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Kerala Appam
Traditional lacy rice pancake
🥥 Made with Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil
Kerala Fish Curry with Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil
A true Kerala fish curry belongs to a very specific flavour world — the tartness of tamarind, the warmth of green chillies and ginger, and underpinning everything, the distinctive richness that only pure cold-pressed coconut oil delivers. This is the real thing, made the way it's always been made along the Malabar coast.
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Serves
3–4
Difficulty
Medium
Dietary
Non-Veg · GF
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Method
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Marinate the fish pieces with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Set aside while you prepare everything else. This brief marinade firms the flesh slightly and adds a base layer of seasoning.
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Heat Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil in a clay pot (manchatti) or a heavy-bottomed deep pan over medium heat. The pure, fragrant coconut oil is essential here — it forms the aromatic backbone of every authentic Kerala fish curry. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to splutter.
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The moment the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the curry leaves. Stand back — they will spit in the hot oil. Fry for 15–20 seconds until they're crisp and the kitchen smells unmistakably of Kerala cooking.
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Add the sliced onion and sauté until it turns soft and translucent — about 4 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until the raw smell of the ginger-garlic completely disappears.
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Reduce to low heat. Add the turmeric, red chilli powder, and coriander powder directly into the oil and stir quickly. Cook these ground spices in the oil for 1 minute — this blooms the spices and removes any raw powder taste. Do not skip this step or rush it.
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Pour in the tamarind water and ½ cup plain water. Stir, increase the heat, and bring to a gentle boil. Season with salt. Taste the base — it should be pleasantly tart and warming. Adjust as needed.
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Slide the marinated fish pieces gently into the curry in a single layer. Do not stir from this point — the fish will break. Instead, spoon the curry liquid over the fish. Simmer uncovered for 5–7 minutes until the fish is almost cooked through.
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Reduce to the lowest heat. Pour in the thick coconut milk and swirl the pot gently to combine. Do not boil after adding coconut milk — it will split and lose its creaminess. Simmer very gently for 2 minutes until the fish is fully cooked and the gravy has a beautiful coral-orange colour.
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Remove from heat. Garnish with fresh coriander and finish with a final drizzle of Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil directly over the curry — this traditional Kerala finish adds a fresh top note of coconut aroma just before serving. Rest for 5 minutes, then serve with steamed rice.
Why Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil is Essential Here
In Kerala cooking, coconut oil is not a neutral cooking medium — it's a flavour ingredient. Its natural tropical aroma, preserved intact through cold-pressing, is woven into the dish at every stage: the tempering, the cooking base, and the final raw drizzle. Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil retains this natural aroma because it has never been deodorised. Refined coconut oil has had this character stripped out by industrial processing. When you taste the difference between a Kerala curry made with pure cold-pressed coconut oil and one made with refined oil, it's immediately obvious — one tastes like Kerala, one doesn't.
Learn about Bharat Coconut Oil →Cook's Notes
- Kingfish (seer fish) and seer fish hold up beautifully in this curry and are widely available in UAE fish markets. Hammour (grouper) is another excellent choice — firm, flavourful, and it doesn't fall apart during cooking.
- A clay pot (manchatti) distributes heat gently and evenly and imparts a faint earthiness that complements the coconut. If you have one, use it — it genuinely makes a difference to the final flavour.
- Never boil the curry after adding coconut milk. High heat causes the milk to split and the curry loses its characteristic creaminess. Keep the heat very low once the coconut milk goes in.
- Kerala fish curry tastes significantly better the next day — the tamarind mellows and the spices deepen overnight. Make it a day ahead if you have the time.
- If you cannot find tamarind, a small squeeze of lime works as a substitute, though the flavour profile will be slightly different. Kodampuli (Malabar tamarind) is the most authentic — available in Indian grocery stores across the UAE.
Get Bharat Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil
Pure, virgin, cold-pressed — the coconut oil Kerala cooking was built around.