Thai Fish Curry in a Hurry
by Christi-Anna Lawson
serves 4–6 people
45 minutes cooking time
This is a recipe I developed with my mum a few years ago. It was inspired by a recipe by Nigella Lawson, Kerala Fish Curry, but we had a little problem finding tamarind paste in the supermarket. So, we swapped this with Thai green curry paste, used chicken stock instead of fish and developed our own recipe. I spiced it up a bit more by adding curry powder to the mix, which enhanced all the other flavours, making it sing; aromatics of coconut, fresh ginger and cumin with just a hint of heat from the chillies produces a dish that is full of flavour and really simple to make. Of course, you can make this vegetarian by swapping the fish out with tofu or using green beans and baby sweetcorn, and swapping the chicken stock for a good vegetable one.
Ingredients:
□ 2 fillets of fish of your choice
□ Salt and pepper
□ 2tsp turmeric
□ 2 onions
□ 4cm fresh ginger, sliced into strips
□ 2 red chillies, sliced
□ 2tbsp vegetable oil
□ 1tsp cumin
□ 400ml tin of coconut milk
□ 2tbsp Thai green curry paste
□ 1 chicken stock cube or pot
□ 1tsp medium curry powder
□ Serve with rice
Method:
1. Start off by seasoning your fish, sprinkling it with salt, pepper and one teaspoon of turmeric powder. Leave this to marinate while you prep the onions, ginger and chillies.
2. Slice your onions into half-moon shapes, and peel your ginger carefully using either a knife, or the edge of a spoon to scoop off the skin. I usually use a knife, making sure the ginger is flat on the board.
3. Cut the ginger into thin strips that resemble matchsticks and slice the chillies. If you don’t like your food spicy, take the seeds out of the chillies, use just one or don’t use them at all! That’s the beauty of savoury cooking; you are free to play with the flavours. I love chilli, so I add everything in, which sometimes isn’t enough!
4. Once everything is prepped, heat the vegetable oil on low in a large pan and throw in the onions. What you need to do next is sprinkle some salt over the onions so that they can release their juices. This will also stop them from browning too much, and they will stay translucent in the curry. Fry them for five minutes on low heat, stirring them every now and again.
5. After five minutes is up, throw in the ginger and chillies, along with a teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of cumin. Fry these together for a couple of minutes.
6. While this is frying, pour the coconut milk into a litre jug, put in the curry paste and plop in the chicken stock. Stir these together and add them to the pan. Turn the heat up to high and leave the curry to bubble for fifteen minutes. Make sure to stir often, so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.
7. When the fifteen minutes are done, turn the heat down to medium and stir in the teaspoon of curry powder. You should notice that the curry has thickened. To test this, run your finger down the back of your spoon and a line should appear.
8. The last thing to do is add in your marinated fish and turn the heat back up to high. The fish should flake up on its own as it cooks and you stir it. Make sure you have a taste to see if you are happy with all the seasoning. If you feel anything is lacking, add more. I sometimes add one more tablespoon of Thai green curry paste. Leave this to cook for another fifteen minutes, and you’re done!
9. Serve this with rice. My favourite is basmati rice! Pour over a hefty spoonful of curry, making sure you catch all the fish, ginger, onions and chillies in it.
This is such a warm, comforting and filling dish. It tastes even better the next day, so if you can withhold the temptation, make it the night before you want to eat it — happy eating!
