Small Shark (Mori) Gashi.

Mori Alle ~ Piyava Gashi Seasoned With Narlele Tela / Small Shark Curry With Onion ~ Ginger And Seasoned with Coconut Oil ….. Yumz …. A typical Saraswat / South Indian Combination …..

I have already posted alle – piyava gashi / curry with ginger onion many times before with different types of fish. This is a common fish curry in Konkani Saraswat household. However, the preparation is usually with Mackerel or Pomfret. I have also posted Small Shark Curry seasoned with hing / asafoetida, which is another famous dish of our community. Today however I interchanged them. I prepared small shark / mori curry in gashi style with the addition of alle ~ piya ie. Ginger and onions. I was really bored with the standard style of preparation and wanted to just try changing the style. However, the variation in preparation did not change the taste of the fish curry whatsoever. The curry was really awesome and I really did sigh with relief when my hubby enjoyed it. I was worried if the changes would be not liked but then I myself was surprised that it did taste delicious. So, here goes the interchanged curry. Do try it tastes awesome when served with hot Ukada rice / Boiled Red Rice.

Mori or small sharks are usually tough to be skinned. The skin is thick textured and usually the fish vendor removes it and cuts them to pieces while selling. I bought a large sized fish which in all gave about 12-14 medium sized pieces. Remove the remains in the stomach side if any, cleaning the fish well. Rinse in plenty of water. Remove and keep it aside ready.

For the Masala : Grind to a smooth paste 2 cups of freshly grated coconut with 7-8 red kashmiri red chilly and a small marble sized tamarind. The paste should be finely ground. Remove and keep this ready.

Put the ground masala in a wide flat vessel (always use flat wide utensils to cook fish. The fish then can be laid evenly and not topped over each other which tend the fish to break as fish cooks very fast). Add in a bit of water if necessary to bring to thick gravy consistency and bring it to a boil, lower the heat and add in 1 tblsp of finely chopped ginger pieces, 4-5 medium sized green chilly slit lengthwise and one medium sized onion also finely chopped. Mix well adding salt to taste and add in the fish pieces. 

Now on medium heat bring the fish with gravy to a boil. See that you place the fish pieces distributed evenly all over and not toppled one on another. Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Stirring with a spatula / ladle should be avoided to prevent the fish from breaking. Just gently rotate or tilt leftwards and rightwards the vessel with the help of tongs. Be careful as you may pour off the gravy. You will need a bit of practice for this, but you will slowly learn the trick. 

When the curry is ready pour a tablespoon of coconut oil on top of it, remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let the fish absorb the flavors for some time say 15-20 minutes before serving hot with rice. Fish curries go very well with ukda rice / red boiled rice. I have included the preparation of the boiled rice using pressure cooker method in the blog. Please check the same if required. But if you do not like the same you can enjoy the curry with any rice of your choice.