Methi Fish Curry

I love to eat fish especially south indian style fish curries which are mouth watering. I keep trying all kinds of fish recipes - baked, fried, grilled, kebabs, cutlets, curries, etc each time looking for exotic and unique flavours which I haven't tasted. Today I wanted to make a fish curry to eat with rice but with a different flavour. I happened to hop on this blog on this blog "Cubes and Juliennes" and the recipe "Methi Machli" on this blog caught my attention. I could imagine the magic aroma of "methi" emanating from the dish as I read the recipe and saw the pictures which made me fall in love with her food. This was inspiration enough for me to create my fish curry with the flavour of methi (fenugreek) which for sometime made me methi crazy too just like the author Farruqh Aziz Ansari. A look at her recipes tells me that she is an amazing cook. I am sure going to try some of her recipes and post them here.

Here's my version of Methi fish curry:

Ingredients:

Trout fish filets - 6 (1/2 a pound)
Methi (Fenugreek) seeds - 1 tsp
Zeera (Cumin) seeds - 1/2 tsp
Tomato paste - 1 tbs
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Kashmiri red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Whole green chillies - 2 medium size
Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tbs
Cilantro chopped - 1 tbs
Lemon juice - 1- 2tsp
Canola oil - 3 tbs
Salt to taste

Method: 

1. Clean, wash and drain the fish filets. 

2. Rub salt on the fish filets. Mix together 1/2 tsp red chilly powder and 1/2 tsp turmeric with 1 tsp lemon juice and marinate the fish filets with this paste for 10 mins. 

3. Heat 1 tbs canola oil in a non stick or cast iron pan and lightly fry the fish filets on both the sides. Remove and set aside. 

4. Heat 2 tbs of the remaining oil in a Kadai (pot) add the methi seeds and as soon as they change color a bit and you get a whiff of their aroma, quickly add the cumin seeds followed by the ginger garlic paste, whole green chillies (with stems removed) coriander powder, turmeric powder, kashmiri chilly powder and tomato paste. 

5. Fry the mixture in the oil till the raw smell of the spices and tomato paste is gone. Add 1/2 a cup water, stir well.

6. When it comes to a boil, add the fried fish, cover and let it simmer on low for 5 minutes. 

7. Add the chopped cilantro and Kasuri methi, sprinkle the remaining lemon juice. Simmer for another minute and serve hot with boiled rice or tomato dosa. Enjoy the fish curry with the exotic flavour of methi.