This is a great stand-by aromatic, mild curry with loads of flavour. It is made mainly from store cupboard/freezer staples. With ingredients like frozen hake, a can of coconut milk and some spices from the store cupboard it can be rustled up in less than 15 minutes.
To speed you on your way keep ginger stored in a plastic bag in the fridge or pre-grate in the freezer in a snap lock box. Lemon grass keeps well in the fridge for several weeks. I whizz it in a mini food processor and store in the freezer, like ginger and take a teaspoonful at a time to use in mild curries. Kaffir lime leaves can be frozen too.
Spices should be whole and ground as you need them. I use a huge pestle and mortar to grind cumin and coriander seeds to sand. Give the pestle some arm action and the job will be done in a jiffy.
The only fresh, perishable ingredient is tomato which needs to be kept at ambient temperature otherwise it goes soft and mushy. At a push you could use half a can of tinned tomatoes in this recipe.
It is a lovely dish to begin autumn and the descent into the dark months of the year.
Fish curry with coconut, lemongrass and kaffir lime sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
- A drizzle of vegetable oil - about 2 tbsp
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 red chilli, seeds removed and chopped finely
- 2 walnut sized piece of fresh ginger peeled the finely grated
- 2 tsp whole coriander seeds, ground
- 1 tbsp whole cumin seeds, ground
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 2 kaffir lime leaves*
- 1 stick of lemongrass, very finely chopped*
- 200 mls coconut milk
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
- salt and pepper
- 400 g white fish, cut into small chunks or a mix of white fish and prawns (or chicken breast)
- 1 tbsp coriander, chopped
*if you do not have lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves leave them out. The curry will still taste good.
Method
Drizzle the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan and gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli until soft but not brown.
Add the ground coriander, cumin and turmeric and ginger to the pan and cook gently for a minute. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add the pan and continue to cook gently. Next add the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves if using followed by the coconut milk.
Mix the ingredients together well and allow to simmer gently for about 10 minutes (during which time you can cook some Basmati rice which takes about 12 minutes to cook).
At this point the sauce can get a little dry and so add a little water if the curry needs more liquid.
You are then ready to add fish or chicken to the sauce. If using fish or prawns allow 6-8 minutes to cook at a simmer. Chicken will take about 15 minutes and make sure the simmer is lively as chicken needs to be cooked well for it to be safe to eat.
Serve your curry with rice, strewn with a little chopped coriander.
