Indian Fish Curry Ingredients

• 50g of veggie or light olive oil
• 2 medium sized onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• Brown mustard seeds
• Fenugreek seeds
• 5 cloves
• 5 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 x kaffir lime leaves
• Indian curry mix
• 500ml passata
• 250ml red wine
• 400g coconut cream
• 200ml thickened cream
• 2kg of Basa fish fillets
• Coriander to garnish
• Salt to taste
• Brown (or raw) sugar to taste
• Naan or roti to serve on the side

Method

Step 1

Throw in some finely chopped onions with some veggie or light olive oil into a large frying pan to sauté – low to medium heat.

Step 2

When translucent, throw in about 5 crushed cardamom pods, 5 cloves, and half a teaspoon of brown mustard seeds, half a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds, 1 cinnamon stick and some crushed garlic. Stir until the smells start filling the kitchen.

Step 3

Add the Indian curry mix and stir fully in. For the Indian curry mix, you can use a good pre-mixed curry powder such as Spice of India which is a good brand and readily available from supermarkets or you can make it from scratch mixing in each spice in the blend.

Step 4

A few minutes later pour in about 500ml of tomato passata. Stir all the contents in the pan until dehydrated.

Step 5

Then throw in 250ml of red wine and about 150ml water and rehydrate again.

Step 6

Put on low heat, add in about 400ml of coconut cream followed by 200ml of thickened cream. Stir in evenly and briskly until perfectly melded to avoid any curdling.

Step 7

Cut each of the kaffir lime leaves into 4 or 5 long strands, and then gently stir all the strands into the curry.

Step 8

Add brown sugar and salt to taste.

Step 9

Finally, add in the Basa fillets and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes until the fish is fully cooked.

Step 10

Since Basa fish fillets lose a fair bit of water while cooking, it can significantly increase the runniness of the curry. You can reduce the curry on low heat for a further 10 to 15 minutes, to your preference.

Step 11

Adjust again for sugar and salt and stir fully in.

Step 12

Serve on a bed of basmati rice, garnished with coriander, with some naan or roti on the side.