Fish Curry in Mustard Sauce

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. -Harriet van Horne

The only non vegetarian food I am really confident about cooking is chicken. Whereas for other non veg fare, I have just started. So, when we were invited by this wonderfully hospitable Oriya family for lunch, I was super excited. I didn't know much about Oriya cuisine except that its big on fresh water fish n mustard and they cook a lot of meats with vegetables.


And I wasn't disappointed with the lavish spread which was called a ‘humble lunch’. There were chicken kebabs, this amazing mutton curry cooked with potatoes, cauliflower and potato sabji, an outstanding n I really mean an outstanding fish curry in mustard sauce , all this coupled with some mouth watering rasam to wash it all down. It was such a sumptuous meal that I really had a tough time deciding what all to eat. But having said that, the undisputed queen of the lunch was the fish curry.  Trust me, if I had my way I would have put a tiara on the serving dish!

One spoon of that gorgeous golden yellow curry and it was ‘love at first bite’.  All throughout the lunch, while everyone was talking, I’m quite embarrassed to admit,all I was doing was fantasizing recreating it in my own kitchen.  I know its not very polite to ask for a recipe the moment the dishes are cleared away, especially since I had met them for the first time, but I did just that. Aunty M was such a sweet natured lady and such a gracious host that she gave me the recipe that very moment . 

It was recreated in my kitchen two days hence, with impressive results.Though Iam not too sure if the quantities are what she told me, at times I can be really forgetful. But then, everyone loved it, even my picky little eater liked it ,so I guess it must be right.  For those adventurous enough to try out a new recipe, here we go….

Fish Curry – Oriya style

400 gms                          Fish - Rohu ( Its a fresh water fish)

2 tsp                              Mustard oil

1 tbsp + 1 tsp                  Mustard seeds

7-8                                 Cloves of garlic, chopped

1                                    Medium sized tomato, chopped

1                                    Medium sized onion, sliced

10-12                              Curry leaves

5-6                                 Dry red chillies

1 tsp                               Turmeric powder/ Haldi

1-2                                 Green chillies

½ tsp                              Tamrind extract (I ground a small piece of tamrind with the mustard paste)               

Salt, to taste

Coriander leaves to garnish

1. Wash the fish.  Apply salt and haldi and keep aside for 10-15 mins.

2. Using 1 tsp oil, shallow fry the fish in a non stick pan, till golden brown on both sides.

3. Grind together 1 tbsp mustard seeds, green chillies , half the tomato and garlic to a fine paste. ( I added a small piece of tamrind to be ground with this paste)

4. In another pan add the remaining 1 tsp oil, put in 1 tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves, sliced onions, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and saute till the onions are pink and translucent.

5. Add in the remaining tomato and cook till its pulpy. 

6. Add the mustard paste and cook for 5-10 mins.

7. Add in water, around 3/4 c.

8. Finally drop in the fish pieces and let it boil and come together for 5-10 mins more.

9. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with boiled rice.