Spicy Nellore Chepala Pulusu – Andhra Fish Curry
Nellore Chepala Pulusu. Tangy Andhra Style Telugu Fish curry in tamarind Sauce.
Nellore Chepala Pulusu – Andhra Style Telugu Fish Curry – I first saw about this recipe on a cooking show run by Chef Venkatesh Bhat. I love regional recipes a lot. They can’t be beat any day. On top of that, the Chef mentioned that he learned the Nellore Chepala Pulusu recipe at the farm house of the legendary actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. The chef said that he loved this Nellore Chepala Pulusu fish curry. That was good enough to get me cooking. I have made it several times now and we love this Nellore Chepala Pulusu recipe at home too. Nellore Chepala Pulusu is tangy, spicy and finger licking good. The original Nellore Chepala Pulusu recipe did not have pepper and coriander but a lot of cookbooks mention it. I have made it both ways and I think the addition of pepper adds a little earthiness to the dish. Here is my adapted version of Nellore Chepala Pulusu – ANR Style.
Heat 6-8 tablespoons of Gingely (sesame) Oil in a pan. Be generous with the oil. Add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves. Lots of curry leaves. I used about 5 sprigs. Fry until the curry leaves are crisp.
Add in the finely minced garlic, chopped green chillies and finely chopped shallots (small onions). Add green chillies according to your taste. Fry till they are lightly brown. The oil will bubble up if you are using gingely oil. Its fine.
Soak a big lemon size tamarind in 2 cups of water. Let it soak for 20 minutes. Make a pulp by squeezing the tamarind well. Strain the pulp to get rid of the seeds. Set aside.
Puree 6 tomatoes in a blender. Set aside.
Add in the tomato puree and the tamarind pulp. Add in a teaspoon of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons of red chilli powder and 3 teaspoons of coriander powder (dhania). The ratio being 1:2:3. Add in the salt. Add 2 more cups of water.
Simmer the gravy for 30 minutes covered on a low flame stirring every 5 minutes once. After 30 minutes the oil would start to float on top. That is a sure sign that the gravy has been cooked.
Add in the fish pieces and let it cook for 7-8 minutes on low flame. Fresh water fish works well for this recipe.
When the fish is cooking, lets make a spice powder for the curry. Heat a heavy pan and dry roast fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and black pepper on a low flame for 5 minutes. Low flame is key. Do not rush. Dry roast until everything starts to pop and starts to brown. Remove from heat and cool on a plate. If you are doing more than this quantity, dry roast everything separately.
Once the mixture is cooled, grind to a very fine powder.
Add the powder to the pan. Simmer for a minute. Remove Nellore Chepala Pulusu off heat and serve hot.
Serve Nellore Chepala Pulusu with hot rice. Left overs can be stored in the refrigerator and tastes heavenly the next day.
Here is a printable recipe for Nellore Chepala Pulusu.
- 6 tablespoon gingely (sesame) oil
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 5 sprigs curry leaves
- 8 cloves minced garlic
- 4 green chillies
- 15-20 shallots (small onions)
- Big lemon size tamarind
- 6 very ripe tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
- 3 teaspoons coriander powder (dhania)
- 1.5 teaspoon salt
- 500 grams fresh water fish with bones
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Heat 6-8 tablespoons of Gingely (sesame) Oil in a pan. Be generous with the oil. Add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves. Lots of curry leaves. I used about 5 sprigs. Fry until the curry leaves are crisp.
- Add in the finely minced garlic, chopped green chillies and finely chopped shallots (small onions). Add green chillies according to your taste. Fry till they are lightly brown. The oil will bubble up if you are using gingely oil. Its fine.
- Soak a big lemon size tamarind in 2 cups of water. Let it soak for 20 minutes. Make a pulp by squeezing the tamarind well. Strain the pulp to get rid of the seeds. Set aside.
- Puree 6 tomatoes in a blender. Set aside.
- Add in the tomato puree and the tamarind pulp. Add in a teaspoon of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoons of red chilli powder and 3 teaspoons of coriander powder (dhania). The ratio being 1:2:3. Add in the salt. Add 2 more cups of water.
- Simmer the gravy for 30 minutes covered on a low flame stirring every 5 minutes once. After 30 minutes the oil would start to float on top. That is a sure sign that the gravy has been cooked.
- Add in the fish pieces and let it cook for 7-8 minutes on low flame. Fresh water fish works well for this recipe.
