Mexican fish curry

Ingredients

• Oil, for frying
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 4 allspice berries
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped coriander root
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 tomatoes, deseeded and diced
• 400 ml/14 fl oz coconut milk
• 250 ml/9 fl oz fish stock
• 500 g/17 ½ oz firm white-fleshed fish such as Pink Ling, blue eye, cut into large dices
• 1 cup basmati rice, cooked to packet instructions (it’s important to wash the rice under hot running water after you have cooked it, so it doesn’t become sticky)
• Coriander/cilantro leaves, to garnish
• Lemon or lime juice, to serve

Method

Add a tablespoon of oil to a saucepan over medium heat and fry the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, allspice berries and cardamom for 2 minutes.

Add the onion, coriander root, ginger and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until onion is soft then add the cumin and coriander seeds and cayenne and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and stir for a minute. Pour in the coconut milk and stock, bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the fish to the curry and place a lid on the pan. Turn off the heat and let the fish sit in the liquid for 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve the curry on top of the cooked rice and garnish with coriander leaves and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Make a meal of it

If you're planning on using this fish curry recipe for a dinner party you could turn it into a Mexican themed meal by serving with Mexican roast tomato tortilla soup as a starter and raspberry buñuelos as a dessert.

Recipe taken from Mexican Craving by Ben Milbourne, available from New Holland Publishers,