Mangalorean Fish Curry

aka Masli Kadi

This recipe is from a gorgeous cooking blog "Tiffin Box" written by (after making and eating this fish curry) what I imagine is a godess in the kitchen. Holy shit, this was good. 

I, as usual, made some changes and these are the only changes to the original recipe. The original recipe mentions a lot of different fish, we used fresh herring, this is quite close in flavor to the other fish originally used in this recipe, sardines and mackrel.

Ingredients 

For the curry paste:

• 2 tbsp coriander seeds (I used 2.5)
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds (I used 1.5)
• 1/2 tsp whole peppercorns (I used 3/4 ish)
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (I used 1/2 ish)
• 4 long red mild dried chillies (I used 6)
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 roughly chopped onion
• 2 flakes peeled garlic (I used 4)
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• About 50g coconut cream (use the hard packed version, if possible) otherwise, 75 ml liquid coconut cream (We did not have coconut cream, just coconut milk, and I used about a third of the can (400ml can) to grind everything up using the coffee grinder on our food processor.)

For the curry:

• Er...original recipe skipped the fish, we used herring, about half a kilo
• 1/2 onion diced (I used 1.5)
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped finely (I used 1")
• 2 flakes of garlic, chopped finely (I used garlic paste, 1.5tsp)
• 1 green chilly, slit lengthwise
• Salt to taste (or 1 and 1/2 tsp)

To season:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used 4 tbsp)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (about 10 in total)

Recipe

1. For the curry paste, toast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and red chillies for about a minute and a half on a hot pan. Put into a blender with the turmeric, onion, garlic, tamarind and coconut milk and blend to a paste.
2. In a pan, add some oil and add the ginger, chilli, garlic paste and onion (about 1 minute between each addition). Pour the ground curry paste into the pan, stir and add more water if required to get a smooth curry. I added the rest of the can of coconut milk and about a cup and a half of water. Season. Let the curry simmer for about 25 minutes. The colour changed and the curry became a browner color than the original yellow. Taste and adjust the seasoning, by adding more salt and/or tamarind paste. I added, all told, about a teaspoon and a half of salt, a dash of red-wine vinegar and about a heaped teaspoon of tamarind paste. 
3. Put the fish into the curry and poach until just cooked (about 6 minutes on a low poach).
4. Temper the curry now. In a small pan, heat the oil, and pop in the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, put in the curry leaves, stir for about 30 seconds and pour the whole lot into the curry and stir gently.