Fish Moily with Halibut

I have been scouring the internet for the past couple of hours trying to find the origin of this curry. Any mention on the history was available just in this blog and it has the recipe as well. Though fish Moily is very famous in Keralite Christian cuisine, the combination of ginger-garlic with coconut in a fish preparation somehow made me think that it could have been from another cuisine. My reference says that it is a Goan recipe.. please do correct me if am wrong.

Fish Moily is not a very common preparation amongst the cooks in my family. And the couple of times I have had it was with friends while visiting. This is my first attempt at making Fish Moily, and the guidelines are from my friend,Minnu. In Kerala, it is traditionally prepared with Karimeen (Pearl Spot) or Aavoli ( Pomfret) , the marinated fish is fried first ( to avoid the flesh from breaking up when cooking in the gravy) and the cooked in the coconut milk gravy. Here I have used Halibut and because Halibut's flesh is more firm, I have omitted the frying-part and cooked it straight in the gravy . So you see there are some definite deviations from the traditional recipe , needless to say..this is my easy-version. Well, it didn't matter that I cheated a little because in the end it all worked out :)

Prep time :15 min
Cook time:10 min
Ready In :25 min

Makes : 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb halibut ( cut to small pieces )
• 2-3 tbs of cooking oil
• 15-20 pepper corns
• 5 cardamom pods
• 5 cloves
• 1 small piece of cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp of fennel seeds
  
• 1 big onion thinly sliced
  
• 3 big cloves of garlic
  
• 1 medium piece of ginger ( should yield about the same quantity as the garlic)
• 2-3 green chillies ( use less for less heat) slit length-wise
  
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 8 oz of thick Coconut Milk ,divided into 2 portions (I used the Chaokoh brand)
  
• 2 cups of water ( use less if you want a thicker gravy)
  
• Salt to taste
  
• 1 tsp of white vinegar
• 1 tomato cut into rings , for garnish (optional)
  

Procedure

• Grind the Ginger and Garlic to a fine paste.
  
• Set a large pan in high heat and once it is hot , add the oil.
• Add the whole spices (pepper, cardamom,cloves, cinnamon and fennel), and reduce the heat to medium.
• When the spices are fragrant, add the sliced onion and green chillies turning them with a spatula every now and then.
• When the onions turn translucent, add the ginger-garlic paste and salt. Keep turning till everything turns golden brown.
  
• Thin down 4oz of the coconut milk with 2 cups of water and add to the fried onions. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
• Add the fish pieces and let cook for about 10 min ( The flesh turns from pink to white by the time the fish is cooked )
• Once the fish pieces are cooked turn off the stove and add the remaining 4oz of thick coconut milk.

Garnish : Slice tomatoes in rings and fry slightly in oil. Serve the fish with the sauce/gravy , garnished with the fried tomato-rings.