Fish Masala

Tough days at work translate into the man looking forward to homecooked meals. He was thrilled when I fixed a date for dinner at home. SIFA shows and a new dog have occupied many evenings, rendering dinners a hurried affair, although it would still be fairly healthy since the fridge was stocked with homecooked meals ready to be heated up. (He’s not allowed to cook when I’m out in the evenings. He cannot clean the kitchen to my pristine standards. Haha.) He knew that there would always be dhal in the freezer, and he was all like, “Can we have dhal and also fish curry?”

I blinked. Whatever made him assume I knew how to cook that?! To be honest, I’m not a fan of fish-head curry local style or assam pedas ikan pari. There’s something in the mix of spices I’m not fond of, and a heavy taste of assam turns me off too. Watery curries aren’t my thing. Masala is my preferred texture and body for uhhh curries.

Well, I produced a fish masala of sorts. The inspiration comes from Kerala meen curry. However, this version is without coconut milk, and just a little bit of kodampulli is used. Obviously the masala was cooked first. Then the vegetables and fish were separately seared before everything went into the pot for the final 10 minutes. I have a certain preference for how a decent home-style fish masala should taste. It should also contain non-mushy vegetables. I love fish masala with okra and topped with additional tomatoes upon serving. #ImpieCooks2019

The frozen dhal tadka still tasted great when it was heated up, and easily complemented the meal. When I tasted the fish masala, I thought that this would be a keeper. It kinda turned out how I hoped it would. Hurhurhur. Not too tangy, but spicy and hearty. It was a dish that I could cook again without referring to any recipes, but by simply throwing things into the pot. The man had never tasted fish masala like this. Apparently it was delicious. 😂