Bangude Puli Munchi ~ Mangalorean Bunt Style Fish in a Hot & Sour Gravy

A super simple meal at my home generally revolves around seafood. It had been ages since I ate this traditional Mangalorean Bunt style fish curry that is fiery and delicious – it pairs up so well with rice and a vegetable on the side. I decided to cook it up last week as I had some last minute shopping to do for a wedding in the family and wanted a simple meal. Since we love eating fish, especially mackerels we stock up on it regularly. We either fry it up or cook it in a curry with lots of gravy to drown the rice. This is one dish that I had not tried so far and I decided to go ahead with it.

In Mangalore’s local language Tulu, ‘Puli’ means ‘tamarind’ or ‘sour’ and Munchi (pronounced as ‘moonchi’) means ‘chilli’ so essentially it is a hot and sour fish curry made by the Bunt community which has also given us great recipes like the bangude ghassi, kori rotti and kori aajadina (sukka) amongst others. This curry I would say is similar to the ‘amshi thikshi’ that we Catholics prepare in Mangalore and the ‘ambot tik’ dished out by the Goans. The hot and sour flavours of this curry complement the kinds of fish that don’t have a mild flavour in nature – fish such as mackerel, sardines, shark etc are suitable for this curry.

The best time to eat this dish is when you are not in a hurry. How else will you enjoy it? 🙂

Bangude Puli Munchi
Prep time: 15 mins (does not incl time taken to clean fish) | Cook time: 10 mins | Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 kg mackerels/bangda/ bangude (about 4-5 medium sized ones)
salt to taste
1 sprig curry leaves for seasoning
2 teaspoons oil for seasoning

For the masala:

10 long dry red chillies (deseeded if you wish) – Use Byadge chillies for best results
1-1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
4-5 peppercorns
1/8th teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 small green chilli (deseeded if you wish)
1 inch ginger
3 flakes of garlic
two marble sized balls of tamarind or 2 teaspoons of tamarind paste
1 small-medium onion

Method:
1. Clean the mackerels if not done already. Wash with water, salt and turmeric, refresh in a couple of changes of water and keep on a colander to drain off excess water. Depending on the size of the fish you can either leave them whole or cut them into 2-3 pieces.
2. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under ‘For the masala‘ to a fine paste. Transfer the masala into a wide based pan/kadhai, rinse the mixer grinder jar with some water (about 1/4 cup) and add this water also to the masala. Let the gravy be of medium thickness, so add another 1/4 cup of water or lesser to adjust the consistency.
3. Bring the gravy to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the fish pieces and salt to taste and lightly shake the pan (swirl it around) so that all the pieces are covered with the gravy. Cover the pan and let the fish cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat.
4. In a smaller pan meant for seasoning, heat the oil and toss in the curry leaves. Let them sizzle for a few seconds before adding this tempering to the fish curry.
5. Serve hot with rice and a vegetable saute.

Comments

Laura Lima says
September 1, 2015 at 11:15 am

Dear Shireen, thanks for the lovely Puli Munchi recipe. It was awesome and super delcious. God Bless U Always!!!

Shireen Sequeira says
October 6, 2015 at 3:26 am

@ Laura: Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad that you enjoyed it!

Geeta Naik says
October 16, 2015 at 1:56 am

Instead of pepper corns use trifala which gives good fragrance to the bangude curry. Add 1/4 Tspoon of Rye too while grinding masala into paste…

Shireen Sequeira says
November 10, 2015 at 4:40 am

@ Geeta Naik: Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely add it to this curry the next time I make it 🙂

Preethi says
December 20, 2015 at 3:37 pm

is the masala without fry

naveen kumar Ku says
January 5, 2016 at 9:05 pm

thanks for the lovely Puli Munchi recipe

Shireen says
January 23, 2016 at 9:13 am

@ Preethi: Yes the masala is not fried..it is boiled and the fish added directly to it

prathith shetty says
July 11, 2016 at 4:05 am

Thanks for clearing some doubts. I made on my own this recipe which turned toosour due to excess turmeric.now that I am guided,i will cook up properly next time.by the way,is that triphala churns from the druggist?

Shireen says
August 1, 2016 at 12:43 pm

@ Prathith Shetty: No, you need to use fresh triphala if you can find it…not the chooran which is a digestive tablet. Use the triphala which you may get in grocery or ayurvedic shops

julita rosina fernandez says
October 20, 2016 at 4:35 am

Wats dat triphala ???n when to put dat ..is it instead tamarind

Shireen says
January 3, 2017 at 6:23 am

@ Julita: Triphala is a spice that looks like peppercorn and has a strong aroma. It is used in Northern Karnataka Coastal cuisine (karwar upto Goa). Also called as Teppal and sichuan pepper. It is not instead of tamarind. It is a spice that gives a great flavour and aroma to the dish

Roopa says
August 28, 2017 at 10:48 am

Shireen dear, your Bangude Pulimunchi was too good. Just like my moms recipe. I tried it and everyone in my family relished it. Hats off to you Shireen Keep it up …..

- Shireen Sequeira says
  September 1, 2017 at 11:39 am
  
  Thanks for the feedback Roopa! So glad you enjoyed the puli munchi 🙂
  
Roopa says
August 28, 2017 at 11:57 am

Hello Shireen, please contact me on my email I’d. Also It would be great if you could start your video cookery channel. At least we could have a glimpse of you. What say Shireen dear ……

- Shireen Sequeira says
  September 1, 2017 at 11:38 am
  
  Hi Roopa,
  
  I have sent you an email, I hope you have received it! Thanks so much for your appreciation! I do have a Youtube channel but you can only see my hands in it 🙂 Pls scroll down my home page and you will see my videos!
  
Andrea says
March 11, 2019 at 8:02 pm

Hi Shireen,

Tried the bangde pulimunchi recipe today. It was finger lickin good. Can’t thank you enough for this lovely recipe and many more!

- Shireen Sequeira says
  March 13, 2019 at 12:45 pm
  
  Hi Andrea,
  
  I am so glad you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for getting back to me with your feedback!!

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