Ambul Thiyal
Ambul thiyal is a very popular and traditional Srilankan fish preparation with minimal ingredients.
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 500 g Red snapper (Any firm fleshy fish )
- 5 pieces goraka/kambodge
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 1-2 green chillies
- 1" piece of ginger
- 2 tsps pepper corns
- a pinch fenugreek seeds
- 2 handfulls of curry leaves
- 1 tbsp rock salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 green cardamoms
- 3 cloves
- 1" piece cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp jaggery (optional)
Instructions
- Clean the fish ,and wash it with salt and turmeric.
- Cut the goraka into small pieces and soak in half a cup of water for 10 to 15 minutes
- Dry roast the pepper and fenugreek seeds
- In a mixer jar add all the ingredients except fish, whole garam masala and curry leaves and grind to a nice paste.
- Add a handful of curry leaves finally and pulse it once or twice
- Take a clay pot and line with banana leaf. (I omitted this coz I did not have banana leaf). Strew a few curry leaves on it. Coat the fish well with the ground paste, and arrange in a single layer, on the banana leaf in a way that every fish piece touches the bottom of the pot.
- Pour over the remaining paste and add necessary water to immerse all the fish pieces. Mix it over without disturbing the fish pieces. Marinate for about an hour.
- After marinating add the whole garam masala , jaggery, and the remaining curry leaves on the top. Close the vessel and cook till boiling point. You can check spices at this point and add chilly powder or salt to balance the tanginess.
- Simmer it for about 30-45 minutes till all the water gets dried up. As we prefer a little bit of gravy with the fish I normally switch it off before it dries out completely.
- Serve with plain white rice or Kiribath.
