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Home » Recipes » Cuisine » Indian » Kerala

Fish Molee – Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk

Published: Nov 23, 2016 by Manju · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

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Delicately spiced fish curry with coconut milk, a Kerala special Fish Molee.

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk - Kerala Christmas Recipes

If you have been following my blog for a while, by now you might be familiar that Kerala cuisine uses a lot, a LOT, of coconut – ground coconut, grated coconut, fried coconut slices, coconut milk and what not! Of course, the coconut usage is not limited to vegetables and meat, we use it with fish too. After all, seafood is as integral to Kerala cuisine as coconut is.

This was my first time making Fish Molee and I looked around a little for how to make it. I knew that it is basically a fish stew but wanted to know if there was any specific way it was made or any specific spice was added or not added to make it Fish Molee. What I found in most places – internet and my cookbook collection , all pretty much said the same thing. So I went about making it and it turned out not that bad – pretty darn tasty infact. This time I had more taste testers than just the meat-a-holic, so it must be true!

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk - Kerala Christmas Recipes (3)

Fish Molee – The Recipe

Ingredients:

Tilapia fillets, or any other similar fish fillets – 4 to 5 ( I think Pomphret and King Fish are the more commonly used ones, but I just used the fish I had)
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Lime juice – 2 tsp
Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Canola Oil – 3-4 teaspoon to pan fry the fish
Red Onion, chopped – 1
Thai Green Chilies / Birds Eye Chilies, stem removed and roughly chopped – 2 or 3
Ginger, 2 inch piece
Garlic cloves – 5
Coconut Oil – 1 teaspoon (feel free to use canola or vegetable oil)
Curry leaves – 7-8
Lime juice – 1 tsp
Coconut Milk – 1 cup
Regular milk – ½ cup or more, as needed ( you can use all of coconut milk, if that is what you want. I try to use a mix of coconut milk and milk usually)
Salt – as needed

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk - Kerala Christmas Recipes (4)

Method:

Cut each fillet into 3 inch pieces. Marinate the fillets in turmeric powder, red chilli powder, lime juice and salt and keep aside for about half an hour or so. Heat the canola oil in a pan and fry the fish lightly on both sides. Now remove the fish from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the coconut oil to the pan, heat it and add chopped onions and curry leaves to it. Meanwhile, crush the ginger, garlic and green chilies together using a mortar and pestle. Add this crushed mix  to the pan and saute well. Add the coconut milk and milk to the pan, let it almost come to a boil and add the fish to the pan slowly so as not to break them. Add salt and lime juice to it. Lower the heat to low-medium and let it cook for 5 mins or so. Serve hot with rice, appam, dosas or chapathis.

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
Author: Manju | Cooking Curries
Prep time: 35 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 50 mins
Serves: serves 2
Ingredients
  • Tilapia fillets, or any other similar fish fillets – 4 to 5 ( I think Pomphret and King Fish are the more commonly used ones, but I just used the fish I had)
  • Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
  • Lime juice – 2 tsp
  • Red Chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Canola Oil – 3-4 teaspoon to pan fry the fish
  • Red Onion, chopped – 1
  • Thai Green Chilies / Birds Eye Chilies, stem removed and roughly chopped – 2 or 3
  • Ginger, 2 inch piece
  • Garlic cloves – 5
  • Coconut Oil – 1 teaspoon (feel free to use canola or vegetable oil)
  • Curry leaves – 7-8
  • Lime juice – 1 tsp
  • Coconut Milk – 1 cup
  • Regular milk – ½ cup or more, as needed ( you can use all of coconut milk, if that is what you want. I try to use a mix of coconut milk and milk usually)
  • Salt – as needed
Instructions
  1. Cut each fillet into 3 inch pieces. Marinate the fillets in turmeric powder, red chilli powder, lime juice and salt and keep aside for about half an hour or so. Heat the canola oil in a pan and fry the fish lightly on both sides. Now remove the fish from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the coconut oil to the pan, heat it and add chopped onions and curry leaves to it. Meanwhile, crush the ginger, garlic and green chilies together using a mortar and pestle. Add this crushed mix to the pan and saute well. Add the coconut milk and milk to the pan, let it almost come to a boil and add the fish to the pan slowly so as not to break them. Add salt and lime juice to it. Lower the heat to low-medium and let it cook for 5 mins or so. Serve hot with rice, appam, dosas or chapathis.
3.5.3208

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk - Kerala Christmas Recipes (2)

Fish Molee - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk - Kerala Christmas Recipes
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Comments

  1. Atul Mandal says

    November 24, 2016 at 2:08 am

    Awesome fish recipe. We will make this at our home. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Manju says

      November 24, 2016 at 2:14 am

      Thank you! Let me know how it turns out!

      Reply
  2. ROSEMARIE says

    June 27, 2018 at 8:15 pm

    THANKS, DEFINATELY 5 star.

    I SEVED IT WITH YELLOW RICE

    Reply
    • Manju says

      September 05, 2018 at 11:57 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Shams Tabrez says

    September 30, 2018 at 5:47 am

    We will make this at our home. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading this post.

    Reply
  4. rohit says

    October 27, 2018 at 3:44 am

    Nice recipe.

    Reply
    • Manju says

      October 27, 2018 at 9:27 am

      Thank you!

      Reply

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