• Have you subscribed for free updates? Just sign up in the yellow box below.

    • Meen Vevichathu (Fish Curry,Kottayam Style)

    by Maria on August 5, 2008

    Meen Vevichathu (Fish Curry,Kottayam Style)

    This fish curry is one of the most sought after items at my house in Kerala. I missed making it for such a long time and the reason: my husband wants “charu” (gravy) for everything, so I sticked to the fish curry recipes with coconut milk.

    Since am still recovering from the hangover of my India trip, I decided to make this & once again relish the joyful memories of my holiday :)

    Whenever I see the color of this fish curry, the tagline of a fish masala powder (Eastern Fish Masala) comes to my mind “edivettu (which literally translates to thundering) meencurry” . HHmmmm looks like am watching too much TV these days ;)

    Here goes the recipe for “edivettu meencurry”

    1. Fish – 1/2 kg, cut into medium size pieces
    2. Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
      Fenugreek (uluva) – 1/4 tsp
      Ginger & garlic – 1 1/2 tbsp, crushed into a fine paste
      Small onion – 6-8
    3. Kashmiri chili powder – 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp
      Coriander powder – 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp
      Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
    4. Cocum/kudampuli – 2,3 pieces
    5. Curry leaves
      Salt
      Coconut oil

    Soak cocum in 3 tbsp water for 10 minutes.Mix the powders (chili,coriander & turmeric) together with coconut oil/water & make a paste. Heat oil in a meenchatti (earthen ware) or a pan & splutter mustard & fenugreek. Add crushed ginger garlic paste & stir for 3,4 minutes. Add small onion & curry leaves & saute till it becomes soft. Add the masala paste & fry till oil starts appearing. Add cocum along with the water & fish pieces. Combine well. Make sure that fish pieces do not get broken in the process, it will be safer to rotate the pan to ensure that fish & masala is mixed well. Add required amount of water & cook till the fish is done & gravy becomes thick, it will take around 20 -25 minutes on low flame. Serve with rice or kappa (tapioca)

    Note: It tastes better the next day.

    Source: Vanitha Pachakam

    Have you tried these recipes...? See the Recipe Index for over 200 recipes!

    Get free updates via RSS when we post or

    About Maria Jose Martin

    MariasMenu is a popular food blog written by Maria Jose with its no nonsense simple, tasty and delicious recipes – all tried and tested by readers, family and friends alike. Read more about Maria and her venture.

    • ammu

      The pic made my mouth watery and i tried it..it was really delicious..

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      Thanks ammu, so happy to hear that you liked it :)

    • Seena

      Hi Maria,
      Parichayappettathil santhosham!
      Your blog is really wonderful, idivettu meen curry is tempting me much, I love Ktm spcl dishes.. :) Keep in touch..

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      thanks Seena :)

      even i love ktym spcl dishes.

    • ligi

      i love this recipe!!

    • shazana

      hiii…

      wohh its reallly tasty !!!!!….waiting for more….thnx a lot ….

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      Thanks Ligi and Shazana :)

    • juriah spendlingwimmer

      The picture of your fish curry is very appetizing. I don’t know what is cocum. And I’m not sure whether i can get it here in Austria. Will the curry taste any difference without adding the cocum as one of the ingredients?

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      Hi Juriah,

      Thanks a lot for dropping in :)

      Cocum is fish tamarind, it acts as a souring agent. The main flavor of the curry depends on cocum.It is commonly used in fish curries in Kerala, southern Indian state. I will mail the picture of cocum to you. If you have any Indian stores in Austria, it should be available there. Hope you will be able to find it.

    • rinu

      Hi maria,

      I tried the recipe with salmon..It was awesome and that was my first attempt too..Thank you very much

    • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

      Rinu – very happy to hear that you liked the recipe and thanks a lot for letting me know that :) Please do try other dishes as well and let me know whether you like it.

    • http://thattukada-myblog.blogspot.com/ Fathima

      I tried this fish curry yesterday and it came out excellant.. not to say it is easy to make as well…

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Fathima

        Very happy to know that you liked this recipe. Thanks a lot for sharing it with me.

    • Marlyn

      Hey Maria,

      tnks a lot 4 an awesome recepie….was huntin online for a good fish recepie and presto i find sumthn frm my mum’ land (Ktym) ….everyone at my home luvd it…..keep postin gr8 stuff …

      luv ya

    • Ruby

      Hi Maria,

      Your fish curry looks sooo yummy.I am a great fan of Fishcurry and kachimoru.They make such a great combination that i can have an entire bowl of rice.
      I tried making fish curry couple of times and the gravy used to be sooo watery .Finally i tried your receipe and it turned out good.Thanks a lot.

