Goan monkfish & prawn curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tbsp ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 banana shallots, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- vegetable oil
- 140g tomato purée
- 1½ tbsp cider vinegar
- 400ml coconut milk
- salt
- 4 red chillies, finely sliced
- 400g trimmed monkfish, cut into bite size pieces
- 12 large tiger prawns
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- a pinch of dried curry leaves
- Masala spices
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 black peppercorns
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ star anise
Method
- Start by making the masala spice blend. Warm a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Put all the spices into the pan and gently stir, toasting them until you get a nice aromatic smell. Take off the heat and blend in a spice grinder until you have a fine powder. Tip the spice into a mortar, add the sugar, red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, shallot and tamarind paste, and mash together to form a paste.
- Pour a little vegetable oil into a wok over a medium heat. Add the spice mixture with the tomato purée and fry until the paste really starts to bubble. Add the coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in the cider vinegar and season with a little salt. Add the sliced fresh chilli, then the monkfish and prawns and gently cook until the fish is cooked through.
- In the frying pan you used to toast the spices, heat a little vegetable oil and quickly fry the mustard seeds and curry leaves until they start to pop. Scatter over your curry and serve with steamed rice and flatbreads.
