Every Cape cook with a habit of making fish curry for supper will have their own recipe for it, and no two will be exactly the same. So, as with many curry recipes, feel free to adapt the levels of spicing to suit yourself.

The quantities of spices given made for a delicious curry, neither too mild nor too strong; and the latter is exactly what you don’t need in a fish curry, given the delicate flavour of the fish, especially, in this instance, monkfish.

Ingredients

1 kg firm white fish (I used 750 g yellowtail fillets and 250 g monkfish fillets)

3 Tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 Tbsp crumbled dried curry leaves

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cm fresh ginger peeled and grated

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 Tbsp masala

1 Tbsp chopped coriander stems

1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes

60 ml tomato paste

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp tamarind pulp dissolved in ½ cup hot water; use only the drained water

Salt and black pepper to taste

Coriander leaves, chopped, for garnish

Method

Cut fish fillets into bite sized chunks. Season them with salt and pepper.

Braise the seeds and curry leaves in the oil on a mild heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté, stirring, until softened. Add the ground spices and masala and cook gently while stirring for three minutes.

Add the chopped coriander stems, tomatoes and paste, sugar and tamarind water, season with salt and pepper, and simmer on a low heat for the flavours to combine, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally but gently, as you do not need the fish to fall apart.

Add the fish pieces and simmer slowly for about 15 minutes for the pieces of fish to cook through.

Serve with turmeric basmati rice (just add half a teaspoon of ground turmeric while cooking the rice), garnished with chopped coriander. DM/TGIFood

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Champion 2021. His book, foodSTUFF, is available in the DM Shop or, if sold out, directly from him. Buy it here. 

Mervyn Gers Ceramics supplies dinnerware for the styling of some TGIFood shoots. Mervyn Gers has expanded the base for his ceramic ware to New Zealand and Australia, through the Sydney-based iKhaya Collections. For more information, click here. 

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