(It has suddenly dawned on me that I forgot to take a photo of the dinner to show you.....oh well, I'll think of something.....)
I have to say that half way through cooking, the curry did not taste too good, it was OK but nothing special however after a few adjustments, I was very happy with the end result.
This is a great dish for the whole family because you really need to get stuck in with your fingers (and maybe a spoon) to eat it and the kids will go mad when they get a big fish head on their plate. Poking the eyes and using the head for a bit of ventriloquism may not be particularly good manners but once in a while it doesn’t hurt and more importantly it educates kids to know that the sea is not full of little golden fish fingers swimming around and jumping into fisherman’s nets. They learn that when they eat any type of meat that a living, breathing, swimming or walking animal with eyes and a heart has had to die to provide the meal, it may not be nice but it is reality. Hopefully as they get older they will appreciate the food more and understand that maybe it is time for humans to lower their consumption of meat which is unsustainable at its current rate of growth, especially when people only want to eat prime cuts like chicken breast and fillet steak for example. I believe in ‘Nose To Tail Eating’ and think you should only eat meat if you are happy to eat every part of the animal and why would you not want to when there are so many delicious and cheap cuts of meat that are so under used like Pork Shoulder and the wide range of offal that today’s society is so squeamish about.
Anyway, rant over, time for the recipe…..
Serves 4 with Basmati Rice
INGREDIENTS:
4 Whole Tilapia gutted and cut into 4-5 pieces including the heads and tails (try getting these from a fish market, cost about £4.00 each in Tesco but I paid less than £1.00 each from Hackney Market)
10 tbsp Mustard Oil
10 Green Cardamom Pods (crushed)
8 Cloves
4 Bay Leaves
2 tsp Panch Phoran (a blend of equal quantities of fenugreek, nigella seeds, fennel seeds, cumin and mustard seeds) also known as Bengali Five-Spice
2 Onions (finely chopped)
5 Green Chillies (pricked with a fork)
4 Rounded tbsp Ginger Paste (made by crushing or blending fresh ginger to a rough paste)
5 Large Cloves of Garlic (blended to a paste)
2 tbsp Ground Coriander
4 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Ground Turmeric
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Paprika
3-4 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
800ml Water
1 very large handful of Fresh Coriander (chopped)
METHOD:
In a large pot or wok heat 5 tbsp of Mustard Oil until smoking hot then remove from heat for 30 seconds.
Add the Cardamom Pods, Cloves, Bay Leaves and Panch Phoran then fry over a low heat for about 3-5 minutes while stirring well.
Add the Onions and fry for a further 3-5 minutes.
Add the Green Chillies, Ginger Paste and Garlic Paste while continuing to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the all powdered spices, salt and sugar and cook for 1 minute then add the water. Bring the mixture to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes or until the volume of liquid has reduced then put to one side.
In a frying pan or wok, fry the pieces of fish using the remaining Mustard Oil for about 3-5 minutes until golden brown on each side depending on the thickness of the fish (you will need to do this in batches starting with the heads and ending with the thinnest bits) then add to the gravy.
Once all the fish has been cooked and added to the gravy, simmer the whole lot for about 5 minutes.
Add the chopped Coriander and make sure everything is well combined then serve.
I doubt you will find all the stuff you need for this recipe in your local supermarket so here is a link to the online Asian food store I use called ‘The Asian Cook Shop’, they provide a great service, deliver direct to your door and offer good value for money: http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/index.asp
Harry Federchi
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