you like to use tamarind, you can soak some tamarind in hot water. Extract and filter the juice to the gravy. We do not prefer tamarind so i have not used, the sourness from tomatoes is good enough.
  6. Add the fish pieces to the gravy and cook for few mins. Flip them and cook until they bulge, meaning they are cooked completely. If desired garnish with coriander leaves. Serve fish curry with rice or chapathi. More Indian curry recipesMutton curryChicken curryChicken kormaPrawn curry You may like these fish recipesFish biryaniEasy fish fryFish pulusu Related Recipes

Recipe Card

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