- When the fish is cooking, lets make a spice powder for the curry. Heat a heavy pan and dry roast fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and black pepper on a low flame for 5 minutes. Low flame is key. Do not rush. Dry roast until everything starts to pop and starts to brown. Remove from heat and cool on a plate. Once the mixture is cooled, grind to a very fine powder.
- Add the powder to the pan. Simmer for a minute. Remove off heat and serve hot with rice.
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it always turns out great! My mother-in-law is from Nellore and makes good fish pulusu but everybody at home say this is even better. Thank you so very much for sharing this!!!
Thank you very much!
Can we make it with tuna fish
came out really well.
When you are already adding coriander powder initially , there is no need to add again the coriander second time.
This will make curry bitter .
Can you please tell me the weight of the tomatoes in this recipe?
Can i make it with salmon?
Sure you can.
I followed the exact procedure…It was awesome..My friends loved it..thaNks ..
Thank you!
Hi Suguna Madam,
Tried this Fish curry for the 1st time. Came out really really well. I have never eaten this Chepala pulusu, but thanks to you Madam, thoroughly enjoyed this spicy and awesome recipe here at Melbourne….Thanks once again Suguna Madam.
Thank you!
Made your recipe today with some minor variations; it was very tasty!
– used light olive oil
– used very little tamarind to lower the sourness
– reduced the amount of pepper and chilies so the that the kids could eat as well
Thanks Kannamma!
Hi. Great recipe. Can I make it with prawns instead of fish??
Sure Madhu. You can try!
good recipe suguna garu can i try this from appolo fish
Hi Virginia,
Any firm fish will work.
Thanks.
Thank you for the great dish.
Thank you!
Thanks suguna Garu
Pl want to know chicken polish recipe..
Very yummy recipe, everyone in my house ate this recipe. I have got many complements, thank u soon much
Thank you Divya.
I tried this recipe last night with tuna. For me there were two firsts here- this was the first time I made tuna and the first time I used gingelly oil for fish. Have always made fish using either mustard oil or coconut oil. But my mother and I simply loved this…was too sour for my husband’s taste. Am going to repeat this with sardines soon. Do visit my place too: http://everydayandnotsoeveryday.blogspot.in/
Thank you Absa.
Awesome recipe. I am originally from Nellore but was never able to cook a good Fish Pulusu. This recipe is perfect and evokes my childhood memories.
Thank you Satish!
I made this curry today and it was amazing. it was spicy, runny nose yet we couldn’t stop eating.
Out of curiosity… Can we use this curry for chicken instead of fish?
never tried with chicken.
Hello Kannamma,
Could you please clarify a few things? Can the shallots (small onions) be replaced by regular onions or will that alter the taste too much? Also, is there no ginger in this?
Thanks so much again for posting these marvelous and accessible recipes 🙂
Sure you can use onions. Shallots have a very nice taste and flavour though.
This was excellent. I think I may have used too many tomatoes. Could you specify a cup size or weight? I think our tomatoes in the USA can be large.
Yes. Tomatoes and onions are double the size in the USA. After blending the tomatoes, it should be about 1.5 cup
I have got pangush fish….. can I try the recipe?
You mean basa? Pangasius?? I feel that basa fish is tasteless. I would avoid basa fish.
I really like fish curry and tried numerous ways by some surfing in net. But i got best taste with this recipe only
Thank you kannama garu
Thank you!
It is yummy 🙂
Thank you Rekha.
Haiyooo akka tons n tons of love to u ka… tried fish curry todai… its semma yummy o yummy ka esp the spicy powder wid coriander n pepper semma ka. Your a five star chef ka Ella recipes um turns out five star level.. usually I wont read top description ka ana Ungaloda description romba azhagha iruku ka n very informative too. Daily am visiting your blog ka. Thanks s lott ka.
With love,
Lalitha
Thank you so much Lalitha.
We have prepared as per the recipe, it was delicious. i am very much thankful for bringing such delicious dishes to this platform.
Thank you so much.
Tried for the first time a fish receipe.. It came out very tasty..thank u so much..learned how to prepare fish for my family.
Thats so nice San. Really glad that you liked it!
Would I be using equal proportions of all ingredients for the below masala? I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I am sure this is a 5 star recipe.
“When the fish is cooking, lets make a spice powder for the curry. Heat a heavy pan and dry roast fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds and black pepper on a low flame for 5 minutes. Low flame is key. Do not rush. Dry roast until everything starts to pop and starts to brown. Remove from heat and cool on a plate. Once the mixture is cooled, grind to a very fine powder.”
