Fish Curry

For the curry:
5tbsp vegetable oil
2tsp mustard seeds
1tsp fenugreek seeds
3 fresh green chilies, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 handful of curry leaves
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled and coarsely grated
3 onions, peeled and chopped
1tsp chili powder
1tsp turmeric
6 tomatoes, chopped
1X400ml/14oz tin coconut milk
salt
4X8oz/225g fresh haddock fillets, skinned and pin boned
1 knob of tamarind paste, or 1 tsp tamarind syrup
Optional: 1 large handful baby spinach
Optional: 1 good handful fresh coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a pan, and when hot add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the fenugreek seeds, fresh green chilies, curry leaves and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes. Using a food processor, chop the onions and add to the pan. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, till the onion is light brown and soft, then add the chili powder and turmeric. Using the same food processor, pulse the tomatoes and add to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add one or two wineglasses of water, and the coconut milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes till it has the consistency of double cream, then season carefully with salt.
Add the fish and tamarind and simmer for 6 minutes, adding the spinach and coriander if using at the end of the cooking time.

This was the first time I’ve cooked with tamarind. It turns out they have it at my local grocery, and it’s actually really cheap. Now I have to find more recipes for it.

I don’t know if this is true of all tamarind paste, but mine had really big seeds in it that didn’t really seem possible to remove. I just warned everybody before we ate that there were little stones, and it was no problem, but it was still kind of a pain. Other then that, I loved it and I loved cooking with it.

I love fish curry too. This is so nice. You wouldn’t think that it would have a subtle flavor with that list of ingredients, but it did. It was delicate, and none of the flavors overpowered any others. I used peppers that were super mild and the boys were able to eat it too. My little one ate his whole plate by the handful and then begged for some of his brother’s. My older son had to be convinced a little, but in the end he ate his dinner too.

The fish came out moist and flavorfull even though I had to cook it an extra five minutes or so. This whole thing was really easy and beautiful.

This was a Jamie Oliver. I know I’ve been a bit heavy on his recipes lately, but with my dad and Stepmom visiting, I want to continue to make new things, but have some guarantee that they will be good, so it’s all about Mr. Oliver right now.

I actually have gotten a bunch of new cookbooks lately. There was a big book sale in town, and my dad brought out a bunch from yard sales where he is too. I think that some time next week I'm going to start using a different cookbook every day for a few weeks to start getting an idea of how all of them are.

I'll keep you posted.