Hey guys, this is me the Bombay Chef Varun Inamdar and welcome to Get Curried.
Well, India is a land of curries when I talk about curries
they are possibly one of the famous main course preparations
We have Jhols, we have Rassas, we have salans
and we have another complete category called Kormas.
Well, today is one of those many and this one is a Fish Korma.
Let's begin.
Well, Kormas are typically from the north of India
if I can kind of get specific about it,
it's from the 'Rampurya Gharana' of the north of India.
Now, especially, in those areas you get a lot of sweet water fish
but you can get experimental with a lot of varieties of fish
What I'm using today is Mackerel which is of course not a sweet water fish
but I found these little tiny Mackerels in the market and I thought they are wonderful
edition in this Korma.
So, I'm using Mackerel but otherwise you can use any sweet water fish
cut on the bone, like slices and then the recipe just stays the way it is
I'm going to begin with a generous sprinkling of Turmeric powder.
Now turmeric, of course, because the whole culture in that side of the belt
is about taking the fish, marinating it and kind of pan-frying it.
Till it's kind of ½ to ¾ cooked,
and then you kind of reserve it till the Korma is cooked or till the gravy is cooked
and eventually you slide in the cooked or the fried fish in the gravy.
A wonderful technique; my mouth is already watering because I kind of know
what the end product is going to taste and look like.
Little bit of Salt in the fish, of course.
Going ahead with paste of Garlic.
Generally, you also kind of add in a little bit of ginger paste
but I'm keeping it relatively neutral.
Let's add in a fresh squish of Lemon Juice.
Ensure that the seeds are kind of picked up because like I always say
you don't want surprises in your mouth.
Well this is possibly one of the only ingredients in the entire recipe
which is going to add in that layer of sourness, of course we have tomatoes later
but this in a way is right there - acetic.
Let's rub this on both sides of the fish
and you can just keep this aside for 5 minutes or move on directly.
It's important to ensure that the fish is well-cleaned, it's gutted
it's again washed using water.
You again need to clean all of this insides.
The gashes and the gut both need to be rubbed like so with the marination.
And with this the fish is marinated and ready.
Let's move on to the next step which is heating oil in a wok or a Kadhai
or the cooking vessel or the cooking apparatus
and then we fry this - when I say fry just kind of half pan-frying.
The fish is marinated well and my hands are also washed.
Let's move on straight to cooking the fish, now rather pan-frying the fish
for which I'm going to use a little bit of Oil.
Well, when I say little bit,
it's absolutely fine even if you take a little more of the Oil
because I'm going to use the same pan to make the Korma gravy.
Once the bottom of the pan kind of begins to sizzle
we'd slide in the pieces of marinated fish.
The idea here is to just get a golden brown film on the outside of the fish
and not cook this once you kind of achieve that, that's more than perfect.
The fish is pan-seared and like I said 50% with ¾ done
Let's transfer this in another plate.
Do not use the same plate as that of the marination
to avoid cross contamination in food.
Let's scrape in little bits of fish along with the residual oil
and let this also rest for a while.
Now in the same pan, I'm going to take some more oil
and pan-fry some ingredients for the Korma gravy.
Let's begin with sliced Red Onions.
Well, they are absolutely roughly cut.
Do not worry about the cuts and things like that
especially for something like this because it is eventually going to get ground
into a nice, fine and smooth paste.
Once the Onions kind of turn translucent
I'm going to add in bits of dried coconut
and along with this melon seeds also known as Char Magaz or Magaz.
Well, you may be wondering what these seeds are or what these melon seeds are
these are nothing but peeled watermelon seeds.
Well, you could also add in some cashew nuts or almonds
to increase the kind of richness but to me this just perfect.
Let's stir this well and ensure that the raw flavour
of the coconut and the melon seeds goes away.
Once that is done, we'll grind all of this.
Once that is achieved just before the flame goes off
I'm going to add in whole untoasted Coriander Seeds.
Let's stir this well.
Toast this precisely for 30-40 seconds on high flame
and with this off goes the flame.
Let's transfer all of this in the blending jar.
Well, I know this is hot but the other ingredients that I'm going to use
will kind of cool this down so that's also one of the techniques
in kind of grinding it while it's still hot.
Again, kitchen accidents, very important.
Ensure you are not part of one of those.
What you can do is instead of adding water you can also add in some cubes of ice
that immediately kind of drops the temperature
and it makes the grinding nice fine and smooth.
Let's head there.
But before that I'm going to add in a few more ingredients like I said
Beginning with roughly cut Tomatoes.
These are ripe red tomatoes.
Coriander leaves.
of course, there are coriander seeds in the recipe
but coriander leaves would also add in that wonderful dose of freshness.
I'm just keeping a little aside for the final garnishing bit.
And finally to this Red Chilli Powder.
Now this is the combination of chilli that gives you spice as well as colour.
Let's add in cubes of Ice like I said
Very important because the entire mixture is hot.
Let's cover this and grind this into fine and smooth paste.
Well it is nice and fine and smooth as desired.
Let's now quickly move on to frying this
Let's heat the same pan and into this I'm going to add in Oil.
Once the oil heats up,
We'll start adding in some ingredients
Beginning with Cumin Seeds, once they kind of begin to crackle
I'm going to add in some whole spices.
In this case, Cloves, Green Cardamom and a stick of Cinnamon.
Once the oil becomes nice and fragrant,
I'm going to lower the flame and add in roughly sliced Red Onions.
Allow these to just kind of begin to turn translucent in colour
Once that happens, I'm going to add in the spice mix or the Korma
gravy that just been made.
Well, now what's the difference between a curry and a gravy?
A gravy is generally thicker and is eaten with Naan, Rotis or Parathas or Phulkas
A curry is generally thinner and in most cases eaten either with Pav or with Rice.
Remember this.
It's been around 30-40 secs - medium high flame.
The onions are just kind of beginning to wilt
This is the time when I'm going to add in this spice mix.
Scrape in all of this wonderful goodness from the jar of course
because that's where the essence of this curry or the Korma lies.
Let's add in some Salt.
Followed by Hot Water.
Hot water again is very important in a recipe like this because it immediately
kind of brings the whole layer of oil right on top
and allow this to cook on high flame for 7-8 mins.
Once the oil starts releasing the sides of the pan
you now start releasing the pieces of fish.
Finally, I'm also adding in some Green Chillies.
With this, we place the lid and allow this to cook precisely for 5-7 minutes
or till the fish is perfectly cooked.
For the most amazing Fish Korma.
It's been 7 minutes and with this off goes the flame
and let's quickly start plating this.
Well, I'm deliberately using a flat plate for something like this
because that way the pieces of fish just remain intact.
Let's gently now start placing the pieces of fish
of course, needless to say without breaking them.
And finally some garnish which is actually not required
but I think it just makes it look nice and colourful.
Some slices of Tomatoes along with some Green Chilli
and a little bit of Lime.
With this, our Fish Korma is done and ready.
Simple, stunning and a complete family meal.
Make this for your family and impress them.
Bye for now.