Sraavu varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)

I feel somebody might feel bizarre when I post this recipe as I don’t really know many people eating shark. These are not the giant man eater shark that Im talking about. These are edible baby sharks. If you think this dish is bizarre, please feel free to comment. And let me know if you had any bizarre dishes before as well….like a hundred days old egg, a fertilized egg, (these are had in China), or even a stuffed camel?! I read from a food article that stuffed camels are found in the Middle Eastern countries, but I don’t really know how far this is true. May be it is a myth. And the way they described stuffing the camel was even strange. The camel is stuffed with a large sheep or goat and rice along with dried nuts and fruits. The sheep itself will be stuffed again with around 20 chicken and rice, nuts and spices. And not to finish there, the chicken itself is stuffed with a huge number of boiled eggs and rice!!!!And this serves a mob of 100 people it seems!!! I don’t how the camel is going to be cooked though, and they wont fit the oven or any vessel.:). So may be it is a fairy tale.
The only part that I hate in making this dish is the smell of the fish that comes out while boiling. Keep the kitchen well ventilated and open the windows. Else you will have a fish smeling house!

Sraavu varuthathu (Crushed Shark in spicy coconut masala)
serves 4

Ingredients :
300-400 gms Shark or 1 ½ cups of crumbles shark..
1 ½ cup onion
2 tbs kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbs Coriander powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 green chillies
½ cup freshly grated coconut
15 curry leaves
5 tbs coconut oil
salt as required.

Preparation:


1. Boil shark in plenty of water for about 15-20 minutes until it is cooked.
2. Drain off the water and wash the fish in cold water. Peel off the skin and crumble the fish using hand. (I had 1 ½ cup of shark crumble. Take equal amount of onion as shark crumbles.)
3. Heat a frying pan and add oil. To this, add chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves and fish and cook it covered until onions go soft and transparent.

4. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well and sauté for around 2 minutes until the raw smell of the spices goes off.
5. Add in the grated coconut and mix well and cook it covered for about 5 more minutes.

It goes very well with rice, rice pan cakes etc.