Pomfret (Avoli/ആവോലി) is one of the most sought fish in south India. Its is very popular in high quality sea food recipes because of its white flesh and non-fishy flavor. Black and white pomfrets are very common in sea-food markets and both tastes pretty much the same. I used fresh black Pomfret from farmers market for this preparation.
Ingredients
- Black pomfret : 2 ½ Lbs
- Coconut oil : 2 ½ T- Sp.
- ginger : 1 inch
- Garlic : 5 cloves
- Pearl onion : 2
- Green chilly : 4 (Adjust)
- Curry leaves
- Salt for taste
- Pepper powder : ½ T-Sp.
- Tomato : 1 (small )
- Malabar Tamarind : 4 pieces ( Adjust)
- Water : 3 cup
For roasting:-
- Grated coconut : 2 ¼ Cups
- Curry leaves
- Fenugreek seeds : ¼ T-Sp.
- Coriander powder : 2 ½ Tbl – Sp.
- Chilly powder : 2 Tbl- Sp. ( Adjust)
- Turmeric powder : ½ T-Sp.
Method
- Soak the Tamarind and keep it aside.
- Clean the fish, skin off and make medium size pieces.
- Heat a kadai/pan, add grated coconut and fry till it turns to golden brown in color, add a bit of coconut oil if needed.
- Then add the fenugreek seeds along with chilly powder, coriander powder, curry leaves and turmeric powder & fry it for about 2 minutes in low flame.
- Wait for it to cool completely
- Powder it in a small mixer, once you see oil is oozing from the coconut, add enough water to make a fine paste.
- Heat 1 ½ T-Sp of oil in an earthen pot and add julienne sliced ginger, garlic, Pearl onion , curry leaves and split green chilly.
- Fry it until slight brown color.
- Add the ground coconut along with 3 cups of water and wait for it boil.
- Once it boiled, reduce the flame and cook it for another 5 minutes.
- Again, increase the flame and give a good boil and add the fish pieces.
- Cook it for about 6 minutes on a medium flame.
- Cover it with a lid and cook on low to medium heat for 15-20 minutes or till fish pieces are cooked well and the gravy starts thickening.
- After 10 minutes add the sliced tomato.
- Mix the curry by rotating the pan occasionally; Don’t use spoon to mix the curry.
- Finally add the pepper powder, curry leaves and 1 T-Sp coconut oil and rotate the pan.
- Switch off the stove and keep the curry for another 30 minutes before serving.
Tips:-
- Quantity of Oil , chilly powder, green chilly and pepper powder may adjust to individual taste.
- Can use normal tamarind or malabar tamarind ( kudampuli) for this recipe.
- It’s a semi thick curry, so adjust the water quantity. I used 3 cups of water.