some nights are just curry nights. in my home, there is at least one curry night per week. we love it.
add curries to the list of things in life that are just plain addictive with this recipe. its the satisfaction that comes from a hot, thick, spicy, flavourful and punchy sauce… and you’ll want it time and time again
this is a thai style curry. youll get a whole mouth experience – no one misses out
- sour at the front,
- heat at the back,
- slight sweetness all over
then true harmony arrives with the coconut milk.
change the fish stock for chicken stock, and use chicken thighs if you dont want the fish. its just as good!
for the curry paste
1 cup coriander stems (reserve the leaves for garnishing the dish later J)
1 tblsp coriander seeds – toasted and ground
2 tsps cumin seeds – toasted and ground
3 cms ginger, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2x kaffir lime leafs, roughly torn
2 lemongrass stalks, white part only
4 shallots, roughly chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste
8 green chillis – seeds and all (reduce this if you don’t like it too hot)
3 tblsp coconut oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
for the curry sauce
400gm can of coconut milk
2 cups fish stock (i use simon gaults stock) – please please use a proper stock, or make it yourself. please don’t use a watery version pretending to be stock. It makes ALL the difference to the final dish.
1 tblsp fish sauce
2 tblsp lime juice
2 tblsp coconut sugar
for the fish
3-4 fillets monkfish (or whatever firm white fish you like the taste of! I use monkfish because its meaty and stands up to the spicy curry really well)
fish sauce
baking paper
fresh coriander – couple stems with leaves per fish fillet
for the coriander rice
(I don’t like a LOT of rice, so this is just enough for 2 people)
½ cup brown rice (you can use white rice, but I refuse to eat it due to the processing involved… and brown rice has a nice nuttiness to it that you completely miss out on with white rice!)
3 tsp coriander seeds – toasted and ground
2 cups fresh coriander – chopped
salt
garnishes (optional)
fresh coriander
fried shallots
finely sliced scallions
Pre-heat oven to 180deg C
for the curry paste
add all ingredients to a kenwood mixer or food processer and blitz until it forms a paste. ne patient with this, it can take a while including a bit of scraping around the sides to get there.
for the curry sauce
heat sauce pan up to medium heat. add a bit of coconut oil to the pan and then add the curry paste. fry until fragrant, or a little bit longer!
add the coconut milk and stock. turn heat to low, and let it simmer for at least an hour. give it a stir every now and again to ensure it isn’t sticking.
after an hour, add the fish sauce, sugar & lime juice. stir and leave 5 mins. taste the sauce. you should be tasting salt, chilli, sour & sweet all at the same time.
adjust as necessary.
leave to simmer.
for the rice
wash the rice and put in a saucepan with water according to the cooking directions. season and add the toasted coriander seeds.
when cooked, fluff up and set aside with a lid until ready to serve. Immediately before serving add the fresh coriander and stir.
cooking tips: brown rice takes a lot longer, so be patient when cooking it J the good news is that its more robust than white rice which means it’s a bit more forgiving around cooking time if you accidentally leave it on too long (it doesn’t turn to mush as quickly as white)
for the fish
cut the monkfish up into similar sized single portions.
tear off single sheets of baking paper for each portion, ensuring each sheet means you can wrap the single piece of fish up.
place each fish fillet into the centre of the baking paper, and drizzle some fish sauce over, and lay coriander stems on top.
Wrap the fish fillet by folding the lengths on top of each other, and then tucking the sides under the fillet.
Place each single parcel on an oven tray and put it in the oven until opaque. for the monkfish fillets i cook, they usually take about 12 mins.
serving
spoon rice into serving bowl, top with desired amount of curry sauce.
lay fish fillet/s on top of the rice/curry sauce.
garnish with remaining coriander, fried shallots, spring onion
ReplicATE It. 