Curry Favours: Ikan bilis is the star in this homemade South Indian dish
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CNA Lifestyle
Curry Favours: Ikan bilis is the star in this homemade South Indian dish
Remember yous know all your curries? CNA Lifestyle's brand new series introduces yous to unlike kinds of ethnic curries that are well-loved in Singapore homes. Our first meal – an unusual take on fish curry that's been passed down from grandma and the stories behind it.
Homemaker Rukmani G's ikan bilis curry is a hit with her family unit, including husband KT Velu. (Photograph: Joyee Koo)
01 April 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 09 Jul 2022 ten:22PM)
Homemaker Rukmani M, 65, remembers lingering in the kitchen every bit a child, watching her mother melt up delicious dishes.
Only she was never allowed to endeavour her hand at any of the kitchen tasks, or do whatever of the cooking herself.
"My female parent was afraid that hot oil would splash on me and leave scars, which would affect my chances of getting married," she recalled with a chuckle.
READ: A fellow learns his begetter'southward 'magic': The story of Yishun'south Indian spice store
An extended stay at her aunt's house, nevertheless, changed everything. In that location, she was encouraged to develop her interest in cooking nether her aunt's guidance.
Rukmani recreated the dishes she had watched her mother cook, including a dish of meatballs. Her aunt sent the meatball recipe in to a local radio station on her behalf, and it won her S$fifty, a set of melamine cookware and a piddling recipe book, which she treasures to this day.
1 of the dishes she observed her mother making was an ikan bilis curry, which she believes was passed down from her grandmother.
Over the years, she has made it her ain, perfecting the recipe and then that it's now a business firm favourite in her own family. Her two grown sons have fond memories of enjoying information technology as children; back so, it was a frequent dish on the table. "Ikan bilis is really skillful for bone development," she said.
Now that her sons take moved out and have their own families, "I cook this for my husband and myself to consume with chapati".
Her husband, 69-year-quondam KT Velu, quipped, "She has this obsession with cooking. She loves to melt. I didn't know about it (when I first met her) but information technology was a bonus after marriage!"
Ikan bilis or dried anchovies are commonly supporting ingredients, never the star of a dish.
Simply with this back-scratch, prepared in the Southward Indian tradition, the tiny, humble fish, affordable and abundant here in Singapore, are transformed into a flavourful effeminateness that'southward uniquely local.
Showtime, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds are fried in oil; then, onion, garlic and back-scratch leaves go into the pot.
Tomatoes and potatoes are added, forth with tamarind water, curry powder and a dash of turmeric powder; and finally the ikan bilis.
After giving the curry a good eddy, Rukmani adds boiled eggs, which are her favourite.
The dish has its origins in the fish curries of southern India, but Rukmani's rendition is thicker and less watery. It has bright, tangy notes thanks to the tomatoes and tamarind h2o, an acerbity that pairs perfectly with the ikan bilis and its fishy, umami flavour.
While Malays and Chinese add coconut milk to their curries, an Indian curry doesn't contain any coconut, Velu explained. Coconut milk tends to lend a sweeter gustatory modality, Rukmani said.
This delicious ikan bilis curry, with its vivid tang, certainly doesn't need that – or anything else, for that matter.
Rukmani'south son would agree. She divulged, "My son likes Indian curry and he told me not to do whatsoever other curries!"
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/ethnic-curries-singapore-homemade-ikan-bilis-curry-250101
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