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.

Sri Lankan Fish Curry

This bright yellow curry is sweet and lightly spiced, with a focus on the individual flavours of each spice. Some variants of it use gambooge or tamarind juice to add a little sourness, but I prefer to add lemon grass for that light lemony flavour. I had this curry in Mirissa with tuna and boiled rice and was amazed by its light playful melding of sweet coconut with bitter coriander. A vegetarian version of the curry can be made by substituting the fish with okra (lady's finger) and frying the okra with the onions prior to stewing it in the coconut milk. 

For the fish, this curry is typically made with thick cut tuna steaks, but I preferred to use Malabar Trevally. Malabar Trevally is a firm white sea fish with a fairly bland taste. I preferred this fish to the strong flavoured tuna as the bland fish acts as a great palette for the spices of the curry. You can use Basa or a similar firm white fish, but try to get skin-on filets as it will prevent the fish from disintegrating while stewing.

Ingredients

• 300 g Malabar Trevally filet, with skin, cut into large chunks
• 1 star anise
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cups thin coconut milk
• 1 inch cinnamon
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 stalk lemon grass
• 1 pandan leaf (or substitute with 1 bayleaf)
• 1 green chili, slit and chop into large chunks
• 1 handful curry leaves
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder
• salt to taste

Method

1. Add some salt and half the turmeric to the fish and rub it into the fish. Let it aside for an hour.
2. Heat the coriander, cumin and star anise in a pan and roast lightly to release its aroma.
3. Remove the star anise and pound the cumin and coriander into a fine powder.
4. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions. Sweat down the onions till it turns translucent. 
5. Add the curry leaves, green chilies and the coriander-cumin powder. Fry lightly and add the chopped tomato.
6. Once the tomato has cooked add the cinnamon, coconut milk and star anise and lower the flame.
7. Bash the lemon grass with the back of a spatula, and add it to the pan along with the turmeric, pandan (bayleaf), fish pieces and salt to taste. Stir it lightly to get the turmeric to evenly diffuse.
8. Cover and let it stew on a low flame till the fish is cooked.
9. Serve up with boiled rice or appams. 

Shorshe Maach

I've been trying to re-create this dish ever since I had it at Number 6 Ballygunj Lane. At that time, I had it with luchis (deep fried wheat bread), which isn't the ideal compliment to the dish as gravy is quite thin. This dish is best served with plain rice, which soaks up that wonderful mustard gravy. While making it, be careful with the quantity of mustard used, its a temperamental spice, and has this incredibly strong and bitter flavour. I used yellow mustard seeds, but if you're using black mustard seeds, use 1/3 of the listed amount. With the fish, I used a filets of a sweet river fish, called roopchand, but any other sweet river fish, such as basa, can be used. This dish can also be made as a vegetarian gravy with the use of parboiled potatoes and aubergines.

Ingredients

• 300 g filets of any sweet river fish, cut into bite sized pieces
• 3 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 3 tsp poppy seeds
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 cup water, at room temperature
• 1 tsp nigella seeds
• 1 tsp mustard oil
• 2 green chilies, roughly chopped
• salt to taste

Method

1. Add the mustard and poppy seeds to the warm water and set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Add 1 tsp of the turmeric and some salt to the fish, coat it evenly on the pieces of fish and set aside for 20 minutes.
3. After soaking the mustard and poppy seeds, filter out half the water and add the water, mustard and poppy seeds to a grinder. Add the green chilies and grind into a coarse paste. I would caution against tasting it, as the paste is extremely bitter and will leave you in a coughing fit.
4. Add the oil to a pan on high heat, and once it starts smoking, add the nigella seeds and the remaining turmeric and lower the heat to medium. 
5. Let the nigella seeds release their aroma before adding the fish filets. 
6. Fry lightly on both sides and then add the mustard paste. Stir around to ensure that it coats the fish and add the remaining cup of water.
7. Add salt to taste and bring the water to a boil before reducing the heat to low. Cover and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. If the gravy seems too thick, add some water to get the desired amount of gravy.
8. Once the fish is cooked through, take it off the heat, and let it stand for 5-6 minutes.
9. Serve hot with plain rice, or rice lightly flavoured with a few cardamoms and cumin.

Egg Ribbon Salad

Was headed to a buffet for dinner the other night (a friend had sold it to me with such zeal that I had to have a light lunch to do it justice), and so decided to make a light salad for lunch. This salad is incredibly quick to make, and lightly dressed with a sweet and sour asian style dressing. I used fish sauce in my dressing, to add a nice sour and salty zing, but if you're making a vegetarian version, any flavoured salad vinegar, such as a sherry or cider vinegar can be used to add sourness. The preparation time is around 10 minutes, and the cooking and assembling another 10 minutes. 

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium purple onion, chopped into cubes
• 1 tomato, chopped into cubes
• 1 inch ginger, sliced into matchsticks
• 1 tbsp jalapeños, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp honey
• pepper to taste

Method

1. Beat the eggs and add a little salt and pepper to taste.
2. Heat the butter in a pan, and when hot, and turning brown, add the eggs, spread around and then lower the heat and cover.
3. Cook for a minute on low heat to create a thin and firm omlette and flip it around.
4. Cook on the other side on a low flame to create a thin and brightly yellow omelet.
5. Take it off the pan and set aside to cool.
6. Mix the olive oil, fish sauce, soy sauce and honey and beat around in a large bowl with a fork to create an emulsion. The fish sauce adds the required saltiness to the salad, but in case you're using salad vinegar in its place, add a little salt to the dressing.
7. Add the chopped onion, ginger, jalapeños and tomato to the dressing and toss around.
8. In the meantime, the omelet would have cooled. Roll it and cut it into ribbons.
9. Add these ribbons of egg to the salad and toss it around to ensure that the dressing evenly coats the egg. Be careful while tossing the egg to prevent the egg ribbons from snapping.
10. Serve up either by itself or as an accompaniment to the main. 

