The husband loves fish curry, this one is derived from another recipe, and we call it Boatman Curry. I like to imagine an Indian river fisherman cooking this up in a big pan on his boat, the smells wafting over the river at sunset. Perhaps an over romantic vision, but I'm that sorta girl. This recipe makes enough for 2 people. I make using white fish, though really this would be made with river fish like Tilapia which you can get in some places these days. You can also add prawns if you like, or a mix of fishes.
onion 1, sliced
coconut milk 1/2 tin
tomato puree 2 tbsp
garlic 2 cloves, crushed or grated
fresh ginger 1 inch, grated
red chilli 1 chopped, no seeds (add less if you prefer a mild curry)
lime 1/2 juiced
smoked paprika 1 tbsp
cumin 1/2 tsp
coriander 1/2 tsp
fennel 1/2 tsp
garam masala 1 tsp
(use ready ground spices or grind your own)
white fish 2 fillets, skinned and chopped into large chunks
(I like to use whatever cod alternative the supermarket is offering, as long as it is sustainable and cheapish)
First gently fry your onion slices in some oil or butter till soft, add the ginger, chilli and garlic and fry for two mins, then fry off all your spices in the oil for a moment, before adding the tomato puree and a small mug of water. Add salt and pepper (I add quite a bit of salt to any curry), and cook for 15 mins till this mixture has reduced by at least half. It will make a red sauce, add more spices at this point if it needs it, just have a taste and see. Don't worry if it blows your head off, the coconut milk will calm it down.
Now open up your tin of coconut milk. I like to use blue dragon organic coconut milk, and what I do is gently turn the tin upside down and open it that way up. Coconut milk often has water added to it, and this water separates out from the coconut in the tin, the thick stuff settles at the bottom with the water on top. So if you turn gently, and open upside down, all the thick stuff will be at the top for you to spoon into your curry and you can leave the water behind. I only use half a tin for a 2 person curry, so I would rather add the thick coconut than the water.
Anyway, back to the curry, so bung in half the tin, if you have done my upside down trick this will be the thick stuff. Whatever you have done, its half the tin in right now, and bubble this very gently for another 15 mins. Keep an eye on the thickness, you want a sauce that's a bit thicker than a thai green curry, but not all gloopy and claggy.
Do your rice or whatever while this is cooking, and when that's just done leave to one side while you plop your fish into the sauce. It will cook in very little time, depends on your chunk size, but about 5 mins should be ok for 5cm cubes. Gently stir or it will turn to mushy fish, and you can poke a chunk in half to make sure its done before you serve. Just make sure its a whiteish colour, not translucent. Add the lime juice and serve right away, this doesn't sit around.
You can also cook whole fishes on the bone in this curry, just wack into chunks but they will take longer, wait till they are flaking off the bone.
I serve with lime wedges, white rice, raitha and hot mango chutney. The boat and river are left to your imagination.
