Fish curry - Kannur style and story of chatty(claypot)

Why do i mention its kannur style is because, there is one more place called Payyannur, which is just few kilometers away from kannur, in Kerala, has a different preparation, called payyannur style. The taste of fish curry varies with such short distances.  Ofcourse, there are plenty of variations in the uniqueness of the flavor in its own neighbourhood.

Though i have not done any fishing expedition on this aspect, but i find in coastal part of kerala, being fish as staple, almost similar kind of ground paste or masla is used in all the fish curries except that it uses different kinds of fish in every curry and so that the taste varies according to the flavor of the fish.  This is why, a very low spiced flavor in masala is prepared, so that flavor of the fish dominates the taste of the curry . In a nutshell, taste of the curry depends on the taste of the fish.

But, after all this there is one more important factor that enhances the taste is, clay pot. After more than a year of my marriage, and self instructed cooking classes, i found that peparing curry in the clay pot can enrich the taste to perfection. The subtle flavours of masala is enhanced, without much altering the flavor of fish by using chatty.

On my first field trip to kerala, from Bahrain, I packed my bag with one such chatty found in the local market. All set to go back to Bahrain after a long vacation of one month, and in the airport, i was warned at the customs, as i had put this object in my hand bag which was not allowed. My belly luggage was fully jam packed leaving no room for any squeezes.  At that moment, i felt i can just leave that clay pot somewhere in airport. But chatty had mesmerized me for what so ever reason. People around me were big eyed what would be my next foolish act.  But above all, i felt if i am not carrying this oldy goldy, i am going to miss something in my taste for next one year. That is it!! i was not ready to compramise on that. I pulled out some of my saris( can manage with salwars for one year), and chatty was secured under the cloths safely.  Those, crème de la crème and sophesticateds around, found me very ridiculous and nutty.  But soon they changed their mind (i think!;)) as they saw me on seventh heaven.

Its been four years and chatty is part of my everyday cooking.  chatty gets conditioned when it is used everyday. My husband's grandmother, feels for it, if she breaks an old chatty by some mishap. Because conditioned chatty gives that authentic taste to the food especially when you cook fish curry in that. It takes years for the clay pot to get conditioned.

When a clay pot is newly bought, it has to be soaked in water overnight to filter away the impurities.

Here goes the recipe,

Chatty ingredients: 

                                     Fish Any kind of fish, 1/4 kilo, cut into pieces, or 4-6 medium king fish

Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp

Salt 1tsp

Green Chillies 4 medium (halved and slit)

Curry leaves 2 strings

Ginger 1 tbsp (crushed finely)

Tomato 1 medium (cut into small pieces)

For paste or masala:

Coconut  1curd cup (grated)

Tomato 3/4 small (cubed)

Turmeric  1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder 2 tsp

Cumin seeds 1 tbsp

Additions

Pulp of one lemond sized Tamarind

Recipe:

• In a conditioned claypot, add chutty ingredients, in the same order as mentioned above.  Keep aside.
• Take Masala ingredients in a blender/mixer, fine paste them by adding little water.
• Take out the only fish from chatty, keep aside.
• Add the ground paste into the chatty, pour two cups of water and mix the ingredients throughly with clean hand.  Allow the mixture to boil on medium heat for 15 minutes.
• When the curry thickens, place the fish one by one into the chatty, allow it to cook in medium heat.
• When fish is almost cooked, stir in tamarind pulp. Boil till end.
• Add salt and tamarind to desired taste.

This is a simple, easy-to-cook recipe for those who likes the exact taste of fish. For appetite appeal, we can fry 1/2 finely chopped onion, fry till brown in coconut oil, pour it over the curry.