Fish Pickle/Meen Achar

Here is a spicy and extremely tasty fish pickle recipe for all the pickle lovers out there..

Ingredients

1. Fish - 2.5 kg (I used tuna/choora)
2. Garlic - Around 60 - 70 small pods 
3. Ginger - 6-7 inch piece thinly sliced
4. Fresh ginger-garlic paste - 5-6 tsp
5. Curry leaves - 10 - 15 sprigs
6. Chilly powder- 6 - 7 tbsp (Adjust it according to your spice preference.  Use Kashmiri chilly powder if you prefer a less spicy pickle)
7. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

8. Green chillies - 7-8 slit (optional)
9. Pepper powder or chilli powder - 4 - 5 tsp ( I used pepper powder for the fish marinade)
10. Fenugreek powder - 1 tsp
11. Vinegar - 1/2 - 3/4  cup

12. Mustard seeds - 3 tsp
13. Salt -  to taste
14. Sesame oil - For deep frying

15. Salt - To taste

Method

1. Clean and cut the fish into small cubes(remove the excess water with a tissue). Marinate them with salt, turmeric powder and 4 - 5 tsp pepper/chilli powder for at least 30 mts. Fry them in oil. Keep aside.

2. In another pan pour some oil (you can use the oil which was used for frying the fish) and shallow fry the  ginger, garlic and curry leaves(You can also add ginger, garlic and curry leaves after spluttering the mustard seeds but I always shallow fry them separately first).

 

 

3. Now splutter the mustard seeds in the remaining oil(after shallow frying ginger and garlic). Add the ginger-garlic paste, green chillies ( if you are adding them) and cook until their raw taste is gone. Now remove from heat, add chilli powder and fenugreek powder. Mix well, add the fried ginger, garlic, curry leaves,fried fish and again mix well. Check for salt, add vinegar and mix well. Bring to a boil and switch off. If you would like to have more gravy you can add around 1/2 cup hot water and heat it. Store in an airtight container when it cools down completely. Use it after at least 2 weeks for the flavors to set in. Refrigerate if you want to keep it for long.