It’s Friday night and Hector is going nowhere, housebound for forty eight hours already, and all because of – a wee bit of snow. Fish Curry came to mind, but not my usual Machi Masala with Cream etc, perhaps something more basic? Some leftover Fish was defrosted at Lunchtime, all of it was in Breadcrumbs, not my ideal, but read on, this may be reconsidered. The majority of the Fish was already cooked, so who knows what I had in mind when it went in the freezer x months ago. I also decided to use Dry Methi today instead of the usual frozen stuff and so soaked some all afternoon.
The Standard Recipe for making a Masala was followed with one half a Dessert Spoon for the Spices, one and a half for the Salt. The Onions could have been chopped more finely, but time would take care of this, some twenty minutes, more. When I finally added some Water to the browning Onions so the required – Mash – was attained. In went the Cumin Seeds, Cinnamon Bark and Green Cardamom. When I found some Dried Curry Leaves the Mash started to look decent, and the tin of Chopped Tomatoes was not in yet. The Spices were also added later than I normally would with the Green Chillies, and eventually the Methi. This was looking good, in the way that the defrosted Fish did not.
I have always queried the use of Fish in Breadcrumbs by Indian Mango (München) who make the Best Fisch Curry ever experienced. I gently stirred in the Fish, enough to cover it in Masala then covered the Karahi. Ten minutes later I had a Fish Curry which in appearance matched my favourite Fisch Chettinad, probably down to the Breadcrumbs. Had I known it would turn out like this, dried Red Chillies would have been added to add the much loved Smokey Flavour.
Marg had escaped, and so only Hector was eating this fine creation.
Note what Hector considers to be a Sensible Portion of Rice.
When Marg saw the Leftover Curry later she was impressed, but didn’t sample any, so the Reader only has my word for it – This is the Best Fish Curry I have ever cooked. Moderately Spiced, well Seasoned, and I did not overdo the Methi. The Masala had the Gritty Texture I like (Indian Mango) due to the Curry Leaves. A Curry without Coriander! The Fish had stood up well to being reheated, the Fish Finger had been uncooked previously. Rubbery Fish was somehow avoided.
Flavour-wise, I have to boast that I was impressed. It is rare that I cook Curry without Pickle or Tamarind. Cooking Curry has become a bit of a rarity. I shall do this again, with Breaded Fish, uncooked. There’s plenty of this batch left, so it will be a while.
What’s it like out there?