Pedvya upkari/ Kerala style spicy sardines

one of my favorite childhood memories are my mother's kerala style fish curries,cooked over the little cast iron chatti/kadai or in earthen pots .My most vivid memory of them was the time I was recovering from chicken fox ,hadn't eaten anything for 2 weeks, and was allowed for the first time to relish this spicy sardine dish along with Pej/kanji ( boiled rice with starch ). I can still smell them now. There was nothing I wanted more in the world at that moment than those red hot curried sardines.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients

• 1/2 kg Medium sized sardines
• 10 Red chillies
• 1tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1/4tsp Methi/ Fenugreek
• 1tsp Pepper corns
• 7-8 Garlic cloves
• 10-15 curry leaves
• 2 Marble sized ball of tamarind
• 1/4tsp Mustard
• 1tbsp Coconut oil
• 1/4tsp Turmeric powder

Cooking Directions

1. Wash and clean sardines,apply salt and turmeric powder and keep aside.
2. Roast Red chillies,coriander seeds and garlic in tsp of coconut oil,till it changes to light brown and transfer it to a plate.
3. In the same pan roast Pepper corns, methi and mustard till it crackles.
4. First grind roasted chillies ,coriander and garlic along with tamarind to smooth paste with 1 cup of water.
5. In that add roasted Pepper,methi and mustard and grind coarse paste adding 1/2 cup of water.
6. Heat remaining oil in a kadai,add ground masala and bring it to boil.
7. Now drop sardines,curry leaves and little salt ( do check the seasoning as we have used salt while marinating) and boil till the masala is dry .
8. Serve hot with Red boiled rice for extra punch