Fish Molley - an easy and delicious recipe from Kerala

This morning I had the great pleasure of presenting a Kerala recipe called Fish Molley on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with host Kerän Sanders and co-host Jan Harding-Jeanson. It is quite easy to make and so worth it.


(Fish Molley - photo by Karen)

Fish Molley - a Kerala recipe

Serves 4

4 Halibut steaks (available at Gimli Fish - or ask about other fish to try with this recipe such as white fish, pickerel, kingfish, etc.)

2 tablespoons sunflower oil
3 small pieces of cassia or 1 small cinnamon stick
4 cardamom pods
5 cloves
2 tomatoes, quartered *
1 red onion, cut in half and sliced thickly
1 green chili, sliced halfway down
4 shallots, sliced through the root (used in the end
for seasoning)
3-4 fresh curry leaves
1/2 lime (used in the end of cooking)
~1 1/2 cups coconut milk, method follows, use whole recipe amount
~1/2 cup coconut cream, method follows, use whole recipe amount
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add the cassia, cardamom, and cloves for seasoning. When the cardamom pods swell up and absorb the flavour, add the quartered tomato and fry for a few minutes.* Remove the tomatoes, add the onions and green chili to the same oil and stir. Add the crushed garlic and fry for 5 minutes, and then add the ginger. (Never add ginger and garlic together as the garlic needs to cook for longer.) Lower to medium-low heat and sprinkle generous 1 teaspoon of turmeric over the onions, then stir and raise to medium-high heat. After the garlic is fried add the white flour 1/2 teaspoon and crushed ginger and a few curry leaves, and fry a bit then,

Add the diluted coconut milk to the pan where the onions and garlic are fried and allow to bubble, keep on stirring till the milk bubbles or else the coconut milk curdles. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time and add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. If using a whole fish make slashes on the sides, If your pan is big to fill the fish use the same pan, Once you add the fish you can’t stir with a spoon. The fish should be just covered with coconut milk –cook gently for about 5 minutes, just swaying the dish from side to side. (If the fish sauce needs more sour taste add lime juice off the heat or else it will become bitter.)

Add the coconut cream, swirl and bring back to the boil. Taste and add more salt if necessary. The coconut cream may dull the salt.

To finish, in a different pan, put a few teaspoons of oil, add sliced shallots. Brown a few shallots and add some curry leaves. Pour over the top of the fish sauce. Add the quartered fried tomatoes.

*I used frozen tomatoes for this recipe and added them at the end without first frying them.

Eat hot or at room temperature with rice or any bread.

To make coconut cream and milk:

Coconut Cream or First milk
1 cup unsweetened coconut (excellent dried coconut from Dino's on Notre Dame)
1 cup very hot water

In a blender, blend at high speed for a few minutes and then strain, reserving coconut. This is your first coconut milk or cream.

2nd milk

Return blended coconut to blender and ad 1 1/2 - 2 cups very hot water. Blend at high speed for a few minutes. Strain. This is your second coconut milk that is used for cooking.

Enjoy!