Fish ambulthiyal is one of my favorite Sri Lankan recipes. 'Ambul' means sour in Sinhalese. Back then when there was no electricity, ambulthiyal was one way to keep fish for several days without refrigeration. The main spice used in the recipe is dried goraka (Garcinia gummy-gutta), also known as brindleberry or Malabar tamarind. You can buy goraka online.
Ingredients:
750 g Tuna (or any firm fish)
8-10 pieces of dried goraka
1 TBS peppercorn
salt
Method:
Boil goraka in water (about a cup) until softens. Place the softened goraka pieces in a vegetable chopper and add peppercorns and a splash of water, and process until it's a smooth paste. I used a stone mortar and a pestle. Add salt to the paste and mix well.
Cut fish into cubes (about 1 1/2 inch), and coat fish in the paste. Place several sprigs of curry leaves in the bottom of a pot, then the fish and spice paste, and add more curry leaves on the top. I used a clay pot, as that's what my mom does.
Cover and cook in low heat until fish is cooked and any liquid is absorbed.
It always tastes better the next day! 🐟
Yay! You made it! Looks good! I'm sure it tastes good, too! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteIt was really good Bless, especially the next day. I froze some, so I can have it later. All that tuna was too expensive to finish in a week. 😁
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