      Looking forward for more ‘Naadan’ reciepes from you.

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Ruby

        Thanks for visiting my blog and trying out fish curry recipe. Very happy to know that you liked it. Btw, fish curry and kachimoru is an amazing combo :)

        Please do tr out the other nadan recipes posted here.

        Take care
        Maria

    • Siby Manuel

      Hi thanks for this wonderful receipe.I knew to make this but i was not sure about the procedure n ingredients well. thanks a lot again..pic above is so tempting..please post more nadan dishes..

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Siby

        Thanks for your sweet words. You can check out some of the nadan recipes here:

        http://www.mariasmenu.com/recipes/kerala-dishes

        I will also be posting more nadan recipes, please do visit again and also try out the recipes :)

        Cheers
        Maria

        • Bijo Mathew

          gud recipie mam ..continue…

        • Bijo Mathew

          and mam i want one recipie for nadan parippu kari…
          (dal curry) and vellarika pachadi…..
          please

    • neemol

      COULD U PLS POST RECEIPE FOR FISH POLLICHATHU ?

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Neemol

        I tried making fish pollichathu once and it didnt come out well :(.

        Anyways if I see a new recipe, I will try to post.

        Regards
        Maria

    • chinu

      I only new how to make the fish curry with coconut milk, like many trichure people… but i tried your receipe for my hus. who is from kottyam, he loved it….. Thank you!

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Chinu

        Thanks for trying out the recipe from here. Really glad that it came out well for you :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Ann

      hi Maria,

      My sister suggested me your blog a few months before, when i got married, but being lazy I never bothered and in due time I 4got . All these time I revolted badly against making fish curry (partly coz i was afraid of attempting such a big curry which i have only dared to eat earlier ;) and then laziness), but last week i had to. After a minute’s google-ing I found out ur wonderful site, good and simpler dishes. All these times i was making curries from youtube videos. Your methods are very easy and ingredients r common ones. I ve tried a few frm your recipes and all grant success. And today my husband finally declared from now onwards “I will comment only when ur curry is bad”. Earlier it was horrible.

      Thanks to you and your site.
      btw meen curry was so yummy that i called my mummy and said its even more tastier( appolkyum confidence koodi. hehe!)
      too long mail, phew!!!

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Ann

        First of all, best wishes for the newly married couple from both of us. May god bless you both with a happy & blessed life ahead!!

        Thanks a ton for your sweet and kind words. I am very happy and excited to see your comment :) Thanks to your sis also for recommending my blog :) Really happy to know that you tried some of the recipes here and came out well.

        Please do try out other recipes also when you have time. Hope to see you here more often :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • HarisH

      Hi Chechi,

      Thanks for the post. I tried three times to make a meen curry, but was not successful. Let me try this method also.This one,I feel, is so easy.

      regds

      HarisH

    • Ramya Nibin

      I tried this fish curry yesterday and it came out excellant.. after very long time my fish curry came out well thank u so much….God Bless You..

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        HI Ramya

        Thank you dear :)

        Wish you & your family a happy & blessed new year!!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Ramya Nibin

      Hii maria,

      even wishing you and your family a happy and blessed new year…

      i made the sponge cake on christmas came out well..thank you so much..will be makeing it again on new year..

      God Bless you…

    • http://nishyacreations.blogspot.com Nishya

      hi maria,
      The fish curry was fantastic. Thank you once again for the wonderful recipe.
      one note to add… you told it tastes better the next day.. but if nothing is left for the next day, how can I know… :(
      my husband finished off the fish curry during the lunch time itself..

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Nishya,

        Thanks again dear. Hope next time it will last for 2 days at least :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Asha

      Wow..thank you for your ‘edivettu fish curry’ recipe.
      once i prepare this, you can expect more comments from me…
      May god bless you and your family

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Asha,

        Thank you :) Did you get a chance to make this?

        Hope you liked it too…

        Cheers
        Maria

    • shiv

      Hi- I’m looking to prepare this dish and I’ve never actually made fish curry before and this looks really good. Can you tell me what type of fish I should use? grouper? Halibut? etc….

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Shiv,

        You can use any fish of your choice for this recipe. However we normally use fleshy fish like King fish or pomfret at home for the same. Hope you’ll like this.

        All the best!!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • reshma

      hi! maria..am reshma. can we use,any fish for this curry? like ayila?
      as i wanted to try and see it now..

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Reshma,

        You can use ayila for this recipe, though my personal fav is neymeen or avoli. But you can use any fish of your choice.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • gayathri

      hi mariya,

      one of my friends introduced me to your blog and let me tell you that you are doing a wonderful job.. i have tried many of your recipes and all of them have come out very well..

      i sincerly appreciate your dedication in exploring the world of food… keep rocking.

      i always had the problem with the ratio of coriander powder , chilly powder and turmeric which might have been the reason for my consistent failure in making fish curries..but today with ‘maria’s menu’ my fish curry was a great success and we really enjoyed it….

      thanks maria..

