South Indian
Meen Kuzhambu (Tamil Fish Curry)
Meen Kuzhambu (Tamil Fish Curry) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb firm fish steaks
- 3 tbsp tamarind pulp
- 2 tbsp sambar powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 15 curry leaves
- 10 shallots
- 1 tomato
- 5 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Soak the tamarind pulp in a cup of warm water and set aside.
- Heat the sesame oil in a wide pan and let the mustard seeds pop and the fenugreek seeds turn golden, then add the dried red chilies and curry leaves.
- Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, then stir in the chopped tomato, turmeric, and sambar powder and cook until the tomato breaks down, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the tamarind water and salt, bring to a simmer, and cook until the raw tamarind smell fades and the gravy thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Slide in the fish pieces and simmer gently without stirring until just cooked through, about 10 minutes, then serve hot with rice.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Meen Kuzhambu (Tamil Fish Curry), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Meen Kuzhambu (Tamil Fish Curry) carries fish and sesame. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Sesame | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- High
- Protein quality
- Complete
- Food groups it covers
- Meat or fish and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Meen Kuzhambu (Tamil Fish Curry) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on fish, tamarind, and tomato.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.