Rick Stein's Cod Curry Recipe

Ingredients

For the paste

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 80g fresh or frozen coconut, grated or chopped
• 30g/6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 9 dried Kashmiri chillies, stalks snipped off
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1½tsp salt

For the fish

• 50ml vegetable oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urid dal (husked)
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 150ml water
• 600g cod fillet (or pollock, haddock or hake),
• cut into 4cm slices
• Handful of fresh curry leaves
• Handful of fresh coriander leaves

To serve

• Boiled basmati rice and Chapatis
• For the paste

Method

1. Put all the paste ingredients in a mini food processor and blend to a thick paste, adding a splash of water if needed. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan or karahi over a medium heat.

2. Add the mustard seeds and urid dal and fry for 30 seconds, then add the paste and the turmeric, and fry for 2–3 minutes until fragrant.

3. Add the water, bring to the boil then add the cod.

4. Cook for 5 minutes, or until cooked through, occasionally shaking the pan gently to distribute the heat (avoid using a utensil to stir as the fish is delicate and will break up).

5. Finally add the curry leaves and coriander to the pan and serve with rice and Indian bread.