I gave a well-deserved rest to lentils and vegetables for one day and cooked fish on father’s day. My daughter has planned to go on a hike with her dad and me but rain messed up all her plans. So, we chilled out at home instead. For lunch, I made Sri Lankan style fish curry. I don’t make fish curries all that often because I am not good at that. However, when I think of special meals for my husband I often think around fish or lamb because these are his choicest foods. I could have baked the fish which I love to do but sometimes I get in the mood for something different and lately I’ve been wanting to make fish curry for quite some time.
This is a fantastic fish dish, spicy and delicious. To start with, get the best fish you can. As with any seafood recipe, good quality fish makes all the difference. My personal preference for all fish curries is cod or halibut. While I used halibut steaks in this one, any firm, white fish that is readily, and preferably, locally available will work.
The fish steaks are coated with a mixture of spices and lightly fried first and then cooked in a seasoned coconut milk gravy. The bigger pieces were difficult to handle while cooking but worked great using two wide spatulas. The addition of tamarind to the gravy lends it character and makes it an absolute treat for the Indian palette. The dish is perfect for a family meal or a casual dinner party. We had it with plain jasmin rice and okra stir-fry (not pictured here) and the meal was amazing.
When it comes to making curries, I love doing everything from scratch, I mean by grinding all the spices fresh. It is important if you want to get the maximum flavor. I store all the pounded spices in small jars with tight lids to retain their aroma and color for a long time.
Fish steaks cooked in spicy and sour coconut based gravy in sri lankan style.
Ingredients
- 750 g fish of your choice, cut into steaks or fillets 4-6
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- oil for shallow frying
- 4 tbsp. Oil
- 35 g tamarind
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 150 g red onion, ground
- 100 g tomato, finely diced
- 1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
- 4 green chilies, finely sliced
- 3/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
- 3/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 1/2 tsp sri lankan curry powder
- 3/4 cup (+) water
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 scant tsp mustard seed
- 1/2 scant tsp fenugreek seeds
- 4 tbsp coriander
- 3 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns and uncooked Rice
- 1 tbsp black Mustard seed
- 1 heaped tsp cloves
- 2 heaped tsp green cardamom Seeds
- 1 heaped tsp fennel Seeds
Instructions
- For the Sri Lankan curry powder, first dry roast uncooked rice until light brown. Then add the rest of the whole spices and pan roast until aromatic. Let spices cool down a bit and grind in a spice grinder into a fine powder. Store in a screw top jar and use as needed.
- Soak tamarind in warm water to soften, squeeze the thick juice. If you find the tamarind pods are still pulpy add more water and squeeze again. keep it aside.
- Rinse the fish steaks well and pat dry.
- Marinate them with salt, turmeric and red chili powder. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a frying pan when the oil become hot, place the fish pieces (1or 2 at a time) into it and let it cook quickly on each side till it turns golden brown. Drain on paper towels and repeat till all the pieces are fried (use wide spatulas to flip).
- While the fish is being fried, add oil to a large pan.
- Add the fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and stir fry for about 15-20 secs. Then add the ground onion, ginger and garlic and fry till the masala become light brown in color.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes, curry leaves, turmeric, chili powder, curry powder and salt and fry for couple of minutes on low heat, till the oil starts separating from the mixture.
- Add the tamarind juice and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Now pour the coconut milk and water (as per your requirement) into the gravy, lower the heat and bring to boil. Simmer till the gravy thicken a bit. Gently slide the fried fish pieces into the curry, cover the dish and let the fish simmer in the gravy for 5-7 min on low heat or until the fish is cooked through.
- Serve hot with steamed white rice.
This post is part of CookBlogShare.
marcie
Fish is my favorite protein and is something I could eat every day. I’ve never had a fish curry however! This looks so flavorful and your husband must’ve loved it!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
Wow this is one mouthwatering fish curry! Cool that you even make your own curry blend.
Monika
Looks great, why not link it up to #cookblogshare, I am hosting this week:)
cheri
How nice of you to prepare this for your husband on father’s day! I could eat some type of fish everyday of the week, love the spices you used here to make this fabulous meal.
Loretta
There’s nothing quite like a good fish curry, and I would certainly give this a “thumbs up”. Quite frankly I could just live on fish and veggies. Great that you grind and mix your own masalas too.
Amrita
lovely share… must be a flavourful dish with lot of spices
Meals and Makes
This looks really delicious. I love fish curries in the summer, a lighter alternative to meat. #CookBlogShare
Monica
This looks insanely good! Your husband is one very, very lucky guy! I love how you make everything from scratch…I can imagine the layers of flavor. I just want to get fish curry right now!! Very badly…!
Moja pasja smaku
Omg love it! Looks delicious <3
Rupreet
Sounds delicious, love fish especially in summer time 🙂 CookBlogShare!
Blackswan
My hubby loves fish curry, & I’m sure you’ll enjoy this dish as much. xoxo
Monika
What a gorgeous dish, the aroma as you are cooking must be fantastic! I am always looking for different ways to cook fish so pinning this for later! Thank you for bringing it to #CookBlogShare this week:)
Ritu Ahuja
Dear I must say you have a beautiful blog. Love visiting it always. Fish curry is my hubby’s favorite and this one looks yum. You always share great recipes 🙂
Katerina
I love new recipes for fish and this looks absolutely delicious!
Adina
A beautiful looking curry, I would love to try it. I don’t make fish curry too often either and I wonder why, my husband and I both love it. Probably because of the kids, when it comes to fish, there’s always complaining. 🙂
David @ Spiced
We don’t make fish nearly enough at home, but I want to change that! This fish curry sounds delicious, and I love that you just store all of the ground spices in containers. That makes it so much easier to pull this recipe together. 🙂 Sounds delicious!!