Fish Curry | Meen Gassi recipe with step by step photos and short video. Fish Curry | Meen Gassi : A mild spiced , flavorful fish curry from coastal regions of Mangalore is delicious with hint of tang and tone of sweetness from coconut is served with plain rice or boiled rice.
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About this recipe
This fish curry is a popular curry from Mangalore , coastal area in Southern region of Karnataka . Coastal regions are popular for its wide varieties of tasty sea foods .
Meen in kannada means Fish and Gassi is curry, hence it's called as Meen Gassi in local language . Mangalorean Fish curry is quite popular across the globe and can be seen on menu of many restaurants too.
This curry is lightly spiced dish with a hint of tang flavor from tamarind and a very mild sweetish tone from coconut . Flavors balances so well with coconut oil that you end up having extra morsels of rice. Fish Curry is normally served with white rice or boiled rice and is popularly known as fish curry rice. If you haven't tried this dish yet , then I recommend you to try once to know why people love this so much.
Mangalore Fish curry gets its unique flavor from Jaargey / Malbar Tamarind / Kumdampuli . Jaargey is a dried exterior of a fruit which is sour in taste. If its not available , either tamarind or kokum can be used as an alternative , which do justice to the recipe. I have used tamarind here , you can even soak dried kokum and use it as well.
As its native of Mangalore , its needless to mention about the use of fresh coconut. Recipe here calls for use of coconut oil and fresh coconut . I must say , coconut oil adds lots of flavor to this dish. Hence don't skip on using coconut oil if you are keen about getting authentic Mangalore Fish Curry.
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Types of fishes
Most common types of sea fish used for this curry are Pomfret , Kane (Lady fish) , Boothai (Sardines) and Bangude (Mackerel) . But incase if its not available in your region you can also try this recipe with Kingfish , Tilapia and Catfish. If you are used to eat fresh water fish then you can also try with Rohu and Catla. This curry tastes equally good with all kind of fishes and also with shripm and prawns.
Similar Fish recipes
My DH is very fond of Mangalore style Fish Curry. Also Neer Dosa with Chicken Gassi , Chicken Sukka , Kori Roti and Kane Masala fish fry are few of his favorites to mention . And I Love Fish fry ......, any fish for that matter , I Just Love It. Bangude Fish Fry , Chettinad style fish fry , Simple Fish Fry and Amritsari fish fry are few of the recipes which I often make at home.
We'll , let me stop here, if you also crave for fish , then try out any recipes from my space and let me know , how it turned out for you.
Step by Step Directions to make Fish Curry | Meen Gassi
Heat 2 tablespoon of coconut oil in a heavy bottom pan.
Add ginger , green chili and finely chopped onion . Fry till raw smell goes off.
Now add in chopped tomatoes , pinch of salt and cook till tomatoes look pulp.
Whilst prepare masala paste by blending coconut , chili powder , coriander powder , tamarind, garlic , peppercorns , methi seeds and ajwain into a fine paste.
Add little water while blending to make fine paste.
Add this ground masala into above cooked tomatoes.
Saute and cook masala paste for 5 minutes, till rawness of masala paste goes off. Add ½ cup of mixer rinsed water and cook masala till specks of oil is seen on top.
Now add 3 cups of water and salt to taste .
Bring it to boil .
Keep flame on medium heat and add fish pieces .
Close lid and let fish cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
When it comes to boil , open lid and keep on sim.
Whilst, heat oil in a Tadka / season pan , add curry leaves and chopped onions fry till onions turns brown.
Pour seasoning / tadka over fish curry and turn off the stove.
Serve Fish curry with plain rice or boiled rice.
