Manji Alle Piyava Ghashi Karmbala- Tarni Mirsanga ghalnu/ Pomfret Ginger Onion Curry adding Starfruit- Green Chillies.

"Manji Alle Piyava Ghashi Karmbala- Tarni Mirsanga ghalnu/ Pomfret Ginger Onion Curry adding Starfruit- Green Chillies" ... this is a medium spicy fish curry from Konkani Saraswat Cuisine ... here I have added starfruit to bring in the tart taste and it tastes fantastic ... best served with ukde sheetHa (red boiled rice)/ steamed rice or any type of rice items ... Yummilicious ....

** Fish curry places an import role in meals of south Indians on the konkan/ coastal region and we Konkani Saraswat are a part and parcel of the same traditions. Fish curry is loved by most though there are many vegetarians in the community too. My ancestors from both maternal and paternal side always consumed fish and my anu (father) was very fond of fish. He always made it a point to have fish meals on Sundays and always took me to fish market to purchase the same. I learnt the art of purchasing be it fish or veggies from him as I was always ready to go shopping with him. 

** Pomfrets/ pamplet/ manji was costly then and now too and we did not prepare them much at home as we were a large family with a large appetite too and added on were my relatives who also dropped over for meals. However we did relish it atleast a few times a year and amma mostly prepared gashi with manji though she added bimbul/ tree sorrel fruit which we had a tree off in our backyard. As I was missing the curry I decided to prepare it with addition of karmbala/ starfruit which is available in Thane where I live while bimbul is not. In all the curry was fantastic served with rice. 

** Here is my recipe for "Manji Alle Piyava Ghashi Karmbala- Tarni Mirsanga ghalnu/ Pomfret Ginger Onion Curry adding Starfruit- Green Chillies" which I learnt to prepare from my amma ...

** Ingredients :

Pomfret/ Manji/ Pamplet : 1-2 medium sized (white ones)

Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 1 medium sized chopped fine.

Ginger/ Alle/ Adrak : 2 inch piece chopped fine.

Karmbala/ Karmbola/ Starfruit : 3-4 medium sized.

Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 3- 4 cut lengthwise.

Coconut Oil/ Narel Tela/ Nariyal Tel : 1-2 tblsp

Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste.

** For Masala to be ground :

Coconut/ Nariyal/ Soyi : 1 heaped cup of freshly grated

Kashmiri red chillies/ Kumte Mirsanga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 6-8

** About Pomfret/ Pamplet/ Manji : Usually we buy them all cleaned and cut into pieces from fish market as the service is available almost everywhere when you purchase the same. If not, wash pomfret, pat dry, trim off its edge on its tail, cut off the fins and the side wings. Then slice the fish into 1/2 inch thick slices horizontally. Keep the tail part of the fish a bit wider say around 3-4 inches. Do away with the head part of the fish or if you like it, you can use it by cutting of the edge unto eye part and then cleaning it well from within. You will get about 6-7 pieces. Clean the fish especially its stomach area and clean the inside portion very thoroughly. Apply a little bit of salt all over and keep it aside ready, You can also put it in plenty of water and keep it aside til to be used.

** For the Masala to be ground : Grind coconut and chillies to a very fine paste with a little bit of water. The ground paste should be thick and very fine in texture. Remove and keep this aside ready.

** Note : You can use any one of the  tart/ tangy imparting veggies like bimbul (tree sorrel), karmbala (star fruit), ambado (hogplum), kokum, kudampuli etc. to the curry while cooking too if desired and if none of them are available, then you can add a small marble sized tamarind while grinding the masala.

** Wash the Karmbala and slice off the edge portion. Then cut them into roundels of about 1/6 inch in size and keep it ready aside. Some people also slightly trim the sharp edge portion of the star ridges of starfruit, I have not. 

** Add the ground masala in a wide flat thick bottomed vessel along with required amount of water to bring it to a thick gravy consistency. Keep the vessel on a medium heat and bring the gravy to a boil, when the curry comes to a boil lower the heat add the cut karmbala pieces, finely chopped onion, ginger, green chillies cut into two pieces lengthwise, salt to taste and mix well. Once again let the curry come to a full boil, then lower the heat to minimum and add in mani/ pomfret cut pieces in a single layer in the vessel without toppling on one another as much as possible.

** Note : Always use flat wide utensils to cook fish. This helps to add on the fish pieces in a layer without toppling on each other. This also helps in even cooking of the fish pieces and also becomes easier to gently stir or move the vessel in rotation to cook the fishes intact without breaking into pieces.

** Cook the curry for 4-5 minutes on low- medium heat, stirring gently with a spatula/ ladle avoiding touching the fish pieces while doing so. The other method which we saraswats follow is we hold the vessel either with the help of tongs or with a cloth on the rim and gently rotate or tilt leftwards and rightwards the vessel, which helps the gravy and fish together to move smoothly within the means of vessel, this method makes it foolproof from the fish getting broken as they are very delicate.

** The fish pieces hardly take much time in cooking depending off course upon the quantity otherwise in maximum its about 5-7 minutes and its done. Lastly add in the coconut oil in raw form over the curry, mix and remove from heat. Keep the curry aside covered for about 15-20 minutes for the flavors to getting infused. Fish curry always taste best when given some time to rest after which it can be served hot.

** "Manji Alle Piyava Ghashi Karmbala- Tarni Mirsanga ghalnu/ Pomfret Ginger Onion Curry adding Starfruit- Green Chillies" is done and ready to be served. Fish curry always tastes best served with ukde sheetHa (red boiled rice/ kerala matta rice) or any other plain steamed rice, so do try the same combo sometime. Again, you can also serve it with mildly spiced rice dishes like pulav, ghee rice too, though in my home and we GSB Konkani Saraswats always prefer to relish it with plain rice.

** Fish is full of proteins and omega 3 which is indeed good for heart and overall health. If you are a non-vegetarian then make it a point to include more of fish items into your meals as they rank the highest among non.veg items along with eggs. It is always a joy to relish fried fish items but then curries are much more healthier option. So, do try out this simple delicious curry and give me a feedback if possible.