Fish Mappas - Karimeen Mappas


Karimeen Mappas


Mappas is a vinegar infused coconut milk curry prepared with fish or meat as the main ingredient. Meat or fish is first seared to seal the proteins and then it is cooked in the gravy to make it more flavorful and firm.

Duck mappas is the famous among all meat mappas while karimeen mappas is the famous within the fish circle. Mappas can be prepared using any other soft flesh whole fish like pomfret (akoli or maachan) or using fish fillets from sear fish or red snapper. The gravy is a really tasty one even without fish. So you can use your freestyle method to use this recipe with anyother ingredient like paneer, potato or soya chunks - Vegetarians, hope you hear me.

ingredients for the recipe

4 whole pearlspot / karimeen - cleaned and scored
salt - 1/4 tsp
turmeric - 1 large pinch
oil - to sear the fish

for the gravy

3 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
15-20 small onions / shallots, thinly sliced
2 green chilly, slit
2 sprigs curry leaves
turmeric - 1/3 tsp
chilly powder - 2 tsp
pepper powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 3/4 - 1 tsp 
2-3 tomatoes - cut into rounds (as seen in picture)
Coconut milk (1st extract) - 3/4 cup (use 3/4th of a large coconut or 1 coconut) - the gravy has to be thick
Coconut milk (2nd extract) - 1 cup
vinegar - 3 tbsp
salt to taste
Karimeen Mappas | Fish in Spicy Coconut Milk Curry


ingredients for the recipe

4 whole pearlspot / karimeen - cleaned and scored
salt - 1/4 tsp
turmeric - 1 large pinch
oil - to sear the fish

for the gravy

3 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
15-20 small onions / shallots, thinly sliced
2 green chilly, slit
2 sprigs curry leaves
turmeric - 1/3 tsp
chilly powder - 2 tsp
pepper powder - 1 tsp
coriander powder - 3/4 - 1 tsp 
2-3 tomatoes - cut into rounds (as seen in picture)
Coconut milk (1st extract) - 3/4 cup (use 3/4th of a large coconut or 1 coconut) - the gravy has to be thick
Coconut milk (2nd extract) - 1 cup
vinegar - 3 tbsp
salt to taste

method to prepare fish mappas

Step 1 - Sear the fish

Mix the salt and turmeric and rub it on the fish. Keep it aside for 5 minutes. Heat oil in a pan and place one fish at a time. The pan and oil should be very hot (take care while placing the fish). Sear it for one minute on one side and try to lift the fish using a spatula. Dont force the fish to come out. Since it is on high heat, the fish will leave the pan once it is seared. Turn the fish and sear the other side also and remove from pan. Repeat the same process with the remaining fish.

Step 2 - Preparing the fish mappas

Heat 3 tbsp oil in an earthern pot. Add the shallots and green chillies and stir till translucent. Add curry leaves, turmeric, chilly and coriander powder. Stir in low flame till the raw smell is gone and the spice powder sizzle. Add the tomatoes and gently stir till soft. Try to retain the round shape so that you can use it to garnish the mappas.

Prepare this recipe in low to medium flame. Slow cooking bring out the flavours of all the ingredients and it also results in a thick gravy.

When the tomatoes are soft add vinegar and salt. Give a gentle stir and cook till vinegar is fully incorporated into the masala. This also prevents the coconut milk from curdling. Add the second extract of coconut milk and bring it to a boil. At this stage you can add the pepper powder. Simmer it for 5 minutes.

Add the seared fish and cook till done. Check salt and taste. Turn to low heat and add the first extract of coconut milk. Lift the pan by holding it on two sides and gently shake it, so that you dont distrub the fish. It is after all basking in mappas glory. Do not let the curry boil after adding the first extract of coconut milk. Lift and gently swirly the pan again so that coconut milk is evenly distributed. Turn off heat and cover it with a lid. Serve after half an hour.

This is a mildly spiced curry. If you are preparing a meat mappas, say duck mappas, beef mappas, chicken mappas or a mutton mappas just avoid using tomatoes, instead, add 3 more tbsps of vinegar and 2 large onions more.

The picture you see in the background is Meat Chops

15 comments:

  1. Very spicy and yummy fish curry.

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  2. Slurp,mouthwatering here, such an inviting fish mappas.

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  3. This fish looks soo good I can only imagine how good the Duck must taste!

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  4. delicious fish mappas..one of my fav dish..

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  5. awesum fish recipe
    Iam back to blogging...Plz..visit 1ce dear...
    Visit my new
    face book page
    http://www.facebook.com/Mahaslovelyhome?ref=hl

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  6. Roshan wow ever malayalees favorite...loved it

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  7. Fish Mappas tempts me a lot dear. First time in your space. Wonderful space you have, so following you from now. Please keep in touch.

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  8. perfectly done n beautiful luking fish curry
    BTW Iam back to blogging n im ur new follwer too.PLZ visit my space if gets sum time n plz check out my new FB page dear..Hope u vl clik on like on FB page dear.Thanx in advance...
    Maha

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  9. The fish curry looks very inviting. Nice gravy.

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  10. My mum used to make fish like that!

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  11. read the blog after a full meal, but hungry again for egg hoppers,
    nice one.

    ReplyDelete

Try it and let me know if you wanted to make some changes or if you made some changes and share the idea!

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