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Fish Curry

This fragrant tomato-and-coconut curry with pieces of flaky white fish is a staple at chef Meherwan Irani’s dinner table. At home, he likes to make double or triple batches of the coconut milk curry (see his recipe for All-Purpose Coconut Curry here) and freeze it in two-cup portions. Then, when he’s ready for dinner, all he has to do is defrost a portion and sear pieces of spiced whitefish that finish cooking in the reheated curry. If you want to prepare this recipe with premade curry, bring 2 cups curry to a gentle simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the seared fish to the pan and simmer until the fish is opaque and flakes easily.
Servings: 4
Author: Bon Appétit

Ingredients

Fish:

  • 1 ½ pounds firm white fish such as grouper, tilapia, or cod, cut into 2" pieces
  • 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon Morton
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil

Curry and assembly:

  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
  • 3–4 curry leaves fresh or dried, optional
  • ½ teaspoon asafetida optional
  • 1 3-inch piece ginger peeled, finely grated
  • 5 cloves garlic finely grated
  • kosher salt
  • 1 large red onion chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk not low-fat
  • 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth or chicken broth
  • thinly sliced red onion, cilantro leaves with tender stems; cooked basmati rice, wild rice, or warm naan; and lime wedges (for serving) cilantro leaves with tender stems; cooked basmati rice, wild rice, or warm naan; and lime wedges (for serving)

Instructions

Brown the fish:

  • Combine the fish, salt, chile powder, and turmeric in a medium bowl and, using your hands, gently toss the fish to evenly coat in the spices.
  • Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Working in batches to avoid crowding, cook fish pieces until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side (the fish won’t be cooked all the way through).
  • Transfer the fish to a plate.

Bloom the spices and cook the onions:

  • Heat grapeseed oil in a medium Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat.
  • Add a few mustard seeds to the pot. When seeds start to wiggle and pop, reduce the heat to medium and add curry leaves, asafetida, and remaining mustard seeds.
  • Cover the pot and cook the spices, swirling, until mustard seeds start popping more gradually, about 30 seconds.
  • Uncover the pot and return heat to medium-high.
  • Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to brown, about 1 minute.
  • Add chopped onion and a big pinch of salt and cook, stirring often and reducing heat if needed to prevent burning, until the onion is golden brown and jammy, 7–9 minutes.

Cook the tomatoes:

  • Stir in turmeric, then tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
  • Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are glossy and darkened in color and oil starts to separate around edges of pot, 5–7 minutes.

Finish the curry:

  • Add coconut milk and broth and stir to combine.
  • Season with salt.
  • Bring the curry to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low.
  • Cover and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, 10 minutes.

Finish and serve:

  • Add the fish to the curry.
  • Return to a gentle simmer and cook until the fish is just cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, about 4 minutes.
  • Taste and season with more salt if needed.
  • Divide the fish curry among bowls.
  • Top with sliced red onion and cilantro.
  • Serve with rice and lime wedges for squeezing over.