Scrambled Fish Curry (Chepala Porutu)
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Loading ...Last night I was in a hurry to put something quick on the table for dinner. And all I really had was catfish and eggplant in the fridge. I decided fish would be quicker to cook. I had to defrost it of-course, but it still would be faster. I defrosted it in the microwave and actually cooked it a little too.
Now all I had to do was fry it up with onions and serve it as fried fish is what I hoped. Well it turned out a little different. The pieces started falling apart and so finally served it as scrambled fish.
I had heard of that dish before but neither eaten it or read any recipes about it. Later that day I was talking to my Mom and mentioned my creation. She told me that I had made in essence a dish that was my paternal grand father’s favorite. Except they would first steam the fish and then crumble it up by hand to remove all the bones and finally proceed the way I had.
Hmmm. Not bad and it was actually very tasty. . A really good dish and so easy to make.
Ingredients
Catfish – 2 lb
Onions – 2 large, diced
Ginger paste – ½ tsp
Garlic paste – ½ tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric - ½ tsp
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Cloves – 5
Oil – 4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro - handful
Method
Defrost the fish and cook it in the microwave for 3 – 4 min. Chop it up into reasonably big chunks. Lightly coat it with salt, turmeric and chilli powder.
Heat oil in a pan and add the seasonings. Add onions and fry till they start to caramelize in color. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute more.
Next add the fish and keep stirring frequently, till the fish is cooked. This breaks down the fish and sort of creates a scrambled look. You can also smash the pieces with a spoon. I left a few chunks in on purpose.
Just before removing it from heat stir in finely chopped fresh cilantro.
Serve with rice.
