“Kali Manji-Bimbul- Alle’- Piyava Gashi (Black Pomfret- Tree Sorrel Fruit- Ginger- Onion Curry) topped with narlel tela (coconut oil)” ... a simple medium spiced fish curry from GSB Konkani Saraswat Cuisine that tastes best served with ukde sheetHa (red boiled rice)/ steamed Rice ... Yummilicious ....
** Gashi fish curry with ginger- onion has always been a preferred fish curry of mine for both its aromatic taste and medium spice level, though hubby prefers panna upkari a spicier fish curry. Recently gashi dishes has been more favored to, than other curries in my home as with advancing age we somehow can’t tolerate excess heat of spicy dishes be it veg or non.veg. I have already shared manji alle’- piyava gashi (pomfret ginger onion curry) before and the only difference in this one is, here I have used large black pomfret (kali manji) along with bimbul (tree sorrel fruit/ bimbli) for the tart taste while rest of the recipe remains same. I have shared a common link to fish recipes at the bottom of this recipe, you browse through the same for more references if need be. Do try out various dishes shared in the Blog and enjoy them in your home with your family and friends, sure to be loved by all.
** Here is my recipe for “Kali Manji-Bimbul- Alle’- Piyava Gashi (Black Pomfret- Tree Sorrel Fruit- Ginger- Onion Curry) topped with narlel tela (coconut oil)" … my style, which I learnt to prepare from my amma ...
** Ingredients :
Kali Manji/ Halwa/ Black Pomfret/ Paplet/ Pomplet : 1 large sized
Bimbul/ Bimbli/ Tree Sorrel fruit : 4-5 large sized
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 1 medium sized.
Ginger/ Alle’/ Adrak : 2 inch piece
Green Chilly/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 3-4
Coconut Oil/ Narel Tela/ Nariyal Tel : 2-3 tblsp
Salt/ Meeta/ Namak : 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 Kali Manji/ Halwa/ Black Pomfret/ Paplet : Usually I buy them all cleaned from my fish vendor or at market as the service is available almost everywhere when we purchase the same. Manji or pomfret are available in 2 varieties black and silver white. Here I have used large sized black one famously known as Halwa in Mumbai.
** Sharing a small list of to do to take care of cutting and cleaning part of fish before cooking if need be for reference. Pomfret does not have many scales on the outer skin, so just run a blunt knife to remove any smaller one if at all, wash well, pat dry, trim off its edge on its tail, cut off the fins and the side wings. To slice the fish, we need a very sharp edge knife, so plz. sharpen the blade of knife if necessary.
** Now slice off the head portion and then give a cut on the stomach side at length to clean the fish from within and then slice them vertically into ½ inch thick slices. Do, clean the fish especially its stomach area, by removing any remnants within if any and clean the inside portion very thoroughly (an important step).
** Add the cut pieces into a wide bowl filled with water and gently wash each piece taking care to see that you remove all dirt particles stuck within. Further wash the pieces changing water until you get it clean, say at least 3-4 times. Now 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 till to be used and give a good rinse with fresh water just before cooking.
** Note : Cleaning, cutting and handling of fish is something that needs to be watched keenly a few times which according to me is one of the best way to learn about preparing the fish ready to be cooked. However, you can watch any You Tube for the same too, but do try to learn it from a experienced person/ friend/ relative if possible as it will be something you will be very thankful about in later years.
** Peel the skin and finely chop the onion and keep it aside ready. Trim the stem and cut green chilly lengthwise and keep it also with the onion. Wash, scrape off the outer skin and cut the ginger into juliennes and keep them also ready aside. Wash and slice off both edge sides of bimbul and cut them horizontally into 3-4 pieces and keep ready.
** For the Masala to be ground : Grind freshly grated coconut and chillies to a very fine paste with a little bit of water in mixer gridner. The ground paste should be thick and very fine in texture. Remove and keep this aside ready.
** Note : You can use tart/ tangy imparting veggies like bimbul (tree sorrel), karmbala (star fruit), ambado (hogplum), kokum/ kudampuli etc. to the curry as is desired, available or preferred in your home. However, if none of these are available then add a small marble sized piece of tamarind (chinchama/ imly), say about 1tsp if using in paste form while grinding the masala, which is what I do most of the time.
** Add the ground masala in a wide bottomed vessel along with required amount of water to bring it to a semi 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 prepared and kept onion, ginger, bimbul, green chillies along with salt to taste and mix well. Once again, let the curry come to a full boil for few minutes.
** Now lower the heat to minimum, add cleaned and kept kali manji (black pomfret) fish pieces one by one in a single layer in the vessel without toppling them on each other. When all pieces are added gently, shake the vessel with the help of tongs or mix carefully the gravy with spatula and 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.
** Note : The method 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 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, however one has to be careful to follow this method or else if tilted too much you may spill over the curry and the fishes too, so once again I suggest watching this procedure keenly from a helpful friend, neighbor, relative for better judgment and foolproof cooking.
** Note : Also, always use flat wide utensils to cook fish curry. 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.
** The fish pieces hardly take much time in cooking depending off course upon the quantity otherwise in maximum its about 5-7 minutes and it’s 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 be well infused into the curry.
** Fish curry always taste best when given some time to rest after which it can be served hot during meals. Just before serving, check the curry and if you find that the curry has thickened a lot you can add some boiling water, mix well and serve the same, also remember to check out on salt level before serving if need be.
** “Kali Manji-Bimbul- Alle’- Piyava Gashi (Black Pomfret- Tree Sorrel Fruit- Ginger- Onion Curry) topped with narlel tela (coconut oil)" is done and ready to be served. Fish curry always tastes best served hot with ukde sheetHa (red boiled rice) or any plain/ steamed rice, so do try the same combo sometime, I am sure you will love it. Again, you can serve it with mildly spiced rice dishes like pulav, ghee rice, 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. As for sardines, salmons, mackerel, they do top the list of best fishes in health benefits. 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.
** For more “Fish Recipes” you can browse through the common link shared below. I have also shared a link to a collage post of all “Manji/ Pomfret” fish recipes shared before, which also includes ones with tamarind, raw mango, kudampuli, bimbul etc …
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