Keralan Fish Moilee

 I can almost taste this curry as I am writing about it, I can smell the hot Keralan Air that I smelt the night I tasted Moilee. Prior to my taste sensation I had signed myself up rather foolishly to cruise along the Keralan backwaters in a "Luxury Yacht" which turned out to be an evening of hell, but thats another tale..When the bamboo dingy complete with drunken captain finally docked I could not wait to get the heck out of there and make my way to varkarla, a hippy hide away where the entire community exist on the cliff edge right next to a stunning beach abundant with the most sublime seafood, each night the days catch would be laid out to entice customers into their restaurants.

I ended up becoming great friends with some of the locals, one of which was a young chef who was half Moroccan half indian but had a huge passion for Italian food, he was possibly Jamie Oliver's biggest fan, I have to say that he was extremely talented, he cooked for me on two occasions, the deal was that I would try his Italian food (reluctantly as I all I wanted to eat was authentic Indian food) and he would cook me an authentic Keralan dish, He actually made amazing italian food but his Keralan food was astonishing, I didn't know what I would be having at the time but I will never forget Fish Moilee, it encompasses everything that is regional to Kerala, fresh coconut and amazing fish, what's not to love?

You will need:

8 green birds eye chillies sliced in half

1 1/2 tsp of mustard seed

2 tbsp of coconut oil

1/2 sliced red onion

30 curry leaves

2 inch stick of cassia bark

4 cloves

1 tsp of fennel seed

8 cardamon pods

50g of garlic pounded in a pestle and mortar

50g of ginger pounded in a pestle and mortar

1 tsp of cumin powder

1 tsp of turmeric

50ml of water

100g of chopped fresh tomatoes

350ml of coconut milk

2 tbsp of sugar

1 1/2 tbsp of maldon salt

250g of white firm fish cut into inch thick cubes

50g of toasted cashew nuts

the juice of a quarter of a lemon

small handful of coriander

1 tsp of white vinegar

Start by melting the coconut oil and frying the onions, mustard seed, fennel seed, cassia bark, cardamon pods and curry leaves for five minutes until they pop, add the cumin powder,turmeric and the garlic and ginger pastes and sliced green chillies, fry for a couple of minutes before adding the water and chopped tomatoes. Pour in the coconut milk and add the sugar, salt, vinegar, lemon juice and then add the fish, cook on a low heat for 5 minutes and the garnish with coriander and the toasted cashews and serve with rice.