Alleppey Fish
Photo: Carolina Ayala / Contributor
Alleppey, or Alappuzha, as it is now called, a land of sky-blue lagoons surrounded by an abundance of coconut and palm trees, pepper vines and wild cardamom, is an area in Kerala, southern India that is often referred to as the “Venice of the East”. It is circled by a network of water alleys or ‘backwaters’, that are all like tributaries of lakes and rivers and dotted with hundreds of houseboats. These houseboats, like tiny mobile hotels, are usually equipped with small private kitchens where a cook will whip up local fare, this curry being an old favorite.
A simple aromatic fish stew with green mango being the star of the show, there are many ways to cook it. In this recipe, I finished the stew with seasoned minced green mango, but you could add large chunks to the stew while adding the fish or puree it into the sauce. Almost all fish curries in India are served on the bone, which usually adds a lot of flavor, however I used boneless filets here. Do cook this fish stew along with the lemon rice from last week and sit on your patio or balcony one evening and imagine being transported to a houseboat on the backwaters of Kerala!