Dried fish (Unakameen/ Karuvadu) curry

Here is one of my favorite dried fish curries. Yesterday I had been to the Kerala grocery shop and found some good Parava Unakameen. This is called White fish or False Trevally. Back home we have it fried or as a curry. It was almost a year since I had some Onakameen curry and couldn't wait to prepare it. This time, I made this curry with eggplant. We can also make it with raw green banana or even jack fruit seeds.

INGREDIENTS:

Dried fish(Onakameen/Karuvadu) - 5-6 small ones   

Eggplant - 4 small ones (cut length wise)

Green chillies - 2-3( slit)

Curry leaves - few

Coconut oil 2-3tsp

Salt to taste

For grinding:

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Pearl onions - 4-5

Tamarind - 1-2 walnut size pieces 

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1-1/2 tsp

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Cleaning the fish: 

Remove the head , fins and the tail of the dried fish with hands. Peel the skin slowly. Clean it well  with several changes of water to remove any soil that is sticking to it. Place fish in shallow pot or pan. I usually make all my fish curries in a clay pot.

PREPARATION:

Grind all the 6 ingredients with 1/4 -1/2 cup water. Make sure not to grind it to a smooth paste. Add the ground paste to the dried fish and mix  a little more water. Add the slit green chillies and the eggplant slices to the fish. Close the pot with a lid and cook it on a medium heat. Shake the pot once in a while so that the curry cooks evenly. It should probably take 15-20 minutes. Towards the end, add some coconut oil, and curry leaves.

Enjoy it with hot steaming rice!