My Irishman and I have been on a mission to eat more fish so we have been having a regular pescetarian Monday. This curry was inspired by one such Monday. I’ve found buying fish at our local farmers market makes fish cooking much more affordable and delicious. I’ve served it on a bed of cauliflower ‘rice’ (raw grated cauliflower) but you’re welcome to use steamed basmati rice if you prefer.
Easy Fish Curry
Ingredients
- 450 g fish fillets (1lb)
- 1-2 tablespoons garam masala
- 1-4 red chilli peppers
- 1 can tomatoes 400g / 14oz
- 4 tablespoons whipping cream 35% milk fat
- 1 bunch coriander (cilantro) leaves picked
- cauliflower ‘rice’ or steamed rice to serve
Instructions
- Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan (skillet) over a medium high heat.
- Chop fish into bite sized chunks. Add the fish to the pan and brown for a few minutes. Then add the garam masala and chopped chilli peppers. Stir for a few seconds.
- Add tomatoes and their juices. Using a spoon chop the tomatoes. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the fish has cooked through.
- Stir in cream and bring back to a gentle simmer.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve on a bed of cauliflower ‘rice’ or steamed rice with coriander (cilantro) on top.
Variations
pantry-friendly – cream = coconut milk. skip herbs. frozen cauli rice.
vegetarian – replace fish with drained canned chickpeas (or home cooked chickpeas), lentils, tofu, tempeh, mushrooms or eggplant.
vegan – replace fish with diced eggplant. Will take longer for the eggplant to cook in the sauce, around 20 minutes. And replace cream with coconut milk.
dairy-free – replace cream with coconut milk. Butter or ghee could also be used instead of cream.
paleo – use unsweetened coconut cream.
different herbs – if coriander (cilantro) isn’t your thing consider basil, mint, a handful of fresh curry leaves. Or just skip the herbs.
carnivore – replace fish with diced chicken thighs fillets or sliced steak or even some lamb. Adjust the cooking time as needed.
no garam masala – replace with a mild curry powder or loads of black pepper and a little ground cumin.
for cauliflower ‘rice’ – just grate raw cauli in the food processor or chop as finely as possible with a knife. I generally serve it cold with the hot curry on top.
more substantial (carb lovers) – serve with steamed rice or rice noodles instead of cauli ‘rice’.
more substantial (low carb) – add some cashews, macadamias or more fish.
more veg – simmer veg in the sauce before adding fish. Broccoli or cauli or snowpeas.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
fish fillets – freeze it.
garam masala / can tomatoes – keep in the pantry.
red chills – will keep for months in the fridge. Can be frozen or left unwrapped in the fridge they will slowly turn into dried chillies and still be edible.
cream – freeze it or use for another meal.
coriander (cilantro) – freeze it in a plastic bag.
cauliflower – ungrated cauli will keep for weeks in a plastic bag in the fridge. Can be frozen but the texture isn’t as good when defrosted.
Prepare Ahead
Just cook curry as per the recipe. Will keep in the fridge for 1 week or can be frozen. To serve, bring back to a simmer on the stove top. You can either freeze with the cauli rice / rice or keep them separate.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Absolutely delish with some basa fillets….used green curry paste and coconut milk instead of cream. Big hit with the lads too
Excellent Robert! Glad you’re keeping the lads happy too 🙂
I couldn’t easily obtain decent bare fish fillets, so settled for some plain battered ones courtesy of a certain well-known frozen food company. I baked them in the oven to give me more room in the pan for 2/3 of my extra veg (onion and capsicum – broccoli went into the microwave as usual), so wound up having them with the curry rather than in it. Butter instead of cream. Quite good.
Love how you always add all the extra veg Mark! And good idea to bake the fish first.
What do you mean by can of tomatoes? Whole peeled or crushed?
Either whole or crushed Paul… I prefer whole because I think they’re slightly better quality. But I it’s up to you
!
Did you have another question Paul?
What sort of fish?
Whatever you like Paul. It’s a very versatile recipe. I generally go for salmon because my husband will eat it. Chunkier fish will hold together better in the cooking process as opposed to delicate small fillets
Can this be made with lower fat milk or is the cream essential? My other half needs to stick to a low fat diet but this looks tasty and I’d like to try it.
Hi Ellie!
I’m interested to understand why the need for a low fat diet?
And no I wouldn’t use milk instead… You could just make it without the cream.. The flavours will be different but still good!
Jx