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Gayathri,

        Thank you so much for such a wonderful comment. It’s really great to know that you like the recipes posted here. Please do convey my special thanks to your friend also for recommending this blog.

        Once again thanks for sharing your feedback here :)

        We wish you a very happy year ahead!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Suzette

      Hi Maria,

      Another brilliant and simple recipe. Making Kerala style fish curry has always been a disaster in my family. Thanks to you we have finally conquered it :) I gave my mum your Kottayam Fish Curry recipe and asked her to try it. It was superb!! A BIG thank you for my mum too.

      OXOX
      Suz

    • Suzette

      Hi Maria,
      Another brilliant and simple recipe. Making Kerala style fish curry has always been a disaster in my family. Thanks to you we have finally conquered it :) I gave my mum your Kottayam Fish Curry recipe and asked her to try it. It was superb!! A BIG thank you for my mum too.
      OXOX
      Suz

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Suzette,

        Thanks dearie :) Good to hear that fish curry came out well for you.

        Please do convey my regards to your mom too..

        Take care…

        Cheers
        Maria

    • roshni

      hello maria,
      today morn i was searching for new fish recipes,i found this and decided to try.infact me and my hus like fish fry.( bcoz whenever i tried to make fish curry,it turns into a disaster).but my 2 and half year old daughter is a great fan of fish curry.whenever we go to my friend’s house,they alwayz welcome us with their nadan fish curry.but iam too shy to ask them the recipe.now its 12.30 here ( in zambia),my fish curry came out very well.its aroma is piercing my nose and my mouth is watering.iam waiting for my hubby to come fast and taste this new fish curry.my baby she had a big bowl of rice with this .usually i used to fight with my little one to feed her.but today without any problem she had more than enough food.maria,thank u very very much.i used nile perch .kashmiri chilli powder is not available here,so i used home made chilli powder which my mom prepared .
      once again thank u,it tastes great.we miss India and my parents.but today u made me happy with ur magical recipes.thankkkkkkkkzzzzzzzz a lot

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Roshni,

        Thanks a ton dear for such a nice comment. I’m especially happy to hear that your little girl liked it very much, because I know how hard it is to feed little ones :)

        I do hope your husband also liked the fish curry. I’m so glad to know that you like the recipes here. Please do try other recipes also when time permits and share your feedback. Would love to hear from you.

        My special regards to your baby girl :0

        Cheers
        Maria

    • noorie

      Hi Maria,

      I dont cook Fish much. But had been having Fish cravings since a few days and was googling and came across your site. Good site with calming design and pictures. The above fish curry looks amazing. I am at work right now and its 12:44 pm and it made me really hungry :( :) :D

      Thanks for the great blog Maria :)

      PS: Could you please tell me which is the best fish for the recipe mentioned above?

      Noor

      • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

        Hi Noor,

        Thanks a lot for the kind words :)

        I’ve used king fish (neimeen) for this recipe & I guess that’s the best choice :) Hope you could try this recipe soon & you will like it too.

        Cheers
        Maria

        • noorie

          hey maria,

          passed on this recipe link to a friend of mine. he cooked it with ayila as he couldnt find any good big fish. and it seems it was amazing :) i would be trying this with neymeen this weekend. thanks a lot again for the great blog and looking forward for your book.

          :)

          • http://www.mariasmenu.com Maria

            Hi Noorie,

            Thanks dear for sending the link to your friend also. I’m glad that he liked it. Hope you got a neymeen & you could make this :)

            Cheers
            Maria

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Hi Deepthi,

      I’m doing good dear. Thank you so much for the wonderful comment :) Its really nice to know that you could recreate the taste of Mother’s cooking for your husband.

      You too take care…

      Cheers
      Maria

    • Jai

      Hi maria ,

      I messed up this simple curry 2 days back. You know what I used the fish tamarind as per the description , however , some odd smell creeped into the curry and it originated surely from the fish tamarind.
      Btw, I usedd 3 pieces and dipped them in water for 30 mins prior to using.

      Please tell me if there is a knack in using fish tamarind ( kudampalli)

      I am so scared of using it again in my curry

      Regards
      Jai

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Jai,

        From your comment, I understand that you used it the correct way. So the only thing that can go wrong, I guess is that, may be the tamarind was old. Usually it should work even if its kinda old. Did you use readymade fish tamaraind (kudampuli)?

