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    Home » Recipes » Recipes

    Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee)

    Published: Apr 24, 2019 · Modified: Jun 4, 2021 by Alonna

    Simple, quick and full of flavor, brighten your weeknight with this coconut fish curry. Healthy to begin with, and if you avoid onions and garlic, there is a twist for you too!
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Served in a pottery bowl garnished with fried curry leaves and a wedge of lemon.
    Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Served in a pottery bowl garnished with fried curry leaves and a wedge of lemon.
    Simple, quick and full of flavor, start your weeknight meal with this coconut fish curry. Healthy to begin with, but if you avoid onions and garlic, there is a twist for you too!

    Top 20 Dish! Get my free e-Cookbook: “The 20 Top Dishes in India”

    Seafood Curry from Kerala​

    Fish molee is a coconut seafood curry from Kerala, along India’s southwest coast. Molee means stew, and the fish you use is completely up to you, though I recommend a firm-fleshed white fish. In India, kingfish or pomfrets are popular, but here in the United States, tilapia, halibut, cod, or seabass are more easily found. I have also loved this coconut sauce with salmon as well. Besides being very flavorful without a lengthy marination time, the heat level is low, so the chili-phobic people in your life will love this masala.

    Coconut Fish Curry

    This recipe has few ingredients, and the cooking goes quickly. When finished, you will have a main dish you can be proud to serve, not just to your family, but for guests as well. I developed this curry for someone who does not have a full Indian pantry. So please read my notes about suitable substitutions for some of the harder to find ingredients.

    It is difficult to find reasonably priced fresh fish where I live (the high desert in New Mexico), so I sometimes wind up buying it frozen. The advantage is that I always have a package of seafood in my freezer, and I can whip up a quick dinner without too much planning ahead. If you want more seafood inspiration from a different region in India, see my Bengali prawn curry (chingri posto).

    Happy Cooking!

    ~ Alonna

    Oh, and by the way—This recipe is one of the top 20 dishes that are Indian favorites. Take a look!

    See the Notes below before you cook.

    • Served on top of Goan rice and drizzled with reduced marinade.
      Indian Fish Curry (Goan Green Sauce)
    • Style Served on a bed of greens and red onion slices.
      Indian Fish Cakes Goan-Style
    • Served atop a bowl of rice, garnished with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro.
      Kerala Fish Curry Slow Baked
    • Bengali Prawn Curry (Chingri Posto) Served in a beautiful gold and blue dish with rice and lime on the side.
      Bengali Prawn Curry (Chingri Posto)
    Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Served in a pottery bowl garnished with fried curry leaves and a wedge of lemon.

    Coconut Fish Curry (Fish Molee)

    Simple, quick and full of flavor, brighten your weeknight with this coconut fish curry. Healthy to begin with, and if you avoid onions and garlic, there is a twist for you too!
    Print Pin Comment
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Indian
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Marinating: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 223kcal
    Author: Alonna

    Ingrediants

    Marinade

    • 1 pound firm white fish seabass, halibut, tilapia, cod or even salmon
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 3/4 teaspoon Kashmiri ground red chili ~ More to your taste, substitutions
    • 1/2 teaspoon table or sea salt ~ Divided

    Curry (Masala)

    • 1 tablespoon coconut oil ~ Or oil of your choice
    • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds ~ Preferrably black/brown
    • 1 cup onion ~ Finely minced
    • 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste ~ Buy or make
    • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon green chili ~ More to your taste; substitutions
    • 8 curry leaves ~ Coarsely chopped. About & find. See Notes.
    • 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
    • 1/4 teaspoon sea or table salt ~ To your taste, I added another 1/4 tsp; substitutions
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice ~ Or lime juice, to taste

    Garnishes ~ As you wish

    • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro ~ Coarsely chopped
    • 4 curry leaves ~ Fried
    • 12 whole cashews ~ Toasted
    US Customary - Metric
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    Instructions

    • Gather all your ingredients.
      Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Gathering all the ingredients, and ready to cook
    • In a medium bowl mix turmeric, lemon juice, chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut the fish into 3-inch pieces and add to the spice and lemon mixture. Stir to coat well and set aside for 10 minutes.
      Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Marinating the fish
    • While the fish is marinating, heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and as soon as they start crackling, add the onions and curry leaves (if using). Turn down the heat to medium and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add a little water as needed to prevent the onions from sticking.
      Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) tempering the onions and spices
    • Add ginger garlic paste and green chili. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes until the paste no longer smells raw.
    • Add coconut milk, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the pan and heat just until bubbles start forming at the edges of the pan. Do not allow to boil or the coconut milk may break or split. Turn heat to low, stirring occasionally for several minutes.
    • Add fish to the coconut milk, turn up the heat just until it starts to bubble gently. Return the heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the fish is firm and cooked through. Stir gently so the fish doesn’t break into pieces.
      Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Adding the fish to the masala or curry
    • Adjust for seasonings. This is a dish rich with coconut milk so make sure that you taste for enough acid (lemon juice), salt and heat from chili.
    • Garnishes: fried curry leaves, or chopped cilantro and toasted cashews.
      Coconut Fish Curry (Kerala Molee) Served in a pottery bowl garnished with fried curry leaves and a wedge of lemon.

    Notes

    • Curry leaves add herbaceous, anise, and citrus notes to a dish. curry. If you can’t find them, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of lime rind. The result won't be the same but the zest can add some of the citrus notes you get with the real thing. Buy unwaxed fruit.
    • Indian mustard seeds are black or brown and are a little more flavorful, but yellow mustard seeds work just fine in this coconut fish curry.
    • If you are cooking without onion and garlic, skip and slightly increase the ginger, and add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds with the mustard seeds in the cooking process. If you have it, a pinch of asafetida added with the green chilies would be an excellent substitute as well.
    • Coconut fish curry is one of the Top 20 Dishes in India, enjoy!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Sodium: 18mg | Potassium: 245mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 113IU | Vitamin C: 66mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 3mg

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    Alonna Smith owner of My Indian Stove dot com
    Alonna Smith, Publisher (and chef!)

    As an adventurous and accomplished home cook, I am having the time of my life, cooking through the many regions of India, learning different cooking methods, and the many ways of using spices, pulses, and creating unforgettable food, if I may say so myself.

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