Mustard Crusted Tuna with Spiced Couscous

Its tuna season, at least in Bangalore it is, and there were some wonderfully fresh specimens at the store. I love the feel of tuna, its skin has this leathery quality and the entire fish glistens in the light. I also decided to filet it at home, which with tuna is such a painful task as it has these little pin bones throughout. I served it up with a yellow mustard crust and some saffron infused couscous. The mustard adds a bitter crust, so if you're not serving it with the couscous, choose something a little sweet to cut through the bitterness.

Ingredients

Tuna

• 2 skin-on filets of tuna
• 1 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tsp paprika
• 4 peppercorns
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Couscous

• 1/2 cup dry instant couscous
• 1/2 cup water (or such other quantity as specified in the couscous instructions)
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 1/2 onion, filed chopped
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1 pinch saffron
• 4 almonds, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Grind the mustard seeds, paprika and peppercorns into a fine mixture.
2. Pat dry the tuna filets and rub salt into them.
3. Place them skin side down and dust with the mustard seeds powder. Cover the flesh side evenly with the mustard powder mixture by shaking the dish.
4. Set aside for 15 minutes.
5. Heat the oil in a pan, on high heat. 
6. Once it starts smoking, reduce the heat to a medium-high and add the tuna filets skin-side down.
7. Let the skin crispen up and then flip to cook the flesh side down.
8. Once the mustard crust forms and the fish is cooked to your desired doneness (I like it well done), remove from the heat.
9. Add the saffron to the tbsp of hot water and set aside to infuse.
10. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions.
11. Sweat out the onions till they turn translucent, then lower the heat and add the couscous.
12. Stir around to even coat the couscous and add the nutmeg powder.
13. Heat the remaining water and add the saffron liquid to it.
14. Add the hot water to the couscous and set aside for 5 minuted, covered.
15. Add the chopped almonds to the couscous and fluff it.
16. Create a bed with the couscous and place the fish on top. Serve hot, with a sprinkling of lime juice.

Baguette and Braided Bread

Warm bread lathered with fresh butter and served up with scrambled eggs; show me a person who can resist that. I left the dough to rise over-night, so it had a little sourness through it, but it can be made with just 4 hours of resting time. Also, I used a mix of wholewheat and white flour, to make just that little bit healthier. The same dough can be used to make braided bread, baguettes, pain d'epi or any other artisan bread. The preparation time is around 30 minutes for the kneading and 4 hours (minimum) to rest, and the cooking time is 25 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 2 cups white flour
• 1 cup luke warm water
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sugar
• salt to taste

Method

1. Mix the sugar and yeast in the lukewarm water, and set aside for a few minutes.
2. When the yeast mixture starts frothing, add it to the flours and salt.
3. Make a soft dough, and knead it, punch it and roll it around to release that gluten.
4. Once the dough is elastic and contracts when stretched, roll into a ball and place in a large bowl.
5. Cover with a cloth and keep aside in a dry and cool place to rise.
6. Set aside till the dough doubles in size, about 4 hours or overnight.
7. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and split into four equal parts.
8. Roll out the each part into any desired shape and keep aside for 30 minutes.
9. Beat the egg and once each part has doubled in size, baste with the beaten egg.
10. Place each part on a floured board and in a pre-heated oven at 190C.
11. Cook for 20-25 minutes, till the bread gets a golden brown crust.
12. Lather with butter and serve up warm with soup or scrambled eggs.

Pan fried Pomfret with Zucchini Couscous

Got a new camera, so have put up bigger and clearer pictures. Also finally found some cous-cous in Bangalore, so I put the two together to produce that. A fresh filet of black pomfret lightly seasoned and pan fried served on a bed of zucchini couscous with some lemon juiced on top. You can use any firm white fleshed fish, I used pomfret as it adds sweetness and remains moist through the frying process. A thin bottom feeder, like sole is ideal for such pan frying as it skin crispens up beautifully. I rehydrated the couscous in chicken stock to add flavour, but ordinary salted water or vegetable stock can be used as well. This is quite literally a 15 minute dish, with the preparation taking around 10 minutes and the cooking another 5 minutes.

Ingredients

Fish

• 2 filets of black pomfret with skin
• 1 tsp paprika
• flour for dusting
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp butter

Cous-cous

• 3/4 cup dry couscous
• 3/4 cup chicken stock (or as per package instructions)
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Wash and pat dry the fish filets, and add the paprika, salt and pepper to the flesh side of the filets.
2. Rub the seasonings into the flesh of the fish and dust with flour.
3. Rub a little salt on the skin side of the fish.
4. Spread the flour on the fish and set aside for 10 minutes.
5. The flour and salt will pull some water out of the fish to make firmer.
6. Heat the oil in a pan.
7. When the oil begins to smoke, lower the heat to a moderate-high heat and add the butter.
8. Stir and melt the butter, and once the froth subsides add the fish, skin side down to the pan.
9. Shake a pan slightly to make sure the fish does not stick and then leave it on a moderate-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
10. Once the skin has crispened, gently flip the fish onto the flesh side.
11. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
12. Remove from the pan and save the butter-oil mixture.
13. Heat the chicken stock and add it to the couscous, cover and set aside to rehydrate for 5 minutes.
14. Fry the zucchini in the butter-oil liquid (add a tbsp more oil in case the fish absorbs most of the oil), to soften and cook through.
15.  Mix the rehydrated couscous with the zucchini and create a bed of the couscous on a plate.
16. Place the fish over the couscous and dress with the lemon juice.