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Stephen

      I love all kerala dishes, but me a lousy cook. Still dreams of the fish curry my grandma used to make, I missed them all. Thanks and take care   stephen

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Stephen,

        Why dont you try some simple recipes from here? I’m sure your dream will come true soon :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Surajkumarr

      I tried this with vatta fish (Bluefin trevally), tastes good thanks. Today I’m trying Easter chicken curry, will comment if succeed

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Suraj,

        Thanks for trying the recipe & also for sharing your comment here. Btw, how was the easter chicken curry? Hope it came out well too..

        Cheers
        Maria

        • suraj kumar

          Sorry it was a not a success. I tried it with 2kg broiler chicken, smell of curry was very good. Colour fantastic. but taste didn’t reach the expectation may be coz I avoided poppy seed and cashew paste. It tasted best next day (I added some chicken masala also, and was liberel with all powders in section 2) Seen the reply today only. Got some choora (Tuna)

          • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

            Hi Suraj Kumar,

            Sorry to hear that it didnt come out well for you… The cashew & poppy paste add a rich flavour to the curry.

            Cheers
            Maria

    • Sarath Chander

      Hi Maria, Yesterday night I tried this with ‘Kadambu’ fish. As my wife is a vegetarian there was only ordinary ‘puli’ (what is cocum?) in stock and I used it. Instead of the chilly+malli+mannhal mix, I used eastern fish masala. The final ‘simmering with fish pieces’ can run upto even 30 minutes to get the correct masala density. 
      The final result was dangerous. I had twice the usual quantity of rice. :-) !! 

      This is an easy main curry to cook also compared to vegetarian curries. 

      Thanks Maria, I plan to paste your picture in my kitchen in your honour with a logo ‘This is a MariasMenu Kitchen’. I plan to try out every one of your other recipes also. 

      Regards,Sarath

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Sarath,

        Thank you so much Sarath! I was so excited to see your comment :) I’m really happy that this curry came out well for you.

        Btw, cocum is kudampuli. Try the fish curry with it sometime, its really tasty.

        Thanks again for your wonderful comment :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Achuthan

      I tried your recipe yesterday.Its simply fantasia.hats off to you for presenting an easy,tasty recipe.

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Achuthan,

        You are welcome! Nice to know that you liked the fish curry :) Thanks for the comment!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • life n spices

      when shall add the salt? poor salt, u forgot about it!!!

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        :) You can add it along with cocoum.

        Cheers
        Maria

    • http://anishathefoodie.wordpress.com/ Anisha Kuruvilla

      Hi Maria
      This is probably the most commonly made fish curry in my house. It brings wonderful memories of my mama’s cooking. Nice to see it here. My fish curry is more red and along with the masalas I add a tsp of Eastern Fish Curry Masala for as you say an idivettu taste. Great going as always Maria your fish curry looks lovely. 

      Anisha Kuruvilla 

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Anisha,

        Thank you!

        I guess this is one of the ‘everyday’ curries in most Kerala homes :) Mine is also usually red, it appears a bit orangish because of the lighting in which the photo was taken….

        Cheers
        Maria

    • http://myminikitchen.blogspot.com/ Manjima

      Love this fish curry! Have made it quite a few times now with salmon and it tastes awesome! I am from Kollam and we have a more gravy-like curry. I wanted to try the Kottayam style for a long time and I guess I found just the right recipe! Thanks a ton!

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Hi Manjima,

        I’m glad that the fish curry came out well for you. Thanks a lot for sharing your comment here :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Jacobjrm

      Ms. Maria,
      This ‘simple recipe is on tasting – an instant transport from Arizona to Aarpookara – Fantastic!!!
      Regards, Jaix

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Thanks Jaix :) I’m glad that it brought you the memories of home!

        Cheers
        Maria

    • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

      Thank you Pam! Great to know that you liked the meen vevichathu. Thanks a lot for sharing your feedback here.

      Cheers
      Maria

    • Rajeev

      nice

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Thanks!

    • Marryann111

      maria chechi…
      kottayam style fish curry was awesome…. as you said it turned out to be ‘edivettu meencurry’. my husband loved it very much… a million thanks to you………

      love,
      mary

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        Thank you Marryann! Nice to know that you liked the ‘edivettu’ meen curry :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Anuradhasajiv

      maria.
      meen curry was awesome. thank you for the recipie
      love anu

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        You are welcome Anu! I’m happy that you liked the recipe. Thanks for the comment :)

        Cheers
        Maria

    • Joshy Jacob

      this was awsome . thank you for the recipie

      • http://mariasmenu.com Maria Jose

        You are welcome Joshy! Nice to know that the recipe worked well for you. Thanks for the comment!

        Cheers
        Maria

    Previous post:

    Next post: