Puli Arnam

Name: Puli Arnam
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Sri Lanka
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons salt; 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) whole white-fleshed fish (such as snapper), cut into 4 cm (1½ inch) thick cutlets (see note); 160 g (5¾ oz) tamarind pulp*, soaked in 750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) warm water; 4-6 dried long red chillies*, stalks removed; 300 g (10½ oz/about 20) small pink Asian shallots*, peeled and left whole

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka

By Bree Hutchins

Published 2013

About

This light tamarind fish soup is superb — mild in flavour, with a slight tanginess and fiery kick. This is Bamini’s mother’s favourite dish and it’s also my mum’s favourite from the recipes I brought back from Sri Lanka. It’s easy to make and delicious eaten on its own.

Ingredients

4-6 dried long red chillies*, stalks removed
300 g (10½ oz/about 20) small

Asia
Sri Lanka
Jaffna
Pescatarian
Spicy
Gluten-free
Soup

Method

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the dried chillies and shallots and boil for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Meanwhile, prepare the tamarind pulp following the method. Set the tamarind water aside.

Strain the cooked shallots and chillies and then place them in a food processor and process into a paste.

In a large he