Recipe
Fish Curry | Meen Gassi - Mangalore Style
Ingredients
- 500 grams Fish
- 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 1 Onions medium size
- 4 no's Green Chilies Slit
- 1 " inch Ginger grated
- 2 no's Tomatoes
- 3- 3.5 cups Water
- 2 teaspoon Salt or as required
To Grind into Masala Paste
- 1 cup Coconut
- 2 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Jeera / Cumin Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds / Methi Seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Ajwain /Carom seeds
- ½ teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 6 Garlic Cloves,medium size
- ½ Onion, medium size , roughly sliced
- Tamarind lemon size
For Seasoning
- 2 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 1 no Onions finely chopped
- 1-2 sprigs Curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoon of coconut oil in a heavy bottom pan.
- Add ginger , green chili and finely chopped onion . Fry till raw smell goes off.
- Now add in chopped tomatoes , pinch of salt and cook till tomatoes look pulp.
- Whilst prepare masala paste by blending coconut , chili powder , coriander powder , tamarind, garlic , peppercorns , methi seeds and ajwain into a fine paste. Add little water while blending to make fine paste.
- Add this ground masala into above cooked tomatoes.
- Saute and cook masala paste for 5 minutes, till rawness of masala paste goes off.
- Add ½ cup of mixer rinsed water and cook masala till specks of oil is seen on top.
- Now add 3 cups of water and salt to taste , bring it to boil .
- Keep flame on medium heat and now add fish pieces .
- Close lid and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
- When it comes to boil , open lid and keep curry on simmer.
- Meanwhile , heat oil in a Tadka / season pan , add curry leaves and chopped onions fry till onions turns brown.
- Pour seasoning / tadka over fish curry and turn off the stove.
- Serve Fish curry with plain rice or boiled rice.
Kriti says
Hi. Is there any specific fish to be used for this recipe? If not, then Pls share the names of a few that can be used for this recipe.
Thank you.
Muktha says
Hi Kriti , Most common types of sea fish used for this curry are Pomfret , Kane (Lady fish) , Boothai (Sardines) and Bangude (Mackerel) . But incase if its not available in your region you can also try this recipe with Kingfish , Tilapia and Catfish. If you are used to eat fresh water fish then you can also try with Rohu and Catla. This curry tastes equally good with all kind of fishes and also with shripm and prawns. Thank you
Salma says
Can you use regular cooking oil
Muktha says
Hi Salma, Yes you can use any cooking oil. Adding coconut oil to Mangalore cuisine is practice as it adds on depth of coconut flavors. If its not available use any flavorless oil, that should work fine.Thank you
Mallika Karkera says
Dear ma'am your recipe I have given 3 stars bcoz authentic mangalorean fish raasa or gaadi does not use red chilli powder and coriander powder. We mangaloreans use whole dry spices dry bedgi red chillies, coriander seeds and mustard seeds alongwith the rest of dry spices mentioned by you. We first dry roast them with little coconut oil and then grund them together with fresh grated coconut, tamarind pulp, sliced onions and garlic flakes. Plus authentic mangalorean fish raasa or gassi tomatoes are never added as for tanginess either tamarind, jarayege puli or sour raw mangoes are added. Hope you didn't feel offended by my comment bcoz rest everything you have mentioned in your recipe is perfect. Thanks in advance.
Muktha says
Hi Mallika ,
Thanks for taking your time to write a detailed comment , I appreciate . Yes, I'm totally aware of the fact of using byadgi chillies and coriander seeds in Kundapura Masala powder and using the same in making Meen Gassi. As Red chilly powder and Coriander Powder are products of dry red chilly and coriander seeds , I have directly used it . Yes, It's my bad , I haven't mentioned about it . I will surely update , Thanks for notifying me.
We'll regarding Tomatoes 🙂 You know it better, totally I agree. Not offended at all. As I know Mangalorean's use Jaargey right . As Jaargey is unavailable in most of the regions , I have used tamarind in combination with tomatoes to match the taste of Mangalore meen gassi. Using only Tamarind as an alternative to jaargey makes gassi slightly
more tangy. So , I personally felt in combination with tomatoes , it made a very near match to Mangalore Meen Gassi , hence the changes to the recipe.
I surely add all your mentioned point in notes section and update the recipe. Thanks a ton Mallika.