Butayi Puli-Munchi (Hot-Tangy Sardine)

Winter is setting in Pune. As the cold winds blew my taste bud yearned for some thing hot and tangy. Usually when I crave for something hot and tangy, BKV and I go to Kalyan Bhel Near Law College Road Pune and feast on chats. But today I thought I would cook my all time favorite Butayi (Sardine) Puli-Munchi (Tamrind-hot red Chillies). Here's how I prepared it…



The ingredients…

10-12 Sardines. Generally for this curry whole sardines of small size are used. The ones I got were really big, so I cut them into two.
A: 10-12 Red Chilies (preferably Bydagi chillies), 1.5tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp Jeera, ¼ tsp methi seeds, 1tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds (a must), a pinch of turmeric.
B: One big onion sliced, 4-5 flakes of garlic, 1.5 inch of ginger
C: Lemon sized tamarind soaked in water
D: 2 tsp oil, Curry Leaves, Salt to taste

Method of Preparation…

Dry roast all ingredients in A. Roast the ingredients in B with a little oil. Now grind A, B and C to a fine paste. Let the paste be thick and not too watery. Take a vessel, I usually use earthen pot to make this curry. It gives it a distinct flavour. Put two spoons of oil. When the oil heats, put few sprigs of curry leaves. Then add the ground masala and bring it to boil. Now add salt. Now add the fish to this boiling masala. Cook for 10 mins. Tastes superb with hot rice.