Fish goes so well with coconut, and this combination makes for a fabulous and exotic curry that goes beautifully with rice, especially coconut rice.
INGREDIENTS
1kg fillet fish
½ tsp. ginger paste
½ tsp. garlic paste
1 lemon
1 tsp. red chili powder
Salt.
Oil for frying the fish.
Coconut Sauce
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 capsicum (I used red for its vivid color)
1-2 green chili’s
¼ tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. red chili powder
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste.
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup coconut milk (heavy)
1 cup coconut milk (light)
2 green chilies (used both red and green as seen in pic)
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the fish in squares, wash n completely drain off the water.
In a bowl mix garlic paste, ginger paste, salt, chili and lemon. Mix in the fish well and set aside to marinate for 20mins. Heat oil in a frying pan then shallow fry the fish pieces just enough to hold them together about 3 minutes on each side. They will cook some more in the sauce. Remove and leave to blot on kitchen towels.
Blend onion, tomatoes, green chili and capsicum (make sure it’s completely smooth)
In a pan add 1 tbsp. oil, when it’s hot pour in the tomatoes mixture and stir well. Let it cook till all the water has evaporated and the mixture is cooked.
Add tomato paste, turmeric powder, chili powder and salt.
Then add the light coconut milk and stir on low heat, do not stop otherwise it will spoil the texture of the sauce. When boiling add the pieces of cooked fish and mix well. The stew will reduce in quantity, squeeze in the lemon juice, then add the heavy coconut milk and whole chilies.
Let it simmer gently whilst stirring and remove to serve.
Enjoy!
P.S: To have a smooth looking stew you should continue stirring after adding the coconut milk.
Comments
I tried it today.
turned out really nice
just one thing that the taste of coconut wasnt that obvious
probably i didnt put enough or maybe onion became overpowering in taste
I made this today (minus the chilli powder :-)it turned out great. I used tafi pieces as those are what i had at hand but the results were still fingerlicking good. Btw, if u wanted to use raw mango for tartness instead of lemon when would u add it? Shukran again for your wonderful website!
Thank you! Add it in in with the tomato mixture if you are using raw mango. :)
can i use sour milk instead of coconut milk?
No that will not give the best results.
Can I make this dish a day in advance? Will it compromise the taste? I want to make it for my guests coming in on Friday.
By the way I made this dish for my hubby but with shrimps, and he loved it, the gravy sort of reminded us of fish paka, but mom never used onions in that.
You can make it a day ahead, have never tried making it much longer than that ahead of time although whenever I have leftovers they taste fine even a couple of days later. Just that fresh is fresh and if you have guests then it's best to get it done not longer than a day before. It is a little bit different from fish paka, I will add that recipe soon too. :)