Sunday, January 24, 2016

Fish Curry

Today, I made myself a fish curry, using frozen fish fillets.  *Warning* - there is a picture of the raw fish fillets!

The frozen fish is skinless and boneless and comes individually wrapped in a resealable bag, which makes it convenient if you want to cook only one or two pieces at a time and keep the rest for another day.  Each package contains 12 oz. of fish and usually that translates to 3 individual pieces (of varying sizes).  I paid $2.49 for the package (back in July 17; this is quite common - I'll buy something on sale and keep in the freezer and use it several months later).  I will estimate that the rest of the ingredients cost about $1.00 or $1.50 at the most.  I decided to cook the entire package in one go, so I'll have "planned-overs" for another couple of meals over the coming week.

Since I decided to take some pictures for the blog, I took the time to set out all the ingredients at one time: the bag of fish, an onion, garlic, a green Serrano chilli, yellow curry powder, red chilli powder, a lemon, and a sprig or two of fresh curry leaves from my garden (optional or can use a couple of sage leaves instead).  If I had a tomato or two, I would have added that, too, but I didn't have any tomato, so omitted it.


Fish Curry Ingredients

First, I sliced the onion.  As usual, I sliced the entire onion and then, put what I didn't need in a zippered bag and put it in the freezer.  This way, I always have sliced (or diced, as the case maybe) onion in the freezer.

Onion Cutting Tip:  I used to cry every time I cut onions, practically with the very first cut.  I have since learned that if I store the onions in the fridge for at least a couple of days before I need them, I don't tear.  The longer they are stored in the fridge, the better.  So, now, I put the onions in the fridge as soon as I buy them.

I also sliced the green chilli and removed a few cloves of garlic from the bulb, as I didn't need a whole bulb of garlic.  The garlic, too, is stored in the fridge.

The Prepared Ingredients

 I used the fish fillets while they were still frozen.  I just removed from the individual wrapping and put in a pan.

Frozen, Raw Fish Fillets
 I then added some water to the pan, put it on medium heat, and added the rest of the ingredients - the sliced onions, sliced green chilli (omit if you want it less spicy, or add whole, or deseeded), cleaned cloves of garlic, a handful of the curry leaves, 2 heaping teaspoons of curry powder, 2 heaping teaspoons of chilli powder (reduce the amount of chilli powder if you want it less spicy), the juice of the lemon (I added half of the peeled lemon, as well, for increased flavor). 

With Water and Ingredients

I stirred in all the ingredients and left it to cook for a few minutes:

  
 Then, added a splash of milk and some salt to season:

After Adding Milk
A few minutes more of simmering and the curry was ready for eating.  It took me less than 20 minutes from start to finish.


Finished Fish Curry

I ate it with some rice flour noodles for my lunch. There's enough curry remaining for another 2 or maybe even 3 meals.

Do you eat fish?  How do you prepare it?  Have you ever tried fish curry?  Do you think you might try making fish curry?  If so, you can always lessen the amount of chilli or omit it altogether.

12 comments:

  1. That's a great tip about onions! I have never heard it before, but I think I know where my onions will go now. Thank you!

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  2. I was just telling myself a couple of days ago that I needed to look up the tricks about peeling onions without crying because I just bought a bag of them and I want to dice and freeze them but I can only do that 2 onions at the time because they sting my eyes so badly! So I will try your trick. Thanks!

    I've never had fish curry but that sounds and looks delicious! Can you use any type of fish? I don't have pollock but I think I have tilapia. I usually buy tilapia as I have several recipes for it and it's pretty cheap, still. We love salmon but these days it's too expensive for my budget. Well, the fresh one at least. The frozen one usually doesn't have much of a taste at all.

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    1. Nathalie, I, too, had tried all the things they say to do to prevent the tears - lighting a candle, keeping the root end intact until you come to that end, cutting the onions under water, etc. None of them really worked. But keeping them in the fridge for a few days before cutting them seems to work just fine for me. I hope it does the same for you.

      Yes, you can use any type of fish for a curry. Tilapia should be fine. I like salmon, too, and it's my daughter's favorite. I buy it when it goes on sale for $3.99/lb. and saute it with onions, tomatoes, lemon, salt and pepper.

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  3. Lyssa commented on my post and I deleted it by accident. But I was able to copy it from my inbox and paste it here; Lyssa's comment:

    Lyssa Medana has left a new comment on your post "Sunday: Orange Cleaner and More Greenery":

    I am going to shamelessly steal the orange cleaner! It sounds lovely - although here it will be shop bought oranges and lemons as I can't grow oranges in my garden - I do envy you that! x

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    1. Feel free to make your own citrus cleaner using bought lemons and oranges (or tangerines, etc.) As I mentioned before, I like it because I know what's in it - citrus peels and vinegar - and there are no additional additives, etc.

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  4. I have never had curry.. But, this sounds and looks really good. I am happy that you put the recipe on here.. I am going to try it..Do you cook your chicken curry the same way? It sounds like it would be low calorie also?

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    1. Judy, let me know if you make the fish curry. You can make chicken curry the same way, too. I use a slightly different type of curry powder (dark roasted, not as yellow as what I used for the fish), but that's a personal choice. The yellower curry powder is fine for chicken, too. Also, I like to add the curry powder and other spices to the chicken and let it marinate a bit before I cook it, and I saute the chicken before I add the water, but, one can omit the sauteing step.

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  5. I eat fish now, but never liked it growing up, so although mum sometimes made fish curry for herself and dad, or sometimes for guests, I never tried it. Mum stopped making fish curry for guests because she felt it was not as popular as her other curries. (Indian restaurants here don't tend to serve fish curry, so perhaps people were not familiar with the idea.) However fish curry is a very typical Goan dish, even if the sauce is different from yours.

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    1. I think curry in general vary from place to place and from cook to cook, too! Even the curry blends we use can differ. :)

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    2. Sure. Huge regional and personal variations. It wasn't a criticism!

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    3. Not to worry; I didn't take it as a criticism. :)

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