GThis fish curry recipe got into my hands straight from India, so get your flying carpet out and prepare to soar the skies of delicious taste!

Going a bit back when the world shut down because of the pandemic, other avenues opened. They mostly led to our apartments where to pass the free time, one needed to get creative like never before! On one of the charming jail-like evenings, I thought what a better way to give the eyes a rest from the computer screen and make a dinner that would be difficult to prepare and take forever to finish, haha.

 I thought, „how about fish curry?” Cooking fish perfectly is not easy, and managing a long list of spices to get the perfect curry taste and color definitely requires effort.

Taking advantage of the fact that we live in a very connected world, I got firsthand information and a fish curry recipe from an Indian family! What I share with you couldn’t be more authentic and delicious as the recipe combines southern and northern traditions of cooking curry.

Speaking of traditions, what I found interesting was that the variety of different curry types is so deeply rooted in regional influences that the curry common in one region of India may be completely unheard of in the other region.

In the words of Aarti Sequeira an Indian cook and television personality:

“There’s no such thing as ‘a curry.’ There are six kazillion different kinds of curry. When someone asks how to make fish curry, I have to ask, ‘Which one?’”

Fish curry is a very popular choice of food in India due to its nutritional value. Fish is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2; it is rich in calcium and phosphorus, and a great source of minerals, such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.

Now, if that doesn’t sound encouraging to try cooking fish curry, the American Heart Association recommends eating fish at least two times per week to help reduce the risk for congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, and sudden cardiac arrest.

FFish Curry Recipe

Ingredients

1 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of coriander powder

1/4 teaspoon of assafoetida

3 teaspoons of chili powder – don’t use hot chili powder

1 tablespoon of fish curry masala

3 tablespoons of mustard oil

1 cup of rice

30g of tamarind

2 tablespoons of natural yogurt

2 sea bonnet fish

2 tomatoes

1 lime

250 ml of coconut milk

4 cloves of garlic

A medium slice of ginger

1 red onion

1 stem of fresh coriander leaves

Directions

Before you start cooking fish curry – put tamarind in half a glass of warm water for 30 min so it can soften.

1. Clean the fish, cut it into even, medium-thick slices, and keep the skin on.

2. Place the fish in a bowl, add two spoons of yogurt, one spoon of fish masala, two spoons of chili powder, 1/2 spoon of turmeric, squeeze the whole lime in, and add 1/2 spoon of salt. Mix all the spices with yogurt to make a curry marinade paste. Rub the paste all over the fish slices.

3. Cook the rice.

4. While the rice is cooking – chop the tomatoes, slice the onion, then crush garlic and ginger into a smooth paste, and heat the mustard oil until it simmers.

5. Add to simmering oil cumin seeds, chopped onion, one teaspoon of garam masala, one teaspoon of coriander powder, fish masala, 1/2 spoon of turmeric, asafoetida, chopped tomatoes. Press all the ingredients with a spatula until they are smooth and add half a spoon of salt in the end. Simmer everything on low heat, add ginger-garlic paste and coconut milk. Empty the glass of tamarind into the curry together with the water.

5. Half fry marinated fish and transfer it gently into the curry. Slowly cook the fish in curry for 15 minutes. Chop fresh coriander leaves. Put rice and curry into the plates, decorate with coriander.