South Indian Hake and Seafood Curry
I love this curry. Its so fresh tasting and healthy. Use any white flaky fish such as cod or haddock. I like hake as it retains its shape during the cooking process. You can also use any mixture of seafood. Just make sure the prawns are raw. This recipe is great as the curry sauce part (which is the most time consuming part of the recipe) can be made in advance or even frozen. When you are ready to eat simply reheat the sauce in a pan and continue the recipe from point 8.
Serves 2
What You Need
2 hake fillets (approx 450g)
250g mixed seafood eg king prawns, scallops & squid rings (I like Waitrose frozen fruits de mer)
400 ml full fat coconut milk
200 ml chopped tomatoes
2 inch piece fresh ginger (peeled)
4 large garlic cloves (peeled)
2 green chillies
1 large onion (finely sliced)
2 tablespoons veg oil
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
10 fresh curry leaves
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
half tsp turmeric
half tsp chilli powder
half tsp black mustard seeds
6 black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
4 cardamon pods
4 cloves
Salt to taste
How To Make It
1. Put chilli, garlic and ginger in a food processor and blitz to a paste
2. Heat oil in a large lidded wok/saucepan
3. When hot add cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and peppercorns. Wait about a minute until the spices have warmed and infused the oil (do not burn!) then add the mustard seeds. When the seeds pop (10 seconds) add the curry leaves. Fry for 30 seconds
4. Add sliced onions and salt. Fry on a med/high heat until the onions have lost all their water and are light brown (about 15 minutes)
5. Add ginger, chilli, garlic paste. Stir fry for about 10 minutes. If it sticks add a small amount of water.
6. Add turmeric, ground cumin, coriander and chilli powder. Stir fry for about 5 minutes adding water if mix starts to stick. Add tomatoes, stir through
7. Stir in the solid top cream part of the coconut milk and tamarind. Set aside the watery part of the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the remaining watery coconut milk and simmer again for another 10 minutes
8. Add the hake fillets. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes then add the mixed seafood. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes
9. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander and serve simply with plain steamed rice. Just delicious!