Meen peera / Fish thoran

by
Meen peera is a popular
fish recipe of kerala. Today, I am using sardines to make this dish. The main
ingredients required for making meen peera are sardines, grated coconut, green
chillies, onions and kudampuli. This goes well with rice.
Ingredients
Small sardines/kunju
mathi – 1 kg
Shallots /kunjulli – 1/4
cup
Green chilli, chopped –
5 – 6 nos
Ginger, chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic, chopped – 1 tsp
Grated coconut – 2 cups
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1/4 tsp
Gambooge/kudampuli – 2 –
3 pieces( clean and soaked in 1/4 cup of water)
Salt as needed
Curry leaves
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp

Method

Clean sardines well using salt and water. If you don’t know
how to clean sardines, have a look at this video.

Cut fish into 2 pieces. Keep aside.
Soak gambooge/kudampuli
in 1/4 cup of water.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush shallots, green chilies, ginger, garlic,
grated coconut, turmeric powder, and chili powder. Set this mixture aside.

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can use mixer or blender for this
purpose. Make sure to give only 2 pulses to crush shallots, green chilies,
ginger, garlic, grated coconut, turmeric powder, and chili powder.  

In an earthen pot, add
sardines, crushed mixture, salt, curry leaves, and gambooge along with water in
which it is soaked. Mix every thing with your hands. Add 1 to 1/2 cups of
water. 

Now place this on a flame and cook. Close with a lid and allow it to cook. When
the curry comes to a boil, open the lid, give a nice swirl to the earthern pot
(don’t use spoon to mix). Now reduce the flame and cook. When the water is
little bit dried out (gravy thickens), you can see the masala is well coated on
the fish. Add oil and curry leaves. Give a nice swirl of the earthern pot as
shown in the video. Reduce the flame and cook for 2 more minutes. Switch off
the flame. Serve hot with rice.

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