Rice Bowl with Fish Curry

Rice Bowl with Fish Curry

Makes 3 rice bowls

or if you are a fish curry and rice lover like me, serves 2 🙂

 

 

This is an easy and delectable week night meal that cooks in under 15 minutes ! My ancestors come from the coastal region of Western India where fish, coconut and rice were the staple foods. Little wonder then, that I love this dish so much:) I love the rice ‘soaked ‘ in the curry so this recipe makes enough curry to spoon extra curry over the rice.

My friends and my children are encouraged to know how easy it is to make this fish curry and want to make it. So here is the step-by step I follow. I start by making the Basmati rice in the electric rice cooker. While the rice is cooking, I marinate the fish, get the other ingredients lined up and am ready to make the curry. By the time the rice is cooked, my fish curry is ready too!

Here are a few details about some of the ingredients I use-

•  Fish-I used a wild Alaskan Cod fillet because it was the ‘fresh catch of the day’ but feel free to use any fish fillet that you like.This recipe also works well with shrimp.
• Coconut milk-I buy the coconut milk powder pouches such as the Renuka brand or the ChaoThai brand  available in Indian and Asian grocery stores. You may use canned coconut milk too. I prefer to use the coconut milk powder because I  find it easier to store  leftover powder for future use.
• Tamarind- I use the dried tamarind pods (available in Indian stores in a pressed ‘slab’ form) and soak them in warm water for a few minutes to get their pulp.
• Coconut oil- This is optional. I love the taste of coconut oil in this dish, so I add a teaspoon of it.

For the rice- I used 1 cup of white Basmati rice + 2 cups of water. You may use brown Basmati rice too.

Ingredients-

• 1 fresh fillet of  wild Alaskan Cod, ( or any fish fillet of your choice) about 3/4 pounds. I cut mine into 3  pieces.

For the marinade–

• 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon medium hot red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
• sea salt to taste

For the curry-

• 1 tablespoon dry tamarind pods, soaked in a little warm water to extract about 4 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
• 1/2 tablespoon olive or canola oil +1 teaspoon coconut oil( optional) or use an additional teaspoon of olive or canola oil
• 1 small onion,peeled and finely diced
• 1 medium plum tomato, finely diced
• 1/3 cup coconut milk powder +1 teaspoon all purpose flour combined well with 2/3 cups of water
• sea salt to taste

To make the fish curry-

1. Once I set the rice for cooking, I marinate the fish. I cut the fillet into 3 pieces. To marinate, combine all ingredients for marinade and gently coat both sides of the each fillet piece. Set aside.

   

2. Soak the tamarind in the warm water for a few minutes while you dice the onion and tomato and mix the coconut powder mixture.

   

3. Squeeze out the pulp form the tamarind. Discard seeds or any fibrous coating (if any)from the tamarind pods.

   

   4. Heat the olive or canola oil+ the coconut oil (if using) over medium heat and stir fry the diced onion in it until it starts to caramelize, about 1 ½ minutes or so.

5. Add the diced tomatoes and stir them for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Lay the fish fillet pieces gently on this mixture.              7. Gently pour the coconut powder+ flour +water mixture all over the fish. Add a little sea salt and let the mixture simmer on                     low for  about  4 minutes or until the fish fillets are cooked. If you have a thick and chunky fillet or a fish steak, cook for an additional 2  to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.To serve-

In a bowl ,create a bed of  1 cup of the cooked Basmati rice, add the fish fillet and ladle the curry over it. Simply scrumptious! Enjoy!