Fish Curry

mycookinghut July 22, 2007

I am a big fan of curry. As a fish lover, naturally, fish curry becomes one of my favourite dishes. Fish curry with rice never fails to make a good dinner. I like my fish curry quite spicy until it makes me sweat while eating this yummy dish. For those who can’t take spicy food, don’t be put off by the spiciness of fish curry, you can reduce the spiciness by putting less chilies.

In Malaysia, fish curry is a popular dish. At mamak stall, fish curry is always a must have, if not the curry sauce with roti canai. As there’s no such thing as mamak stall in London, the only way to enjoy fish curry is to make it at home. Malaysian-Indian dishes are greatly influence by the Southern Indian way of cooking.

Thus, this fish curry inherits the Southern-Indian spiciness. So, it’s not a usual dish that you can spot on the menu at Indian restaurants in this country as they serve mostly Northern Indian dishes that I find them too creamy for my liking.

Recipe for this simple yet scrumptious dish, here you go.

Fish Curry

Yield:

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp of fish curry powder (Malaysian brands: Babas, Alagappa)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
0.5 tsp mustard seeds
12 curry leaves
1 onion, peeled and cut into rings
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1cm ginger, peeled and chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced lengthways
3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
4 tbsp of coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste
300ml of water
10 okras
2 fillets of haddock (or any white fish), cut into chunks
a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Mix the curry powder with 2 tbsp of water until it becomes a paste and set aside. In a big saucepan over medium heat, put the sunflower oil and add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, lower the heat and add the curry leaves and wait till they start to release their fragrant.

2. Put the onion, garlic, ginger and red chilli. Cook until the onion start to soften. Add in the curry paste and stir to get all the ingredients well coated. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the curry paste release its fragrance.

3. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, tamarind paste and water. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, add the okras and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then, add the haddock and season with salt. Put on the lid and cook for about 15 minutes over medium. Serve warm with rice.