Fish Moilee Recipe – a delicious Recipe of Fish Curry with Coconut Milk. An aromatic coconut milk curry with shallow fried fish slices keeps this curry a step above the regular fish curry recipes.
Fish Moilee Recipe in this post is an East Indian Fish Curry with Coconut Milk. The East Indian Bottle Masala, an aromatic spice blend makes the curry extremely flavourful.
The fish curry gets ready in under 20 minutes as there is no blending or grinding involved in this recipe. The East Indian Fish Moilee is “Fish Moil” and is very similar to the Kerala style Fish Molee recipe.
Fish Moilee Recipe also has a touch of tang which comes from vinegar and compliments this rich coconut milk-based curry.
The base of most Indian Fish Curries is a curry paste is by blending chillies and spices along with tamarind. But this fish curry does not need any blending or grinding. It is a breeze to make this delicious Fish Moilee Recipe with few ingredients readily available at home.
Ingredients of Fish Curry (with coconut milk)
- Bottle Masala – Like most of the East Indian curries, this fish curry has the East Indian Bottle Masala. This aromatic blend of spices can transform even the simplest recipes and take them to another level. But do not fret if you do not have this spice mix hand. You could use any curry masala that you have or just chilli powder with garam masala powder. Though you may not get the exact flavour of the bottle masala it will take you very close to it.
- Coconut Milk – use fresh coconut milk for flavour as well as to add thickness to the curry. There is no substitute for fresh coconut milk but you could use the store-bought tetra pack. Even the coconut milk powder works just as fine in this recipe of fish curry.
- Onions – we generally use them to make a fish curry paste. But in this recipe, we slice and saute the onions until translucent. Onions add a slightly sweetish taste to this spicy and tangy Fish Moilee recipe. It also contributes to the texture of the curry so do not skip onions.
- Fresh ginger, garlic & green chillies – These are essential in all Indian cooking, especially curries. We add them to the fish curry paste. But in this recipe of fish curry, we cut them into julienne and saute along with the onions.
- Vinegar – The sour taste in an Indian Fish Curry Recipe is generally from the use of tamarind. But by adding vinegar to this fish curry sets it apart from the other fish curry recipes. The sour taste of vinegar does not overpower the Fish Moilee recipe but only gives it a tad bit of tang. Preferably use palm vinegar or even white vinegar is good for this fish curry.
- Best Fish for Curry – Finally, what is the best fish for this curry. You could use any firm fish for this recipe of fish curry. Sea fish such as the Indian Salmon, Seer fish, pomfrets make lovely fish curry. You could also use freshwater fish like Rohu but most of us don’t like freshwater fish because of its muddy flavour. I like to make this curry with black pomfrets.
Let’s make this Recipe of Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
As mentioned earlier, its so quick to make this recipe of fish curry if you have all the ingredients, including the coconut milk ready.
- Marinate the fish – add salt, turmeric powder, and bottle masala/curry masala to the fish slices. Rub it gently all over and allow the fish to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Fry the fish slices – after resting the fish for at least 30 minutes. Heat a pan with 2 to 3 tbsp of oil and shallow fry the fish on a low to medium flame till brown on both the sides. Sear all the fish slices and then remove them on an absorbent tissue for use in the curry.
- Make the fish curry – Into a deep vessel add another 2 to 3 tbsp oil and saute the sliced onions until translucent. Also add the juliennes of ginger, garlic, and green chillies.
- Add the bottle masala or curry masala and fry for a few seconds. There is no need to fry the spice mix for a long time as all the spices in the masala are roasted.
- Add the Coconut milk along with a cup of water and let the gravy come to a boil. Add more coconut milk and water if you need thinner gravy.
- Now is the time to add the fried fish slices. Add the fish carefully into the boiling curry.
- Add 2 to 3 tbsp of vinegar to the fish curry and allow it to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to bring out the aromatic flavours.
- The Recipe of Fish Curry with Coconut Milk is ready in minutes and you can garnish it with fresh coriander leaves. This could be an optional step but I prefer to garnish my curries.
Serving Suggestions
Fish Moilee tastes best the next day. Make this recipe in advance and serve it with steamed rice or rice rotis. Plain white rice or the unpolished rice also makes a perfect accompaniment to this fish curry.
Fish Curry Recipes that you may like to try
FISH MOILEE RECIPE
Ingredients
Marination
- 500 grams Fish slices ( 5 to 6 medium) (I used black pomfret)
- 1 tbsp Bottle Masala or curry masala
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
For the Fish Curry
- 2 medium Onions sliced
- 1-inch Ginger, juliennes
- 6 to 7 cloves Garlic, cut into juliennes
- 2 Green chillies slit/juliennes
- 2 tbsp Bottle Masala or Curry masala
- 1 cup Coconut Milk
- 1 cup Water, or as needed
- 3 tbsp Vinegar
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbsp Oil for cooking
Instructions
Recipe of Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
- Add the ingredients for marination and marinate the fish for at least 30 minutes
- Heat oil in a fry pan and shallow fry the fish slices until brown
Make the Fish Curry
- Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies until the onions are translucent.
- Add the bottle masala/curry masala and fry for a few seconds and then add the coconut milk and water.
- Cover the vessel and bring the curry to a boil and then add the fish slices and the vinegar and let the curry simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Finally, garnish the fish curry with coriander leaves.
- Serve Fish Moilee with steamed rice or Rotis.
Notes
- Use fish like Indian Salmon, Kingfish, or pomfret. You could also use freshwater fish for this curry recipe.
- Adjust salt and vinegar in the curry after you add the fish slices.
- The curry is best had on the next day or after a few hours.