Fijian Seafood Curry

14 April 2020 By

I had this marvellous seafood curry at a resort we stayed at in Fiji a few years ago. To this day whenever I make this dish, it takes me right back to the restaurant situated in front of the beach. It was a stunning South Indian style, with a thick orange curry sauce filled with small pieces of various seafood. The flavour of the base curry reminded me so much of my own Homestyle Seafood Curry Paste. But I had never thought of combining mixed seafood in a curry before, apart from in a marinara.

I was so addicted to the dish I ordered it three days in a row. This got the chef’s attention and he came to speak to me out of curiosity. He explained that it was a seafood curry the local fisherman’s family would cook at home, with the remaining catch that didn’t sell at markets. There could be a number of reasons for this such as too small, broken/damaged parts or perhaps not enough of a particular type. So the bits and pieces of their catch would make it to the fisherman’s home and most often a curry would be made. The curry would be eaten with soft rotis which was how the restaurant served it alongside some rice, raita, pickle, papadums and a cucumber tomato salad.

When I got home to Perth I lost no time in making this dish. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to recreate the same curry with so little effort. The only difference I noticed was in the freshness of the seafood in Fiji, which was typically caught each morning for the restaurant.

 

Ingredients − Serves 4

  • Combine a handful of prawns, firm fish, baby squid or baby occy, cleaned mussels and crab claws, (like a marinara mix about 800 g in total)
  • 6 small banana shallots, sliced
  • 4 tbsp mustard oil or any oil you prefer (mustard oil is pungent and fantastic but coconut oil is great too)
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 3 stalks fresh curry leaves – stripped
  • ½ jar Latasha’s Kitchen Homestyle Seafood Curry Paste Concentrate
  • 400 ml Ayam Coconut Cream
  • 200 ml water
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 3 fresh tomatoes, boil whole and remove skins, then chop into small quarters
Garnish
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Green and red chillies, thinly sliced

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Method

  1. Heat mustard oil until slightly smoky, then reduce heat to medium.
  2. Add mustard seeds and allow them to pop.
  3. Next add banana shallots and half the curry leaves. Fry for 4 minutes or until the shallots are golden.
  4. Add Latasha’s Kitchen Homestyle Seafood Curry Paste Concentrate, 100 ml water and cook for 10 minutes on low.
  5. Then add coconut cream, balance of water and chopped tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes on medium or until the liquid is thick and much reduced.
  6. Add all the seafood and gently poach until just cooked.
  7. Add lemon juice and scatter over the rest of the curry leaves.
  8. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and chillies and serve with rotis.