Recipe Source: Panjabi, Camellia. 50 Great Curries of India. Kyle Cathie Limited, 2007 p. 132
Everyone makes New Year resolutions, right? No matter who we are or what we do, as the year changes there is a real urge to try to Do Better as we change to a new year. Whether it is the calendar year, the agricultural year, the school year, the religious calendar - however well we did the previous year we want to improve going forward. I'm not much different. Every year it seems like I make the same resolutions. I'm going to lose weight. (This may or may not even be possible in my case, but I resolve to do it every year. It's almost like a reflex.) I'm going to save money. I'm going to feed my family healthier meals. All three of these mean eating less frequently in restaurants. This is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we get busy and really have little choice but to grab something while we're on the run. Sometimes I'm just too exhausted, mentally or physically, to even look at the kitchen. Sometimes when I'm entertaining I just don't want to eat at home the night before, to avoid dirtying the kitchen. One way to avoid those pitfalls is to have meals ready to eat during the week, so that all I have to do is heat and eat. Curries are a great style of recipe for that plan. They tend to reheat very well, and it's easy to make curries in a healthy manner.
This curry is one such dish. I made it before the New Year, actually, during the hectic holiday season. It cooks up very quickly, it's very flavorful, it's not terribly fatty and it reheats very nicely. I made some changes as well you may expect. The fish I used was tilapia. You can get tilapia loins very cheaply at Costco, individually flash-frozen and wrapped. I increased the green chiles since it was just going to be the two of us and we prefer very spicy food. I used garlic paste, increased the net amount of garlic and added some ginger to boot. I omitted the mint to accommodate my husband's food allergy and I omitted the cashews in case my daughter wanted to try some - she is not yet allowed to eat tree nuts lest she break out in allergies. I reduced the oil and omitted the sugar because they weren't necessary, and since I was out of cumin seeds I used ground cumin. The end result was a very tasty weeknight meal that satisfied both of us.
Parsi-style Fish Curry (serves 2; approx. $4.44/serving)
2 tablespoons lime hiice
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Kosher salt to taste
2 tilapia loins
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup grated coconut
10 green chiles, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
2 bunches cilantro, leaves and stalks please, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Equipment:
- Food processor
- Mini-prep miniature food processor
- Large wok or saute pan
- Non-reactive dish or shallow bowl
- Mix half the lime juice with the turmeric, a pinch of kosher salt and maybe a little water if it needs it. Spread over the fish in the non-reactive dish and set aside 20 minutes.
- Combine the coconut, chiles, onion, garlic, ginger, poppy seeds, cardamom, mace and fennel in the mini-prep. Grind to a paste, adding a little water if need be.
- Use the full-size processor to puree the cilantro leaves.
- Mix the coriander powder with a little bit of water to make a paste.
- Heat the oil with the cumin in the wok.
- Add the coriander powder paste. Cook 10 seconds.
- Add the coconut paste and saute 7 minutes.
- Add the remaining lime juice, cilantro puree and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil.
- Add the fish and cook until the fish is cooked through, 7 - 10 minutes over low-medium heat.
- Serve.
