This memorable and fragrant
Malaysian curry is easy to make, forgiving to substitutions, and keeps
well. It traditionally uses any firm white fish (defrosted is fine), but tofu
works beautifully. Reduce the quantity of chili if you prefer a milder dish.
Serve with brown or white rice and herbs.
Sauce base ingredients (if you have
some Universal Curry Sauce, set aside 2 cups of that):
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion or 2
shallots, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic,
chopped or 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp coriander
powder (optional if you have curry leaves)
2 tsp curry powder
(optional if you have curry leaves)
1 tsp salt (or less
if using chili sauce or salty ginger-garlic paste)
1 cup of tomato
puree
Other ingredients (see the bottom of this post for a simplified version with fewer ingredients):
2 fresh red
chilies, chopped (leave seeds in if you want more heat), or 2 tsp chili flakes,
or 2 tsp chili sauce or Sambal Oelek
10 kaffir lime
leaves (fresh/frozen & bruised is best – but if you don’t have the leaves
you can approximate the taste by using zest of 1 big lime)
handful curry
leaves, about 15 (these adds a wonderful dimension, but can be substituted with
chopped cilantro in a pinch)
1.5 lb tofu/white
fish filets cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 can of coconut
milk or 2/3 cups coconut cream with 2/3 cup hot water
A few squeezes lime
juice, to taste (if you used vinegary chili sauce, it’s ok to skip the lime
juice)
½ cup chopped
cilantro leaves
In a large pot on
medium-high heat, add oil, onion, garlic; sauté till onion is translucent. Add the
spices and salt.
>Start here if
using Universal Curry Sauce:
Before putting in the
sauce, in a few teaspoons of oil quickly fry the chilies, curry leaves and
kaffir lime leaves or lime zest, if using. Add tofu/fish and tomato or curry
sauce; cook until gently bubbling. Finally add coconut milk – coconut milk
should not boil or it may curdle; simmer very gently 3 more minutes (check to
make sure fish, if using, is cooked through but not overdone). Turn off heat
and stir in lime juice and a dash of sugar, to taste.
Coconut- tomato curry
This is a simplified version of
the above curry, with a slightly different flavor, but still memorably fragrant
and forgiving to substitutions. Serve hot with brown or white rice, herbs for
garnish, and a green salad or simple steamed greens.
Sauce base ingredients (if you have
some Universal Curry Sauce, just add the other ingredients to 3 cups of that):
2 Tbsp oil
1 large or 2 small
onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic,
chopped or 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 Tbsp curry powder (or
1 Tbsp curry and 2 tsp ground coriander)
1 tsp salt
2 cups crushed or
pureed tomatoes or canned tomato sauce (unflavored)
Other ingredients:
1 cup of coconut
milk or 2/3 cups coconut cream with 2/3 cup hot water
1.5 lb white fish
filets/firm tofu/tempeh/Quorn cut into large chunks
½ cup fresh, finely
chopped cilantro or parsley to garnish
2 Tbsp fresh lime
juice or lime wedges to serve (lemon is ok too, or skip altogether if you don’t
have any on hand)
In a large pot on
medium-high heat, add oil, onion, garlic; sauté till onion is caramelized
(careful not to burn it or turn it too dark). Add salt, curry and sauté another
minute before adding tomato sauce. The trick to this curry is to let all the
flavors blend really well, so you’ll want to simmer the tomato sauce for at
least 10 minutes.
>Start here if
using Universal Curry Sauce:
To the curry sauce add
coconut milk –simmer very gently on low heat 5 more minutes. In the meantime
cut up your fish or tofu. Add fish/tofu and continue simmering for another 5
minutes until well cooked. Taste
your sauce. If your curry does not have as much heat as you would like, add red
or black pepper to taste. Turn
off heat and stir in lime juice and/or a dash of sugar (optional), to taste, using
less or more juice depending on the acidity of your tomatoes.
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