The country of India is known for their curry dishes, and one of them is the Fish Curry. This dish is known to be a favorite especially in the eastern part of the country.
So if you want to learn how to cook fish curry, then you’ve come to the right place. Here you’ll learn the ingredients you’ll need and how to prepare the dish.
Before we start the cooking, let’s first prepare the ingredients you’ll need:
- 5 shallots, medium size or 2 onions, medium as an alternative
- Ginger root, about 2 inches
- 7 chili (red)
- Fish curry
- 5 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seed
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 pounds of fish fillet, preferably Tilapia fish
- 3 tbsp salt
- 3 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp garlic paste
- 2 tomatoes, big, cut into small pieces
- ½ tbsp coriander powder
- Oil for deep frying the fish
- 3 c water
Now, that you have all those ingredients set, we’ll get to learn how to cook fish curry. Here are the instructions on how to do it, step by step.
- Combine the first five ingredients – the onions, ginger root, 5 chili, mustard seeds, and the cumin seeds, plus 2 bay leaves in a grinder. Also, set aside about one cup of onion for later use. Grind the ingredients and set aside.
- Now, cut your fish in small pieces of fillets. Keep them about 3 inches in length. Make sure that your fish was already properly cleaned in the market or clean it prior to cutting.
- After cutting your fish, place them in a plate and rub about 2 teaspoons of salt. Sprinkle two teaspoons of turmeric powder, and finally add the garlic paste. Mix until the fish is coated evenly then set aside to marinade for about half an hour.
- After marinating your fish, heat the oil in a wok and deep fry the fish about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Now, set aside the fish in a clean plate.
- On a new wok, pour about 2 tablespoons of oil and heat. Add a pinch of cumin seed, pinch of mustard seed, the 2 remaining bay leaves, and the 2 remaining red chili. Add a pinch of aniseed and let it fume. All these ingredients mixed together is called the panch-phoran.
- Now add the remaining onions and allow it to brown a little.
- Next, add the ground paste, the cut tomatoes, and the left over turmeric powder. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Stir continuously until it becomes a little brown. This will take about 10 minutes. When the paste no longer sticks to the wok, it means it’s already perfectly fried.
- Now add about 3 cups of water or more if you want more sauce from your fish curry. Stir until it boils.
- Add the fish you have set aside earlier and let it boil for another 15 minutes.
- Now, your fish curry is ready to serve. Garnish it with coriander leaf and squeeze some lime or lemon on top. Pair it with steamed rice.