Description
This Monkfish Curry is a hot and sour fish curry, loosely based on Sri Lanka's Ambul Thiyal. Best served with rice or naan to tone it down a bit. Not for the faint hearted!
Ingredients
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Hot and Sour Curry Paste
- 125ml (1/2 cup) water
- 3g (1 tsp) ground turmeric
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2.5cm (1in) fresh ginger root, peeled
- 2 green chillies, washed and deseeded
- 20g (2 tbsp) black peppercorns
- 75g (4 1/2 tbsp) tamarind paste
- 3g (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
- 2g (1/2 tsp) fenugreek seeds
- 15ml (1 tbsp) coconut oil
- 8g (1 1/2 tsp) salt
Monkfish Curry
- 375ml (1 1/2 cups) water
- 900g (2lbs) monkfish, skinned and deboned
- 20 fresh curry leaves
Instructions
For the Hot and Sour Curry Paste
- Place all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blitz until a coarse paste has formed.
For the Monkfish Curry
- Tip the paste into a large lidded saucepan.
- Add the water and stir until a sauce forms.
- Cut the fish into bite size chunks then place them in a single layer in the saucepan, turning each piece so that all surfaces are covered in the spicy sauce.
- Top with curry leaves then turn on the heat.
- Bring the pot to the boil then lower the heat to a low simmer point and cook for 10 minutes.
- Flip each piece of fish over and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately with rice and other Asian accompaniments. Enjoy!
Notes
- Monkfish can be quite expensive. This curry works just as well with other firm white fish varieties, such as kingfish, Atlantic mackerel or tuna.
- This dish is known as Sri Lankan Sour Fish Curry (Ambul Thiyal). Traditionally, the fish is dunked into the paste and cooked with a bit of water in a claypot. This recipe has been adjusted for the western world.
- In this dish, feel free to use any of these fenugreek substitutes and if you can’t get hold of coconut oil, check out these coconut oil substitutes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pan Fry
- Cuisine: Sri Lankan