Elangai Meen Varuval (Srilankan Fish Fry)

Guess when i was around 10 year old, my mom got a cook book from Idhayam gingelly oil. There were too many recipes in that book but one that caught our attention was this "Elangai meen Varuval". This recipe does not require chilli powder and would taste entirely different from the regular fish fry. I loved it from the very first time i tasted it. From then on we hardly made it again as we never gave a thought about it , but then this taste lingered on my tongue when i bought fish today. I badly wanted to try it again.

Srilankan pepper fish fry | Elangai Meen varuval

Ingredients

Fish- 1/2 kg ( I used vela meen)

Ginger 2 inch piece

Garlic 7 to 8 cloves

Pepper 3 teaspoons

Coriander seeds 2 teaspoons

Cumin 1 teaspoon

Tamarind juice 1 teaspoon

Salt as needed

Oil for shallow frying

How to start?

In a blender grind ginger, garlic, pepper, coriander seeds, and cumin into a smooth paste with little water added. Marinate the fish with the ground masala, tamarind juice and salt for about 30 minutes.

Srilankan fish fry - Elangai Meen Varuval

Heat a tawa, add generous amount of oil. Once the oil is hot place the fish pieces on the tawa and cook on medim high flame. After 2 minutes flip the fish one by one. Let the flame be medium throughout the process, so that the masala gets well coated on the fish. Cook until you find crisp outer layer on both sides.

Elangai meen varuval goes well even with Sambhar and curd rice.