Mass Curry

Mass dry fish (i didn't knew it is the tuna fish until i came to know from my dearest friend Nuzha Basheer, Thank You dear), it is very common in my city, Calicut, malabar region of Kerala. And Mass curry is quite prevalent in many households which is served for breakfast accompanied with nice pathiri. And both of them together is splendid. Might be you are thinking breakfast and  dry fish.. I know many of us are reluctant even to the smell of dry fish. But this one called Mass is not having that strong smell and  believe me, this gravy you cannot even guess it is made of dry fish, and tastes awesome.

The Mass dry fish is a hard one like a piece of rock (scroll down to see the picture of one big piece of mass ), can be soaked in water for 2 to 3 hours to make it a bit soft and then coarsely grind to tiny bites using a mortar & pestle or just a single pulse in the grinder. This mass bites are then cooked with onion and little spices and then combined with grinded coconut mix and this gravy with nice pathiri is an awesome combo, or i should say more than that. The Mass dry fish is also used to make chammandhis, burjis etc which goes well with plain rice.

Mass Curry
Preparation Time : 2 hours (Including soaking)
Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Ingredients:-
For gravy:-
Mass dry fish - finger size piece
Onion - 1 small or half of a big one.
Tomato - 1/4 part of a full tomato
Curry leaves
Water - 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Chili Powder - 1/2 of 1/4 tsp, ie is 1/8 tsp
Salt
Oil
For grinding:-
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green Chilies - 2
Shallots - 2


Method:-

1. Wash and soak mass dry fish in water for 2 hours and grind then into tiny bites using a mortar & pestle or just a single pulse in the mixer grinder. 

2. In a pan, add oil, add sliced onions, saute till translucent, add tomatoes and curry leaves. Combine well.

3. When tomatoes are mashed up well, add turmeric powder and chili powder, mix well and add the tiny mass pieces. 

4. Add 1/2 cup of water and adjust salt (Mass already has salt content, so be careful while adding salt). Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Mean while in a grinder, add coconut and water, water should be added in the same level of coconut. Grind well. Add green chilies and shallots and grind one more time and done.

6. Add this coconut mix to the mass mix and combine well. Once started boiling turn off the flame. Add some more curry leaves. Done!

Notes:-
1. If you are going to cook the gravy for breakfast, better soak and grind the mass on the day before itself.
2. Or you can grind the mass in large quantity, dry it and then refrigerate it in air tight container .