Mangalorean Anjal Masala Fry

The very first time that I happened to taste this preparation was from Mangalore at One of the tiny road side hotels in the car street area. I have been there several times but never saw a hotel name outside . Its just called "Fish Hotel" by the regulars.There is not a huge choice of items on the menu except seafood.They are so packed at lunch that you might have to wait a while before you get a seat ,which is a bench and a desk .They only have rice ,which is served with a pickle and one vegetable plus fish curry as a gravy .That is the standard lunch.Along with it they have a choice of fish , prawns and Squid . Rava fry , masala fry and a regular fry.Almost on all days they have a choice of fish ranging from Kingfish/Anjal/Aikoora/Nenmeen , Sole , Pomfret , Lady fish/Kane/Nongal and Mackeral All fried in different forms. My favourite is the White Pomfret Masala fry . Its something that every seafood lover has to taste at least once in their life time :)















How is it different from the regular fish fry - The masala or gravy , its  smooth , creamy and flavorful without being too spicy or dry, and the fish itself is just very lightly cooked not fried until it is as hard as a stick . Its more of a steaming effect which retains the moisture inside the fish which gets coated with this amazing gravy.I was so in love with this preparation that I have asked several of my Mangalorean friends for the recipe , they have explained but it never came out like I imagined until I found this method online.

Ingredients :

1. Anjal/Nenmeen/Aikoora/King fish  - 3 pieces the size of the palm of your hand , sliced about 1/2 inch thick with the bone
2. Tomato - 1 medium sized , get a ripe red one .
3. Kashmiri chilly powder - 2 tbsp
4. coriander powder - 1 tsp
5. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6. methi seeds - 3 or 4 grains
7. vinegar - 1/2 tsp
8. salt - to taste
9. Coconut oil - 4 tbsp
10. curry leaves - 1 spring
11. Garlic - 3 cloves
12. Ginger - 1/2 tsp chopped

Method:
Add all the ingredients except the fish and curry leaves into a blender and grind to a smooth paste.
Taste the masala for salt , spice and sourness .
Adjust taste now , we rae not going to salt the fish ,so this masala should have enough salt for the fish pieces also .
Heat a nonstick pan and add the ground masala paste and fry on a medium flame until the masala is cooked and the oil starts separating.
Taste the masla again and adjust if needed.
Add in the curry leaves and arrange the fish slices on top of the gravy and pour about 1/4th cup of water into the pan and cover and allow to cook .
After about 5 minutes, turn the fish over without breaking it and cover and cook for another 3 minutes.
Remove the lid and let the gravy roast .
Turn the fish over and roast until the gravy is thick and coated on the fish piece.
Serve hot with rice.