Seer, pomfret or karimeen: choosing fish for the dish
Which fish to buy for a fry, a red curry, a moilee or a pollichathu, and how much a family of four needs.
What we sell during the monsoon trawling ban
For about seven weeks each monsoon, the big boats stay in. Here is what still reaches our counter, and what does not.
Every year from early June to the end of July, mechanised trawlers along the Kerala coast stay in harbour for the monsoon fishing ban. It gives the fish time to breed, and it changes what you can buy for about seven weeks. Customers often ask why the counter looks different, so here is what to expect.
Traditional boats, the country craft with outboard motors, still go out on calmer days. They bring in sardines, mackerel, anchovy, small prawns and sometimes seer, in smaller quantities. This is also the season of chakara, when mud banks form off the coast near Alappuzha and Kochi and the sea goes calm over them, and prawns and sardines gather in large numbers. Our shop is named after it.
What becomes scarce are the deep-water fish brought in by trawlers: large seer, tuna, pomfret, red snapper and squid. When they appear, prices can be two or three times the usual. Backwater fish like karimeen and crab from Vypeen and Kumbalangi are steady through the ban, so many families switch to them.
We do not freeze fish before the ban to sell during it, and we do not buy fish that has been held in cold storage. On days when the boats stay in because of rough seas, we tell our customers on the 7 am WhatsApp update and keep the counter small. Plan a few meals around chicken and goat in July, and enjoy sardines at their cheapest.
