Source: Red fish curry, tomato rasam, prawn curry: great Sri Lankan recipes
Red Fish Curry
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp tamarind sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.5 red onion peeled and finely sliced
- 7 fresh curry leaves
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and halved
- 4 cm ginger peeled and sliced
- 2 tomatoes about 200g, roughly chopped
- 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 450 g hake or firm white fish, cut in half lengthways then into 6cm cunks
- 250 ml water
- 100 ml coconut milk
- 1 lime
Temper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 0.5 red onion peeled and finely sliced
- 8 fresh curry leaves
Curry Powder
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 fresh curry leaves
- 3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
- 0.25 tsp ground tumeric
Instructions
- In a dry pan over a low-medium heat, roast the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds and black peppercorns for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly, until they begin to be really fragrant, then pour them into a bowl. Add the oil to the pan, and cook the curry leaves and dried chillies for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and when cool, blitz in a spice grinder or mini food processor until fine – you can blitz it in batches if you need to. Stir in the turmeric.
- In a medium-sized saucepan or wok, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the onion for 8-10 minutes until soft. Add the curry leaves and after 30 seconds, when they are bright green, stir in the garlic and ginger.
- After about 30 seconds, when the garlic is beginning to turn golden, add the tomatoes and tamarind and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the tomatoes have cooked down a little, add the turmeric, curry powder and the salt. Slide the fish into the pan, and pour in the water. Allow to come to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and allow to come back to a simmer, then cook for a further 10 minutes or so, until the fish is cooked through. You can test it by gently flaking a piece with a fork: it should be opaque all the way through, and flake easily.
- To make the temper, heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering and hot, fry the sliced onion for 5-6 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the onion is beginning to turn golden. Add the curry leaves and after about 30 seconds, when they are crisp, remove from the heat.
- Serve the fish with the temper, and all its oil, spooned over the top. Squeeze over the lime.
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