Andhra Fish Curry is a spicy red fish curry which is spicy and tangy. Chepala pulusu made using tomatoes, spices and tamarind which pair well with hot rice.
Andhra Fish Curry
Andhra Fish Curry with step by step pictures. Popular Andhra recipe is made with fish called as chepala pulusu. This is my go to fish curry whenever I don't want to use coconut in my fish curry.
I have been looking for a spicy, tangy, red fish curry recipe with no coconut. Finally I got one, this is an andhra recipe, it uses lots of tamarind and lets not miss lots of chilli powder. This fiery fish curry is perfect with hot rice.
Anchovies Fish Curry
Sardine Fish Curry
Chettinad Fish Curry
Malabar Fish Curry
Mackerel Fish Curry
Many More..
How to Make Andhra Fish Curry
- Fish - use white fleshed fish for more taste.
- Chilli powder - I like to use kashmiri chilli powder which gives thickness to the curry without the spice.
- Oil - Use gingelly oil for best taste.
- Tamarind & Salt - adjust both as per your taste and requirement.
Pro Tips
I used kashmiri chilli powder in this recipe, it gave me a rich colour with medium spiciness. But if you want it to be super spicy, you can use half kashmiri and half regular chilli powder.
- Kashmiri chilli powder gives the vibrant red colour. if you are using normal chilli powder use less.
- Don't add too much water, since the curry has no coconut.
- The spices added in the curry form the thickness for the gravy.
- You can use any white fleshed fish.
- don't reduce the tamarind and oil in this, you need that to balance all the spiciness. Also this gravy takes quite a bit of salt. So taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Allow the curry to sit for a couple of hours before eating so the flavors meld together, this curry taste even better the next day when reheated
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📖 Recipe

Andhra Fish Pulusu | Chepala Pulusu
Ingredients
- 300 grams Fish
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- ¼ tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida
- Curry leaves
- 1 large Tomatoes chopped finely
- 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 3 tbsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 lemon size Tamarind
- 2 cups Water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Take tamarind in a bowl, add in 1 cup of water. Let it sit for 10 mins. Squeeze and strain it, add more water to extract more tamarind juice.
- Heat oil in a kadai. Add in mustard, cumin, fenugreek, asafoetida and curry leaves. Saute this for a min.
- Add in tomatoes and salt. Cook till it turns mushy.
- Add in the spice powders and mix well. Saute this for a min.
- Add in fish and toss well in the masala.
- Add in water and tamarind and curry leaves. Mix well. Bring it to boil.
- Cover and simmer for 15 mins till the curry is thick.
- Turn off the heat and let the gravy sit covered for 2 hours.
- Serve.
Video
Notes
- Kashmiri chilli powder gives the vibrant red colour. if you are using normal chilli powder use less.
- Don't add too much water, since the curry has no coconut.
- The spices added in the curry form the thickness for the gravy.
- You can use any white fleshed fish.
Andhra Fish Curry Step by Step
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2)Heat oil in a pan..You need quite a bit of oil for this recipe
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3)crackle in some mustard, cumin and fenugreek seeds
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4)add a dash of asafoetida
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5)add in some chopped tomatoes
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6)add little salt
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7)saute well
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8)add in turmeric and coriander powder
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9)add in chilli powder..I used kashmiri chilli powder
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9)saute them for few sec
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10)look at the deep red colour it is because of the kashmiri chilli powder
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11)add in cut cleaned fish pieces,,i used head and all
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12)toss well in the red masala
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13)pour in tamarind water, you need lots of them
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14)mix well
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15)add little more water if needed
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16)throw in some curry leaves
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16)bring it to boil
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17)cover and simmer for 15 mins
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18)Now the fish curry is done..take it off the heat and let it sit for 2 hours
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19)this is how it looks after 2 hours
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20)Enjoy this spicy fish curry with hot rice
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Anonymous
Wow......... i love fish kulambu so so much. U did a great job. Love the clicks.. ..soon gonna try..!!!!!!!!!
Anonymous
Can you please tell me what kind of fish (the name of the fish) you used? I have never cooked or bought fish before and would like to try this recipe..
Aarthi
@Anonymousit is a kind of paarai fish
Anonymous
Loved the recipe ,, can u tell me appropriately how much is tamarind by wt,, 1 lemon means can v take it as 20gms.
Aarthi
@Anonymousyes it will be around 20 grams..but you can taste adn add more
plasterer bristol
This sounds lovely, will be giving this a try, thanks for sharing.
Simon
Anonymous
I tried your recipe followed exactly your steps. It came out very well. Excellent taste. In addition to this I added few pieces of mango. Awesome thanks
Barbara Centorami
This looks over-the-top delicious!!
Anonymous
Thanks for the recipe, but is it really one tomato as said in text. The pictures show lot of tomatoes. Please let me know.
Nantha Seenan
Awesome receipe tried it came out well 🙂 great going.
Julia Roberts
Very nice. I like this dish. Thanks for sharing.
vegetarian restaurant
Sowmya c
I tried this recipe today,it came out very nice n tasty too, it's more lik tangy taste... I loved it... Thank u arti ji for this tasty recipe
Sowmya c
I tried this recipe today,it came out very nice n tasty too, it's more lik tangy taste... I loved it... Thank u arti ji for this tasty recipe
jaz jay
Asafoetida - is there another more common name? What form can we find this in? Powder, paste, seeds, liquid? Is it only available in Indian Shop? Would you please post a photo of it plus what packaging looks like? Thanks.
Anlet Prince - Annslittlecorner
A real treat to the eyes nice reddish colour is tempting me....
Anonymous
is it a must to let is sit for 2 hours before eating?
Regina
I made this with pomfret today and it was delicious. Thank you!
Sandhya
Hi, I tried the same curry with Malabar travelly fish today.. I did some modifications, namely I added onions and I used more tomatoes but no tamarind. Came out really well.. Thank u so much
Tharanimahesh
Hi mam...this Sunday I prepared this fish curry.. really it came out very well,my hubby Loved it thanks for sharing
Keya Chatterjee
Very well dem started. Will definitely try. Great job.
Puja
I would love to know Belam pulusu ,Belam means jaggery in Telugu.. Telangana style please tell me how to make Belam pulusu