Fish Curry with Okra and Egg plant

    FISH CURRY WITH OKRA AND                               EGG PLANT

  

A fragrant South Indian recipe with loads of flavours coming from fenugreek seeds, palm sugar, fresh coriander and tamarind paste. When make with the right kind of fish, this curry is totally out of the world. Best paired with steamed rice or dosa.

Tips to make Fish Curry

- Many people who wants to make curry but are put off by the long list of ingrediants. Cooking curry requires grounding various herbs and spices. Today's recipe is a simplest version for busy cook. All you need is a good quality store bought fish curry powder and a few of the pantry ingredients. 

 

- Type of fish. - any type of fish will do, but ones with firm white flesh like pomfret, red snapper, seabass, spanish mackeral or any variety of fish fillets that you have including salmon. The key importance is to use fresh fish and do not over cook it to prevent the flesh from becoming tough. 

- Malaysians enjoy fish curry with brinjal / egg plant, okra / lady's fingers and tomatoes. Fish curry taste awesome with those vegetables as they readily soak up the gravy. 

In this recipe the brinjal is first softern and brown until golden by a quick deep frying and then added lastly together with other vegetables. 

- Frying fish is your choice.  Fry your fish first, make the gravy and add the fried fish. Marinate the fish with tumeric powder and salt for at least 15 minutes for best taste of the fish. You can also add fish without frying.  

- One main ingredient in this curry is tamarind which lends a slightly sweet and tangy flavor to the curry . Tamarind does add a certain flavour, something which

cannot be replicate if you were to use lime, lemon juice or even vinegar as the acidic compound. 

- In Indian recipe corriander leaves are widely used to garnish the dish at the end but to this recipe I'm using fresh coriander  paste which is the essance of the curry. This is essential as it brings an amazing flavour to the curry. 

- Another important ingredient is palm sugar or gula melaka has a distinct smokey aroma and complex flavour. It balance out the sourness from the tamarind juice. Add the right amount so that it doesn't taste sweet. The savory should predominant. Substitute palm sugar with brown sugar if not available.

-  The curry need to be simmered in a low flame until it reaches the desired thickness.  As the curry simmers, you can expect it to reduce. Stir the curry as it reduces to test the thickness. If is too thick, simply add a little bit of water to get to the right consistency. The curry taste best the next day with rich thicker texture as the flavor blends. 

So, roll up your sleeves and let's get cooking!

INGREDIENTS

To marinate 

- 1 tsp tumeric powder

- salt

To temper 

- 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds

- 1 tsp fennel seeds

- 3 sprigs curry leaves

- 3 shallots or 1 medium size onion (slice)

- 1 inch ginger ( pound into paste)

- 4 clove garlic (pound into paste)

 

- 1 green chili (slice into half)

- 4 round dried red chillis or normal dried chilies cut into 1 inch lenght 

 To blend

- 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves

- 1 tomato ( cut into small pieces)

Other ingredients

- 5 pieces white fleshed fish 

- 3 tbsp store bought fish curry powder

- 1 tsp tumeric powder

- 1 lime size tamarind paste

- 6 okra / ladies finger ( trimmed)

- 1 egg plant / brinjal ( cut into big slices )

- 1 tomato ( quartered)

- 1 tsp palm sugar / gula melaka or brown sugar

- 2 cups water

- salt to taste

- oil for frying

METHOD

- Clean and marinate fish in tumeric and salt. Set aside for 15min.

- Fry marinated fish on both sides until golden brown. Set aside (you may omit this part)

- Fry egg plants until softend. Set aside

- Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind in the water to extract all the juices. Strain the juice. Discard the tamarind seeds and the pith. Set aside. 

In a small blender, blend fresh coriander leaves and tomatoes until become smooth paste. Combine fish curry powder and tumeric powder. Add a bit of water and make a thick paste. Do not add much while making the paste otherwise, it will not brown properly. 

- In a pot add oil,  over medium heat fry  fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds for few seconds.

- Immediately add shallots and ginger garlic paste, green chili, curry leaves and dried red chillis. Saute until shallots turn brown.

- Lower the heat add the coriander / curry paste and palm sugar and continue to fry gently for another 2 to 3 minutes until mixture is dry and darkens. Stir occasionally. The paste should smell aromatic.

- Pour water, tamarind juice and salt. Mix well to make lump free gravy. You may need to adjust the amount of water slightly. 

- In a low flame, allow curry to simmer covered for 30 - 40  minutes or until reaches to your desirable consistency . Stir the curry once or twice when simmering to test thickness. 

- Once the curry is almost done and the liquid is reduced and thicker. Add the fried

fish, fried brinjal, tomatoes and okra. Cover and simmer again for further 5 minutes, do taste test. The saltiness depends on how much the liquid left.

- Remove from heat. Let it set for an hour before serving. The flavor will get more intense. Serve and enjoy!

If you try my recipe. I'd love to know how it turned out! Snap a photo and share it on the Instagram, be sure to tag me @_casualcook_