Monkfish curry recipe

Ingredients

• 6 x 400 g monkfish tails on the bone
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 lemon juice
• 50 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sea salt

• 50 g tamarind paste
• 125 ml warm water
• 200 g shallots, roughly chopped
• 200 g diced tomato, seeds included
• 20 g peeled ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
• 2 green chillies, deseeded
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 x 400 ml tins of coconut milk

• 75 ml vegetable oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 100 g finely chopped shallots

Fish Marinade
1. Skin the tails and cut through the bone into three.
2. Marinate in all the ingredients for 2 hours.
Puree
3. Mix the tamarind paste in the warm water and rest for 20 minutes before straining through a fine sieve to remove any seeds.
4. Blend all ingredients together in a blender with the tamarind water and set aside.
Sauce Base
5. In a large pan quickly colour the marinated monkfish in a little vegetable oil, remove and set to one side.
6. In the same pan add the 300 g of diced shallot for the sauce base and cook until lightly browned.
7. Add the turmeric, garam masala, cumin and ground coriander and cook for a further 2 minutes in order to cook the rawness off the spices.
8. Now add the diced tomato and cook gently, stirring every so often for about 5 minutes (it should now resemble a paste) and then add the purée made earlier. Season with sea salt.
Tarka
9. Heat the 75 ml of vegetable oil for the tarka until just smoking.
10. Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek and stand back while they pop.
11. After a few seconds add the curry leaves, garlic and shallots.
12. Cook for 30 seconds and then add to the main sauce.
To Serve
13. Add the monkfish to the sauce cover and braise for about 4 minutes until fish is cooked.
14. Serve with steamed or braised basmati rice and coriander.