DHANYA SAMUEL’S KERALAN FISH CURRY

23 August 2020 By

Article By Dhanya Samuel

Melbourne Based Food, Travel, Lifestyle Writer & Photographer

Latasha’s Kitchen products are not just for those who are looking to save time cooking but for anyone who wants to create delicious food every day.

The Seafood Curry Paste concentrate is a spicy, tangy tamarind packed affair that’s absolutely flavourful and fragrant. It is my theory that you can judge the quality of a spice paste from its smell and Latasha’s Kitchen seafood curry paste is a winner. It is so fragrant and aromatic, so alive and fresh unlike the stale ones that you find on most supermarket shelves.

I had a zillion ideas buzzing around in my head when I tasted this seafood curry paste, but I decided to keep it simple and make a delicious Keralan style fish curry. This fish curry is one of the simplest and easiest curries that you can whip up. Even for those who find cooking Indian food or curries daunting, this one’s gonna be a breeze, I promise.

The unique thing about this fish curry is that instead of using coconut milk, ground coconut paste is used to flavour and thicken the gravy. Now you might wonder if that makes a difference; it sure does….while both versions have coconut, the overall flavours and texture are quite different.

Any type of fish can be used for this curry like snapper, Spanish mackerel, rockling, barramundi etc…. It’s also amazing with prawns and lobster. I have used Australian rockling; it’s a beautiful firm white fish that’s perfect for curries and cooks in no time at all.

Most of Latasha’s Kitchen sauces and curry pastes are very versatile and can be used in so many different ways. And just to showcase this, I used the other products to create a fabulous Indian dinner for my family.

So here’s the final spread;

  1. Steamed rice
  2. Keralan fish curry – with Homestyle Seafood curry paste
  3. Pan fried Spanish mackerel – marinated with Homestyle Seafood curry paste
  4. Chutney potatoes – with  Green coriander sauce
  5. Mixed veggie salad – dressed with Caramelised apple cider vinegar
  6. Zingy tomato chutney

And let’s get onto making this coconut-y delicious and tangy Keralan fish curry;

Ingredients − Serves 3

  • 650 g rockling fillets; cut into curry sized pieces
  • 1½ cups grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 large Australian shallot (use 3 if using smaller Asian shallots)
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves
  • 4 heaped tbsp Latasha’s Kitchen Homestyle Seafood Curry Paste
  • 3 cups water
  • Salt, to season

To temper

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 Australian shallots (4-5 if using smaller Asian variant); finely sliced
  • 2 sprigs curry leaves

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Method

  1. Wash the fillets, cut into large curry sized pieces and keep aside.
  2. Blend the grated coconut, shallot and half the curry leaves into a fine paste.
  3. Place a heavy bottom pan (earthenware or terracotta pan is great too) on high heat, add the coconut paste, Latasha’s Kitchen Homestyle Seafood Curry Paste, remaining curry leaves and water. Mix well and bring to boil.
  4. Once boiling, add the fish pieces and season with salt. Mix gently and cook covered on high heat for 3 minutes. Then reduce heat and continue to cook till the fish is done.
  5. Meanwhile in another pan, heat coconut oil and add the sliced shallots. Fry till it turns light brown and then add the curry leaves. Continue to fry till the shallots are almost brown, but not burnt.
  6. Add the shallots to the fish curry (do not mix) and remove from heat.
  7. Keep covered for at least 15 minutes before serving. Mix gently just before serving.