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Malaysian Fish Curry

Malaysian Fish Curry

Malaysian Fish Curry

This is a fish version of the Malaysian Chicken Curry on this site (with a few modifications). The wonderful colours of the curry reminded me of a journey that I have only taken in my mind to the Xandrian Quarters.

Ingredients

Curry paste -

  • 4 shallots

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch piece of ginger

  • 2 inch piece of turmeric ( see observations)

  • two fresh chillies

  • 1 lemongrass

  • 1 tbsp curry powder

  • 2 tsp galangal paste (see observations)

  • 1 tbsp oil


The curry itself -

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  • 300g monkfish

  • 8 small waxy potatoes

  • 1 small cauliflower head

  • 2 medium tomatoes

  • 400 ml coconut milk

  • 50 ml chicken stock

  • 100 ml water

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 5 cloves (see method)

  • 2 star anise

  • 1tsp tamatind paste

  • salt to taste

Method

Prepare the curry paste ingredients for the hand blender by cutting, peeling, chopping etc as appropriate. I found some lemongrass on this occasion. I still only had a jar of galangal rather than the fresh item. Blend with a little oil until smoothish and set aside.


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In a pan, heat the oil and add the cinnamon, cloves and star anise and gently fry for about 2 minutes. I used more cloves than recipes but I removed the round head of the seed and used only that. I didn't add cardamom pods for the simple reason that I forgot to. I would have added 6!


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Add the curry paste and fry for about 8 minutes until the oil separates. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning


Meanwhile cut the monkfish ( or hake or ling) into bite sized chunks if not already done.


Cut the potatoes in half unless very small already.



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Cut the cauliflower floret up into medium sized pieces.


Add the potatoes to the pan and stir to cover with the sauce, then add the coconut milk and the chicken stock and water and stir to mix in. Bring to boil and simmer with a lid on the pot for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are nearly cooked.


Add the florets of the cauliflower and lid for a further 5 or 10 minutes until nearly cooked.

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Add the tamarind sauce and stir in before dropping in the fish pieces to cook for about 7 minutes or so.


Serve with fresh samphirre

Observations

I managed to find some lemongrass but not galangal in Dartmouth so I had to use a jar of galangal. That being said I felt that the curry was very tasty and vibrant with colour.


I used monkfish as there was no ling available and I didn't want to use hake (although it was recommended as an alternative). Also acquired samphire to go with the dish instead of rice.


The fish version was a little more flavoursome.

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