Manglorean style fish curry - Surmai Amshe Tikshe

I have these phases where I give up eating chicken for a few years and then, one fine day, I am back with a vengeance...I don't really miss eating chicken at all, but fish is one thing my true Mangalorean heart(or stomach, perhaps) cannot seem to give up !

There is this really modest looking eatery in Bangalore called Fish Land and the name says it all...They dish up the most amazing fish curries, fried fish and fish biryani. There is also this chilli chicken they make there which is so spicy that you have a runny nose, watery eyes and some fumes coming out of you ears when you bite into it !
Its a clean, no-fuss, no-frills place which serves up excellent Mangalorean fish thalis, chicken thalis and a variety of fried fish...
The taste of the fish curry there is so perfect and it hasn't changed in the last 18 years !
Yes, we've been going there for that many years, and the people at the restaurant know exactly what each one of us will order.
A cousin of mine who frequented this place with us, moved back to Bombay after a few years and the the person taking the order once asked us, where the 'chilli chicken' person was...
She always ordered that there and he didnt know any other way of identifying her...

On this visit to bangalore, Ma made this lovely amshe tikshe which was as good, if not better than the FishLand fish curry...
In Konkani, 'amshe' is sour and 'tikshe' is spicy. Thats exactly how this curry tastes.



There is a variation of the amshe tikshe, where you can omit the coconut, and bake the fish in the masala. Tried this after i learnt it from my aunt, back in Bangalore. I used a different variety of chillies, so the colour is distinctly different.



To read my other posts on Mangalorean cuisine, see Dudhya Koddel, Pathrode, Tendle Bibbe Upkari, Tendle Bhutti, Khatkhaten and Solkadi

Sending this to Sia's RCI event this month , which was started by Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine

What you need -

6-7 slices of fish (preferably seer)
20-25 red chillies (byadgi chillies give the perfect colour)
1 handful of tamarind
6-7 cloves of garlic
5-6 teppal / sichuan pepper
2 tbsp grated coconut
salt to taste
a pinch of salt and turmeric powder

What you do with it -

Clean the fish and apply the salt and turmeric powder and keep aside
Fry the red chillies in a spoon of oil till they turn deep red
Grind together the tamarind, fried chillies, garlic and coconut to a paste
Add only as much water as required
Apply this on the fish and marinate for about 20 mins
Heat oil (coconut oil, if you want the true taste) an add the teppal in it
It will fluff up a bit and tends to splutter, so be careful with this
Add 1/2 cup water and salt to the fish and bring to a boil
Add the oil with the teppal in it

You can use the same recipe to make hugga, another Konkani dish with the same masala.
Omit the step where you add water and bring to a boil
In this, you bake the fish
Apply coconut oil to the baking dish, place the fish with the masala in it
Add the teppal and salt
Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 25 mins at 180 C