Friday, January 05, 2007

Curried Fish in Coconut Sauce

I got my love for eating fish from my father. For a typical Sunday lunch, you can find my mom making fish curry and roasting fish on a tava with her trademark 'I-love-to-cook-for-my-family' look on her face. And while eating, Appa usually comments - 'This curry should be had again for dinner. By dinnertime, the taste increases two fold'. Yes, the tasty fish has to marinate in the sauce for the taste to reach its peak. When I think of fish curries, I remember my first attempt at that. I had let the fish cook for about 30 mins.. YES! I did end up with a saucepan full of fish-bhurji :) LOL. After that, it took a phone call to my mom to realize that fish takes 2-4 mins to cook in curries. A lesson, well learnt.


The above curry is not a typical one we make at home. I will post that some other time. The usual fish curry requires white fish which doesn't have any distinct taste or flavor, on it's own - something like solefish, tilapia, pollock, etc. One fine day, I was looking to experiment something in my lab (that's the kitchen, of course) and was tempted by the salmon in the freezer. Now, Salmon tastes good when roasted. I wondered how it would taste in my new kind of fish curry? It turned out delicious. Different, yes! But very delicious. I am not going to write the ingredients in exact quantities because well, I didn't measure anything.

Marinate the fish pieces with little salt, chilli powder and lemon juice for about 1/2 hr. You can leave it overnight, in the fridge too.

Heat oil and saute a few methi seeds, add some chopped onions and curry leaves and saute well. Meanwhile, Dry-roast 2 tbsp of coriander seeds with some jeera and red chillies. Powder this and keep aside. Once the onions turn translucent, add chopped tomatoes. Add the ground powder and some turmeric powder and a pinch of salt and stir well. Add some tamarind pulp and let it boil. Add about 1 heaped tbsp of coconut milk powder to half a glass of warm water and whisk using a wire whisk (which we use to whip eggs). Add this milk to the sauce cooking on the stovetop. Taste the sauce and then, adjust salt. When the sauce is done, add the fish pieces, reduce the heat and close the lid. After 4-5 mins, switch the stove off.

Serve with hot steamed rice. Since salmon is a heavy fish, you wouldn't need a separate side dish, but rasam with rice, as the next course will be wonderful. The addition of coconut milk takes the fish curry to new dimensions.

This recipe is for JFI by Ashwini, who is hosting for the month of January. I'm so behind the announced schedule. So, dear Ashwini, I'm sorry that this comes late. And I understand if you can't add it to the roundup.

9 comments:

Ashwini said...

Hey Kay, rules are meant to be broken anyway ;-)
I understand how busy you must be and its not too difficult to add one entry to the list. Thanks for participating in JFI and a happy new year to you and yours.

FH said...

It's true for most Indian dishes Kay!Dish tastes better and better when you "forget" it in the fridge for 24hrs!! Enjoy!

Meenal Mehta said...

Hello Kay,

i have started writing on my blog again after a long hiatus .hope you have been doing well also.

First of all , a very happy new yr to you and your family.

the recipe looks lovely and healthy too..I love fish and will try this one

Anonymous said...

Well that looks great. Even we had similar discussions at home when my mom prepared fish :). I am not very fond of fishes here in US, never tasted salmon. I think my husband will love this curry :). Thanks dear.

Anonymous said...

Kay, this recipe is very close to one I prepare and yes, its delicious. Good entry!

Happy New Year, Kay!

Unknown said...

Looks mouthwatering.

Mrs. K said...

Really? only 2-4 minutes is enough? I cook fish curry for almost 30 minutes. Never makes a burji though. I try not to stir a lot. Your curry looks awesome. Totally different than mine. I love coconut fish curry with kappa/tapioca.

jacob said...

that looks so good. I think it's absolutely true that fish gets only better a few hours after the cooking's done. niec!

Kay said...

Thanks Ashwini!

Asha, Yep, I totally agree.

Meenal, Welcome again.. looking forward for your wonderful spread.

Shilpa, Try curries with tilapia or sole..they are cook. And try roasting salmon! yummm!

Sailaja, Yayy! :) Delicious, isn't it?

Thanks Pushpa.. off to see you your blog...

RP, the curry takes a while to cook, but as soon as I put the fish pieces in it, it's usually 2-5 mins to switch off the stove..

Happy new year to you all.