Southern Indian Recipes
Keralan Fish Curry
A mild, fragrant Kerala-style fish curry in the manner of meen molee: chunks of white fish simmered gently in coconut milk with mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies, turmeric and tomato, sharpened with lime.
- Serves 4
- Hands-on 20 min
- Cook 25 min
- Mild and creamy
- Serve with rice
- South Indian (Kerala)
Method
Season the fish (600 g) with a pinch of salt and a little of the turmeric (½ tsp) and set aside while you make the sauce. Cook the rice (300 g) following the packet instructions.
Heat the oil (2 tbsp) in a wide, deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds (1 tsp) and, when they start to pop, the curry leaves (a little).
Add the onion (1 onion) and cook gently for 8–10 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the ginger (20 g), garlic (3 cloves) and green chillies (2) and cook for 2 minutes.
Stir in the rest of the turmeric, the coriander (1 tsp) and chilli powder (½ tsp) and cook for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes (2 tomatoes) and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.
Pour in the coconut milk (400 ml) and 100 ml water, season with salt and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Slide in the fish in a single layer and spoon the sauce over. Cover and simmer very gently for 5–7 minutes, until the fish is opaque and just flakes. Do not stir, or the fish will break up; shake the pan instead.
Squeeze in the lime juice (1), check the seasoning and scatter with coriander (a little). Serve with the rice.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Keep the curry at a bare simmer once the coconut milk is in. Hard boiling can make it split.
- For prawns, use 400 g raw king prawns and simmer for 3–4 minutes, until pink.
- Coconut oil gives the most Keralan flavour.
- A spoonful of tamarind paste in place of the lime gives a sourer, more traditional finish.
How this recipe was developed
We compared Rukmini Iyer’s Keralan prawn curry on BBC Food with Manju Malhi’s meen molee on BBC Food and the fish mappas on BBC Good Food.
- Mustard seeds and curry leaves. Rukmini Iyer (BBC Food, 4.7/5 from 163 ratings) starts with mustard seeds and curry leaves and builds a coconut-milk sauce with turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin; we use the same base.
- Haddock in coconut. Manju Malhi’s meen molee (BBC Food, 4.25/5 from 4 ratings) simmers haddock in coconut milk with curry leaves, green chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric and tomato; we use haddock too.
- Tomato and onion. BBC Good Food’s fish mappas (4.65/5 from 139 ratings) cooks onions and tomatoes before adding coconut milk and white fish; so do we.
- Gentle heat. We poach the fish without stirring so the chunks stay whole.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Food (Rukmini Iyer): Keralan prawn curry (4.7/5, 163 ratings)
- BBC Food (Manju Malhi): Meen molee (Fish curry cooked in coconut) (4.25/5, 4 ratings)
- BBC Good Food (Good Food team): Fish mappas (4.65/5, 139 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.