Mackerel Curry

Mackerel Curry (Pic by June Carvalho)

NOTHING fishy about this spicy-sour fish curry from Mangalore, which is like everyday fare for the people of the Karavali region of coastal Karnataka. Here I have used mackerel, but the gravy is the same for other oil-rich fish like sardines. Other varieties of fish like ladyfish (kane), silver fish (bili meen), mullet, shetka etc., call for a slight twist in the masala and occasionally the use of coconut milk, finished off with onion golden fried in coconut oil.

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, the masala used to be manually ground to a smooth, fine paste in a huge, round grinding stone (called vaan in Konkani), a very necessary piece of equipment in all kitchens before convenient electrical grinders rendered them nearly obsolete. 

In both my grandmothers' smoke-blackened traditional kitchens, fish curry was always made in a well-seasoned clay pot or chatti (called kundlen in Konkani) on a wood-fired stove. The taste of the curry cooked thus, was unbeatable, with a certain smoky and earthy flavour that's hard to describe or replicate in modern kitchens.

The following day, the left-over curry if any, was called kalchi kadi meaning "yesterday's curry". Kalchi kadi was a simple delicacy in its own right after it was thickened in the pot over a wood fire. Only those who have savoured it along with a plateful of red boiled rice porridge (kanji) as a mid-morning filler will know what it means to relish kalchi kadi. Kanji with kalchi kadi might sound like poor man's fare, but was eaten across the board.  As children, though, we cooked up all sorts of excuses to avoid eating it at 11 am, having already had breakfast at 8 am and knowing that lunch would follow on the dot of 1 pm, the eagerly awaited tea and snacks at 4 pm, not to mention dinner at 8 pm...but that's exactly how leisurely and languid life was some 40 years ago, centred mainly around food...and fresh fish.

When I had temporarily moved to Sharjah to work for a couple of years, I had made it a point to carry a couple of those clay pots exclusively for cooking fish curry and maintained and handled them with the level of care normally reserved for fine porcelain! The clay pot seen in the picture, however, is the type used in Kerala.

This curry is best had with red boiled rice, with a piece of fried fish and a vegetable on the side. Mackerel curry always tastes better the day after it's prepared.

My spouse, known for his simple but wholesome food tastes, will easily forgo the most lavish five-star banquet just for a plateful of rice and fish curry. He feels like a fish out of water if he hasn't had seafood once in a couple of days...for him, seafood everyday would be the equivalent of sheer bliss!

What you need

for 4 big mackerel:

1/2 a coconut grated
8 Byadgi red chillis
1 tbsp coriander seeds
A small pinch of cumin seed
4 peppercorns
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 onion
2 flakes garlic
A lime sized ball of tamarind

3 green chillis, slit lengthwise
1/2-inch piece of ginger chopped
Salt to taste


Clean and cut each mackerel into three pieces - the head, the middle and the tail.

Grind the first nine ingredients to a fine paste using a little water. In a cooking pot, pour half a cup of water and add the slit green chillies and chopped ginger. Put the paste and salt to taste, adding enough water to make a gravy of medium thick consistency. Bring to a boil and drop the fish in. Bring to another rolling boil and switch off heat.

Mackerel in Banana Leaf

IN a mood for mackerel but fed up of the usual curry or fry? Try this lovely recipe for stuffed mackerel wrapped in banana leaf and pan-fried on very gentle heat. And in the bargain, stuff yourself with healthy omega-3 EFAs (essential fatty acids) found in this fish.

For 6 fresh mackerel

Grind together:

2 heaped tablespoons coriander seed
3/4 tablespoon cumin
15 dry red chillies (Byadgi)
4 flakes of garlic
A lime-sized ball of tamarind
2 tablespoons freshly grated coconut
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup of water

Chop fine:

3 onions
4 green chillis
1 tomato
2 tablespoons green coriander


You will also need:

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
3 tablespoons *coconut oil (or
any other cooking oil)
Salt to taste
One big banana leaf, washed and wiped dry

With a sharp knife make three gashes on either side of the scaled and cleaned fish, apply a little salt and turmeric inside and outside and set aside.

Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a vessel and fry the chopped green chillies and onions till the onions are transparent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute or two. Then add the finely ground masala and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the chopped tomato and green coriander and cook till the tomato softens. Add salt to taste and sprinkle just enough water to ensure the masala is not too dry. Cook for one more minute, and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, using a kitchen scissors, cut the banana leaf lengthwise along its spine to get two halves. Next cut each across into three pieces, to get six pieces in all.

Stuff the fish with the cooled masala, patting some of it on either side too. Lay the fish, one on each leaf and wrap them up snugly like babies in blankets. Secure with string.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan on gentle heat for a minute and arrange the bundled up fish in it. Let it cook on very, very slow heat for about 8 minutes on either side. Untie, unwrap and serve.

*When cooking traditional Mangalorean seafood dishes, I prefer using coconut oil for authentic flavour. Fallen out of favour with doctors, nutritionists and health freaks at one time, coconut oil is now making a huge comeback as a cooking medium as well as a substitute for butter in baking. Ask the coastal folk of south India, especially along the Konkan and Malabar coasts, who've been using it since time immemorial. Out there, no kitchen worth its cooking oil will be complete without it!