Thai Green Curry with Fish

I've been looking to use this bottle of thai fish sauce that's been lying at the back of the pantry, but never really had the entire suite of ingredients available. This time though, I finally found some fresh lemon grass, and decided to make this curry for dinner. I made it with fish, but this curry can be made with diced chicken as well, and this recipe can be adapted into a vegetarian version with paneer or tofu and the use of light soy sauce instead of the fish sauce. I had some Malabar Trevally fillets left over, and used that fish. With coconut based stews I prefer to use a bland white fish as the flavours of the coconut and the spices infuse into the flesh of the fish. In case Malabar Trevally is unavailable, you can use Basa, Cod or any other similar white fish. The green curry paste can be made in advance and keeps well for at least 3 days in the fridge.

Ingredients

Green Curry Paste

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 large bunch coriander leaves, shredded
• 1 lemon grass stalk (white part), chopped
• 2 inch ginger root, roughly chopped
• 1 inch galangal (optional)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 medium shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 long green chilies (1 deseeded), chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves (or any citrus leaves), shredded
• 2 tbsp oil
• juice of half a lime with zest

Green Curry

• 300 g Malabar Trevally filets (skin-on) cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 small purple aubergine, chopped
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 2 cups thin coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons of the Green Curry Paste (above)
• 1 lemon grass stalk (green parts)
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

Method

Green Curry Paste

1. Roast the cumin, peppercorns and coriander seeds in a pan to release its aromatic oils.
2. Once cooled, pound it in a pestle into a fine powder.
3. Add all of the remaining ingredients to a food processor along with the spice powder.
4. Grind with a little water to create a thick paste. 
5. Remove and store away in an airtight container.
6. Thin the paste remaining in a food processor with water and keep aside.

Green Curry

1. Marinate the fish pieces in the thin paste liquor for at least 3 hours, or use 1 tsp of the green curry paste with half a cup of water to create a thin marinade.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and add the aubergines. Cook until the aubergines soften.
3. Add the green curry paste and lower the heat. Cook the paste until the oil starts to leave the paste.
4. Add the tomatoes and let it stew and soften.
5. Add the coconut milk, salt and lemon grass stalk and stir around to create a thin coconut stew.
6. Add the fish pieces, skin side up and the marinade.
7. Raise the heat, and once the stew stars to boil lower the heat. Cover and cook for around 10 minutes, or until the fish is completely cooked through.
8. Serve with plain rice, with a little lime.

Kanom Krok

Little thai dumplings that are crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside, with a sweet coconut milk jelly filling. I had these in thailand, stuffed with crisp bacon and scallions. These little dumplings need a special pan, called an appa pan, a flat bottomed pan with small circular indentations for batter (like an aebleskiver pan), and with the amount of coconut milk in, are quite easy free to make as it slips off the pan. It needs around 30 minutes of preparatory time and 4-5 minutes to cook. They're great by themselves, or can be served with a little sweet chili sauce to add some heat.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp uncooked rice
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 5 cups coconut milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• chopped cilantro to garnish (or finely chopped scallions, ginger or bacon bits)

Method

1. Heat 1 cup of the coconut milk with the cornflour water mixture and 2 tbsp sugar. Heat on a low flame and cook until it thickens to create a sweet thick coconut jelly. Set aside and let it cool.
2. Grind the grated coconut and uncooked rice together into a fine mixture.
3. Add the remaining coconut milk, sugar, rice flour and salt and blend it with the ground rice mixture to create a thin batter.
4. Heat the appa pan on a low flame and pour spoonfuls of the batter into each indentation, making sure that it remains just below the rim of each indentation. I used a non-stick pan and thus didn't need to add any oil to the pan, but in case your pan isn't non-stick, brush some oil over it prior to pouring the batter. 
5. Add a small spoonful of the jelly to the top of the batter and garnish lightly with the chopped cilantro.
6. Cover and let it cook for around 3-4 minutes on a low flame, until the bottom of each dumpling half is a crisp brown.
7. Take out each dumpling half with a spoon and keep aside.
8. While still hot, place one half over another to create a circular dumpling and leave aside. Do this while hot as the jelly will act as a glue and keep the dumpling halves together.
9. Keep stirring the batter prior to pouring as the ground rice will settle to the bottom.
10. Serve hot, but be aware that the jelly will be piping hot. So avoid gulping down or biting directly into the dumpling. Gin Dee Dee