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Chepala Pulusu Recipe (Nellore Fish Pulusu)

Nellore Chepala Pulusu is a popular Andhra recipe made with onions, tomatoes, pulusu masala, fish which is cooked in a fiery tamarind sauce. The word 'chepala' means 'fish' and 'pulusu' means 'tamarind based gravy'. This is my go-to fish curry whenever I feel like having something spicy. This Fish pulusu is spicy and tangy red fish curry which goes well with steamed rice or ragi mudde.
3.50 from 2 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 241kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup Gingelly oil

For Marinating Fish

  • 300 grams Fish
  • 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 1 tsp Chilli Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt

For Pulusu Podi (Powder)

  • 1 tbsp Coriander Seeds
  • 1 tsp Cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • ¼ tsp Fenugreek Seeds
  • 2 Dry Red Chillies
  • ¼ cup Desiccated Coconut kopra | dry coconut

For Fish Pulusu (Chepala Pulusu) Tempering

  • 1 piece Cinnamon
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 3 Green Cardamom
  • 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • ¼ tsp Fenugreek Seeds
  • 1 Dry Red Chilli
  • 3 sprigs Curry leaves

For Sauteing & Grinding

  • 1 large Onion sliced thinly
  • 1 large Tomatoes chopped
  • 6 cloves Garlic peeled
  • 2 inch Ginger peeled and sliced

For Pulusu Gravy

  • 2 tbsp Chilli Powder
  • 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
  • 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 2 Green Chillies slit
  • 1 lemon size Tamarind
  • 1 litre Water
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 tbsp Coriander Leaves

Instructions

Make Pulusu Podi

  • Start by making pulusu podi. Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, whole black pepper, dry red chillies and fenugreek seeds. Roast this in a dry pan with no oil and also make sure the heat is very low. Once the spices are well toasted, it will be aromatic. Add in dry coconut | desiccated coconut or kopra. Roast coconut with the spices till golden brown in colour. Let the roasted spices and coconut cool completely, take this mix in a blender and powder till fine. Once powdered, set aside till needed.

Marinating & Frying Fish

  • Take any firm fleshed cleaned fish in a bowl. Add in turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Mix well and leave to marinate for 10 minutes if needed. But I used it immediately. Heat gingelly oil in a kadai. You need quite a bit of oil. I use this same oil for making the fish pulusu. Drop fish in and fry for 1 to 2 minutes till lightly seared. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove the fried fish in a bowl, don't need to fry the fish till crispy. Just to sear the flavours is enough.

Grinding Onions & Tomatoes

  • Now remove most of the oil from the kadai, keep 3 tbsp of oil in the pan for sauteing onions. Once the oil is hot, add in sliced onions, peeled whole garlic cloves. Add in peeled sliced ginger. Saute this for 1 to 2 minutes till lightly golden. Instead of ginger and garlic you can use 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste. Add in tomatoes and saute for 2 more minutes till the tomatoes soften a little. Switch off the flame and let it cool down a bit before grinding. Take the onion and tomato mix in the blender and grind into a smooth puree. Don't add water when grinding.

Tempering Spices

  • Now in the same pan, add the leftover fried oil. Add in the tempering whole spices one by one. Add in cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom pods. Add in fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies (broken into small pieces) and a handful of curry leaves in the same oil. Saute the whole spices for 1 minute.

Making Fish Pulusu

  • Once the whole spices is tempered. Add in the onion tomato masala which we ground into the oil. You can add some water to the blender and to remove all the onion paste from the blender jar. Don't use too much water, use less than ¼ cup. Add in green chillies which is slit in half. Saute the onion and tomatoes for 4 to 5minutes till oil separates from the mixture.
  • Add in spice powders. I am using chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Stir fry the spices with the onion masala for 2 minutes till the raw smell leaves.
  • Add in tamarind extract and water. Adjust the consistency accordingly. I used a total of 1 litre of liquid. Now mix everything together. Taste the sauce and adjust tamarind and salt to your liking. Now bring this to a full boil, cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes till a layer of oil floats on top.

Finishing Fish Pulusu

  • Add in the fried fish back into the gravy and cook covered on low medium heat for 5 more minutes until the fish is cooked completely and a layer of oil floats on top.
  • This is how you know your fish pulusu is ready. Once oil floats on top, then every spices and masala added in the curry is cooked completely. Finally add in the pulusu podi and stir well. Cook again on low heat for 5 more minutes.
  • Finally garnish with coriander leaves and mix. Serve with white steamed rice or ragi mudde.

Video

Notes

  • Kashmiri chilli powder gives the vibrant red colour. if you are using normal chilli powder use less.
  • The spices added in the curry form the thickness for the gravy.
  • You can use any white fleshed fish. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1servings | Calories: 241kcal | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g
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