From Fish Fry to Fish Forever: A Tale of Love, Marriage & Curry

I spent most of my life in Hyderabad, where biryanis ruled the table and fish was more of a guest star — showing up once in a while as a crispy fry, maybe at a cousin’s lunch or a weekend indulgence. For us, fish was occasional, and honestly, that was fine by me.

 Then came marriage. I married a man who, I soon realized, wasn’t just a fan of fish — he was a devotee. For him, fish wasn’t a weekend treat. It was a lifestyle. Breakfast, lunch, dinner — fish was the answer to every hunger pang.

I thought he was joking the first few days. He wasn’t. In the early days of our marriage, I smiled and nodded when he spoke about his love for fish — assuming it was just one of those early-marriage exaggerations. “Sure, sweetie, you love fish. That’s cute.” But soon, I realized this was no fling. His relationship with fish ran deep. Fry it, curry it, steam it, stuff it — he wanted it all day, every day.

At first, I tried to ignore it. “He’ll adjust,” I told myself. But spoiler alert: he didn’t instead, I had to. The fish section in the market terrified me — slippery, scaly, and staring at me with glassy eyes. I didn’t even know where to start. So, like every sensible Hyderabadi girl, I called in reinforcements — my mom.

She came over and became my official fish coach: from how to pick the right one, descaling it to cutting it without flinching, to making the perfect spicy tangy curry that doesn’t smell up the whole house (or at least smells deliciously fishy). And guess what? That’s when my cooking journey truly began. What started as a survival skill turned into something I never expected — I fell in love.

Not just with cooking, but with the fish itself. From avoiding it on the plate to fighting for the fish head, I had transformed. Now, I’m the one insisting on the freshest catch, experimenting with regional styles

 We joke now that my husband didn’t just marry me — he converted me. From a fish-fringe foodie to a full-blown fish fanatic. Life changed in many ways after marriage — but nothing quite like this delicious journey from “meh” to masaledar. So here’s to love, marriage, and the fish curry that brought it all together.