With all the crap going on out in the world right now, frankly I haven't been much in the mood to write about food. However, everyone's got to eat and I get a lot of relaxation out of cooking. It's almost a form of zen for me. So even though we may be consumed with the outside world, it's good and healthy to drop back a bit and feed yourself and your family something delicious like this fish curry. Alan is now mainly eating a vegetarian diet, with the exception of fish, so I guess he's actually a pescetarian . Every couple of days I interrupt the vegetarian/vegan leanings and toss him a fish. The guy has given up burgers after all.
There are a lot of amazing fish dishes in the cuisine of South India, and many of them involve coconut, using either coconut milk, or ground coconut. This recipe uses plain ground coconut. One can use either fresh or frozen coconut meat. I used plain grated, unsweetened dried coconut for this dish. I have the fresh at my disposal but I wanted to make sure the recipe could work for people who might have access only to the dried coconut found in most markets. Everything else in the dish is readily available with the exception of the fresh curry leaves and if you don't have those, just leave them out as there is no substitute.
So grab yourself some fresh firm meaty fish (I used cod but snapper, hake, pollack etc will do just fine) and get your curry on. The other great thing about this recipe? It's ready in under an hour which makes it a perfect lunch dish for our writing week.
South Indian Dry Fish Curry
Here's What You Need:
The Paste:
1 and 1/4 lbs of firm fleshed white fish (I used cod in this dish)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 fresh tomato chopped
1 Tbs whole balck p[eppercorns
6 dried red chilies
1 and 1/2 tsp of salt
3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup of grated dried unsweetened coconut
The Fish:
3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal (if you don't have it leave it out)
2 tsp turmeric
2/3 cup of water
A handful of fresh curry leaves
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro
Here's What To Do:
Put all the paste ingredients in the bowl of a food processor...
...and grind them up.
Cut the fish into cubes.
Get your urad dal (if you have it) mustard seeds and turmeric together.
Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet or kadhai.
When the oil is hot add in the urad dal and mustard seeds.
When they strt to sizzle and pop, add in the Paste...
...and turmeric.
Cook everything for about 3 minutes until it turns fragrant then add the water.
Bring the water to a boil, and when it's boiling add in the fish.
Cook everything for 5 minutes or until the fish is fully cooked.
Shake the pan every now and then to cook things evenly. Be certain nothing is sticking and burning.
Then add the curry leaves if using them...
...and the cilantro...
...and you are done! I prepared some basmati rice cooked with cashews, sultanas, cinnamon, and saffron. I served the fish curry on top of that.
You can also serve this with chapattis, or any green vegetable dish.
This cooks up really quickly which makes it a perfect weekday meal, but it also looks pretty cool which makes it company-worthy if you add a bunch of other Indian dishes to go along. I love an entree that takes less than and hour especially during these super-hot summer months!!!
So there you have it. A simple, easy fish curry.
Coming up next by request a White Peach Lavender Frangpane Tart that happens to be #glutenfree.
Follow along on Twitter @kathygori
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