Kerala-Style Fish Curry
Originating from the tropical south coast of Indian, Kerala-style fish curries often feature creamy coconut milk. Accompany with jasmine rice and green beans.
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Introduction
Although I use wild sea bass here, you can use whatever fish looks good and fresh – haddock, halibut, salmon (steaks or thick fillet pieces), kingfish steaks or even mackerel pieces. This is a creamy curry best eaten with rice. In Kerala it looks red from all the hot chilli powder in it, but I have softened the heat with some paprika, which also helps to add the colour. Serve with Plain Jasmine Rice and South Indian-style Green Beans (see pages 211 and 145 of Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy book for these recipes).
Ingredients
| 450-560g/1-1¼lb | wild sea bass fillet with skin, 1-2 cm/½-¾ inch thick, cut crossways into 7.5-cm/3-inch segments |
| salt | |
| 2 tbsp | olive or rapeseed oil |
| 65g/2½oz | peeled and very finely sliced shallots |
| 1 tsp | peeled and finely grated fresh ginger |
| 1 | large clove garlic, peeled and crushed |
| ½ tsp | ground turmeric |
| ½ tsp | cayenne pepper, or to taste |
| 1 tbsp | sweet red paprika |
| freshly ground black pepper | |
| 1 tbsp | lemon juice |
| 120ml/4fl oz | coconut milk, from a well-shaken can |
Method
Spread the fish pieces out and sprinkle ½ teaspoon salt on both sides Set aside as you prepare the sauce.
Put the oil into a frying pan and set over a medium-high heat. When hot, put in the shallots. Stir and fry until they just start to brown at the edges. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir for 1 minute. Now add 250 ml/8 fl oz water, the turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, lots of black pepper, the lemon juice and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the coconut milk and mix it in. Bring the sauce back to a simmer.
Put the fish pieces in the pan in a single layer and cook over a medium-low heat, spooning the sauce over them until they are poached, 5-10 minutes.
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