by bhagya

Ingredients:

500 grams firm white fish in large boneless chunks (kingfish, swordfish, marlin, ling are good)
1 onion, very finely chopped
4 green chillies, slit
¾ cup coconut milk
oil, as required
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground red chilli
25 grams tamarind*
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
a handful of curry leaves
salt to taste

Method:

1. Toss the fish with a pinch of salt and another of turmeric and set aside.
2. Soak the tamarind in ½ cup warm water and set aside.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil and sauté the onions and chillies until the onions are golden brown. Keep stirring so that they don’t burn.
4. Add red chilli, coriander and turmeric and sauté for one more minute.
5. Extract the juice from the soaked tamarind and add to the onion mixture with ¾ cup of water.
6. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat, add the marinated fish and simmer until done.
7. Add coconut milk and curry leaves then simmer for another minute. Turn off the heat. Taste and adjust the sour flavour (tamarind) and salt to suit you. Serve hot with rice.

* If you don’t have access to a pressed block of tamarind, Coles and Woolies sell tamarind purée. If you have tamarind paste on hand, it’s best to add a tablespoon at first and more later to suit your taste