This recipe hails from Rick's travels around India in search of the ultimate curry. Of every dish is tasted on the journey, he selected this one as his very favourite. Best made with sea bass fillets, due to their firm flesh, fillets of monkfish or gurnard.
Serves 4
- 60ml vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 15g/3 cloves garlic, finely - crushed
- 30 fresh curry leaves
- 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 100ml Tamarind liquid (60g tamarind pulp and 120ml just boiled water)
- 2 green chillies, each sliced
lengthways into 6 pieces, with seeds
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 sea bass fillets, cut into 5cm chunks
To serve, boiled basmati rice
1) First, make the tamarind liquid. Take the tamarind pulp and put it in a bowl with the water. Leave to soak for 15 minutes, then work the paste with your fingers until it has broken down and the seeds have been released. Strain the slightly syrupy mixture through a fine sieve, rubbing it well against the sides of the sieve to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the fibrous material and seeds left behind.
2) Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and fry for 30 seconds, then stir in the onion and garlic and fry gently for about 1 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
3) Add the curry leaves, chilli powder, coriander and turmeric and fry for 2 minutes, then stir in the tomatoes, tamarind liquid, green chillies and salt and simmer for about 10 minutes until rich and reduced.
4) Add the fish, cook for a further 5 minutes or until just cooked through.
5) Serve with basmati rice.
Rick's madras fish curry is perfect to enjoy with your family on a Friday or Saturday night with a few cold beers and some lively chat around the table. Once you've mastered the recipe you won't be getting a takeaway again.
Happy cooking.
