Goan Fish Curry

Ingredients

• 600 g firm white fish, cut into large chunks
• 1 tin of coconut milk
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 25 g ginger
• 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 15 curry leaves
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 green chillies, slit lengthways

Method

1. Make the paste

   Blend the garlic, ginger, chilli powder, coriander and turmeric with a splash of water into a smooth paste. A wet paste fries without scorching in a way dry powders never manage.

2. Temper

   Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds; when they crackle, add the curry leaves — they will spit — then the onion, and cook until soft. Seeds that do not pop have not released anything.

   7 min

3. Fry the paste

   Add the spice paste and fry until the oil separates out at the edges, then pour in the coconut milk, tamarind and slit chillies and bring to a bare simmer. That oil separating is the signal the raw spice taste has cooked out.

   7 min

4. Poach the fish

   Slide the fish in, season, and cook at barely a tremble until it just flakes. Do not stir — nudge the pan instead, or the pieces break up.

   8 min

5. Rest and taste

   Take it off the heat and let it sit five minutes. Check the balance: it should be distinctly sour from the tamarind. Add more tamarind or salt, not more chilli, if it tastes flat.

   5 min