I’m so predictable… here we are on a Friday during Lent and I’m sharing a recipe for fish. Sometimes predictability is nice though, right? I mean, this is probably the perfect post for those of you wondering what to make for dinner tonight – or for those of you looking to get a head start on planning for next Friday’s meal. Here’s your answer: tamarind & coconut fish curry.
This curry is a creamy and slightly tangy fish dish perfect for serving over rice (or cauli-rice). One thing that’s pretty predictable about Indian recipes is that there’s almost always a souring agent – something that gives a dish a little tang. In this recipe, the souring agent is tamarind paste. It adds a nice depth of flavor to this spiced coconut stew.
Typically I stick to making easy fish recipes like my plantain-crusted haddock but sometimes it’s nice to make a recipe that takes a little more work but rewards with more flavor. Plus, this really doesn’t take that much more effort. That’s the great thing about seafood – it’s so quick to cook that it’s really not hard to make.
Tamarind Coconut Milk Fish Curry
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 ½ pounds haddock (or another mild white fish), cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 serrano, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1-inch ginger, chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon tamarind paste
- ½ cup coconut milk
- Cilantro, optional
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in saute pan and then add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the onion and serrano pepper.
- Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown. Then add the garlic and ginger, stir for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.
- Scoop everything from out of the pan and put it into a food processor or blender along with the water. Puree until smooth.
- Pour this back into the pan over medium heat. Add the spices and mix well. Then add the fish and mix well.
- Add the remaining coconut oil to the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
- Put the tamarind paste into a small bowl and then pour some of the hot liquid from the fish curry into the bowl to completely dissolve the paste. Add this back to the pan.
- Stir in the coconut milk, garnish with cilantro and serve.
- Note: this fish curry tastes better the next day.
Yumm!
I make a similar dish, but usually miss one or two ingredients. I am going to try your recipe.
Check out kodampuli. We usually use it for fish and shrimp in Kerala.
I hope ya love this recipe 🙂
Oops,
Sorry just saw your salmon fish curry with kodampuli☺️
Love your recipes. So organized! Makes my cooking so much more easier.
Thank you!! 🙂
Just what I needed today. I need fish recipes with no night shades.
Hope you love it!
Hi,
This recipe sounds amazing …. what can you use instead of serrano???? I haven’t seen it before. Thanks
Hi Dawn, you can use a different chili pepper – a Thai bird chili or even a jalapeno. Hope that helps!
It worked a treat! …. what a beautiful recipe – one I’ll be making a lot more often. Thanks so much for all your recipes ….one word YUM
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awesome!! so happy to hear that 🙂
Hi Ashley,
My husband stopped eating fish a few years back and ever since I saw your recipe, I have been craving to eat this mallu dish.
So I made your fish curry without fish 😉
I used extra firm tofu. I seared it before I put it into the curry.
It was awesome! Esp the next day as you mentioned.
Thank you!
Laika, I’m so glad you made this! And it’s good to know that this dish tastes good when you substitute tofu!
Love this fish curry, so quick and tasty!!! I just leave out the serrano to suit my 3 and 6 year old daughter’s tastes and they love it. I’ve been trying to use less sauces out of a jar after checking the ingredients (my 3 year old is coeliac) of a jar of satay sauce one day. The second ingredient after water was sugar! I have made it in the past but didn’t remember sugar being the main ingredient.
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Happy to hear that you and your girls like this dish! 🙂
I used cod and it fell apart for the most part. ?
maybe the pieces were too small?
Add 3 drops of stevia (or 1-2 tablespoons of brown sugar) at the end. It really settles the saltiness and brings out the curry flavor. I also used cod (frozen wild Alaskan from Trader Joe’s), per recommendation I cut it in to 2″ pieces and stirred infrequently as to not break up the pieces. Worked great! Thanks for this yummy (and very easy) recipe!!! PS MAKE A DAY IN ADVANCE, MUCH BETTER DAY 2 AS EVERYONE SAYS
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Thanks, Allie! Love the tips! I bet coconut sugar would be great in it at the end 🙂
Quick question:
Do you cook the fish under high or low pressure setting in instapot? The recipe sounds delicious!!
When you reheat this dish the next day which is the best method without overcooking the fish and keeping the integrity of the fish? Haven’t made it yet but just want to know in advance.
My sister just told me about this blog and i made your butter chicken and now can’t wait to make other recipes. Butter chicken in instapot is amazing and my 5 year old twins loved it!
Hi Maya! I’m so glad you and your twins loved the butter chicken recipe 🙂 You can just reheat it on the stove – the fish will be fine and in fact, the dish will actually taste even better on the second day (like most Indian dishes). Let me know how it turns out for you!
Made this tonight and it turned out to be super delicious!
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Kiara, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Which colour mustard seeds do you use please?
black or brown mustard seeds (not yellow) 🙂
Just wanted to chime in that I’ve made this a few times now – always very delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
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Warren, I’m so glad to hear that 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how much you like this!
How many servings?
Great recipe! Try Lal Mirch instead of paprika if you have it handy in the pantry and definitely add 2-3 tsp brown sugar at very end to pull this together. I bet this would be lovely with shrimp or mussels too! I totally cheated and used bottled ginger/garlic paste to cut down prep 🙂
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Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Made this with frozen tilapia and it was delicious! Loved the complexity that the various spices and tamarind paste gives it–plus can’t go wrong with coconut milk in a curry. Another winner recipe. Thanks Ashley.
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Sandra, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how this curry turned out for you 🙂