These are the measurements. They are given in the ingredients section at the bottom. Please check.
For the Spice Powder
½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper
Nice recipe
Nandri solla unnaku varthai illai ennaku…
?
Wonderful recipie
It came out so well
Mouth watering recipie
??
Thank you so much Ramya.?
Awesome
i made it
its very tasty
Thank you Tribhuvan Singh.
Thank you for excellent recipe ..i tried so many times …super…
Thank you very much!
Hi dear. I tried your recipe so many times. It came out perfectly. Once I even added coconut milk too because I needed curry to serve more than ten people. Whenever I think of fish curry, I go for this recipe. Thanks for Sharing. Without you, I couldn’t have tasted it. Thanks a lot
That’s so nice. Coconut milk should have made the curry even rich. I should try that myself.
I tried this recipe it tasted little sour what may be the reason??
You can reduce the tamarind if you don’t like the sourness.
I love only fish fry bcoz i dont know how to make fish curry but now when i tried this recipe i regret why i din try it before. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe..
Thank you!
Thank you for the excellent rescipe along with pics. I tried this dish and my whole house filled with great smell. Thanks once again madam.
Thank you so much Sandeep Rajini.
I tried this recipe and got addicted to it .. excellent recipe sugunakka ?
Greetings,
Thank you for this excellent recipe, and for the pictures which enhance the directions.
A few questions:
1. In the last step, you mention that cumin, pepper etc. need to be “dry roasted”, so do we really need the oil? (preceding sentence).
2. Is it enough to let the dry roast powder simmer for just a minute?
3. What fish do you recommend? I did notice you said “fresh farm fish” but does this taste better with anything particular like tilapia or salmon?
Thank you in advance for the clarifications.
Hi Raghuveer, thanks for letting me know. There is no oil in the dry roasting. My mistake. Have updated.
Yes. a simmer is enough.
Salmon will work perfectly fine. Tilapia too! The curry will be more tasty with fish still with bones. filet works fine but the bones impart a lot of flavor.
Thank You!
Forgot to add salt I think
oh! how did that happen? Try adding at the end!
Really great help for people like me. Am really cooking good by watching your info on recipes. Thanks a lot.
Thank you so much.
taste is awesome and its my first time cooking of fish and came very well thank u sooo much…i mean it:)
Thank you Manasa.
Hi
This is the first time I am trying a recipe from Ur blog..that too nellore chepala pulusu…it came very well..my dad liked a lot…thank u so much for the recipe..
Thank you!
SPICY NELLORE CHEPALA PULUSU – ANDHRA FISH CURRY gets unanimous five star rating from all. This reminds me of the song from “Mullum malarum “- …..Nethu vechha meen Kuzambhu enna Izukhudhaiya……..
Thank you so much Kandaswamy!
Kallakitenga…. kannamma. This is my third item from your blog.
1) Murugal Dosai (Five star rating from family)
2) Chicken Chintamani (Five star rating especially from daughter)
3) Andhra fish curry … nallaa vandhurukku (waiting for rating)
And the list is going to continue….
Aww…thats so cute. Thank you so much Kandaswamy. Your comment really means a lot to me.
Hi,
I tried your recipe today and it came out very very good. Thanks.
CP
Thanks for the Recipe, tried it today and tasted very good.
Thank you Suja!
Hi dear your recipe was very tasty i tried fish pulusu for first time by seeing your recipe and it turned out very yummy thank u so much………
Thank You Haripriya
This is an excellent recipe.I make this every week and I can’t believe I can make very good fish curry.Thank you so much Kannamma.
Thanks Raji. Really glad that you like it!
Which fish is it?
Any fresh water fish with the bone will work!
very naic
Hi Suguna,
I was searching or slow cooker recipes and landed on you site. And was i lucky or what!!! I am from Karnataka married to tamil guy who loves his mom’s cooking(Who doesnt right!!). I have tried so many of your recipes and my husband and daughter are all ga ga about them. Today I m planning to try chepala pulusu. Thanks a bunch for all you recipes. I like to learn new items and your site has enough for long!!
Keep posting 🙂
Thats so nice Ramya. Happy cooking!
Nice Recipe .. 🙂
Hello,
This is not nellore chepala pulusu receipe, please not misguide people
Hi Martin,
Can you tell us why this recipe misguides people?
This recipe comes from a chef with more than 30 years experience in south indian food. If this is not authentic, I donno what is.
Please don’t post rude comments with no merit. There is a respectful way to voice your opinions; I suggest you learn to do that.
Very good recipe. came out well.